Student Question
Can you explain the meaning of these quotes from Antigone?
"You have made your choice, your death is the doing of your conscious hand." - Choragos
"Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield." - Choragos
"If dirges and lamentations could put off death, men would be singing forever." - Creon
"It is the dead not the living who make the longest demands: we die forever." - Antigone
Quick answer:
The quotes from Antigone reflect key themes and character traits. Choragos highlights Antigone's agency in her fate, emphasizing personal responsibility. His "like father, like daughter" comment underlines Antigone's stubbornness, paralleling her father, Oedipus. Creon's remark about dirges underscores the inevitability of death, contrasting futile human efforts against mortality. Antigone's statement about the dead reflects her belief in the enduring obligations to the deceased, prioritizing them over the living.
That's a multi-part question. Please, only one question per day. But, I will try to explain these three characters' motivations.
Choragos: He's the head of the Chorus, perhaps the actor who carries the most clout. He's a intermediary between the actors and the audience. In fact, he represents the ideal Greek audience, someone who is logical and not passionate. He listens to reason and doesn't choose sides in the dispute between Creon and Antigone.
Creon: He's after power. He wants to re-institute law and order to the land after the bloody civil war that ravaged Thebes. By doing so, he becomes a tyrant who turns his back on his own family and the will of the gods. He is not swayed by mercy, and so he rules without regard for consequences.
Antigone: She has a death wish. She's the overzealous Romantic heroine who wants to live fast and die young. Yes, she's correct in her convictions, but she carries them out to dire ends. Like Creon, she's stubborn. She does not look for appeasement or moderation, and so she suffers from excessive pride.
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