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    Antigone: With linked Table of Contents
    Antigone: With linked Table of Contents
    Antigone: With linked Table of Contents
    Ebook56 pages39 minutes

    Antigone: With linked Table of Contents

    By Sophocles

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Sophocles addresses themes of civil disobedience, fidelity, and love for family; and questions which law is greater: the gods' or man's—in this play that challenged many established mores of Ancient Greece.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilder Publications, Inc.
    Release dateMay 22, 2015
    ISBN9781633849631
    Antigone: With linked Table of Contents
    Author

    Sophocles

    Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.

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    Reviews for Antigone

    3.5/5

    1,179 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Owen Bennett Jones recently wrote on the Islamic State in the LRB. "Every time a Jihadi movement has won power it has lost popularity by failing to give the people what they want: peace, security and jobs." When I read that I thought about poor King Creon. I have always felt disturbed by the vice of fate in this play which steadily traps and crushes. It was Creon's hubris which caught my attention this time. Doesn't he have a mandate? I imagine him simply incredulous. Why this dissent? Subsequently I read a number of secondary pieces, though as I feared Creon is a symbol, whereas Antigone remains human, though her plight is class-conscious according to some, whereas others view matters as a collision of opposed ideas. Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet explored such in their Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece.

      Rather, it is between two different types of religious feeling; one is a family religion, purely private and confined to the small circle of close relatives, the philoi, centered around the domestic hearth and the cult of the dead; the other is a public religion in which the tutelary gods of the city eventually become confused with the supreme values of the State.

      Who would have guessed that a few hundred years after the Enlightenment such rituals and disputation would remain foregrounded? My views on progress and positivism have been eroded greatly over the course of my adult life. A chill remains in the air and yet a glimmer of hope persists, even now. I hope to always harbor such impossibilities
    • 4/5
      Antigone is a play that has plenty of resonances for modern audiences. It's often been used in situations where there's a conflict between political authority and private conscience - Athol Fugard's theatre company during the Apartheid years famously created a play in which two prisoners on Robben Island are staging Antigone, for instance. The plot is surprisingly simple - two of Antigone’s brothers, fighting on opposite sides, have been killed during a failed attack on Thebes. Their uncle Kreon, the ruler of Thebes, has decreed that the rebel’s body may not be buried. Antigone defies the order, going out to perform a symbolic burial rite for her brother. Bad things ensue, for Kreon and everyone else. For the Greek viewer, this is presumably meant to be primarily about the after-effects of the Oedipus story rumbling on, and about Kreon acting ultra vires by trying to assert authority over the dead, but Sophokles doesn't allow you to see it simply as the tragedy of Kreon. Antigone’s clarity of conscience is at the heart of the play, and is what has made it such a beacon for people confronted by oppressive government. Anne Carson's translation is obviously meant in the first place to make this play performable by modern actors in front of a general audience. She avoids archaism and "high language" and keeps the text simple and punchy. Since the actors are going to find the right cadences when they speak the lines anyway, she doesn't bother with punctuation, which initially makes it rather odd to read, but isn't really a problem - it forces you to imagine the sound of the lines.
    • 4/5
      There are few few books that last through multiple generations. Books such as War and Peace by Tolstoy have lasted through the decades and have become fixtures of literary accomplishment. But few have survived from before even the publication of the Bible. Among these lasting works is the Oedipus Cycle written by Sophocles. This collection of three plays have persisted through thousands of years of change and are still taught in schools today. I didn't read the first two sets of plays, but I did get the chance to read the third, Antigone, in my English class. By today's standards, it is not the most interesting read, but given that it is well over two thousand years old, it holds up very well even into the world today.Antigone follows the final days of the lives of Oedipus' two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. Both of them live in Thebes and have just learned that their two brothers, Polynices and Eteoles, have killed each other in battle. Now, Creon, the newly appointed king of Thebes, has issued a proclamation that Polynices is to be left out in the streets and not buried for his crimes of attacking the city. Antigone, through her loyalty to her family, decides to bury her brother and flaunt the power of Creon. What ensures is a story of tragedy and death that was foreshadowed earlier in the story.After over two thousand years, Antigone still retains it's core teachings about pride that is still relevant today. Through his pride, Creon pushes forward this tragic story until his ultimate demise at the end. All of this falls in accordance to the idea of a "tragic hero" found in many Greek tragedies. The interesting thing about Antigone is that there are almost two tragic heroes while most plays will only have one. On one hand, we have Antigone. She is the sister of the deceased warriors and now is throwing her life to give honor to their deaths. On the other hand, we have Creon. He starts out as the king of Thebes and then, by the end of the book, falls to a special type of doom.Sophocles crafted a beautifully tragic work of family loyalty and pride. At the very surface, we have a very short play of a sister's love for her family and a man's lust for power. But it's when you dig into and analyze the lines that you begin to see the true power and sheer complexity. Each character is well planned an represented. None of the characters are placed in the story just for the sake of having someone. Every one of them plays an important role that is unique to their situation. It is from the dialogues between the characters and their actions that define who they are, not just short descriptions of their character and morals. Different themes about human life, such as greed and pride, are scattered throughout the play in differing amount of relevance, but nonetheless are present.It is this very complexity and need for active reading that may be Antigone's biggest weakness. It is not a book that you would read just for the fun of reading a Greek tragedy. It is not a book that you could just skim over in a few hours, even though it is very short. Antigone is a book you have to take the time to look at and really understand to fully learn the power of the book.Antigone is one of those rare works that have survived for thousands of years. It predates even the Bible, yet still remains in the hands of teachers and students around the world. It's complexity and moral themes make it a great work to study and analyze in school or for other educational purposes. But this very strength is also its greatest weakness in that it is not the easiest book to understand. Personally, I found it to be very interesting to read and I felt accomplished at finally breaking through and understanding certain passages. But a world of books dominated by entertainment, Antigone is probably best suited for education.
    • 3/5
      If you thought keeping up with the Kardashians was tough, you should get a load of this family.
    • 3/5
      Read this for a Lit class... also, watched a production in class with Sir John Geilgud playing the old oracle.
    • 1/5
      I read this play as part of my literature classes in high-school, and I've got one thing to say about it - Five minutes.
      If she waited five minutes; she'd be alive, he'll be alive and all would've been well with the world.
      Five minutes.
    • 3/5
      Read this in the classroom. Fun to read as a play.
    • 5/5
      This is the best of the Oedipus plays because it's the one that gives you a sense of the epic scope of the thing. Oedi is dead and buried and blessing Athens with his cursed presence, but his family are still slaughtering each other. Hatred, rage, self-loathing, the desire to make something admirable out of one's tainted life, spring eternal and feed one another. Also, I' a sucker for brother and sister stuff. Alongside my dad's comment that your sister is the only person who's with you for your life comes Antigone's, that once a brother is gone, unlike a husband or a child, you can never grow a new one, unless some miracle happens (or your parents are still young and birthy). In fact, the main reason this play struck me in the gut was the lines. "Ask Cleon. You and he are friends," Antigone says to her sister Ismene, who is desperate to prove her worth by helping bury her brother against Cleon's wishes but is scared. It's "Why don't you ask your boyfriend, Cleon?" taken to the edge of violence. Cleon himself is fascinating--the heir-presumptive become the good man-at-arms to Oedipus, come the scold and upholder of the good state, come the tyrant and hypocrite. You get the feeling that his personal hate for Oedipus is what licenses his revulsion at the cursed acts and persecution of the family, rather than the other way around. The equivocations and backdoor philosophy of the sentry--"unpleasant news is very unpleasant, you know!"--where the threat of death adds a queasy nervous giggle, a whole new realm, to what might otherwise be mere nervous Blackadderisms, not that that's a minor accomplishment in itself. Antigone, walking her life's last path, having bought--if anyone ever did--with her aggressive selflessness in acting against Creon to bury her brother the chance now to wallow in self-pity and (rarest of things) keep her audience--there is that within the human which recoils from the maudlin even when it is completely justified, which speaks to the power of Antigone's symbolic act. When she saysEye of the blessed sun--I shall miss you soon.No tears will mourn me dead. No friend to crywe (rarest, I say, of things) sympathize. And when Creon replies "Listen you! Panegyrics and dirges go on forever if given the chance," and seals her up, that's when he becomes unredeemably villain. Cartoons bore, no doubt, but seeing the process by which a complex and sometimes admirable human becomes a cartoon is shocking and compelling. Your city sickens, Creon, you crawling thing, you double filicidal killer. The curse got you too.And then Antigone dead, hung, and Haemon dead, self-stabbed, and Eurydice dead, and Creon no doubt feeling he's paid and hoping to buy a reprieve by grief against the wave of human decency that belatedly overcomes the townsfolk (apparently it worked, as Wikipedia saith he was killed in old age by one Lycus, next king of bloody Thebes). And the chorus girls sing:Creation is a marvelAnd man its masterpiece;He scuds before the southern windBetween the loud white-piling swell.He drives his thoroughbredsThrough Earth (perpetualGreat goddess inexhaustible)Exhausting her each year(...)He's trained his agile thoughts(Volatile as air)To civilizing words.He's roofed against the skyThe javelin crystal frostsThe arrow-lancing rains.All fertile in resourceHe's provident for all(Not beaten by disease)All but death, and death--He never cures.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book i am probably very biased as my grade in my english class depended on how i liked this book so fair thee well
    • 1/5
      What a pointless story.... And we inflict this on school children and wonder why they think English sucks....
    • 3/5
      I tried to put myself in a state of zeitgeist while reading this. In that vein, this is a very good play with a strong story and moral. By today's standards, it is stiff and formal, but the story is still timeless.
    • 4/5
      Love this!! I read it for college and I love the way she stands up for herself and her beliefs. I had no idea that I could find a strong female characters this far back in classical writing.
    • 5/5
      This is probably the closest of all of the Greek tragedies to a Shakespearian tragedy. This is due to the end of the play having a huge bodycount and the action of the play is driven by one person's fatal flaw (not that I actually believe in the fatal flaw argument, but that is beside the point). However it is not Antigone who has the fatal flaw in this play but rather Creon, the king of Thebes. Unfortunately we cannot really look to Oedipus at Colonus to see the beginning of Creon's downfall because this play is not the final part of a trilogy, at least in the Aeschylan sense of a trilogy, though it is noticeable that when the copyists chose seven plays of Sophocles to preserve for posterity three of the Theban plays were kept which in a sense formed a trilogy, and in this trilogy we see Creon go from being a loyal servant of Oedipus to a ruthless tyrant that believes that he is the state and that his words are not to be disobeyed.First I will discuss the term Harmatia, which is Aristotelian in origin, at least from his text on drama (The Poetics). I shall also look at the action of the play and finish off by discussing the main theme, which is the struggle between loyalty to one's family and loyalty to one's state. Well, no, I will finish off by looking at Creon's character, and how his actions bring about such a sticky end.The concept of Harmatia is regularly found in the Bible where it has been translated into our word sin. Now, as I think about the concept of Harmatia I am somewhat torn between suggesting that Harmatia and sin are two different ideas, or that our modern understanding of sin does not exactly weigh with how the modern church translates and preaches it. The modern church preaches sin as being rebellion against God (of which we are all guilty), and then goes on to bombard us with what constitutes sin. However, to the Greeks, or at least to Aristotle, Harmatia is a fatal character flaw. Now that concept does not alienate sin because sin, in an of itself, is a fatal character flaw that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. This fatal character flaw of ours is our desire to live independently, and we see this more and more as we meet with people and associate with them. I also see it rampant throughout the church as people try to push God into a box and tell him what sin is rather than letting him demonstrate sin to them.I say this because the list of sins seems to get longer and longer and we, as humans and those of us who call ourselves Christian, seem to think that sin is made up of our actions as opposed to our desire to rule ourselves. I guess the best explanation is that our actions, especially our selfish actions, are merely a symptom of this character flaw of ours. The Bible is correct when it says that the wages of sin is death, because as we see, especially in Antigone, that Creon's Harmatia leaves him desolate and alone, and as he says from his own lips, it is as if he were dead. Now, the Greek concept of death, the absence of life, and the removal of ourselves from this world, is somewhat different to the Biblical concept of death. In fact our modern understanding of death is more in line with the Grecian view. However the biblical view is that death is more to do with the break down of our relationships, particularly our relationship with God, than it is with the absence of life. To the Bible life is defined by relationships, and when we drive our relationships apart we are little more than dead. In fact it has been suggested that higher suicide rates occur among truly lonely people than it does among people who are surrounded by friends. That, though, is only speculation. However, consider this: even when we are surrounded by friends we can still be alone, especially if these so called friends of ours only seek us out for company and, in their self centred view of the world, seek to only have us by their side to make them feel good and important than really doing anything that is remotely friendly.Now, the play itself is set after the Theban war, where Etocles and Polyneices killed each other after Polyneices attacked Thebes with his army to remove his brother and set himself up as king. Creon, by default, becomes king and his first order of business is to give Etocles a state funeral while leaving the body of Polyneices exposed. To be exposed was the worst thing that you could do to a corpse in the Ancient Greek world. A proper burial meant that you would at least have a half decent afterlife, while being exposed suggests that you would be left wondering the earth as a ghost, and a tormented one at that. Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, is horrified at this and seeks to bury him, much to Creon's displeasure, so he orders her executed. However the play is not as simple as that because Creon's son is in love with Antigone, and when he finds her dead, he kills himself, and in a fit of grief over the death of her son, Creon's wife also kills herself.Now one of the main themes that comes out of this play is the struggle between one's loyalty to the state and one's loyalty to one's family and the dilemma that one will face when the state passes a law of which you do not approve. The question that is raised is: do you dishonour the state by breaking the law and honouring your family, or do you dishonour your family by upholding the law even when the law is unjust. In a way, there was nothing wrong with Creon's law, since Polyneices was a traitor, and treachery is seen as one of the worst crimes to commit (even today, though the definition of treason has become very ambiguous in the globalised, interconnected world). However, he was still family, and not only that, Etocles' ascension to the throne was dubious at best. The entire war was not so much about a deposed monarch seeking reinstatement, but rather a family quarrel between two brothers.We still face these dilemmas today, though not to the same extent. The question of whether the drug laws are just is one of them (and I do believe that they are, even though they can be considered to be an outworking of the Nanny State). While it is true that people should be left to make their own decisions, we demonstrate time and time again that we are actually not capable of doing so, therefore the state actually does need to step in to protect us from ourselves. Then there is the war that the state embarks on that many members of the state disapprove of, and as a loyal soldier to the state, do you obey the state by embarking on a quasi-legal adventure, or do you uphold your morals by refusing, and face punishment or even gaol.Creon mentions a number of times that he, as the king, is the state, and thus his laws are to be obeyed. However, ironically enough, the Chorus objects to this. Now the Chorus does play an important role in Greek tragedy, and usually represents what the Greeks call the 'Oklos', or the crowd. Crowd is actually a rather bad translation as my understanding of the Oklos is that it is a crowd that acts as a single entity and has a single mindset. Now, this is not always the case in Greek tragedy as at times the Chorus will split and then argue with itself, in a way representing division amongst the people. It is a shame that we do not actually see Choruses in plays any more (or not playing a major role as they did in Greek drama).Now Creon, having become king, has pretty much become corrupted by power. Yet I am not entirely convinced that it is corruption at such an early stage of his reign. In a way, he is the new king, and he wants to stamp his authority on the city, or, as the Greeks called it, the Polis (I won't go into details of the meaning of this word as I have already spent too much time translating Oklos). For him to be disobeyed will suggest that he does not actually have the character to be a king. A king that is not obeyed and not respected is not actually a king because he has no authority. As such Creon wants to make sure that his authority sticks so when this law is broken he is forced to act. However, he is not caught in a dilemma deciding whether it is right to punish Antigone or not - he has already made up his mind, set the path that he wants to travel, and travels down it. However, it ends very, very badly for him, and this is emphasised at the conclusion when the prophet Tiresieus arrives and passes on the message from the gods. He has acted against the proper way and is now to be punished and there is no way to escape from it.
    • 4/5
      Read for my Law, Justice, and Morality class.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book, a great ending to the story.
    • 4/5
      The daughters of the late King Oedipus. Antigone and her sister Ismene are all that's left of the former ruling family. On the throne is Kreon, brother of the late Queen Jocasta, their mother. He is a military man who demands complete obedience from his subjects, who know his punishments are severe. When he declares that the body of his nephew Polyneices will remain unburied due to his unworthiness, it forces Antigone to break the law and openly challenge Kreon.This is the story of what happens after Oedipus Rex. In that play we see a younger Kreon, the soldier brother-in-law to the king, who himself challenges authority. Here, possibly years later, Kreon is a tyrant who refuses to listen as all around him counsel him to show Antigone mercy. The girl's character is held up as a noble sacrifice to show the danger of one man's absolute authority.
    • 5/5
      I actually read an online version of this text provided by my teacher as part of my Introduction to Drama course, so this is not the same translation I'm writing about, but is the same work. While I cannot be sure about this exact translation, I do know that the play itself is an excellent example of ancient Greek tragedy. Even more striking is the strong role given to the female lead, especially at that time in history. It offers a great historical perspective in general. If you are interested in drama at all, it is almost certainly a good idea to read some of the earliest examples, including this one. There are lots of good translations online, as well as in collections of dramas from ancient Greece and elsewhere, in addition to the stand-alone versions. In good translations, such as the one I was provided with, it is easy to read and follow, so there's no reason not to give it a shot. As someone who has read many ancient Greek dramas from several different genres, it's certainly one that I highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      I liked this the best of the trilogy - Sophocles gives the reader something to sink their teeth into. Fervor and love for family, country, and duty are major themes here, and are shown to give dire consequences (good and bad).
    • 5/5
      Antigone's story is a bit of a sad one. For those who haven't read it yet, I'm not going to spoil it for you. But keep in mind, there is a very good reason why it is required reading in many high schools. I read this one after reading "Medea," and I instantly become hooked on all of the Greek authors. Though relatively short compared to other works of that time period, the story is very profound, and tends to keep the reader hooked right up until the end.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this. It was short but interesting. Though it was written long ago, the characters are easily related to in today's world.
    • 4/5
      Haemon to Creon: That is no state Which hangs on one man's will.

      The BBC podcast In Our Time was recently on Antigone so...
      This is an 1865 translation of Sophocles' Antigone by E. H. Plumptre into Shakespeareian English. I liked it, and the introduction and biographical material by J. Churton Collins (died 1908) are very good. I did wonder if perhaps I too should initialize my first name and be M. Lawrence Mitchell, but I don't think it would have worked in my field, at least not in this century.

    Book preview

    Antigone - Sophocles

    Antigone

    by Sophocles

    Translated by Lewis Campbell, M.A., LL.D.

    EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS

    HONORARY FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD

    ©2015 SMK Books

    All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except for brief quotations for review purposes only.

    SMK Books

    PO Box 632

    Floyd, VA 24091-0632

    ISBN 13: 978-1-63384-963-1

    Table of Contents

    The Persons

    Scene

    Play

    THE PERSONS

    Scene. Before the Cadmean Palace at Thebes.

    Note. The town of Thebes is often personified as Thebè.

    Polynices, son and heir to the unfortunate Oedipus, having been supplanted by his younger brother Eteocles, brought an army of Argives against his native city, Thebes. The army was defeated, and the two brothers slew each other in single combat. On this Creon, the brother-in-law of Oedipus, succeeding to the chief power, forbade the burial of Polynices. But Antigone, sister of the dead, placing the dues of affection and piety before her obligation to the magistrate, disobeyed the edict at the sacrifice of her life. Creon carried out his will, but lost his son Haemon and his wife Eurydice, and received their curses on his head. His other son, Megareus, had previously been devoted as a victim to the good of the state.

    Antigone

    Antigone. Ismene.

    Antigone. Own sister of my blood, one life with me,

    Ismenè, have the tidings caught thine ear?

    Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute

    On thee and me, while yet we are alive,

    All the evil Oedipus bequeathed? All horror,

    All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now

    The General’s proclamation of to-day—

    Hast thou not heard?—Art thou so slow to hear

    When harm from foes threatens the souls we love?

    Ismene. No word of those we love, Antigone,

    Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two

    Were utterly deprived of our two brothers,

    Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day.

    And since the Argive host this now-past night

    Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me

    Nearer to happiness or more in woe.

    Ant. I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth

    The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear.

    Ism. Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.

    Ant. Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite,

    Of our two brethren honoured one, and wrought

    On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell,

    With lawful consecration he lays out,

    And after covers him in earth, adorned

    With amplest honours in the world below.

    But Polynices, miserably slain,

    They say ‘tis publicly proclaimed that none

    Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him;

    But leave him tombless and unwept, a store

    Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl

    That eye him greedily. Such righteous law

    Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof—

    Ay, and for mine! I am not left out!—And now

    He moves this way to promulgate his will

    To such as

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