Antigone Article 08

8/14/2019 Antigone Article 08

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OXFORD UNIVERSITYPRESS

, 0xI0rd New YoB TorontoDelh i Ilombor CoIoooIo M.odr.u KaIX hiP ct al in c" '" S __ H""I K".,. TokyoN.irobi o" r . . SoIooIn Cape TownM ~ AIocllind

.00 asaociaIod """'J'I'Ilcs InBalin IMIao

:::oPYJ.ICIfTC 1975 BY RICHARD E M I ~BRAUN

"" " poWIoIIo4III '91 ,.10,. 00:>01 UnIomiIy Prao, Inc"100 ~ A"'ClWC.New Yod, New Yon 10016

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INTRODUCTION

I A U T H O ~hND BACJ:GROUND

It seems thot in March, +1' .C., the Antigone made Sophocles farncus. The poet, fifty. five years old, had now produced thirty-twoplaY'; because of this one, tradition relates, the people of Athens

elected him, the next year, to high office. We hearhe sharedthe corn-DlIndof thesecond fleetrent to Samos.

When the people of Sames failed to support the government juste>tablUhed for them by forty Athentan ships, Athens sent a fleet ofw.ty ship> to restoredemocracy and remove the rebels. The Aegeant\len wa> an Athenian sea, Pericles, the gt successful presentation of Antigone, Sophocleshad become Pendes' friend.

In 1-+f, when the AthcllliUl people chose Pericles as their leader.they demanded greatness: democracy combined with imperialism.Periclean democracy meant free speech, free aswciatloll. and open accea to PO'W'Cf limited by law; iot, assuming that intelligence IS born 111.U, law created byall is the best ruler. Illlpen.:olism-to which theSamian War isto be referred-emeant wealth, the power to enjoy. If,moreover, enjoyment J.s itself a kind of PO'HCT, it too must be limitedby law: the law which definesenjoyment.. qe.uty. Freedom, justice,and beautyare thecomponents of greataess which the Athenians hadchosen for themselves when thcy granted "fit literary acclaim. andthen imperialduty, to Sophocles.

Sophocles and hi, fellow-citizenschoseto widen democracy and ex-

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

tend imperialism. Th e alternative for the east-Greek peoples was oliot'ltthy and Spartan influence. This choice-which the Sarnians triedII ) make for themselvcs-involved Iess exploitation. but far m ~ re. . ion. The inhabitants of oligarchic states lacked freedom and,

--G o/tcn,'bcauty; instead, the principle of justice was rationalized by their; apologists, who broadly wed terms such lIS "order" and "stability," inI:. . ~ i c hthey claimed to find th e CSSCI)CC of goodrule. In this worldIJ ) ., c 1 ~ t e ,it is not surprising that the Athenians WIShed the author of

-l.< "? ARl/iOne to hold military office. A man who was so skilled was aho~ i wile. Sophocles might be expected to [udge rightly and govern well

-Q : . . : : should the cargo of free society, legal limits, an d the acquisitive and,


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I N T K O D U C T

Illust show some public facts of Importance to Periclean Athemans:these faetsarc ideas in conAict. Kreon (&> and Antigone (550-1) assume the approvalof Zeus; to Krcon, he rep-C)v"\ resents power, to Antigone Justice. Yet, Antigone attributes her Iam-U& J ily's misfortunes to 111m (6-8), and Kreon blames hIS rum on an un-

I '- ) named god (14 67; could he be Eros?). The Sentry and Chorus (3 '/. 'Q,\1 "T'('II ~ 6 ,350-1) assign the first bunal of Polynetces to the gods; Kreon\,O\e"S denies H1lScategorically. Th e onlooker IS convinced the characters be-

l ieve what they say when they say It, but cannot tell which amongthem IS nght. The godsarc unreliable, their roleambiguous. Tciresias

!presumably representing Zeus and Apollo. appears too late to a Y e ~disaster: if the gods do not clearly intervene there, one doubts that'


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H um an Jivine, l ike public and pri vat e. may be the dual imagesofon integral object. The Antigone displays schematic pairing and annthcsis In structural detail as well as in idea. TIle Tbcban myths arcwell suited to double vision, to curious couplings. and to division ofnatural pairs. Minos and Rhadarnanthys. Zethos and Ampluon. themetamorphoses of Tcircsias-ccach a two.m.onc relation of a differentsort-suggest even more complicated relationships within the legendat the point where Antigone begins.

. /" l f tcoklcs and Polyneices, and their sisters, Antigone and lsmene. arcI children of Oedipus an d his mother [ocasta: the two pairs are the

brothers and sistersof Oedipus, their father, and the grandchildren of~ ~ "t\thClf mother [ocasta, The two b o y ~ h ~ v e . b e e nsundered In rivalry for~ vtf\{f\'-' 'power. and have killed each other In smgrc combat. Kreon: by decree,5 has sent Etcokles to the Underworld and kept Polyncices m the

~ \ 1upper air; the one, buried, isfree, while the o t h ~ r ,left exposed, IS con-~ ,& ' t f I ~ n c d .Similarly, d u nu g t he wa,r, one of Kreon s two son,s. Megarcus

'fs,--s5(or Menoikios), has died by his own hand and temporarily saved the1'\. ~ city; the other, Halmon, survives, but Will, at the end ofthe play,a lsou.,Io" die by suicide, after failing to saveAntigone. When the play begins.

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

13

~ a sEros., A p h ~ i t e ,in the familyand the s t a t e - ~c.:ntral tot 10 mcanlOg as to ]'X2tign. .S If the first b ~ r i a l l c t s~ r e o ndiscount the divinity of a reveren: act,

.... the second bunallets him argue, again wrongly, againtt love, and torout and dn,:"Love,from . ~ .and from Thebes. In 6 ~ s i J .Kreonca,n only transfer h,s pohtic#l c1kM. the double dnty ofltw;irdingf l l ~ d sa?d harming enemies. to the case of Etcokles amq'olyneiecs.SHI$ p ~ b h eargument has no place for love, since hit p u ~ c ~arc III

) fact dictated by the sp.irit of enmity, Antigone r e a l i z e d ~ l ' o mthe\ start ( IN5), When TellQlllS reports bad Q!IlCns and u ~ to

relefot,hit account includes a description (115"7) of the a " l b ; r d sa t l a c ~ l I l geach other: they are virtually at war because al'Xr""n',

~~ d l : C j '.As K r ~ n ' ssuppression of love has ~ e dcivil dishanllonya., destroyed 111$ home, .t has abo mterposed ,trife betwn men andthe no", , :oIa= to divine knowledge. ,

Antigone's devotion to her brother is t ruly a kind of reverence( 1 O , ~ ) .She. who (6'1"3) WlIS born to love both her brothetsdesprrcthe nft between them, has had the sharpest insight mto KJ'C\l{l', errorof.fission ~(ef. 10-11), In " "18, she iscompared by the ScAlly to amother bird: such is the nature of her concern for P o l y ~ W h e nshe leaves f ~ rthe tomb, Amigone bewails her childlessl!ate iti07.),Docs she think, 11$ death apprOK!la,' that she has been wroncrThit isanother double focus on love, '1be love that made A n _ buryPolynelces IS a moral force; the love she regrets m lbe kmu!ln j, a

;; ~ t u r a lforce: both together are the "mandate" of the t h i r d ~ i m o n ~ ' j 0 ( l e . ~'7, tAntigone it :ertainly not at "fault:' She obeyed love v a . t ~ , ; r o ) y

Kf'0 ) 0,",. nerces, ,she. did not thereby reiect the livinglove of HaIl1l0.....' . ' : ' . ~hadpVr\ ~ 0 - no choice m the first.and was prevented by Kroon from cbocilii.g the' s lIb os;, .seeond; Antigone "feels pain" only for the second, thoug/:l'it;... for

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I I ~ " ,_ " . , u , . " v u u L l l u N

still, Kreo", last error, then, IS his first. He learns this in Antigone'stomb. Ashe hllrries tl,ere, he still divides lovefrom the law hy whichhe lives.

Asto Eurydice, I have hinted in the resume (p. II ) that she ts akind of double of Krcou. The "marriage ill Hades' house" Kroonoriginally suggested (to Antigone, 644-6, then to Hairnon, 794'5) hasbeen consummated (1436-7). TI,e death of Antigone and Haimon

thas, as ItS offspring, the death of Eurydice. As I have noted, Kreon's

'o,'ventryearlyin the play (468) corresponds to Eurydice's (1359), In the\J r"\ first, Kreon returns as the Sentry tells the Chorus that Antigone isI guilty of burying Polyneiccs. The Sentry completes his report to

Kreon, who thereupon resolves to execute Antigone. As a result ofthis resolve, Kreon condemns himself, as well as Antigone, to.a livingdeath. When Eurydiceenters, at an approximately corresponding position toward the end of the play, the Messenger is telling the Chorusof Haimon's dcath. He completes th e tale, adding Antigone's suicide,to Eurydice, who then consigns herself to death. She dies eu"ingKreon, not for Haimon's only, but for Megareus' fate as well. Thedual scheme IS completed: Kreon euned himself when he ordered

Antigone to 60 punIShed,The 'onglllal sentence wasstoning, but Kreon changed It to immurmgin Older to avert a curse from the city (934'7). Perhaps the changeof sentence also represents a retreat m policy forced on Kreou. (Agam

",ePY\ 1I0te: no penalty IS specified III the Seven Agamst Thebes.) Harmon. . / M ~had said the people of Thebes approved Antigone's deed (8,9-5).W \/ Public stomng, in which the whole community could participate, wasfAoo.'J punishment for public enemies. If the Thebans would refuse to takeJ part i n such an event , Krcon IS well advised not to require it of them.

;),\,l}O"Q. But here too the two-in-one scheme is a picture-of Kreon's reversed~ understanding. Teiresias emphasizes the direct, r e v ~ r s a lof natur,e

ovJ ("40-7)' which is, however, typical of Krcon s thinking. Kreon 0

tv "principles" arc themselves blameworthy (117')' Tciresias, moreover,is a technician, an a u g ~ r ;he finds Kreon's wrongdoing formally offensive. Bythe doubled crime of separation, of keeping Poiyneices in thelight and segregating Antigone (d . 55) from the liVing, Kreon hll$

_interfered both with godsof the Underworld .n d with the O ~ y m p i a n sin their respective domains. The mechanical nature of Kroon s offenseIS eh.ractcristle. It IS also, III its duality, typical of the whole p l a y ~offense to the gods of the netherworld, Kreoll finally offends Zeus(1170-7: 1202'5)

Yet, in :l sense, Krcon did not change thc sentence. When an out-

ragedcommunity stoned a public enemy,it performeda kind of ~ Irite, coveringand concealing the offender. When Kreon prollOUAl:e3doom on Antigone (93H) he has her "hidden . .. in a ~ _ l i o l .

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IOWII

; when he seeks to exhume her, it is trom stone (I 39B-9J\MO'Ieover, we know that the e n e ~ yof the people is nor A n t i g ~h t . , .K r ~ n.. When he buriesAntigone In stone, Kreon is hillllClf"jn', lIia

~eshlJ1a.h O ~. ' the c?mmunity, the state (ct. 885'9); but Kreon buria,...~ t hA ? ~ ,his better idf, and does 50 in the presenceof the bu!:.nfied C1lizem. He hopes, by a technicality, to cover guilt really llestifles corud ence.> I ' .'

Teirerilu says (1148) that Kreon is Wollking "the r a ~ . " 1cdge . . . IIKreon's balance, clearly, hll$ failed him more than once-(Kreon f1Iba ~ yfrom love; by hi.! martial Olat=ft, he wrecks the Slabilityhe liNsought for the co".'munity; he loses his home through tyranny: ilU

show this a p p e a ~to be the main purpose of the double c o n f r o n ~betweenIsrneneand Antigorn:, "mene and Kreoo/(65 1'718) .

Kreon begl,ns the scene, . . yiog he hal nursed twin plagues, a l l l I i t ~.traltoTS,In ~ I Shome. O n ~w o n ~what that horne islike; u ~ d , , ~

poets Kroons understanding of his $OIlS, lI$ wellas of his nieces,~ .may also abstract his word! hom the immediate context, and tliii!!7-37)' From this, one may guess that Sophocles recognized thatthc rights of the exceptional Individual are precious, at least when, aswith Antigone, such rights confirm the freedoms which the majoritycontinue, evensecretly, to approve.

To us, to who reon's fla rant misdeed is his invasion of personaland conscIentious lights. Sophocles says this much: neither shou d theordinary individual, who is wrong, rule the majority, who are passive, "

..jYnorshould the extraordinary individual, if right, acquiesce. The tragicI > ' ~ ~problem of popular ru lcrhere free citizens seem to violate by con-

"'\\ sensus the rightsof minoritiesand of individuals, unusual and ordinary v ~-i s only suggested. The Antigone's complacent courtiers abet one(Ch,rtyrant, and become, in effect, a board of tyrants.We know their likein institutions, agencies, departments. and bureaus, which, for the sakeof "the law till it is altered," and such generally accepted purposes as

health, defense, education, and finance, erode freedom. Until such oldmen Jearn wisdom, Antigones will be "born to oppose," who, unlessgentleness prevails, will be driven again and again even by theChoruses of democracy, either to civil disobedience or -to criminalwithdrawal.

The text I have followed IS R. C. [ebb's In Sophocles, Part III: TheAntigone (Cambridge, 189'). supplemented by A. C. Pearson's inSophoclis Fabulae (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, ' 9 '4) ' [ebb's proseversion and commentaryproved consistently valuable.

I wish to thank the General Editor for generous help. No one ac-

quainted with his work is in dangerof blaming him for the faultsofmine.

ANTIGONE

Edmonton, Alberta

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Antigone Article 08