29/1/07 – Classical Literature – Sophocles: Antigone (1)

The Antigone was performed around 441 BC, judging by external documentary evidence. In 440 Sophocles was called on for generalship. Oedipus the King was performed between 431-29, judging from internal evidence (textual references, etc.).

Passages of note: 25-35, 70-105, 180-205, 215-235, 377-416 (ode to man, esp. 406-415), 500-520, 640-650, 770-787, 995-1105 (esp. character of Antigone), 1180-1197, 1220ff, 1344-1370.

Antigone begins the day after (or soon after) Polynices and Eteocles kill each other in battle. In ancient times, whoever won the battle had the obligation of burying the dead. As both brothers are killed, it is the duty of outside powers to bury them.

Notice how Sophocles begins his plays. The Antigone begins in medas res. The conversation between characters lets the audience know the story. In the beginning there is a state of emergency. Creon tries to establish order through chaos.

Antigone is concerned for her loved ones. In Greek, filos means love for close ones. She claims to be acting on behalf of her brother. She is extreme, but seems to have a cause. She excludes her sister. Notice the chorus imagery of the rising sun, declaring their survival.

The Greek word eros is a sexually motivated desire in love. It is different from filos (love suitable for family). ‘Love’ is a vague term, and ambiguous. Antigone says: “I will lie with the one I love and loved by him.” She prioritises her brother over Ismene.

In lines 180-205 Creon aligns himself with the state. Its claims should be recognised but he has put it in danger, so he makes a decree that anyone caught burying Polynices’ body will be executed. Perhaps he should have secured Polynices an honour; has Creon overstepped the mark?

In lines 377-416 Creon accuses the sentry of being bribed into burying Polynices. The chorus widens the scope of issues within the play, e.g. the choral ode to man, as well as allowing actors to change. The chorus express wonder at the creativity of man, a topical theme at the time as the Greeks were making machines and changing the traditional roles of gods within the city (Sophocles does not include gods onstage). Sophocles questions this: man has to work into the fabric of life, and death is inescapable. He sets the scene for Antigone’s intervention.

In 499-524 the sentry hands Antigone over to Creon. Antigone is compared to a whirlwind: she is heroic but also has a martyr complex. She believes she will obtain glory with the will of the gods. So does she have a good cause or an ulterior motive? Is she right?

Opening scene (Prologos, 1-116): Antigone and Ismene. Antigone informs Ismene of Creon’s decree: Polynices, having led a foreign army against his own city and now lying dead outside the walls, is to be denied burial. Antigone asks Ismene to join her in violating the decree and burying their brother. Ismene dares not disobey.

First choral ode (Parodos, 116-179): As the sun rises, the chorus greet their day of salvation, and recount the battle: the enemy army as a threatening eagle, now brought low.

Second scene (First epeisodion, 180-376): Creon and chorus: Creon assumes command. He decrees funeral honours for Eteocles, while Polynices is to be left exposed. Chorus express some worry about Creon’s orders, but comply. Sentry and Creon: sentry (comical low-life?) describes how someone has covered the body with dirt (not a full burial, but enough to meet ritual obligations). Creon thinks the guards have been bribed, sends sentry back with orders, under threats of death, to find the culprit.

Second choral ode (First stasimon, 377-416): Ode to man: praise of human achievement and ingenuity. Man successful “when he weaves in the laws of the land, and the justice of the gods.” Prayer to exclude him who does not do so.

Third scene (Second epeisodion, 416-655): Sentry, Creon and Antigone: sentry brings in Antigone, caught in the act. Sentry describes the events: the whirlwind, then Antigone giving Polynices funeral rites for the second time. Exit sentry.
Agon of Creon and Antigone: Antigone claims divine sanction, “the laws of the gods.” Creon cannot abide the effrontery, and sentences Antigone to death, including Ismene. Antigone brands Creon a tyrant, but Creon claims to uphold the state.
Ismene, Antigone and Creon: Ismene untruthfully confesses to the crime, but Antigone rejects her as an accomplice. Question of Antigone’s engagement to Haemon raised for the first time.

Third choral ode (Second stasimon, 656-700): “Blessed are those who have not tasted devastation … earthquake, sea-storm imagery: the surge crashing down again upon the house of Laius, wiping out last remains (Antigone and Ismene). Last root extirpated by unreason. Prayer to Zeus.

Fourth scene (Third epeisodion, 701-859): Creon, Haemon and chorus: Creon rails against Antigone; the need for discipline and obedience within family and state. Haemon stresses his devotion to his father, but reminds him that all man are fallible, and that the citizens disapprove of his actions. The exchanges heat up: Creon accuses Haemon of putting Antigone and marriage before duty, while Haemon is more directly critical of Creon. Creon threatens to execute Antigone in front of him; Haemon storms off: “you will never see me again.” Creon announces he will bury Antigone alive.

Fourth choral ode (Third stasimon, 879-894): Hymn of Eros/love.

Fifth scene (Fourth epeisodion, 895-1034): Lyric exchange between Antigone and chorus. Antigone as the “bride of death.” The chorus question her daring, recall her family’s shame and grief.
Creon and Antigone: Creon orders Antigone’s burial. She wails her fate (problem lines 995-1105: would not have dared do so for anyone but a brother?) and is taken away.

Fifth choral ode (Fourth stasimon, 1035-1089): Series of (obscure) mythological parallels for Antigone’s plight: inescapable fate, even for the highest born.

Sixth scene (Fifth epeisodion, 1090-1238): Enter Teiresias, and Creon. Teiresias warns Creon that he is bringing plague and contamination upon the city by not burying Polynices. Creon reacts angrily, and accuses Teiresias of corruption. Teiresias replies with a prophecy: Creon will lose a family member for inverting the order of the living and the dead, and the city resents his rule. Exit Teiresias. Creon hesitates, but finally concedes: he rushes to the tomb where Antigone is walled in.

Sixth choral ode (Fifth stasimon, 1239-1271): The chorus call on Dionysus, patron of Thebes, and purifier.

Seventh scene (Exodus, 1272-1470): Messenger scene: A messenger arrives, and announces the death of Haemon, and then repeats it, in more detail, to Eurydice, Creon’s wife. Haemon found the body of Antigone in the tomb, after she had hanged herself. Haemon tried to kill Creon, then took his own life with his sword. Eurydice enters the palace, followed by the messenger. Creon returns with the body of Haemon. The messenger exits the palace and announces that Eurydice has also killed herself. Creon left disconsolate.