30/1/07 - Classical Literature - Sophocles: Antigone (2)

The agon is a type scene of Greek tragedy, involving one-line speeches, e.g. 640-650. It occurs when two characters argue over something noble. Both characters must have a convincing case, although perhaps in this case Creon's argument is too extremely against the laws of the gods. Does Antigone have a better case? She says she is fighting on behalf of the gods and performing her duty as a sister. This conflict could also represent male v female; age v youth; state v household; secular v divine; convention v absolute standard. Creon does not perceive Antigone as an opponent; he believes he has ultimate power over her. Ismene compromises; she is a mediating character. Antigone, on the other hand, is more extreme.

In line 590 Antigone claims to be acting for love. There is a contradiction in her lack of interest for her fiancée, who is mentioned out of the blue in 641, by Ismene to Creon. Why does Ismene mention Haemon, instead of Antigone? This makes Antigone seem colder, so we see she has a harder, less empathetic side.

The chorus reflect that the gods are trying to get rid of the family by Antigone's self-destruction. Notice the imagery of the family tree, ripped up by the gods, then the chorus go back on themselves and say it is the folly of man that has eradicated Oedipus' family line: double determinism (determinism v free choice).

Creon is the manifestation of the ancient Greek fear of institutional change: the state was unstable because it could be overthrown by any individual who took the sword to the city.

In lines 770-787 Haemon says he is trying to help Creon against the rumours of the people. Creon accuses him of acting in love of Antigone. Note that romantic love was not a genre in Sophocles' time. It is a subplot only. Antigone claims to live for love, yet she is obsessed with filial love, borderlining on incest, while she shows no love for Haemon.

Lines 995-1005 have caused controversy. There is a contradiction: Antigone claims she is fighting for her family, not the gods. She says that she acted because she was the only relative of Polynices' left to act. This is unjustified because he is already dead, so it is pointless choosing him over Haemon, as she can't continue the family line by choosing him. She bewails not having the chance to have a family, not out of sentimentality or love for Haemon, but because she can't have the normal life of a Greek woman.

Creon has a double claim: as head of state and protector of the family, so it is his responsibility to find Antigone a husband. He should first have buried her brother, then married her to Haemon to bring her into the family. Instead he refuses the former and makes the latter impossible by burying her alive - literally stifling her.

In the last lines the play changes from being Antigone's tragedy to Creon's. He changes his mind and relents, yet he is too late and becomes crushed because of the reversal. Sophocles' plays have such bleak endings. We feel sympathy for Creon.

Comparison between Antigone and Oedipus the King: dialogue and choral episodes; repeated agons; Antigone a little stiff, perhaps slower for benefit of large (uneducated) audiences to follow; fast dramatic endings - a glimmer of light before the end, then the tragedy hits hard; have the potential for a happy ending; Apollo not cruel because he warns Laius three times, yet he is a cruel worker of fate.

Antigone seen as virtuous and chaste, not reverenced qualities today, so modern audiences may see Antigone as an extremist. Does Antigone seem inconstant to modern audiences, and is this a different view to the ancient Greeks? Was Oedipus justified for killing the king at a crossroads: so is he a sinner or is he sinned against?