Antigone | Antigone

Antigone

Enter ANTIGONE and Ismene from the palace.

ANTIGONE:
Ismene, my dear sister through common blood,
do you know of any evil from Oedipus
Zeus will not perform on us who still live?
For I have seen nothing—nothing painful,
nothing mad or shameful or dishonorable—(5)
that is not among your or my sorrows.
And now what do they say? The general
has just put an edict over the whole city.
Have you heard it? Or have you avoided
learning how our friends suffer the fate of foes?(10)
ISMENE:
No word of friends, Antigone, either
sweet or painful, has come to me since we
two sisters were robbed of our two brothers,
both dying the same day by doubled hand.
But since the army of the Argives
departed last night, I've seen nothing else,(15)
either to cause me to rejoice or to weep.
ANTIGONE:
I knew it! For this reason I brought you
outside the gates, that you alone might hear.
ISMENE:
What? You seem to ponder something deeply.
ANTIGONE:
Indeed! For of our two brothers, Creon(20)
gives honorable burial to one,
but dishonors the other. They say that
he hid Eteocles beneath the earth
with well-deserved pomp and circumstance,
as one honored among the dead below;(25)
but the corpse of Polynices, who died
so sadly, they say it has been declared
to the citizens that no one may bury
or mourn him, but must see him unlamented,
unburied, a sweet find for birds to feast upon.(30)
Such things they say our good Creon decreed
for you and me—for me, I say!
And he is coming here to announce it
clearly to anyone who hasn't heard,
for he considers it no small matter,(35)
but for the one who does any of it,
the penalty is death by public stoning.
There you have it, and soon you will show
how nobly you honor your noble birth.
ISMENE:
But what more, my poor girl, in times like these,(40)
could I do that would not tangle the knot further?
ANTIGONE:
Will you share in the labor and the deed?
ISMENE:
What is the venture? Where have your thoughts gone?
ANTIGONE:
Will you lift the corpse with this very hand?
ISMENE:
You want to bury him, although it's forbidden in the city!(45)
ANTIGONE:
I'll bury my brother—your brother, too,
though you refuse! I'll not be found a traitor.
ISMENE:
Madwoman, even when Creon forbids it?
ANTIGONE:
He has no right to keep me from my own.
ISMENE:
No, no! Think, my sister, how our father(50)
died hated and infamous from offenses
self-detected, smiting both his eyes with
his very own hands. His wife and mother—
both words at once!—took her life with twisted noose;
then, third, our two brothers in just one day(55)
slew each other, poor wretches, achieving
a common doom at one another's hands.
And now the two of us, left all alone—
think how very horribly we will die
if we go against the king's decree and strength(60)
outside the law. Rather, consider that we
were born women, proving we should not fight with men,
and that we are ruled by more powerful people
and must obey them, even in more painful things.
Therefore I ask forgiveness from those below,(65)
as I am forced to in these matters, and yield
to those who walk with authority.
For to do excessive things is nonsense.
ANTIGONE:
I would not order you; and if you change your mind
now, I would not have you do it with me.(70)
Be whatever you want, and I will bury him.
It seems fair to me to die doing it.
I will lie dear to him, with one dear to me,
a holy outlaw, since I must please those
below a longer time than people here,(75)
for I shall lie there forever. You, though,
dishonor the gods' commands, if you wish.
ISMENE:
I do not dishonor them, but to do this
against the state—I have no strength for it.
ANTIGONE:
Use that excuse, if you like, but I indeed(80)
will go and heap a tomb for my dearest brother.
ISMENE:
Alas, how I fear for you, daring girl!
ANTIGONE:
Don't worry for me; straighten out your own life.
ISMENE:
Then, at least, proclaim this deed to no one;
but keep it secret, and I shall do the same.(85)
ANTIGONE:
Oh, denounce it! I will hate you the more
if you don't tell these things to everyone.
ISMENE:
You have a hot heart for chilling matters.
ANTIGONE:
But I know I'll please those I should please most.
ISMENE:
If you can—you want the impossible.(90)
ANTIGONE:
Well, then, I shall stop whenever my strength fails.
ISMENE:
You should not start an impossible quest.
ANTIGONE:
If you say this, you will be hateful to me,
and the dead will hate you always–justly.
But let me and my foolish plans suffer(95)
this terrible thing, for I shall succumb
to nothing so awful as a shameful death.
ISMENE:
Then go, if this seems best to you, but know that
your friends truly love you, however foolish.

Exit ANTIGONE off stage, ISMENE into the palace, after which the CHORUS marches onto the stage.

CHORUS:
Str. 1
Ray of the sun,(100)
fairest light of all those shining
on seven-gated Thebes,
at last you appeared,
O eyes of golden day,
coming over the streams of Dirce,(105)
you sent away the white-shielded warrior
from Argos, running from here,
with your piercing bridle.
He set forth against our land
because of the contentious claims of Polynices,(110)
like a sharply crying
eagle flying into our land,
covered with a wing white as snow,
descending with many shields
and crested with horse-hair.(115)
Ant. 1
He perched on the roof,
gaping wide with bloody spears
around our seven gates,
but then he went away,
before his jaws were filled with our blood(120)
or Hephaestus' torches could take
our crown of towers.
Such a clash of Ares swelled behind him,
a hard conquest for the dragon's rival.
For Zeus hates excessively(125)
the boasts of a great tongue, and looking on them
coming in rapid flow,
over-confident in clanging gold, he threw down
the one rushing with brandished fire
to the top of his goal,(130)
seeking already to proclaim his victory.
Str. 2
He fell in an arc to the hard ground,
torch in hand, the one who with raging onslaught
furiously was breathing
with the rush of the most hateful winds.(135)
But, those things went otherwise,
and great Ares sent them to
various fates, smiting them,
our chariot's strongest horse.
Seven captains at our seven gates,(140)
marshaled against equal foes, left
to Zeus the router bronze weapons,
except those two wretches, who were
born of the same father and the same mother,
standing against each other with doubly slaying spears,(145)
they both took an equal share of their common death.
Ant. 2
But since great-named Victory came,
rejoicing in answer with Thebes of many chariots,
let us enjoy oblivion
of the recent wars(150)
and let us go to all the temples
of the gods to dance through the
night, and may Bacchus, who
has made Thebes shake, be our leader.

Enter CREON from the palace.

But here is the king of this land,(155)
Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new leader
in this new situation given by the gods.
What plan does he hold
that he proposed this gathered
council of old men,(160)
summoning us by proclamation?
  • king of the gods, often portrayed as the supreme arbiter of justice and destiny
  • See “Mythological Background” for the story of Oedipus.
  • Creon
  • a decree
  • The Greeks thought that the gods communicated to mortals through birds. Different birds indicated different things, as did the actions of those birds. Since tiresias is blind, he listens to the birds' cries for oracles, but tiresias is an especially powerful seer and could prophesy just as well without birds.
  • See “The Importance of Burial” for information on Greek burial practices and the role played in them by women.
  • Greek has many words that indicate pointing. Antigone here would take Ismene's hand and indicate it.
  • See parodos in “The Chorus”
  • one of the most famous landmarks of Thebes
  • argumentative
  • the god of fire, often used as a metonymy for fire itself
  • the god of war, particularly its irrational aspect; often used to suggest war itself
  • Legend said that Thebes was founded when Cadmus sowed a field with the teeth of a dragon, out of which sprang the citizens of Thebes.
  • Chariot racing in the ancient world always placed the strongest, fastest horse on the right end. There were four horses to a chariot, who raced side-by-side.
  • The victor in combat often dedicated the spoils of his victory, usually his opponent's armor, to a god in gratitude for the victory. Zeus the router would be a common choice for this dedication.
  • the god of wine and intoxication; son of Zeus and a mortal princess of Thebes, hence his close association with Thebes
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