Antigone Seth Bernardete Interpretation Vol_4-3 5.1 5.2 2r3x7

148 SOPHOCLES'

A READING OF

ANTIGONE: I

Seth Benardete

1.1.*

1 (1).

Antigone

Ismene

meets

the

outside

the

of

gates

royal

She usurps for the planning of her crime the place Creon had designated for his own meeting with the elders (33). As they converse without any chance of being overheard (19), they must be imagined to meet in semidarkness, before anyone has set out for work (cf. 253). The

palace.

Chorus, at any rate, wiU greet the sun as though it has just come up (100); and it is still early enough for them to convene at the palace without

introduces

theme

the

Ismene. "O my very Ismene,"

play

own sister's common

head is

of

manner Ismene."

of

held

not

addressing The "head of

in

and which makes

her

individually

the togetherness

on

Ismene"

by

supphed

sister's

head,

matter what

common.1

to that part of Ismene that most distinguishes her from

(cf. O.C. 320-1, 555-6),

lovable (cf. 764), at the same time that she insists Ismene and herself. The link between "head of is

Antigone

semidarkness

her

characterizes,

appeals

everyone else

with

"common"

which

Antigone

the

of

In this

(164).

notice

undue

attracting

Antigone

avxddeXov.

just because

and not

she

and

Ismene's head

recognizes

loves

some girl called

of

"common"

as

Ismene,

a no

her genealogy, does she address her in this way. Antigone's as a person is mediated through Ismene's kinship with

love for Ismene

and not only mediated through, but identified with, that kinship; for Ismene's head is avxddeXov, nothing but a sister's. Ismene is herself

herself;

*

The text

however, any

connection

have

Each line

1

is Pearson's OCT

in

or

his

except where otherwise

readings wherever

between the reading

ed over

numbers

for

used

not always accepted

my

chosen and

I

am

indicated. I have myself,

silent, for if I did not see

my interpretation

of

the age, I

own preference. of

group

lines interpreted is

parentheses after

it. Each

given a section

paragraph of

every

number,

section

is

with

the

line

numbered as well

ease of cross-reference.

Nauck

'Iap.r)vqg xoivdv

recognized

xaoa

were

the

the

lurks the incest

accidental

that the

peculiarity

same

of

as

Oedipus;

periphrasis

of

xoivdv

Oidlnov

'head

cf.

but

xixvov

not

would

OT 261-2, OC X'

of

occurs

only in

its

significance:

xoivdv

be in

533, 535. It is Sophocles'

only if

order. no

Oedipus

In

doubt plays

(Euripides has it only thrice: Tr 661, He 676-7, Cy 438), but it seems more significant that in the vocative the phrase is restricted in classical poetry to Ant 1 and

OT 40 (Oedipus), 950 (Iocasta), 1207 (Oedipus). Eur. Or 476 is very different: xaqa (Tyndarus); cf. Or 1380. The normal usage is either

Zr\vbg 6fi6XexxQOV the

person's name

in the

"head"

an adjective plus

vocative

by itself.

followed

by

"head"

with a

qualifying adjective

or

A in

being

Only

a sister.

to Antigone

a sister

Reading of if Ismene

Sophocles'

wiU

149

herself to be nothing but continue to love her.

acknowledges

Polynices

and

Antigone

Antigone

Ismene the individual, with such and such bodUy characteristics, is loved because she belongs to the same fanuly as Antigone. Her distinc tiveness merely signifies for Antigone her hip in the fanuly that Antigone loves unreservedly. Ismene can, therefore, be readUy sacrificed for the sake of her fanuly, particularly as the semidarkness in which she and Antigone meet partly conceals her distinctiveness along with the reasons for it. One

1.2.

Antigone's

whether

Ismene of

as

wondering, in hght

help

cannot

that necessarUy

and the self

a

virtual

does

relation

is involved in her

what

Antigone

1.3.

Polynices'

Eteocles

(899, 915),

and

1.4.

each

Polynices

are

Her brothers

of address.

the

soul,

foreshadow Antigone's understanding Polynices.

not

head:

someone's

Eteocles'

and

of whom she caUs xaalyvnxov

That

xaqa.

dead in no way changes Antigone's manner in death their individual loveableness.

keep

also

avxddeXog

body,

burying

twice more to

refers

the

of

importance in a play about burial, identification of Ismene as her self with are of

twice more,

occurs

once

by

Antigone (503),

by Haemon (696), and both times of Antigone's burying Polynices. The substantival use of avxddeXog indicates that Antigone

and of

once

dared to

bury

Polynices solely because he was her brother, of Thebes had no part in her daring (cf.

Polynices the enemy 1.5. play:

Words

2

compounded with avx

(1028),

avdadia

her

parents

and

and

avxdvofiog

avxd%eiq

Antigone's

about

herself

She does

could

have,

that

not

her

with

use

say,

as

hand.

own of

her

reveals

that there is nothing painful, not seen.

avxoyevvnxog (864), avxdyvcoxog (821), avxdnQe/ivog (714), avxovqydg (306, 900, 1315). Of these Antigone

her three siblings, avxoyevvnxog of the incest avxd%eiq of her performing the funeral rites for

brothers

2 (2-10). 2.1.

in talking

particularly frequent in this

are

avxddeXog of

her mother,

of

that

15.3).

avxddeXog,

(875), avxoxxoveco (56), (52), avxdwQog (51), uses three:

and

verb

a

kinship

Ismene's

phrase

has full knowledge She does not speak

she

suffers

accordingly.

instead

of

oticoti).3

ovx

If

she

had,

awareness

of

of

she would

(dnwna)

her father. She

dishonorable that

or

shameful,

of

with

(16-7) every

says

has

suggests that she possible

suffering

have

she

(*

evU

and

ov

itted

that

she

in Ismene's sorrows, and that her suffering is not just her own. But in spite of xoivdv in the first line and her use of the dual for shares

2

For the meaning

griechischen

of

such

compounds

see

F.

Sommer, Zur Geschichte der

Nominalkomposita, 83-6.

Cf. the imitation in Dio Cassius 62.3.2 (cited by Bruhn): xi [iiv yao ov xcbv ov x&v SXylaxmv nendyQa/xev ; and El 761-3 (3>v omarf iym xaxcbv), where seeing is opposed to hearing. 3

rid'

alo%ioxct>v,

Interpretation

150 Ismene the

herself

and

her

and

evils

(vcov),

o&v

xe

between

Antigone distinguishes

Zeus has

fuUy in

evils set

brought to

by

motion

(Polynices).5

friends

Their

xajxcov).

distinct from

are

evUs

(cf. 31-2).

start

2.2.

distinguishes between Ismene's

she nevertheless

(xdiv

own

for Ismene

completion

that

evUs

and

herself,4

that

and those

that are approaching their Polynices do not belong to

(Creon)

their enemies

The

from Oedipus

evils

the

await

is Zeus the cause of them. There cannot be anything painful or disgraceful in Creon's decree, since Zeus faUed to inflict no evU that could possibly arise from Oedipus, and Antigone has seen every disgrace and pain there could be as already among Antigone

Ismene,

and

nor

the evils that are Ismene's and her

however,

Antigone's actions,

own.

Polynices'

evUs and her own evidendy belie any separation between (cf. 48); but she has to it, even if only tacitly, that there is a evUs as her own difference between them, and that to count is to enlarge the domain of her own (cf. 238, 437-9). Polynices'

2.3. their the

Antigone

in

moves

this

speech

in Oedipus

origin

single

from

belong tly

that because of

the evUs

Ismene

to

herself,

and

living offspring of Oedipus, to the two sets of evUs that she as belonging severaUy to Ismene and herseh, and from these

stUl

observes

(the only

to evils

without

xaxd

the

article) that

Polynices.

threaten

The central xaxd, in separating Antigone's and Ismene's evUs, to Antigone's subsequent shaking off of her living connection Ismene

not

burial

of

his

war

she

caUs

Boeckh's

todt,

waren sie

standing

the

to

which

as one of the evils

to Oedipus

by name.) being deprived

Polynices'

taking

Her only

vwv

reference

to

it is

suppressing any direct

By

Ixi t,dioaiv

as

keep

them

throughout the play

and

genitive

<6oaiv

rather

oblique:

mention of

dative

than

ihren, (209); cf. 925-6. Schneidewin-Nauck, Wolff-Bellermann, Miiller; Jebb's inter

enemies

are

1080-3 (cf.

of

(8).

leicht Uebel begegnen

So the scholium;

pretation

between

it is dative: "derm der Zusatz

nicht

refers

disregards here

occurred.

general

for

reason

convinces me that

5

just

Creon the

Creon's decree again

with

Polynices.6

the dead

the son of Oedipus. She is able to

altogether

she

never

connection

any

being

that has

the

4

and

because

apart

of

aware

with

consider

not

from Oedipus. (She

are

She is

her fate

ing

Antigone does

2.4. that

her

and

point

J. H. Kells

all

the

ware

nichtig,

weil

konnten"

Argives left

55.5). The

objects

exi

apparent

unburied

redundancy

rests of

on

xcbv

(BICS 1963, 40-53), if Antigone

a

misunder

ixOQ&v xaxd,

means

that

their

inflict evils, is only apparent; for Ismene does not know that Creon is their enemy, and Antigone would hardly it that Zeus is their enemy, despite his having inflicted evils on them. In light, however, of 23 and 79 xcov ixOgcov enemies

should of

75 6

not

and

be taken

89

should

The importance

H. St. John

as

a

generalizing plural, any

be taken of triads

Thackeray (Proc.

as referring of

more

than xovg lXovg

every kind in Sophocles

British

in light

exclusively to Polynices.

Academy XVI, 1931).

was

cursorily treated

by

A

Reading of

Sophocles'

Antigone

151

the war, she suppresses as weU the rivalry of Eteocles and Polynices for the throne of Oedipus. Her sUence about the war and the cause of the war thus leads to her

sUence

three

about

that Polynices

things:

killed in the war and did not just die in some miserable way (26); that Polynices attacked and Eteocles defended Thebes; and that Eteocles and Polynices kUled one another. We learn of aU this from Ismene, the was

Chorus,

Creon but

or

never from Antigone. Antigone fact that Polynices lies

the

everything except 3 (11-17). 3.1.

abstracts

from

unburied.7

Ismene at once thinks of pleasure and happiness disaster (13, 17). She does not speak of dishonor Creon, who thinks solely of honor and dishonor (cf. 4.5) uses aXyog or any of its derivatives stands at one extreme,

as weU as of pain and and shame.

he

never

Ismene, who speaks solely of pleasure wltile Antigone, who speaks of and acts

and

and on

pain,

the center, where pain and pleasure, honor and

3.2.

In

cannot

an

does

for the better in her

conceive, especiaUy

not

3.3.

with

carry

Ismene

that

says

They

To have

means

brother

a

puts

an

only

refer

her that the

brother's), occurs

axeqeoi

son

of

of

and Antigone have been deprived of from now on without any brother (58). to have a living brother (cf. 48.7). Death she

of

her

Hades'

corpse she

she

whether

body,

question of

t

it

of

Antigone

reports

asked to

does

help bury

not

wish

is her brother

it to be (43-6). 9

Antigone (574);

and

Creon

says

that

Antigone

(890). Death, then, in aU three loss (cf. 575). But Haemon is not

unqualified

his bride; the messenger, at any rate, says that he house the marriage rites (1240-1). Haemon's loss is ceases

soul,

any

is

she

can

sojourn on earth

qualified.

Ismene

then might

be

mistaken

to have her brothers with their death.

The 1.2). be decisive (cf. earth is absolute and does

and self would once again

Antigone's loss, however, not

if

Ismene

1.3). Antigone

twice more. The Chorus ask Creon whether he

in thus (at least metaphoricaUy) obtained

to

Creon's decree, of alive (exi cboaiv)

are

even

to entaU an

seems

totaUy deprived

as

of

stiU

the

But Antigone

earth.8

deprive his be deprived

cases,

not preclude

to any relationship that obtains on to her brothers in the past tense (55; cf.

must remind

wiU

are

end

(not just her

wiU

herself

occupies

meet.

circumstances.

her knowledge

and

the other,

it any hope.

their two brothers.

3.4.

with

future. That Ismene

open

dishonor,

Antigone says, Ismene does

spite of what

of a change

possibUity

stands at

both principles,

of

sojourn

a

qualifications

(cf.

on

46.6; 47.4).

that Creon intends to announce his decree to those who

have

it (33); she, no more perhaps than those from whom she heard it, has any suspicion of, or any interest in, the political reasons for Creon's convocation no

knowledge

of

the Chorus. 8 9

rrJG

of

Cf. PI. Lgs. 959c2-dl. Cf.

schol.

ovyysvetac.

45:

x&v ftij ngocmoifj iycb Bdyico xdv i/tdv

avxdv elvai adv adeXdv xai

adv adeXdv.

&XX'

dXXoxoiotg

aavxijv

Interpretation

152

Antigone's

4 (21-36). 4.1.

Creon's

compared with

begin the Antigone died

be

must

to the Chorus (194-201). Both

that they diverge. way ('ExeoxXea fiev), but after he Creon's explanation for his honoring Eteocles behalf of his country and proved to be the best warrior justice.10 calls Creon's just use of law and

same

replaces

fighting

on

ironicaUy

she

what

with

Creon's decree

of

presentation

own presentation

She thereby suppresses any mention of the war and the city, about which it would have been difficult to be ironical. Antigone never casts doubt on patriotism. Creon hid Eteocles, she then says, below the earth honor among the dead below. Creon, however, says that he had ordered Eteocles to be hidden in a grave and sanctified with dead. Antigone disregards aU everything that goes below for the best endowed with

the rites that accord honor to Eteocles

Eteocles in must

his

or confuses through

connects

war with

the

dead; but Creon the exceUence of

Eteocles among the dead. Antigone Eteocles among the dead from whatever

exceUence of

honor

the

separate

among the rites

mention of the

of

if he had hved; but Creon must hold 209-10). The city must for him keep itseh intact therefore cannot be more exactly determined; it is only below. an extension in depth of Thebes. For Antigone, however, who with Ismene (65) alone specifies that below means below the earth (cf. 26.2),

honor he

would

have

obtained

together (cf.

them

"Below"

burial

means

restricted

4.2.

The

surface

word

of

the

its

and

The city is

concerns.

earth.

for the dead below is the

is it taken for

of

plural

that corpses

granted

little does the language itseh indicate

so of

from Thebes

removal

much

so

corpse,

a

to the

what

the

for

word

buried

are

and

the condition might be

the buried dead.

4.3.

Antigone

says

Creon forbade

that

burial

the

Polynices'

of

corpse; Creon says that the burial of Polynices is forbidden. Antigone seems to separate Polynices from his corpse; Creon, in order to justify

his vindictiveness, seems to identify them; but Antigone speaks of the haplessly dead corpse of Polynices, as though his corpse and not Polynices had

vexvcov

It is

that there is

nor

enaUage,

died.

and

suffered

xaxaxedvncoxcov.

If

a

not

haplessly

kiUed

to say that she of

one unscrambles

the point both equally disappear.

the

enough

reminiscence

Polynices,"

for

is

Homeric

speaks

by

expression

the phrase, the pathos and

She does she

the

not

not out

mean

"the

to vindicate

corpse

of

Polynices'

Polynices"

death. Jebb's translation, "the hapless corpse of is right, but "hapless" if adds that refers to the living. Antigone one only properly

10

Line 24

(dixal

seems

xQriodcov

to be

xai

thetical comment on and

164

vdfiog n.l.

see

the

hopeless; but I

Sgxoigi): ihg

Xiyovoi

should

%or\oQ(ov

avv

ages collected

suggest, in light

dtxal

xai

dixn. For the

v6/j.

of

Thucydides 5.18.4

as

Antigone's

coordination

by R. Hirzel, Themis, Dike

of

paren

dtxaiov (dlxrj)

und

Verwandtes,

A

of

catachresticaUy, for neither she why, apart from the law, a

must speak ever

Sophocles'

Reading

explains

that there

Antigone

153 in the play be buried. No

nor anyone else

corpse

must

in Hades (cf. El. 841, 1418-9), whose burial of corpses here.11 No one speaks of this kind of separation of body and soul (cf. El. 245-50). In the absence of any such , Antigone attributes everything that belongs to Polynices to his corpse. His corpse is in and of itself the object of her care. one says

4.4.

Antigone

Creon

mourner's

Creon is

precise

aspects

before,

exovxpe

and

of

dayviaai before. Antigone is the rites to be denied Polynices.

about

that

ritual

are

not

connected

the

with

(cf.

sorrow

Creon

whereas

souls

on the

xaXvrpai, as she had said

says

those

omits

living

xxeoieiv, as he had said

says

vague where

She

are

depends

ittance there

says

3.1). Both say /iijde (xe) xmxvaai xiva, but Polynices is to be left unburied, Antigone adds

that he is to go unwept. Perhaps Creon omits the prohibition

weeping because,

possible to regulate

against

lamentation (xcoxvaai), it is almost im (cf. H 427; PI. Lgs. 959e7-960a2; Cicero in Pisonem

unlike

ritual

8.18). 4.5. Antigone says the proclamation was made to the townspeople, Creon to this city (cf. 7). It seems to mark a great change in Antigone

finaUy

when she

calls

the Thebans citizens

(806,

cf.

30.2).

79, 907,

4.6. Antigone says Polynices is to be left for the birds, Creon says for the birds and dogs; and according to the messenger, who is altogether truthful (1192-3), he was torn apart by dogs alone (1198, cf. 1017, 17.3). Antigone says that corpse has been left to be for the Polynices'

birds

as

their

at

by

a

treasure-trove

sweet

pleasure.12

birds

and

dogs

the

dead

Creon

says

whenever

that

the

they descry him

body

to feed

is to be left to be

on

eaten

disgraced in its mangling. For Creon the is done for Antigone men, seeing by by birds; hence Creon considers the disgrace and Antigone the pleasure. For Creon the eating of Polynices is like the burying of Eteocles: a manner of showing honor or dishonor

for

what

into

seen

stood

for. But for

Antigone,

who

sympathetically

birds'

perspective, the eating like the burying is a trait belongs to the corpse itself. The sweet treasure-trove that is Polynices

enters that

and

indicates 11

the

the

preciousness

Polynices

of

even

dead.13

though

Antigone

Cf. M. Pohlenz, Die Griechische Tragbdie, 195. Aeschines, in commenting on absolves a son whose father has sold him for purposes of prostitution

the law that

from taking rites,

says

6

rjvlxa

xo

care of

his father but

that this prevents the

fiev

evegyexov/tevog

ovx

still ens

him to

father from profiting aloddvexai xcav eS

bury

him

while

naa%ei,

with

alive,

xijxaxai

the customary

and when

dead,

di 6 v6/iog

xai

Oeiov (1.14). i2

For the

naxrjQ

oBv

dmsiQ7)x6xeg is

feeling

ox

xai

expressed

firjxr]Q

ij

in

Orjaavgdg

rcrdrcov

see

Eur. EI.

naxiqeg rj /inxiQeg iv

565;

PI. Lgs.

931a4-5;

olxta xslvxai xeifitfXwi

yriQq.

Compare

Philoctetes'

address

to

the

birds

no

longer

afraid

of

his

bow:

Interpretation

154

his

maintain

can

He is

consumption.

does

corpse

an

second visit

have

hiUtop

retired

to

a

not

contemplate

birds. The

the

his

corpse as

439e7-440a, Xen. Cyrop.

(cf. PI. Rep.

disgust her

not

does

she

inexhaustible find for

1.4.24). On her to the

because

preciousness

to the putrescent corpse, when the guards

to avoid its

(411-2),

stench

she pays no attention

stench.

Nonadverbial %dqig

4.7.

Antigone how

twice

occurs

can

she

honor Polynices

he

owes

(331),

and

Creon

asks

grace

that

his brother

the guard

more:

to the gods for saving his life

much gratitude

with

a

says

finds impious (514). The guard's %dqig is in exchange for a favor received, and the favor Antigone renders Polynices is at least partly in exchange for the loving reception she wiU receive after her death reciprocity.

dweU

Perhaps

lovingly

so

corpse renders

this selfless

without

Antigone

makes

it, for in revealing a preciousness in his corpse be in its nature to have, it cancels out any defects

have had

might

generosity

is

the birds

Polynices

of

upon

that seems not to

Polynices

Polynices'

the favor

9.4); but

(cf.

when alive

15.3). Antigone

(cf.

might thus

showing favor to what in way favored. She might then deserves to be apart from the even law, itself, come a second time in order to feed her eyes on the corpse that she the burial

regard

of

thinks of as fuU

by

of

Polynices

as

28.1).

(cf.

grace

of

a

4.8.

For Antigone's calling Creon the

4.9.

Antigone

pubhc stoning.

Antigone is

show

not mention

see

17.5.

she

the punishment; and indeed

in that way (cf.

Antigone lays

whether

Creon,

that the punishment for disobedience is death

Creon does

not punished

5 (37-8). 5.1. is to

says

good

was

down

born

Antigone disregards the incestuous

14.1, 43.1).

a

noble

for Ismene,

challenge

base from

or

marriage of

her

noble

parents.

who

parents.

They

were

noble, and nothing prevents their offspring from being noble; rather, it is to be expected that blood will tell.14 Not until her own death is very near

does Antigone of

the

it that

6 (39-40). 6.1.

Ismene

ioMExe,

vvv xaXov

brilliant flesh";

dvxlovov

not

one

her

Antigone

xoqioai ngdg xdoiv

"discolored

is to think

najxalvovxag (A

arrjQeoi sardonic

(cf.

X

73;

100;

Tyrt.

of

xexvojioiovvxai, ovg

oTioiEiodai.

parents

has been the

source

daring

flesh"

regard

(cf. 42, 47). xaXaiocov herself (866, 876).

mouth of

i/idg his

aagxog aloXag (1155-7).

own

consumption with

xaXov

horror.

(for which, see E 354) but "gleaming/ dgyixi drj/i (A 818) and Homer's own

Patroclus'

E 295; Soph. Tr. 94-5), which is not merely 7, 21-8). Andromache's lament for Hector also contributed to M 208) expression.

cf.

fr.

(X 509; cf. Cf. Xen. Mem. 4.4.23: ra&s

aldXoi evXai edovxat

14

calls

that Philoctetes does not wholly

aagxdg aldXag is

natdeg

of

for her (857-66).

twice more, both times in Antigone's

occurs

shows

the incest

most painful concern

Philoctetes'

o$v,

iri ['Inniag,

ye ovdev xcoXvei

dyadovg

oSxoi [yovelg Svxag i dyaBdiv

xaxcog

avxovg

xai xexv-

A

She first

Sophocles'

Antigone

155

herself

xaXalqwv because she was born from incestuous because she is going to her death unwept for, without unmarried. Her origin and her fate equaUy constitute her

caUs

parents,

and then

friends,

and

Ismene

wretchedness.

Antigone

Reading of

Antigone i

calls

xaXalqwv

apparently

because

to believe that in the circumstances there is somehow

seems

for their doing something that would reveal their nobihty or baseness. Perhaps she implies as weU that there is something strange for the offspring of an incestuous marriage to talk of nobility at aU. room

Whom Antigone

be

might

her

all

She

7 (41-8). 7.1. up

daring

asks

do,

and what she suffers

have the

daring

and

plainly to wash but Ismene's refusal to

and

Ismene dress it, as

help

would would

her to

compels

source

same

as

birth.

by help her

wretched

whether

the corpse,

(cf. 1201);

might

be both

might

Antigone

dares to

what she

Her

piece.

a

wretchedness.

lifting

from,

came

of

in be customary the

abandon

giving Polynices aU the rites she gave Eteocles and her parents (901). Her faUure, then, to stress the rites in reporting Creon's decree seems to anticipate her faUure to perform them. thought

7.2.

of

Antigone teUs Ismene

that the corpse is their

to the city, it

cannot

that

brother; be

no

prohibition

concerned

alter

can

the fact

does not belong with the prohibition. Despite the no one will be uninformed about

that as the

and

corpse

Creon is taking, so that his decree (31-5), only Antigone and Ismene wiUy-niUy are involved. If Antigone acts so as not to be convicted of treachery to her own, special care

that

cannot

7.3.

make

Ismene

daunt her; he cannot

her

asks

a

Antigone

and

traitor to the

Antigone replies

her from her

keep

city.

Creon's

whether

does

prohibition

not

that as Creon has no share in her own,

own

2.2). If Ismene had said,

(cf.

as

does later, that it is a prohibition of the citizens (79), would Antigone have given the same answer? She does not in the dispute that foUows argue against Ismene's identification of Creon and the she

citizens;

indeed,

she

later

it (907). Whether the city is competent should receive burial proves not to be the

accepts

or not to determine who issue between the two sisters.

Ismene's

8 (49-68). 8.1. an



the

of

second matches

they

three

that triad with three

The first

parts.

brothers

and

mother,

for

reasons

gives

(49-57); faUure if

certain

Creon's decree (58-64); and the third gives the conclusion Ismene has drawn for herself (65-8). What holds the three parts

that

is

(pqdvnaov

central

she and

They their

is in

father,

go against

together

but

speech

the fate of their

Ismene's

triple

(49), ivvoelv

thought,

and

Antigone

alone

can

concludes

fanuly (3,

are

%qr\

what

the

continue

differently. cf.

appeal

(61),

occupies

to ovx

the

sole survivors

it. Antigone As they

3.2), they

must

are

reasonableness vovv

e%ei

center of their starts

the

and

ovdeva

prudence:

(68).

Her

her speech, is that famUy (cf. 548, 566).

of

from the only

same

living

them. Ismene

premise



sees

the

of

farruly

Interpretation

156 as

their

sees

she

(53),

generations

of

confusion

first

who

mentions

in Hades (73-76;

copresence

Oedipus'

897-99).

it is

generations

of

succession

a

(568). Antigone

Haemon

892-94,

cf.

that succession

so

is

by togetherness, finds its proper extension in Antigone's refusal to think of any future apart from the dead. Her name, whose meaning proves bears witness to "generated in place of

replaced

succession,15

another"

to mean

antigeneration. Oedipus'

8.2.

for, his

and self-punishment

self-discovery of,

crimes, fratricide are

sons'

Jocasta's

balanced in suicide, whose

by hanging, play by Creon's

the

mutual

his crime, Eurydice's groups is Antigone,

acknowledgment of

Haemon's. The figure that links the two

and

by hanging

suicide

Haemon

their

and

suicide

Eurydice,

and

her mother's,

recaUs

those

occasions

brings home to Creon his

and

of

crime.

The only historical present Ismene employs in this speech is to Her describe Jocasta's suicide: Jocasta "treats hfe in a despiteful 8.3.

way."

life

outrage against

Her daughter, 8.4.

at

Ismene

due

was

any rate,

gives

a

to a

perhaps

embodies

threefold

and

power

tends

to

1292a4-37);

democratic

a 17

be identified. The

to

seem

be

but the

16

tyrants."

confusion

law

of

despite the law

we

of

shaU

Law, decree,

law

decree

and

3.37.3-4; Arist. Pol. power is tyrannical. If,

(cf. Th.

assumption

confusion

transgression

their

what

of



in if they buried Polynices: "if the decree or powerful authority of

50.3).

(cf.

revulsion

a

would consist

transgress

against generation.

revulsion

such

and

foUows Plato's Thrasymachus, the identification of aU however, three is a necessary consequence of asserting that justice is the advantage one

That Ismene is indifferent to the differences among has no illusions about the foundations of the city.

the stronger.

of

them

shows that she

8.5. give

hence

by

There

are not

those

painful

The first is

fit to fight men;

who are

stronger,

who

Ismene does

ExUe,

painful thing.

8.6.

pause.

things.

any crime, (cf. 3.2).

two other reasons

are

Antigone

might

Antigone

slavery,

be

and

may

not

or

death,

herself in

the

were

second

cause

reckon

more painful.

sets

that, according

that they

to

Ismene,

born

is that they

them to

if imposed

Their future

opposition

are

and

ruled

to still more

submit

Creon's decree

should

women

the most

as

without their

can

committing be better or worse

to Ismene's understanding

law, nature, and strength. Against the city's law she pleads a higher law; she shows herself, though not perhaps in Ismene's sense, as strong as or stronger than Creon; and as to her being by nature a woman of

15 16

Cf. Wilamowitz, Aischylos Interpretationen, 92 n.3. Schneidewin as an alternative gives the correct interpretation

kann Ismene oder 17

auch

Gebot des Cf. K. J.

meinen,

nenn

du esyijog

Machthabers."

Dover, JHS 1955,

17-20.

oder

of

the

xodrtj, gesetzmaBige

tj:

"Doch

Verordnung

A

Reading

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

157

is eloquently sUent. She never uses the word yvvrj, though it occurs times in the play, nor any of the foUowing cognate words (whose frequencies are shown in parenthesis): ylvog (7), ylyvofiai (6), yeved she

eighteen

(3),

(3),

yovr\

yevvnfia

she use words

to be tested

(2),

(2),

ydvog

compounded with

yheBXov

the root

yev-

:

(1).

Only

does

thrice

the nobUity

evyevrjg

Ismene (38), avxoydvvnxog the incest of her mother (864), the gods who are her ancestors (938). Between divine birth in the distant past and possible proof of being weU-born in the immediate future lies the marriage of her mother with him to whom she had given birth. The suppression of that link between the future and

and of

of

nqoyevrjg

the

is Antigone's

past

which

acknowledges

8.7.

own name and nature as

the paradoxical

comes

not

denies

as she

consanguinity

Ismene is

ground

impressed

by

believes that those beneath the

she she

them,

asks

Antigone, but

soften

Her

she

the

cites

(cf. Th. 4.98.6).

strength

she

the head

the

triple

generation

not

soften

if,

pardon

law,

of

out

fuUy

as

l.l).18

(cf.

her

expect

it to

She

bury Polynices;

to

need

constraint

expect

antigeneration,

actions.

earth wiU grant

Ismene does

does

her

of

her rovg

nature, argument vnd

for

when and

to

yfiovdg.

Antigone's intransigence to Polynices and the nether gods forces Antigone to give the first of her three major defenses (69-77, 450-70, 905-15). If the obhgation to bury one's own is not absolute, Antigone is planning to do what is superfluous (neqiaad appeal over

of

nqaddew)

9 (69-77). 9.1.

Antigone begins very severely. She wiU no longer help should Ismene later change her mind. If remorse overtakes her, Antigone wiU not grant her pardon. We do not know as yet whether Antigone's denial of repentance has the sanction; but that Creon's remorse, which foUows so quickly on his reiteration of his intransigence, does not alter the truth of prophecy, Ismene's

accept

gods'

Tiresias'

would

to

to

seem

defect in

the

Tiresias,

confirm

the

Antigone's

rejection

of

Ismene. One

apparent

Antigone, that if Creon had submitted at once suicides of Antigone, Heamon, and Eurydice would

plot

of

have been averted, seems in fact to argue for the agreement with Antigone. As soon as Creon issues his decree he already is too late. The irrelevance of time makes known the eternal presence of the gods. gods'

9.2.

A story in Herodotus illustrates this (6.86). A Milesian who of the justice of a Spartan and knew the stability of his

had heard

requested that

country

when the

is

The

MUesians'

strongest evidence of

(at least

most of

Ismene

as

Antigone

he hold in safekeeping later to

sons came much

it) is

mature and

Wiener Studien

the

the genuineness

contrast

women; for

ask

Sophocles'

his wealth; but sum

invention mainly

see

Septem

Antigone

consists

Eteocles;

deposited,

Aeschylus'

of maidens and

Aeschylus'

of

for the

the ending of

between the Chorus

giving her the attributes

1967, 22-30.

of

one-half of

S.

and

in unsexing

Benardete,

Interpretation

158

the Spartan denied that he had

Delphic

oracle what

disappearance pardon, to

of

he

should

his race;

do,

it; he decided, however, the

and

whereupon

oracle

"To

de

\xd

(rj

act are

IJvdirj \er}

the

ask

the Spartan begged the god for

which the oracle replied:

equivalent"

to

threatened the complete

make

trial of the god and to

deov

xov

neiq-ndfjvai

xd

xai

dvvaada). If the story seems to explain the inevitabihty of Creon's punishment, it stUl remains doubtful whether Antigone justly extends the principle to include Ismene, whose constrained faUure to 'iaov

noifjaat,

comply with divine law is not the same as Creon's wilful obstruction of it. This doubt is the first indication we have that Ismene stands next to Antigone as the most important figure in the play. That Antigone in

her last

tacitly denies her very

speech

importance (941,

cf.

existence

her

stresses

only

599-600).

Antigone invokes the noble (xaXov), the dear (iXov), and the in her defense. Antigone does not say that once she has buried Polynices it is fair and noble for her to die or be kiUed, but that it is fair or noble in doing it (xovxo noiovarf) to die. Antigone borrows the language appropriate to the patriotic soldier whose dying on behalf of his 9.3.

holy (ooiov)

country

coincides

with

his

(cf. 194-5; Ai. 1310-12). With her she later says, gainful, for her

fighting

task accomphshed, it may be good, or as to die (461-4); but for it to be noble, there

between the burial

of one's

imagine her

burying

does

so

(data

act of

not

means

to

way to

enough,

then,

piety,"

criminal

nothing in the

an act of

be

must

and one's

own

a

necessary connection death. Antigone must

fighting. What

shows

To do the

navovqyqaaaa.

a

holy

place, for example; it does

things

perform some pious

deed (cf. 256,

one must

performance of

be

even more things"

holy burying

holy

not mean 1349).19

to translate Antigone's phrase paradoxically as

but

that she

holy

to avoid committing any offense against the

profane

go out of one's not

as

is her saying data

dqdv)

things

own

to

It is

"by

my

literal: "having stopped at (cf. 300-1). Antigone thus

into something much more akin life in battle. Creon surely makes that transfor mation possible; but one wonders whether Antigone does not need Creon in order to be what she is. transforms the to the risking

ordinariness of

of one's

9.4. It is not easy to say how Antigone understands the connection between her saying that it is noble to die in this way and that she wiU he dear with him who is dear. Does this mutual dearness foUow from the nobility of her death, her death simply, or her piety? Antigone seems to supply the missing connection herself: "since it is for a longer time that I must please those below than those here, for there I shaU always 19

Cf. E. Fraenkel, Ag.,

vol.

difference between Antigone's the

Corinthians distinguish the

hurting

others;

such

Xen. Mem. 4.4.11.

a

2, 355; K. Latte, Kleine Schriften, 337. For the

phrase

and

Saia doav

performance

distinction does

not

of

see

Thucydides

justice from the

normally

exist

in

1.71.1,

abstention

sacred

where

from

matters;

cf.

A he."

The

supposed

Antigone does of

piety forever. She

in

Sophocles'

however,

for

makes

the

159 perplexity.20

a new

those below because her

she must please

pious proposition

they demand is holy

what

Antigone

forever, but because

them

combines

because

more

connection,

say that

not

please

wiU

Reading of

she

that

with

wiU

he

she please those

act

them

with

below

the hope that she wiU be

them for a longer time. She omits from the holy," "more because what they demand is and re places it by "for a longer that properly belongs to her hope. The holy thus turns into a means for making herself dear; but it can only be

loving

pious

communion with

proposition

time"

through Creon's decree. Creon is essential to Antigone's obtaining something for herself in nobly devoting herself to another. The holy entirely resolves the usual tension between the noble and the dear. such a means

can mean dear as a friend is dear. Antigone seems here to use the word in both meanings at once. She wiU he with those who love her through what she does for them, and she wiU he with those who already love her. She must first, to re her own, acquire them as friends. Antigone proves her right to be by deed what she already is by

9.5.

The

is dear,

or

birth. She which

9.6.

reconstitutes of

(cf.

her

It

as one's own

as something into which one freely becomes a matter of choice. It is this her awesome uncanniness (376).

fanuly

the

own almost owes

is

xeiaoyiai

as

live but he

not

wiU

and

ambiguous.21

dear

Antigone partly

She

"lie dead

is

tXog

can mean

Antigone's

yrjoaaa.

grave

word

The love

enters.

to

it

buried."

with

Polynices;

Antigone's imagination does

4.2). She does

not animate

her data

as

extraordinary

and

not go

dead, but thinks

the

navovq-

"he"

suggests

beyond the

of

their

state

4.3). If, however, one transposes the relation between Antigone and Polynices into a living one, Antigone then seems to be speaking the language of lovers: "I shall lie asleep, dear (cf. Aesch. Ch. 894-5). Per as I shaU be, with him who is dear to different from

as no

corpses

(cf.

me"

haps

neither of

herself

these

the language

case

extremes

understands what she

of

incest

exactly defines

says, but it should

way in which Antigone be accidental that in her

the

cannot

with

coincide

the language of the

grave.

9.7. things make

Antigone

mentions

to men, the dead, draws the eyes of

20 21 vol.

the gods last (Ismene never

they hold in honor. The noble, up together xd xwv Betov evxifia and men

the gods,

(cf.

dear,

the

; but if

as certain: ndxeo

is

assertion

modified

by

502-4),

are

does)

holy

and

the

probably

severaUy

assigned

say that Antigone's nobihty her dearness elicits the love of the

that q>lXog never lXe

they

the

one could

Cf. R. E. Wycherly, 1947, 51-2. On its Homeric usage see E. Benveniste, Le

I, 335-53; but his

and

but /j.fjxeQ

vocabulaire

means

by i/itf.

des institutions i-e,

one's own cannot

be taken

Interpretation

160

dead,

her piety is

and

confirmed

Punishment

remorse.

the

impious

the

of

by

gods'

refusal

Creon's for piety

to accept

gods'

is the

reward

(cf. 927-8). In Plato's Euthyphro, Socrates forced Euthyphro to

9.8.

choose

be

tween saying that the holy is holy because the gods love it, with the consequence that the holy loses its unity in the contradictory affec that because it is or the gods love the tions, holy, with the conse holy gods'

dispensable

quence that the gods are

guides

Now in trying to understand Antigone perplexity. Is it because the holy is or

commands,

what she wants

for understanding what it is. to be caught in a similar

we seem

holy

that

Antigone does

what

it

because the

holy just happens to be in accordance with to do that it looks as if she is obeying what it commands?

We surely are not now in a position to justify our choosing either answer; but the parallel with Euthyphro indicates why in part Socrates and Euthy satisfactory definition

phro cannot arrive at a

wholly fails to occurs.22

omitted

relation of

on

Antigone

supplies what

in

the other

hand,

the

is

the holy. The dialogue

to the soul:

yivxrj

never

concerned with almost no other

Plato thought it best to omit,

In the Philebus, Socrates lists

threnos,

eqwg,

we should

the soul.

seven

occasions

experiences a mixture of pleasure and pain:

dqfjvog,

nddog,

of

and even

a

itself

by

holy

way that Plato did mostly approve. Plato, indeed, may have what he recognized the tragic poet alone could supply.

9.9. soul

the

Antigone,

question.

perhaps

consider

t,f\Xog,

ddvog (47el-2).

be inclined to

call

them

Were it

not

on

which

the

dqyrj,

dfiog,

for the

central

all ions or affections of

Threnos, however, is not an affection but the expression of an the soul. It is, strictly speaking, the Greek equivalent to a

affection of

dirge and, more generaUy, any kind of lamentation.23 In its general sense it can accompany any of the affections that Socrates lists; indeed, accor

ding

to

strict

Socrates, comedy

sense,

however,

a

too is a kind

of

threnos (50b 1-3, c5). In its

threnos is the artful and conventional expres

in song of the sorrow one has at a funeral; but no word in Greek any other language that I know of names the unexpressed sorrow one has in the presence of death. That mourning for the dead is primarily the sion or

that mourning

expression

of

artful

conventional,24

and

primarily

at a

funeral

the

soul are

As

these aspects

all point

necessarUy only

(nevdog),

and

and

come

that its expression is primarily

that the

occasion

of

its

expression

is

to the possibUity that certain aspects of

essentiaUy linked with poetry and convention. to hght in poetry and convention, to divorce

from poetry and convention is to destroy them. And yet to leave them in (and to) poetry and convention veUs the seeing of them as them

22

I

23

Cf. E. Reiner, Die Riluelle Totenklage der Griechen, 4-5. Cf., e.g., Aeschines 3.77: nolv nevBfjaai xai xd vo/ii^6fieva

24

owe

this insight to Professor Leo Strauss.

noifjaai.

A

they

in themselves.

are

reveal them as

them,

imply

Only

they

10 (78-99). 10.1. cerned with the nature

Reading of

are

a

in

Sophocles'

very

artful poet

161 without

could,

destroying

themselves.25

The thirteen

feasibility

Antigone

that foUow are mainly con

speeches

Antigone's

Ismene says that she is by incapable of acting against the citizens, but that this does not that she holds in contempt xd xwv dewv evxi/ia. Her submission to

Creon is

of

plan.

based on any agreement with Creon; as far as her intention is on Antigone's side. According to Antigone, however, Ismene forward her natural inabihty in order to conceal her contempt for not

she

goes, puts

the gods hold honorable. She herseh

what

wiU

tomb for her dearest brother. Antigone's

The

ability.

guard reports

(249-50);

unbroken

Polynices is

proceed

to

language far

that the ground around

the work of

men

many

up a her

Polynices'

corpse was

the tumulus that Creon later has

and

heap

outpaces

(1203-4). Antigone

raised

might

for

then be

loosely one of the many ways of saying that she wiU bury Polynices; but the intensity of her desire to carry out her conventional duty tends to restore to the casual usage of everyday its fuU meaning using

(cf.

9.6). If than

greater

she cannot

Ismene's,

in fact do

whether

unclear,

moreover,

burying

Polynices. If

to do, her abihty is no be judged solely on intention. It is succeeds in even a minimal way in finish the rites on her first attempt, she what she plans

and she must

she

did

she not

is prevented by the guards from doing so on the second; and if she did finish them on her first attempt, it is hard to understand why she returned (cf. 25.4). There is a further difficulty. If the guards in sweeping away the dust she had sprinkled on corpse nullify her act of as the need to him again burial, implies, one must strictiy say that bury Antigone's plan fails. Ismene, then, would rightly insist on their own Polynices'

If those below look to intention

weakness.

(cf.

9.1, 9.2), Ismene

would

be

and not

guaranteed as

to accomplishment

loving

a reception as

Antigone. would

Only if they demand that one attempt to do the impossible she be inferior in their eyes to Antigone.

10.2. not

There is

even

along

with

the

to

the

up Athenians later rals'

terrible possibUity: that those below

Antigone's



daring

but

wUl

condemn

Ismene for her faUure. This possibUity depends

understands pick

a stiU more

take into

Athenians'

condemnation

corpses

after

the

repented of their

defense did

battle

decision,

not at once convince

of of

on

how

their generals for

wiU

her one

failing

Arginusae. Although the

one wonders

them: that the

why the

gene

onset of a storm

foiled their attempt; or, as their advocate puts it, incapacity does not argue for treachery (Xen. Hell. 1.7.33). What made them go against their own law, which laid it down that the accused should be tried individuaUy?

25

in

it is revealing that Plato has his Athenian Stranger

order

dicting

to illustrate the advantage

a poet claims

himself (cf. Lgs. 719bl2-e5).

use

the example of

to have over a

legislator in

burial

contra

Interpretation

162

If intention, then, does not suffice, nor incapacity be a plausible excuse, when one is dealing with holy things, but only the strictest conformity to the law is innocence, Antigone's superiority to Ismene would lack

divine

sanction.

It

be

would

to

closer

madness.

Colonus, Oedipus Theseus grants him

the sanctuary of the the Chorus protection, Eumenides; ask that Oedipus purify himself for his violation. When the Chorus have carefuUy explained the ceremony, Oedipus turns to his two daughters

In Oedipus

10.3.

at

profanes

Athens'

and after

to do it for

and asks one of them prevent

him: "For I beheve

to pay this debt even for ten task and leaves; and the next men

have

ever

did

since his lameness and blindness is enough, if it be gracious there, (498-9). Ismene assumes the

him,

one soul

thousand"

thing

we

hear

about

her is that Creon's

her (818-9). One may wonder then whether Ismene to purify her father. If one grants that she may not have,

captured

get

Oedipus'

discards the possibihty of Oedipus' intention to be purified and

would

remaining to the end unpurified, be equivalent to his purification.

be the case, Ismene again would merit as much praise for holiness as Antigone. The extremes of Arginusae and Oedipus at Colonus show, if nothing else, how hard it is to understand what holds together If

such

the nobihty and the piety

of

Antigone.

10.4. Ismene is afraid for Antigone, a fear that Antigone takes to be Ismene's fear for herself and the truth of her natural inability to act despite the citizens. She bids Ismene to keep upright her own fate. is usuaUy not thought of as something over which mortals have (cf. fr. 871), nor is it usual for it, without a qualifying adjective (cf. Tr. 88), to lose its ordinary sense of evU destiny or death; indeed,

Tzdxjiog

control

neither usage seems uses

to

occur anywhere else

Tidx/tog twice more, once of the

in the

tragedians.26

Antigone

that attends the house

destiny

of

Labdacus (860), and once of her own death for which no friend mourns (881). Antigone, then, might be doing more than taunting Ismene for her cowardice. Ismene need not fear for Antigone because her deed and its consequences are her fate and nothing can alter it (cf. 235-6); and Ismene is blind if

she supposes

that her fate is under her own

control and not

simply a part of the doom inherent in her fanuly. If the first of these implications holds, Antigone would seemingly be choosing her own fate (cf.

9.5);

awareness

she

is

and

if the

second

that what she plans,

and whence she came

10.5.

is willing to do

26 even

this

as much

counsel

of

Pindar, however, has remotely

likewise, as

not

to teU

will show

she can

prudence

several

would

and suffers

here

betray

is bound up

her

with who

5.1).

Ismene begs Antigone

that she herself will do

scorns

(cf.

holds, Antigone does,

of she

her plan;

hopes,

and

that she

to further her plan; but Antigone

and

instances

under one's own control.

anyone

Antigone,

bids

her

of neutral

to

denounce

her to

ndx/iog, but none where it is

A

Reading of

163

Antigone

have a plan; she only has an inten her word, Antigone would have faUed at her first attempt. She would not have done anything for Polynices. Antigone seems to regard it as essential that she be caught and as

Antigone,

everyone.

then, does

Sophocles'

tion. Had Ismene taken her

inessential that

not

at

One thus begins to

she succeed.

understand what she meant

by saying that for her to die in burying Polynices, or rather, as we must now translate, in trying to bury him, is noble (cf. 9.3). That she wUl stop

nothing does

at

easily

gets

away

Creon's

of

10.6.

with

not entaU

it,

for her the

which cannot

preparations

and

but

use of craft.

amaze

Even so, Antigone

us, especially

after

hearing

to Ismene's plausible demurral.

listening

Antigone's indifference to getting

caught provokes

Ismene into

saying that she has a hot heart for cold things. In the context of the play, Odysseus'

in hght of pun on \pv%rj and ipv%og (x 555), one cannot help but understand Ismene as saying that Antigone shows aU the artless intensity of life itself in her devotion to the heartless coldness of (cf. OC 621-2).27 Ismene now the law about corpses and "dead and

souls"

realizes

that Antigone is not just

the

fulfilling

of

requirements

a

law,

compliance with which, she might weU think, does not have to dispense with cunning (cf. Her. 2.1218 e). A cool head may strictly preclude a

but it surely does not check one from the performance of a Antigone's reply as much as its (dXX') the discrepancy holy between the subjective heat in her concern and its objective coldness; but she reconcUes them by saying that she knows she is pleasing to pious

heart,

rite.

those

whom

most

she

of

aU

Her gratifying

please.

must

of

the dead

between the law and her ion, for the law seems to be the formulation of the duties of familial love. If one looks to the bene ficiaries of the law, its coldness vanishes in their warmth. mediates

Antigone

10.7.

says

that

she

knows

is pleasing,

she

not

that she

be pleasing, to the dead. For the first time she uses the present tense in speaking of how the dead wiU regard her. Her use of the present tense can be understood in two ways: either her intention by itself, wiU

regardless

of

its accomplishment, is

Ismene takes

desire, for,

as

the

it,

present

nothing

can

tense

enough

reflects

vividness

possibly frustrate her

imagines the deed already done. Ismene ment alone can warrant

to please the the

Antigone's

dead, of

or,

as

Antigone's

(navovqyijaaaa)

,

she

now thinks that the accomplish

confidence

in her pleasing the dead; much less than what is

depends on her ability, which is that only Antigone's love of the impossible can explain her readiness to try at ah. Antigone does not deny the charge; she merely says that her efforts wUl come to an end whenever she loses her strength. so

and that

needed

Antigone she

does

liness

27

of

seems

to maintain that the

not expect

hunting

On the

attempt

is all-important,

and

that

to succeed. Ismene then points to the utter unseem

out

the

impossible;

ellipse with yivxeoioi see

and

at

this suggestion that what

A.D. Knox, CQ 1931, 208.

Interpretation

164

is

she

ignoble, Antigone

is

doing

earn

the immediate hatred

The

reward

abstention

hate in

loving own

of

for Antigone's

equaUy depend

turns

and

attempt

and

the same

on

Ismene is

vindictive:

Antigone

the

lasting

hatred

the punishment

try

faU, they love

and

death. Ismene's

inabihty

natural

those to

who

for Ismene's

love

or

the impossible. In

deliberately

commit

to

Polynices.

those below

principle:

accordance with one's willingness to go after

those who

certain

of

suicide

their

seek

justifies her

punishment.

10.8.

Words

Ismene,

thrice

Ismene

says

the citizens

with

by

the

the

/nrjxav-

stem

Chorus,

and

occur seven

times,

(1) she is naturaUy without a /inxavij to (79), (2) Antigone is in love with things that have that

(92), (3) it is

unseemly to hunt

by by Creon. thrice

used

once, between the two triads,

act

despite

no

p,r\%avf\

that have no firjxavij (92); man prevaUs over the mountain-ranging beast

the Chorus say that

out things

(1) (349), (2) man contrives his escape from diseases that have no p,n%avf\ (363), (3) man has in the fnqxavai of his art something wise beyond hope (365); and Creon says that there is no firjxavrj for knowing

by

firjxavat

a man's

fvxtf, qdvrj/ia,

(175). Ismene's triad

and

yvw/j,n

before he is tested in

impossibles is

of

diseases"

pubhc affairs

Chorus'

by the means "seemingly

matched

triad of

device-less possibles, for their "device-less diseases." The one strictly device-less occasion that confronts man is death (361-2). Antigone's love, then, of the impossible is her love of death (cf. 220). Her hot heart for Bavelv

; and this eqwg,

ration of

her

10.9. coming

in turn,

the

impossibility

things is precisely this eqwg xov the antigene-

name.

Antigone in her love of

cold

spells out one consequence of

of

impossible

the impossible and man in to

refute

Creon's

his

assertion

over

of

the

soul, temper, and judgment apart from but if one takes him to mean by extension rule;

knowing

the exercise of political

of

seem

a man's

that only in confrontation with the city can man be known, Antigone's artless defiance of the city and artful man's neutrahty to the city (365-70)

which goal.

Creon correctly

understands the city as the indispensable The city somehow stands between the daring for only death is a limit and the daring for which only death is its If, moreover, Antigone's love of the impossible does not just

suggest

that

touchstone

of

man.

accidentaUy express itself in an unrealizable attempt to obey the divine but there is some connection between them, the city would stand between the human that defies the impossible in one sense and the divine that demands the impossible in another. The city would owe both its existence and the precariousness of its existence to the impossible

law,

demanded

by the gods and the impossible defied by man as man. As the city cannot be without both of these impossibles, so it cannot submit itself entirely to either of them. Antigone thus seems to be defending unreservedly one basis defend unreservedly.

of

the city that the city itself cannot afford to

A

Reading of

Sophocles'

1 65

Antigone

10.10. In saying that she wiU not suffer anything as terrible as an ignoble death, Antigone comes close to forgetting her intention, for she imphes without knowing it that the most terrible thing she could suffer

would

be

not

transfers the nobihty

Polynices'

of

her

lack

burial (cf.

of

to the nobUity

action

2.2, 8.5). She death, as if

her

of

only her death could testify to the nobihty of her By ignoring Ismene's suggestion that she practice a

action

9.3).

(cf.

minimum of guUe

(if guUe is not too strong a word for it), Antigone blurs the issue between them. The alternative to a noble death is not an ignoble death but life (cf. 555); and hfe in one of two ways: either to abandon her intention entirely

and

live on,

ignobly

or make

an

attempt

to get caught. Antigone rejects both ways, but

as not

way

she

in

such

a

ironicaUy

first way her dvafiovXia when it applies without any irony to her rejection of the second. Her lack of any plan guarantees her death even if it also guarantees her faUure to carry out her intention. calls the rejection of the

10.11.

Of the

seven occurrences

ndaxeiv, five

of

are

in the

mouth

Antigone (96 bis, 236 [guard], 926, 928, 942, 995 [Creon]). She begins by ordering Ismene to let her suffer "this terrible and of

thing,"

ordering the Chorus to

by

she ends suffers at

the hands

way to her indignation

gives

ironicaUy

xovxo she

the truth. xaXcog Oaveiv is

at

her

to her

refers

later be indignant

she can

see what

of what sort of men.

at not

she, who

Her

suffering.

noble

death

reverenced

scorn of

With

suffering

nadeiv

xd

piety,

finally deivdv

(xaXwg davelv); but if

her suffering, its literal meaning must be the equivalent of nadeiv xd deivdv xovxo,

for death in itself does

not it of nobihty, any more than nobUity any (as Antigone knows and Creon does not) when 4.1). One can show nobUity in the action that one is dead (cf. precipitates one's death, or if the action accompanies it, even in the

can

be

dying

of

9.3), but

itself (cf.

Because Antigone

pretends

not otherwise

(cf. Plato Phaedo 118a6-12).

that her action and her death wiU be simulta

neous, she can now hide from herself the knowledge of what it for her to die (cf. 36). Her ionate obedience to the law burial, which is in keeping with her vivid awareness of what it to be dead (cf.

10.12.

4.5),

Ismene

perhaps even thrives on

ends the stichomythia

had introduced it. Her

dXX'

el

doxei

in the

this

means about means

self-delusion.

way that Antigone Antigone's ool el

same

d'

aoi

echoes

Antigone's apodosis accused Ismene of in honor, Ismene's apodosis teUs Antigone hold dishonoring what the gods that she is dear to her friends knowledge the secure in to proceed, Ismene thus separates what famUy). whole their and (Polynices, herself,

doxel

(76); but

Antigone dearness

must and

that

madness

She

seems

whereas

hold together. Ismene

the piety of Antigone (cf.

sees

no

between the does not think

connection

10.3), for

she

fit with piety, however painfuUy it can with dearness. forget that there is such a thing as divine madness.

can

to

11 (100-61). 11.1.

The

old

men

who

make

up the Chorus

are

Interpretation

166

peculiar greatness, for she is the only Greek tragedy who does not have a chorus of women to console her. Ismene is a token of what such a chorus would be like; hence it is plain before the Chorus enter that Antigone does not need the kind of consolation that only women could give. extant plays lacks the vocative plural of Antigone alone of

the

Antigone's

of

measure

suffering heroine in

extant

Sophocles'

iXog (cf.

45.1).

11.2. As a hymn of patriotic thanksgiving the parodos could not be bettered; and the same appropriateness holds true for aU that the Chorus sing. Man's skillful daring, Antigone's fatal madness, Love's power, Antigone's predecessors in suffering, invocation, to Dionysus'

these

of

each

the Chorus

themes

the

give

perfect

Their

expression.

Chorus'

individual

is partly due to the refusal to compromise with each theme. Each is in turn the whole truth; none is put within a horizon larger than itself. WhUe the Chorus are thus as extreme in each

in

perfection

case

Antigone

as

does

moderation

not

Creon consistently

or

far

perspective makes them

from

arise

is, than

more moderate

their

continual

either can

the steadiness with which

shift

be. Their

they

adhere

to sober views, but exactly the contrary. The Chorus effortlessly move from the unlimited power to man (first stasimon) to the unlimited

Eros (third stasimon), for they

power of at the

in

Adaptability, perhaps

been

of

they

brilliantly

empty in the

major

which

but thoughdessly,

makes

totaUy

The last

parodied.

component

mouth of

sohdity, then,

are

persuaded of each

any thought to their reconciliation. to a large extent consists, has never

never give

which moderation

so

is the

moderation are

and

moment,

in

words

happiness,

the Chorus (cf.

of

are

65.1). The

aUows

11.3.

The threefold

her

which the sun answer

aU-night

gates

has

and

profoundly

whose speeches shines

through

accidental con

of Thebes (compare the threefold holds the parodos together: Thebes for

mention

yfj)

never shone more

to the joyful presence

celebrant

from the

moves

lack

the Chorus can never understand.

mention of

in

true as they Chorus'

them to speak

paradoxicaUy it the right Chorus for Antigone, accurately reflect her soul. The law Antigone obeys Antigone. That her hot heart for cold things is not an

junction,

the play, that

as

dog, edvQng)

whose

ruler

night whose

of

wiU

beautifully (102), Thebes joyous Victory (149), and Thebes the

be Dionysus (153). The parodos sun (note the threefold avev,

terrors the

has dispeUed to

the night that promises

forgetfulness

them. As the first strophe thus corresponds to the last antistrophe, so the first of the anapaestic systems, which refers to Polynices, his of

quarrel

with

third,

which

of the

two

and

Ares,

Capaneus

Eteocles, and his marshaled army, corresponds to the describes the Argive panoplies left behind and the death

brothers;

and

the first antistrophe, which mentions

corresponds to the second and

Ares. The

second

strophe,

anapaestic

Hephaestus

describes nvqdqog system, which is the center which

A the

Reading

Sophocles'

of

167

parodos'

seven parts, is devoted to the overboastful (cf. 1350-3). Within this

of

Antigone

Zeus,

lightning

whose

"ring-composition"

punishes

the parodos

from the war itself, over which the gods Hephaestus, Ares, Zeus preside, to the victory and its aftermath, which the gods Zeus, Nike, and Bacchios determine, with ''Aqr\g degidaeiqog effecting the transition from the first triad to the second. The first triad of Hephaestus, also moves

and

the fire

of

in retreat,

the enemy's

torches, Ares,

Zeus the hurler

and

the

the enemy's army

clatter of

lightning

of

against

Capaneus,

seems

to receive in the second triad their equivalents for triumphant Thebes.

The

Bacchios eXeXlxBwv is to lead replaces the thud of faU (dvxixvna ya) ; the renown Victory /jteyaXwvvpiog brings replaces the ndxayog "Aqeog, and the trophy of brazen armor dedicated to Zeus the god of rout replaces the fire of Hephaestus, who is now to be thought of as ^aAxev? (cf. 52.4).

dancing

Capaneus'

flaxxevwv

1 1.4.

The

parodos'

movement from dxxlg deXiov to %oqoig 7iavvv%loig iXeXlxOwv Bdxxiog paraUels the movement of the play as a whole: from the time just before dawn to dawn (cf. 1.1), to high noon, when a sudden dust storm heralds Antigone's return to corpse (416), to Antigone's departure from the hght of the sun (808, 879),28 to the

and

Polynices'

Chorus'

in

invocation

of Dionysus as choregus of the fire-breathing stars, honor the frenzied Thyiads dance all night (1146-54). The

whose

Chorus

seem

to sense from the start the way in which the day wiU owe this prescience entirely to their absorption in the

unfold; but

they

demands

the moment and

They

of

say everything in

one

to any insight into the nature of things. way or another that has to be said about

not

Antigone, even to the point of duplicating here the rhythm of the playi but they never understand anything of what they say. They are the

being

mouthpiece of wisdom without

wise themselves.

They

thus aUow

Sophocles to be always invisible whUe being always present. If Antigone finaUy becomes entirely transparent, so that she can be read off as easily from her surface as from her depths (the first indication of which

is the meaning

of

her name), Sophocles,

throughout opaque, since

every

on

the other

manifestation of

his

hand,

wisdom

is

remains

cut off

Perhaps, then, the ultimate conflict does not consist in that between Antigone and Creon, or even between the fanuly and the city, but between Antigone and Sophocles, of whom one is always what she shows herself to be, and the other is never what he shows from its

source.

himself to be (cf. 37.5). 11.5. that

The

shows

different name

is

ways or

or mode of

28

The

one trait of the kind one usuaUy calls poetic astonishing virtuosity. It characterizes in eleven the eleven different beings to which a noncoUective proper

parodos

the

has

Chorus'

can

be

given.

animation.

metrical shape of

(1)

It

seems

The

sun

808-9 is the

to display every possible degree hovers between being a signal for

same as

100-2.

Interpretation

168 Argives'

the and sets of

flight: it is seen, sees, moves, so fused with the metaphor

Polynices becomes

in motion; (2)

eagle

an

and the cause of their

flight

that the same

attributes

sentence

Hephaestus

to him what can only

to be nothing but

a name (3) than more is for fire (cf. 1007, 1126); (4) Ares, however, shghtly dvxmdXov to apposition in is for clatter of the ndxayog "Aqeog war, ("not an overcoming of its opponent the dvoxEiqio/J-a dqdxovxog which through the story of the serpent's teeth (cf. 1124-5)

to the eagle;

belong

seems

serpent"),29

galvanizes

Ares into

higher degree

a

Zeus is

have; (5)

ever

a

of

fully living

life than

a personification can

anthropomorphic

he hates,

god:

down the wicked; (6) the anonymous Capaneus hears, sees, (^axxevwv) is something more than human: he is divinely inspired as he blows blasting winds of hatred against Thebes; (7) Ares hke Polynices is fused with the metaphor of a trace horse, which in turn and strikes

is fused

with

that

of

a

charioteer

and

as

warrior,

though

Ares

were

the moving spirit of noXvdqpiaxog Thebes (149); (8) Zeus who turns tide of battle is the god whom one honors with trophies; (9) miserable Polynices and Eteocles are entirely human, born from

father

same

feels,

and

earth

is the

god

the

death; (10) Nike brings, sharing her feelings of joy; (11) Bacchios who shakes the to whom one prays to be present at the night-long

dances. It is extremely difficult to for

the

a common

and mother and

shows

the

does

know

this

arrange

series

the

on

any

scale

of

be based.

being, If, however, one dares to test them against the consistently literal, the degree, that is, to which the Chorus themselves might subscribe to a literal reading of their language, the Chorus would it perhaps that Polynices and Eteocles (9) are farthest removed from Polynices the eagle (2); the clatter of Ares (4) from Ares the trace horse, warrior, and charioteer (7); Zeus the god of rout (8) from Zeus the god of just punishment (5); Bacchic Capaneus (6) from Bacchios himself (11); piney Hephaestus (3) from the eye of the golden day (1), and the victory Capaneus strives to announce (133) from Nike who rejoices in one

not

on what principle

the

joy of Thebes (10). Now in a play 4.3, 9.6), being of a corpse (cf.

we

are

the

presented

at

the

start

with

scale should

whose unstated

it

such

cannot a

issue turns

but be

variety

of

relevant

ways

of

on

that

being

alive, from the poetic Polynices to the prosaic Polynices and Eteocles (with many shades between), especiaUy if one recalls Antigone's rj i/j,r] fvxr) ndXai xeBvnxev (559-60), which plainly upsets any 44.2).30 ordinary understanding of life and death (cf. d'

To the Chorus Eteocles is politicaUy negligible, so much so refer to him anonymously, without even etymologizing

11.6. that

they only

29

On

30

There

which

xelQCo/na see are

E. Fraenkel, Ag. 1326; here, Miiller.

several

other ages that confirm

the Chorus sing here: 487 (

the

significance

of

the ways in

29.3); 658-9 ( 39.3); 854 ( 46.7); 1007 ( 52.4).

A Reading of

his is

one

Antigone

169

(cf. Aesch. Septem 829-31),

name

and who along with his brother nothing more; he surely does not seem to Creon thinks, deserved the aristeia (cf. 4.1). The

(axvyeqoiv)

pitiable

be

Sophocles'

as

who,

and

Chorus, indeed, never aUude to Eteocles again, any more then they do to Polynices, neither of whom holds any interest for them, once they be the immediate

cause of anything. Now that they are dead (cf. 3.2). The Chorus therefore do not speak here they nothing of Eteocles as the former ruler of Thebes; Creon is now the king, and cannot

are

concern is only for what he wiU devise for the new situation (155-61). That Creon deliberately convoked them because he knew of

their

to the house

loyalty

their

stranger.

What, however,

Eteocles'

aristeia, if not

ascribe the triumph of

has

no

place

fragments that

of

makes their sUence aU the

s

sUence

for

their

by

it (cf.

sUence

about

his rule, is that they Human exceUence

about

Thebes entirely to the and Ares directly

gods.31

in battle. To

participate

effectiveness

to

be mistaken, for the first stasimon but death. The Chorus, then, have merely

gods would

man

each of which

convictions,

provokes

11.7.

for their

the

limit to

no

(164-9)

from this that the Chorus hold human

be severely limited recognizes

Laius

somewhat

Zeus

where

infer, however,

of

lasts just

as

long

as

the occasion

11.2).

If the Chorus treat Polynices

more

fuUy

Eteocles, it is

than

any indignation at his treachery to his country, his impiety to the gods, or dehberate intent to commit fratricide (cf. 199-202), for not out of

they

make aU of out

single

only

the Argive army mdiscriminately guUty of hybris, and Capaneus for particular obloquy. The lacuna at 112

it uncertain, but it would seem that they do not hatred. Polynices is simply the leader of the

makes with

description

thus of

easUy

his

etymologizing for the

responsible

name particularizes

chosen

his

temper

of

ers

the

12 (162-210). 12.1.

his

of

first

and the

polis,

his

And if Creon

suggest

the

somewhat

about

Polynices

that Creon has not

cannot

gauge

bound to faU wUdly

seems

Only

him

and makes

mUdness, then,

whose

correctly the

short of

the mark

which

its

own

speech

falls into three

(207-10). Although the theme

occurs

the restatement

Creon's

main parts:

seven

times, twice in

each

of

the

main

and

(162, 167, 178, 191, 194, 203, 209),

his two sons; the

Cf. A. Maddalena,

Sofocle,

vol.

second

I, 55.

on man's

rpvxij,

is the

speech part

and

once

each part

triad on which it turns: the first part turns on the rule of

Oedipus,

the

(162-74), the principles of his rule (175-91), his rule (192-206), to which he adds a restatement

rule

act of

principles

in

31

wisely.

Chorus, he

the whole army.

him

Polynices

Argives,

he has to face Antigone.

legitimacy of

Chorus'

The

war.

of

indifference to Eteocles together

and their

when

into that

es

regard

has

Laius,

qdvnfia,

and

Interpretation

170 only the

which

yvtofirj,

Polynices'

exercise

triple crime,

third on

political

of

reveal; and the

can

rule

his country, its gods,

against

and

his

brother (cf. 27.1). Jebb's

12.2.

mistranslation of

out what one might otherwise after

by

gods."

the

then

and

Creon's

the

brings

speech

State,

the vessel of our

wUd

Creon,

(cf. OC 394). He thus

righted them

deprive Eteocles

of

to absolve

seems at once

any guilt for the war and victory. He goes much further than the Chorus

Polynices

for

of

"Sirs,

missed:

waves, hath once more been safely steadied however, says that the gods shook xd ndXeog

tossed on

being

the opening

have

of

credit

any

did,

who

only

the victory to the gods, but left the guUt of the Argives intact 11.6). Whatever reasoning led Creon to think that the gods were

assigned

(cf.

(Oedipus'

totaUy

curse

responsible

wqBwaav

compels

Oldinovg

wqBov

one

If,

as might

however,

of

his

own

knows

as

his

perhaps), his

sons

he

aUudes

says

mentions

r\vlx'

to the plague, it would be

the city

gods

and

Oedipus

possibihty, for both but Creon does

because

solving Oedipus solely to

to

demand the

loyal to the

royal

loyalty

not

accession as weU as

the

his

establish

of

family. One

bearing

of

Creon,

only does the recaU Oedipus

the

Chorus,

now sees

his

who

he

that Creon's

temporal clause about Oedipus aUows him to gloss over the Oedipus'

it.

righted not

discovery of his the legitimacy with him, and kinship

of

to the throne through his

right

were always

of the

or

riddle

accession own

of

aelaavxeg

four lines later,

either

preclude them

his

of

Creon

own crimes.

hence his

Oedipus

be alluding to

wqBov

because

either

of

that the gods shook

cannot

imperfect

of

when

that he shook the city it again, for he both caused and removed the plague. seem more likely, Creon alludes to the Sphinx, one would

righted

have to say

reflect

If Creon

ndXiv.

equaUy true to say and

to

irregularity

crimes on

his

sons'

The balanced phrases xovxo afflig suggest that is to insert mentaUy some form of line 166 after wqBov ndXiv, but, as Jebb remarks, this is impossible, as the xai of xdnel must link with wqBov. This grammatical peculiarity has the effect

pevxovx'

succession. one

diwXex'

Chorus'

suppressing any specific mention of the loyalty to Oedipus; instead, Oedipus and his sons are lumped together in the phrase xovg of

xelvwv

and

is

naidag, where

Oedipus

as

the

xelvwv

father

of

refers

to Laius as the father of Oedipus

Polynices

and

Eteocles.

Oedipus, then, Oedipus'

simply as an indispensable transition between Laius and sons (cf. 8.6). Creon is forced to adopt such involuted language because the Chorus could not have been loyal to Oedipus as the legitimate used

successor

to Laius

whose reward was

One

by birth,

but only to Oedipus the solver of Laius and marriage to his

the throne

easUy imagine that as hence his legitimacy was can

Oedipus'

soon as

crimes

of

the riddle,

own mother.

became

known,

confirmed, the Chorus ceased to be loyal to him, xelvwv should, but cannot, mean Oedipus and Jocasta, for only through his sister is Creon entitled to the kingship and

ironicaUy

A

Sophocles'

Reading

of

Antigone

171

(cf. 486). Creon does everything he

can to regularize the royal house abandoning the truth entirely. He tries to pretend that succession is through the male line only, so that the Chorus will not , as if they could ever forget, that Polynices and Eteocles were the offspring

without

of an

incestuous xelvwv

xovg

but he

cannot

Oedipus

5.1). He

Laius'

as

nor can

have

on the other

hand,

alone

he,

him to

stiU needs

given

was

to

Oedipus, loyal to the

x.x.n.

suppress aU mention

the fiction

maintain

understand

and

of

legitimately

through three generations.

As Creon

here

must

mistakenly describe as

would

which

son,

normal succession

the throne

the Chorus to

wants

meaning the descendants of Laius quite bring himself to say that the Chorus

meaning he needs; of Oedipus, for he 12.3.

(cf.

marriage

naldag as

loyalty

misrepresent the

Chorus'

the

loyalty fanuly,

line

of

succession, he

must

to the successive occupants

to the royal

which,

as

we

saw, it

of

could

have been. He takes their adaptability to circumstances for their firmness of principle (cf 11 He further does not seem to be aware that this attempt to bind the Chorus to him does not jibe with his attempt to be the spokesman for the city as a whole. If he calls the not

.

Chorus together because implies that the city has

.7).

their past

of

loyalty

had discordant

and

to the royal

elements

house, he it, some

within

have been loyal to the Labdacids (cf. 289-92). gains in significance, xd ndXeog periphrasis for the city itself; but, if the city is not a

of which are not and never

His first might

mention

be just

a

of

the city thus

single common interest, xd jidXeog is indistinguishable whole, from the present monarchical regime, and merely a euphemism for xd Aaflbaxibwv Bqdvwv xqdxn. Later, in the anger of debate, Creon wiU have to it as much and more (738), but now he cannot do so, for his title to rule must be unblemished; this, however, can be the case only if the royal house has consistently identified its interests with those of the city. Creon, then, has another reason for being so vague with

about

a

Oedipus,

as weU as

for

implying

Polynices'

innocence.

Polynices,

less than his brother, is needed for Creon's own succession. Their only crime is mutual fratricide, which, as Creon presents it, has nothing to do with the city and its troubles. no

12.4. other

how

Creon distinguishes foUows: yivxtf is

as

one ranks other

of one's

mUd,

devotion,

firm

devotion

or

and

the

things in

whether

weak;

and

and

fvxtf, qdvn/ua, what

it

one

is

relation

most

to

yvwfin

devoted to

it; S2

qdvn/ia

or

from

loves,

each and

is the temper

itself as intense or lax, savage or is the reasons one has for one's draws from it. Creon Ulustrates this

shows

yvwfin

consequences one

first about any ruler, xwv aqlaxwv fiovXevfidxwv 8ctxig...ajixexai...dXX'...exei expands takes up yvwytn, qdvn/Jia, and and then again about explains [t8iov'...vofiitei yvxv ; himself, triad in two

32

ways:

Cf. Dem. 18.280-1.

Interpretation

172

dv...owxnqiag is his

ovx

his

fjd'...7ioiov/ie8a

but

of

Creon does

a question of either

ruler as

the way

qdvrj/ia,

or

rpvxr]

loves. As the fatherland is to

ruled

and

for the

courageous

ipvxt]

the

see

and on what one

highest for both ruler

for the

are self-evident

judgment

rank

and

yvxij,

problem

they

yvwfin

reason, only the

same

has in

and

ruler

to be

addition

in warning against what threatens everyone's This is why Creon caUs his decree his qdvr]/j,a (207). is the political formulation of his yvx^j, is such an

and speak out

and yvwfj,n.

His decree,

not

one acts on one's

most

his

av...i/j,avxw

ovx

qdvnfia,

yvwytn.

which

courage, for the whole city never was particularly loyal to the Labdacids. It does not think so highly of Eteocles or so httle of example of

Polynices

Creon

as

12.5.

Creon

must.

caUs

his

ipvxrj,

and

qdvnfia,

his

yvw/in

vdfioi

because for him they mean his evvofxog yvxrj, evvo/uov qdvntxa, and evvofiog yvw/un. He therefore does not consider what relation obtains between the assumes

that

depends

on

with

which

vdfioi

of

they

are

the

the

in

it in

replaces

difference between city saying that Polynices have

through

persists

hatred

of

Hatred

the regime is

of

and

^fMv,

(182, 187). The

(194),

though metrically he could

most

its

whatever

present regime

prior

the fatherland is ipso nomine unpatriotic, but

often

Now Creon is forced to

agreement

to any regime and that which regime. (The Chorus in the parados never

all changes of

ndXig.)

ndxqa

his fv%r\

The city is

is, but the fatherland is thought to be mention

the

for he

city, an

plainly appears in Creon's his fatherland (199), but

the city

of

vneq/xaxwv.

such

destroy

fatherland to

But

with

ndXig

the

of

vd/uoi

agreement.

formulating

wanted

behalf

on

*naxqag

said

and

the

and

the

of

coincidence

he

Eteocles died

soul

perfect

thought to be the highest kind

identify

of patriotism.

the fatherland and the city because he

two different arguments for establishing his right to rule, either one of which would suffice but which together are contradictory. Creon

employs

first of

proves

his

rule.

the

Labdacids, but Chorus to

legahty

The

of

his

then the

accession and

legality, however,

turns

probable exceUence

the regime, the house

on

the excellence turns on the fatherland. Creon

loyal to the

of

the

wants

the

hence to himself, while he himself will show his perfect devotion to the city as fatherland. He thus appeals to the irrational loyalty of the Chorus, which he nevertheless must loyalty.33 esteem, as he declares his own rational By faUing to prove, which

he

remain

could not

patriotic, Creon

33 of

wanted

the

regis

and

Creontem ofjicium

atque qui ei se

regime

is

non private esse

censeat

shared

to,

and

that the Labdacids were consistently

iustum

esse

neque

imperium

a

family

more

than

their

Strauss, City and Man, 167. Creon's confusion by the commentators: "verissime Suevernius

in Polynicem

inimicos praebeant;

sed quod sustinendum putat

family

Chorus to love

Cf. Aristotle Ath. Pol. 28.5; L.

fatherland

monuit et

if he

asks

royal

odio aeque

haec imperare, adversus

in Anligonam

sed quod qui

severum

suum"

(Wunder,

eos,

on

198

boni

civis

ament

patriam,

esse odio

quodam,

sqq.).

A country,

Antigone

of

173

fanuly, besides, that his decree is designed in part loyalty, on the other hand, to the fatherland is

the very

and

to dishonor. His

Sophocles'

Reading

own

rational, for the love that

attaches the Chorus to the Labdacids or one depends for its possibUity on the country's freedom from enslavement. Creon could have avoided this contradiction if he had said that the Chorus had shown exceptional patriotism through

to

countryman

another

kings, and that he expects their allegiance to him because he wiU show himself as patriotic as they have done in the past. Not only does the need to prove the legality of his accession prevent him from taking this approach, but he somehow senses as weU that

three generations of

the love

love but

of

feUow

a

he

of country: of

not

his

countryman grips

own

far

everyone

deeply

more

Chorus'

the

speaks of

than

for the Labdacids,

reverence

for Thebes. The ipv%ij that only the love of country is not the

reverence

exercise of pohtical rule reveals as undivided

those

of

ipvxxi

between their

do

who

not

that makes

country Perhaps Creon, then, does not avoid the and second parts of his speech out of sacrifice

his deeper feelings for the

His swearing 12.6.

xexxrj/ieBa)

is

one

of

The

iXog

by

xovg

that

assumes

love

with

country,

of

country

One has to figure

hand,

out

aU

precedes

sUence, then, and of one's

about

iXoi

One

or

picks

matter

a

drops

friendship

a

of

19.3).

*x.

of

choice,

friend

at

and

wiU.

into

wiU come

conflict

more

the need for it. Love of one's own, on the other

never

shows

and

speaks

how

survives

of

her

conflict

in

yvw/j,n

spite

of

(cf.

between the love

unprepared

he is to

calculation

4.3). Creon's of one's own

Antigone.

confront

That Antigone, too, somehow regards the love of her own as a of choice is part of her strangeness (cf. 9.5), and does not

Creon's

no

One

accordingly (cf. OC 607-15). Love of deliberate, for it even begins in calculation.

the possible

country

are

ability to 38.1).

act

calculation

(cf. 98-9): Antigone

unique

(instead

noiovfieBa

whether such a

and

however, is far

in his

sake of

lXovg

aU

necessity.

therefore calculate

can

between the first

contradiction

pride

his country (cf. here may indicate this pride (cf.

oath

an

phrase

love is necessarily divided that love possible.

whose

rule,

the

and

iXoi

matter

justify

omission.

Creon's proclamation,

12.7.

speech, is the brother

(dbeXd)

of

which

makes

up the third

the second part, in which

part

he

of

his

presented

he intends to magnify the city. It is a special case of the general laws of the country, which are in turn the laws that inform Creon's soul. Creon commits the democratic error of identifying 8.4).34 But decree and law on a completely nondemocratic basis (cf. brother of his laws? His the laws decree stated his is in what way the laws

that

34

that

he

by

which

counts as

The Chorus recalls

nothing

characterize

anyone who puts a

Creon's

friend before his

convocation of

the technical phrase at Athens for

an

themselves

fatherland,

with an expression

extraordinary assembly (160-1).

Interpretation

174 that he himself

and

his land. To

of

bury Eteocles,

to deprive Polynices

honor

equate

honor

of

of

given without reverence

understand

burial

love

with

love,

and

act

or

honor but

xovxov

of enmity.

an

was

who

enemy

friendship,

an act of

Creon thus

and

seems

to

hatred. He knows nothing dishonor without hatred. He does not as distinct from love. He does not

awe

seeing him (cf.

indifference

with

an

be

must

dishonor

and

understand that one can without ever

then,

friend

a

one

make no

would

with

not

1.1);

love

someone at a

distance

and

easUy squares hatred (cf 35). For

and that contempt as

Xeyw

ovda/nov

as with

.

Creon, then, to let Polynices be seen disgraced, the prey of birds and dogs, would disclose more his hatred than his dishonor; but just to order Eteocles to be buried, without performing the rites with his own hand (cf. 900), would be a mark of honor and not of love (cf. 524-5). Creon aU, without violating his patriotism, have prohibited the Polynices in Theban territory, which was the Athenian punish

after

could,

burial

of

1.7.22).35 That he for treachery and sacrilegious theft (Xen. Hell. Polynices but not his love for goes out of his way to express his hatred of Eteocles shows how imperfectly Creon understands his own equation

ment

of

honor

the laws

and

obeys

degree

of

that

an equation

seems

to have

soul

intensity

for the laws

being

perfectly

12.8.

needed

to

bring

represented.

about such a

Only

For the interpretation

of

19.2. Despite the fact that

see

from his taking

of

11.2). Perhaps, however, Creon's faUure to due no less to his own inabUity than to the to

arisen

9.4). Creon is in his country (cf. ionate as Antigone when it comes to the law: but the laws do not shine through him, for he simply is not up to the

speech as

he

love;

his

of

lamentations

of

women,

Polynices'

sisters might

194-206

Creon

have tried to

can show

see

4.6,

strictly

nor

violate

10.6,

the law perfectly is

recalcitrance

Antigone

xwxvaai

neither

transparency (cf.

represent

in

and

law itself

for 198-200, the

means

anyone

the

up Creon.

else

ritualistic

that

suspects

the prohibition. Creon seems

to assume that women would perform their part in funeral rites only if there were men to prompt them.

therefore

not

a

spontaneous

inconceivable that any woman to bury Polynices (cf. 22.10).

as

12.9.

first

Of

three

city.

3<s

be the

could

occurrences

of

and

because it is the

ndXig

ritualistic

heart, Creon originator

and

regards

the

of

it

plan

in Creon's speech, the

Oedipus,

the last three refer, respectively, to

and

any

Eteocles,

ruler

(162,

the whole

any loyal citizen (194, 203, 209); between the pair of triads Creon's reference to himself (191). The first triad has to do

and

stands

with

seven

of

concern, respectively, the gods,

167, 178), city,

the

Precisely

expression

ruling Creon

(wqBwaav, now sees no

wqBov,

the second with obeying the in his combining both. His enhance-

evBvvwv),

difficulty

Cf. Eur. Phoen. 775-6, 1629-30; Wolff-Bellermann, Riickblick, 121-3.

A Reading of

Sophocles'

(avfw) of the city is the same upholding the city, he is going to improve

ment

13

(211-14). 13.1.

(dqeaxei) of

use

barely

with regard

The Chorus distinguish between Creon's to Polynices

and

In

city.

city.36

Eteocles

and

living

suggest that

his

the dead.

and

level

same

pleasure

to make

power

as

that there is a difference between the

tentatively,

more

175

his devotion to the

as

the

every law concerning the his pleasure is not on the

and

any

Antigone

law,

They even

and,

living

the

and

dead. Creon has said that whoever is kindly disposed to Thebes wUl be honored alike alive or dead; the Chorus imply that personal pronouns in the

living

nominative strictly apply to the 35.1). The dead cannot be subjects whether one can speak of either the

then, of

but

active

of

to the dead (cf.

not

It is

verbs.

benevolence

or

doubtful,

the malevolence

the dead. Creon surely does not beheve that Polynices, if left unburied, be powerless to injure Thebes, for he does not employ the magic

wUl of

that

Polynices'

to

maschalismos

ensure

Eteocles, if buried,

if pubhcly

funeral

a

given

wiU continue

patriotism regardless

of

and

impotence; his

nor

of

monument,

does he beheve

Thebes.

serve

can

as

burial;

the city's opinion about

Eteocles,

a

model

of

Polynices'

but

warning p.gainst treachery unless the that burial is and because a divine law commands supposes needed, city it. Honor to the dead can share the same basis as honor to the living;

unburied corpse cannot serve as a

but dishonor to the dead necessarUy has a different basis from dishonor to the living. To bring dishonor into line with honor, Creon would have to prove that the gods have the same perspective as the city; and later he is forced to give such a proof (cf. 19.2), but now he is entirely unaware of

13.2.

the difficulty.

This

difficulty

the

mutual

fratricide

of

Antigone's

in

such

way that the

city

turn

would seem

whole

city

fratricidal gods

relevant,

To

mouth of

Eteocles

(172,

might

cf.

Creon has

which

poUution

avoid

devouring by

the

eagles

(1042). If fratricide

makes

whose

should no more

foUows.

as

Creon:

first, of 12.3); next,

worked

out

(776);

and

of

Zeus is

the

slayer

honor Eteocles than Polynices,

unless

an

assumption

that in

Polynices, for his

crime

his death. In order, then, for Creon to distinction between Polynices and Eteocles, he must regard

would cease to

36

and

defined

exactly

that death automaticaUy cleanses, to weaken Creon's case against

assumes

a

more

starvation,

that he fears

poUution

one

city.

by

corpse,

unclean, the

the

Polynices

punishment

of

a

make

of

Polynices'

third, not

a

be

can

three times in the play, all in the

jxlaafia occurs

be

punishable with

poUution as of

politicaUy irrelevant: the

gods of

the fanuly. Antigone's punishment,

since avoid

faUure to foUow the poUution, then, is

Cf. Xen. Mem. 3.1.2; Lycurg.

c.

the city are

proper rites would poUute not

a

matter

Leocrat. 76-7.

not

however, is politicaUy of

the entire

honor: Antigone

as

Interpretation

176

Antigone is seems to

not

taken into

have two

fratricide in

Now in

.

ways open

to him. If

politicaUy

irrelevant,

being

the case of

Polynices Creon

like

nonburial were a poUution

not

bury

to

Polynices

would

Ismene only (cf. 7.2); but then to honor Eteocles could not solely consist in his burial, for that in itself would be politically irrelevant too. To honor Eteocles would need some the city but Antigone

not poUute

special

burial

ceremonies

(cf.

4.1),

such, though they Polynices. If, on the other as

which

would

could

accompany

hand,

nonburial

have nothing to do with to distinguish him from

it,

were a poUution

like Anti

Polynices'

burial politicaUy relevant, to aUow honor Polynices, any more than the burial of Eteocles would

in

gone's punishment would not

honor him. Creon the

and

being

chooses neither of

pohtical relevance of

burial,

and

these

ways.

He

for

argues at once

hence to deprive Polynices

of

it is to

dishonor him, and for the pohtical irrelevance of nonburial, and hence the city cannot incur poUution if Polynices lies unburied. Creon tries to politicize burial, so that it is nothing but a question of honor or dishonor; but such a pohticization requires that the gods be indistinguishable from the city, for if they are not, the gods could equaUy insist that the city bury Polynices to avoid poUution and honor Eteocles to glorify patriotism.

Creon's

pohticization of

burial

wiU thus

lead him to the divinization

of

the

city.

14 (215-22). 14.1. the decree

what

Although Creon

omitted

from his formulation

of

the penalty is for its violation, the Chorus know that the

4.7). Do they assume that aU crimes are capital penalty is death (cf. crimes? Or that Creon would as a matter of course impose the death As they assume that the death penalty is an infaUible deterrent, automaticaUy discharges them from the task Creon has asked them

penalty?

which

to perform,

perhaps

from

everyone

Ismene that

that only

they imply

such a

Creon's decree.

disobeying

suicide cannot

be

an

They

obligation

(cf.

penalty would

would prevent

thus agree

with

10.7). That disobe

dience, however, is suicidal follows only if Creon's preventive measures are perfect; and they can be perfect only if those whom Creon has appoin Polynices'

ted to guard

force the to

or

guards are

rule out

in Thebes

Creon's deceit to the

corpse cannot

deceit. To

the possibUity of weak; and to

corrupted or overwhelmed

by

guards

superior

force,

that the disaffected

elements

the possibihty of deceit, either that be guUed or that no one would think of using

are

bury

be

the possibihty of corruption would imply that either fanaticaUy loyal to Creon or mortaUy afraid of him; rule out

cannot

Polynices (cf.

Chorus'

assumptions

rule out

10.5). That nothing in the play contradicts again how easUy their simplicity can

shows

for prescience (cf. 11.4). Without any awareness of the possi bilities they reject, they pick the one possibihty only a fool has the eros 10.8). to die that applies exclusively to Antigone (cf.

14.2. penalty is

Creon, an

the Chorus, does not beheve that the death deterrent, but he beheves that, though the hope

unlike

infallible

A

for

gain can

commit

be

stronger than

the fear

of

(cf. 313-4). Not the

crime

is infaUible (cf. 494-5);

crime of

a

Sophocles'

Reading of

the play: Tiresias knows

death,

he too is

and

no one can

prevention

at once who

177

Antigone

successfuUy but the detection of

not contradicted

is guUty

of

in the

polluting

Creon's first oath now yields its meaning: Zevg d must hold if Creon can be certain that no crime goes (184)

dqwv del

altars.

That this

should

even

apply

course

the city's

undetected.

to the present case shows the

extent

to

Creon relies on divine for his decree. The gods must approve of his decree if it is guaranteed that whoever buries Polynices wiU come to hght (cf. 327-8). Creon thus disregards the possibUity that which

the

could, in

gods

known. His gone

disapproving

of

undetected.

punishing Creon

The gods, it seems, are at cleansing Thebes of poUution (cf.

15 (223-43). 15.1.

the

Creon

The first

speech of

the

(xdfiavxov).31

guard

The

he later dust from though

of

9.1, 9.7).

the

need

strange.

to

The fact his

justify

his tardiness only through his

on

learning

the

news

than

on

delay own

blaming

only serves to exasperate important thing is his own situation in his eyes is scarcely a crime (247, 256),

the

crime

the guard is

make

self-defense

uncaUed-for

whose

guard,

Creon. To

know

can

Creon is keener

and

ission;

stiU

what

as with

that he is now before Creon seems to superfluous.

let its violator be it was if Antigone had least as concerned with

his decree,

have been

punishment could not

most

expresses no repugnance at

sacrilegiously sweeping

off

the

Polynices'

corpse; indeed, he speaks of the good job he and his feUow guards did in laying the clammy body bare (409-10). If one supposes that those below pardoned him because he acted impiously

duress (cf. 1199-1200), Ismene's expectation of pardon for not 9.2). The guard, then, Antigone seems to be reasonable (cf. recognizes the sacredness of burial, but not its obligatory character. He under

helping

moreover, whoUy indifferent, as a slave, to the political purpose affects to find in his decree. Unmoved by the religious or the

is,

Creon

political

issue, he lives

that he not only

tardiness (a

solely between fear

confesses

without

confirmation

curious

of

and

reason

hopelessness;

to the

Creon's belief

imaginary

so

fearful

crime

of

that no crime goes

undetected), but continuaUy increases the likelihood of his punishment by the very speeches supposedly designed to assuage Creon's anger; and

hopeless that he beheves Creon's faUure to

so

innocence

can

only be due to the

gods

punish

him for his

(330-1).

person in the play to treat the soul the for as something separate, soul, in Creon's understanding, is nothing 12.4). If Creon had spoken most (cf. the honors and loves but what one different aspects of men, names for as and yvch/xn of rpvxij, qdvnfia,

15.2.

The

guard

is the first

meaning. With the guard, however, nothing would have been lost of his it is otherwise. He explains that his soul by much talking delayed his

37

On the

guard see

F.W.

Schneidewin, Einleitung, 12.

Interpretation

178 coming, for he always took

here is

translation of soul

a command whatever

as

"conscience."

He thus

it

said.

assigns

The Loeb

to his

his

soul

(The guard, like the Chorus, assumes that death is the penalty for any crime.) He separates himself from his soul in order to save his own skin (cf. Xen. Cyrop. 6.1.31-41). Were it not for his soul, nothing would have kept him from breathlessly reporting

desire for

own

the

is guUty, he is innocent. His soul gave him two of contradictory advice, neither of which he could foUow without checked by the other. The soul is not a reliable guide, for it is

crime.

pieces

being

self-preservation.

dominated

His

soul

the fear

by

of

punishment.

Only

hope

hope

guard

can make the

the ime

forward. The soul in fear way it itself has made; but the hope it offers is in fact resignation to fate (cf. 274); the guard, if punished, wiU be unjustly punished. Fate thus seems to be the discovery of the soul confronted with the inevitabihty of unjust punishment; and the soul itself as something separate seems offers

come

out of

as the

to be the discovery of the fear that such a confrontation arouses. However this may be, the first interpretation we are given of the soul is that it is separate and weak, guUty perhaps but unpunishable, and prone

to paralyzing

15.3. not

could

justify

calculations.

If the soul, in Antigone have

being

separate, to an

resorted

is

separate

argument

from the body,

like the

guard's

to

is

of

the burial of Polynices? Polynices is guilty, but the guUt

his soul,

and

by losing it,

what remains of

Polynices is

unpunishable.

His

body, it is true, obeyed his soul; but his soul, by balancing the injustice he suffers in being deprived of his throne against the injustice he wiU his country, may have first brought him to a to condone his initial indignation, held out that if he the hope he would failed only suffer what was fated (cf. 170). from is thus absolved the crime his soul made inevitable. The debate He between Antigone and Polynices in Oedipus at Colonus, which proceeds commit

if he

standstill;

and

attacks

then, in

order

on not dissimilar case

(1416-44).

to any

such argument.

for it (cf.

2.4),

connected with nices'

lines, shows how Antigone here could have made a Antigone, however, has barred herself from resorting As

does

she

it. She therefore

cannot appeal

corpse, for its innocence

arguing on behalf herself to do (cf.

not mention

the war or the

she cannot make use of grounds

of

Polynices

1.1). Her

would

as

to the innocence

be bought

individual,

own arguments

reasons

that are in any way

at

the

of

price

which she can never

turn

at

Poly

of

her

bring

different times

on

different things, but they never touch the individual Polynices, with 4.1).38 his distinct virtues or defects (cf. She argues on the basis of the Polynices whom she loves, of the law in its generality, and of the Polynices

38

Cf. Ai. 1342-5; H. Grotius, de tare belli et pads, 11.19. 11. 6: "hinc est quod sepeliendi, non tarn homini, id est personae, quam humanitati, id est

officium

naturae

humanae

dicitur."

praestari

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

179

Antigone

who is her brother (cf 9, 27, 48), but never in a way that would aUy her understanding with the guard's understanding of the soul (cf. 10.4). .

16 (245-7). 16.1.

The

talks

guard

as

if the

corpse

were

properly

buried, and no more needed to be done. If Antigone had poured libations (420-1), the thirstiness of the dust and the hardness of the soU (250) must have

wiped out

any trace

of a er-by

he is

not

clueless

crime

more than

Creon

gone and/or

16.2.

dust

that

Ismene

As the

should

Chorus,

the

or

like

could

a

then,

is thinking in

do,

or

and the possible omission of

detective

rather

either

a nonrelative should

him; but

not concern

reads

one

that

aU

in his report,

does

it

so circumstantial

did

who

exact

scrupulously

some part of the ritual

is

them. The guard,

of

(256),

the rest

his

of

report

story's presentation of

that

conclude

the

guard,

a

no

the possibihty that Anti

ever considers

be responsible. light covering of in the play mentions its skin), we naked in the plain (cf. 410); a fact

guard says that someone sprinkled a

on the corpse's skin

(no

learn that Polynices before

one else

lying

was

Polynices'

have inferred from the parodos, which excluded armor from the panoplies dedicated to Zeus (141-3). The burial of a corpse, in any case, consists in the hiding from sight, not a body of we should not

flesh

bones, but its

and

Burial

alone.

skin

is, hteraUy Nonburial, on the

ceremony (cf. Her. 2.86.3-7). involves the entire body, aU the boneless superficial

dogs

devouring

of

eaten, for

no

parts of which are

birds. Burial does

and

not avoid

the

speaking,

a

hand,

other

hable to the

threat of

being

flimsy, has to be made against worms of being (seen) naked and torn apart

provision, however

Her, 3.16.4), but the threat (258, 1198, cf. 4.5). Burial conceals the looks and shape of man (255). It therefore poses at first, prior to the questions of body and soul, body

(cf.

and self, and self and soul, the question of skin and soul. It is that turns out only to look less profound than the others (cf.

17 (249-77). 17.1. description

ery

and

and

declarations

lots

and

the

together

are

(254),

the

and

is in three

(249-58),

guards

(253-54),

part again

(249-52), and

(259-67),

guards'

reaction:

fear (270).

the discov

the

One

of

wonder,

guilt

casting

disagreeable

can

is in three subsections, the first

the

the

second

the last the that the

of exactness

phrasing: yevfjdog

andaavxog.

state of guard

The first

of

speech

surprise

however,

that men

of

and

of which

the

guards'

the buried corpse (255-58). The

is primarily due to his

ix^oXij, oxvXdgx^6a0?> Bnqdgxvvdjv, eXBdvxog

how surprising it is that no sisters, for the absence of carts and the city were not involved. But its true

subsection

Polynices'

suggests

discovery

conveys

nXfjyfiadixeXXng

thinks at once of

pickaxes

parts:

accusations

(268-77). What holds the

aqqw^enrjiJia^evfievri, r\dvlaxoxvnp'r\qr}g,

one

the

25.3).

their indignation differs from their fear.

impression

dyadic

speech

guard

the three stages in the

the setting

reaction

crime

innocence among the

appointment of

The first

17.2.

guard's

the

just indignation,

whether

gives

of

The of

a question

shows

1 80

Interpretation

significance

trace

of

skiU

the first

stasimon:

guard's own

inference,

of

that the casual means of burial is

hand,

just

who

only in hght (cf. 23). The

emerges

human

by

ed

burial (cf.

13). If

Creon's decree that it was

buried

non-Theban

some

that no

had

animal

in of someone in Creon's attempt to politicize with no intention of violating discovered the corpse implies

yet

Argives'

the

soon after

no

exphcable

difficulty

to the

points

there is

on the other

and perhaps even

rout,

before

felt obliged to bury it was, Creon has a much harder task than he imagines to prove that the dead belong exclusively to the city. In order to rule out the guard's inference, as he sUently does, Creon has to the

promulgation of the

knowing

without even

suppose crime. of

that

As

some

(cf.

the

whose

gods

feU,

the

chance

eliminate

and

yet

such

not

the

of

have

gods must

the corpse to forestaU

around

26.1). To

the prevention

guarantee

Polynices

soon as

sort

decree

the corpse, perhaps

unintentional

erected a

chance

a

barrier

occurrence

invoke fate

requires

a

behef in the unfailing agreement between what law prohibits and what cannot happen accidentaUy. Creon must partiaUy adopt a behef of the

Persians, for a

bastard

the

that any son ever kiUed his own mother or father, find on inquiry that the supposed son was either

deny

who

one would always or

Jocasta, his

belief, attempt

patricide occurred.

then,

understands

that

his decree

it,

because its

He cannot,

as a

The

law that

not

(cf.

(cf.

of

incest

and

almost a self-evident

not

of

his

law,

soul's

to have the penalty for its wants to believe that no

need

14.1). Creon

because the death penalty wiU deter everyone, nor be caught, but because it cannot be done.

quite

bring

himself to believe it. His low

estimate

him (221-2).

guard opposes

the wild beast to dogs (cf. 1081-2).

are

corpse

12.2). He

(cf.

crimes

(cf. 170, 200-1). Creon, neither be unintentionaUy

can

14.2). It is

(cf.

domesticated animals, which Antigone's faUure to mention dogs as

then,

alone

unintentional

violator wiU

however,

of men prevents

17.3.

out

speUed

one will violate

to

another matter

scarcely and if promulgated, does

transgression

seh-interest

to be promulgated (it is the brother

needs

laws);

even

those

Fratricide is

violated nor go undetected which

by

prompted

beheve

not

subscribe

witnessing the suffering of Oedipus and to regularize the royal house would not, as it first

even after

appeared, have been

simply does

(Her. 1.137.2). If Creon does

supposititious

Persians'

4.6)

might

imply

him. It

belong a

to men

possible

living

threat

to

in

cities.

Polynices'

that she cannot it that man's

be

Dogs,

friend

how necessary and evident it is for her that the dear and the holy coincide (cf. 9.4, 9.8). The corpse must be as precious as the man to those who love (cf. 4.7). could

thus

17.4. and

betray

Each

ignorance.

walk

through

fire,

a

sign

were aU

and swear

to the test only their

self-

of

grandly boasted to the

guard

They

might

others

his

own

innocence

ready to lift up hot ingots in their hands, by the gods. Of this triad, the play puts

swearing:

the guard its that his return

belies

A

his

to

the

of

bochly

tory

fiery

(cf. 15.2). The from their souls, or

powerful that

knowledge it

5.93). Each

what another might say.

submit to the

case,

ordeal, it

when alone with

limits to its it

replaces

was a safe

himself,

he does

power

as subject

their

innocence is

so

The

possible punishment.

As his peers could not force him to kind of boasting. The guard, in any offer

with an abject submission

punishable guUt of the soul.

and

from any

abandons the view that not

to maintain the innocence

sees

themselves

interpre

long as the soul is guUtless (cf. Antiphon lay claim to this behef in an effort not to be

as

guard seemed to

by

outdone

the second

whatever one should caU the reposi

can preserve them

body, then, is inviolable

to

willingness

guards separate

innocence;

their

of

181

guards'

by implication

ordeals gives us

soul

pain

their

of

Antigone

(388-94). However this may be, the

oath

undergo two

tation

Sophocles'

Reading of

of

to

fate,

which

the punishable

CoUective

his

soul has no innocence and is the only way he

to prove his

body

the

and

un

individual providential care of innocence in this face of an undeserved but fated death. to

/ueyaXofvxla yields

(237). Behef in the life turns into resignation in the The swearing of oaths turns into the soul's speaking to oneself. It is not easy to say whether hope of worldly vindication or hopeless submisgods'

aBv/iia

siveness

represents

the

greater

Antigone does, that the gods Antigone's piety is not based 17.5.

The

as the

never

as

suggests,

on either

vacUlatory

aU

the guards into

weakness of the soul

later

puts

as

the

(cf. 233, 268, 274). The soul then discovered fate as a way out; out is through chance. The casting of lots condemns

guard now

guard

him after his death (925-8). worldly hope or fear (cf. 896-7).

unlimited power of the soul puts

ime

much of an

The

piety.

wiU vindicate

the way

(xadaiqei)

the guard. It confronted

seems to

with

coUective

to understand his answers the comfort

be the

election

way of finding a scapegoat when innocence. The scapegoat, however, prefers otherwise. Fearful of punishment, the guard coUective

me?"

with "Why involuntary self-sacrifice,

question,

than

"It is my

fate."

Fate is

more a

be ironicaUy (275). Antigone's wiUingness, on the other hand, to sacrifice herself forbids her from so invoking fate. She cannot thus console herself for her unjust punishment. And yet Antigone never caUs her sacrifice which

only

can

caUed good

indeed,

good;

ironicaUy: "good"

his

she

the calls

only time she uses the word, Creon the good Creon (31).

she

too

Creon

means

alone

it

uses

in its only other occurrence, without irony: whoever subordinates interests to the city remains in the stress of war a just and

private

(671). Could it then be that neither Antigone be caUed good? That the city (Creon) has made ayabdg so exclusively its own that not even Antigone can appropriate it?39 It would be consistent with this that of the three occurrences of dqiaxog good nor

39

comrade-in-arms

her

sacrifice can

Cf.

PI.

Dem. 24.127.

Ap.S.

24b4-5:

MiXr\xov

xdv

dyaBdv

xai

qjtXonoXiv,

&g

-nai

;

Interpretation

1 82

(179, 197, 1114), and of the four of xQVar"good for

by

aU are spoken

Creon

"Good"

She surely does

nothing."

law

nor

that

makes

doing

good

actions are

be

help

not

anyone or

the dead has to be helped (cf.

anything, for

the

neither

4.3). The very superfluousness thus prevent her from being or

Antigone splendid would 8.7). Only if Creon's punishment, for which Antigone's (cf. indispensable (cf. 14.2), is to be considered just would one to

compeUed

revise this conclusion.

It is

18 (278-9). 18.1.

just the

not

absence

of

that makes

clues

have buried Polynices, but rather death their assumption that the on that, penalty is an infaUible deterrent immortal beings could have done it. (cf. 14.1), only the

Chorus

think that the gods might

19 (280-314). 19.1. proves

that the

those

reveals

Creon's

gods could not

truly

responsible

speech consists of

more

they did it (294, 306). He or ive comes

complicity

prefers, in any case, to believe in

rather

implying

to

close

that the guards

certain

than in their carelessness (cf. the god's

either

gods'

indifference to Creon's decree (cf.

burn to the

ground the

(or country), taste

land

temples,

scatter

says

burial is

the self-evident

that Polynices

wanted

to

his father(s) and the gods of his race blood, and lead the rest of his city into

of common

to prove that the gods

order

that

Polynices

came

to

the votive offerings, and the earth

set

could not

fire to

the

their laws. Creon drops the arguments based on fratricide

and

the

the

vaol

the

and

moreover, yfj with

which or

the gods

slavery, for

justify

for Polynices

of

slavery (199-202); but now, in have buried Polynices, he says columned

their active

14.1),

17.2).

In arguing that to prohibit consequence of his soul's laws, Creon

to

concern

Polynices'

19.2.

to

the one guUty (302-14). have been bribed than that

they find

the third threatens the guards unless

Creon is far

three parts: the first

have buried Polynices (280-9a), the second and how they managed it (289b-301), and

of

first is too private, and the second too pohtical, for either Polynices' horror at crime (cf. 13.2). He replaces,

gods'

naxqwa with

and

yfj

avaBrj/xaxa.

exelvwv

He first

(i.e., Becov), argued

for

and

Beol

iyyevelg treachery

ol

Polynices'

against his own, whether it be bis own land, gods, or brother; but now, in arguing for impiety, he consecrates the city and aU that belongs to it to the gods. The first charge had Polynices firing the gods Polynices'

themselves, who, Creon pretended, do

their

but the

who are now

whoUy

second separate

has him

firing

from the

what

not differ from belongs to the gods,

monuments

of

their worship. As one could

readUy think of the gods as wUling to forgive their own, Polynices' who was unsuccessful, Creon has to heighten point that

forgiveness

would

be

statues;

inconceivable; but

this

especiaUy

impiety heightening

one

to the

has

A the

effect of

on

persons.

stasimon

Sophocles'

Reading of

Antigone

183

making the attack on things a more serious crime than that The fact that the Chorus accept Creon's proof the first presupposes it gives us the first inkling that a corpse could

be more sacred than a person (cf. 256). The IJoXwelxovg vexvg of Antigone (26) might differ as much from Creon's LToXweix-ng (198) as Creon's vaol and dvaBrj/uaxa do from his Beol ol 4.3). eyyeveig (cf. Polynices' corpse might have its significance for Antigone not despite but because it is more alien to her than either Polynices her brother (cf. 3.3) or Polynices himself (cf. 15.3). 19.3.

As the

takes to be the

gods

could

same as

13.2), Creon declares

Creon

moves

city,

and

with

Polynices'

who

against

the

the

gods.

fatherland (cf.

As he

deny

12.5)

the land

replace cannot

for he has to

pohtical

him. To

Creon keeps his

time that he has been

same

the land

with

the

of

(cf. 938), forgiveness of Poly

are the ancestors

gods

basis for

possible

him is to revolt of his regime

identification

the ancestors

that the

assume

every

the

the

of

conflict, without indica be the rallying point of

revolt against

original at

of

enemies.

burial to the divinization

sacrilegiousness could ever

murmur against

secretly

compeUed to

gods.

that the true culprits are pohtical

the pohticization of

from there back to the purely

ting how those

from

that

saying

(cf.

have buried Polynices, which Creon they could not have honored him

not

gods'

the

nices, Creon implies that not only is he the legitimate heir to the throne, which in turn truly expresses the fatherland, but that he is the present

for the distant

regent

legitimacy

his

with

(cf. 304). What plainly links his political appointed role are the laws of his soul,

gods

divinely

which are at once the test of

the

(184, 305, 758) divine law

19.4. sacks

no

statesmanship, the

Polynices'

sanctions

Creon

cities, it

refute

Antigone's

freely

contention

29.1). He is

burial (cf.

and

city,

swears so

the

that

first to

human beings (295, 299). the bad

exemplifies

from

expels men of mortals

good wits

ground of the

that Creon

wonder, then,

deigns to

and never

speak of mortals and

the

It is

wUl of the gods.

in

effect

their

of

homes,

shameless

money in three ways: it it perversely instructs

and

deeds. The city

unqualifiedly good; only the

Creon implies,

are

either good or

bad. Creon

shows

no

awareness

wits of

and

the

(qeveg)

family, can

be

an essential conflict

12.6). Were is not for money they between the city and the family (cf. suggests that, though money furthermore would always be in harmony. He necessarUy belongs to the city, which in itself is good, the city does not need money, which in itself is the source of aU impiety. Money is the worst convention

It

owes

its

(vd/itofia)

that

ever grew

quasi-natural status

(efiXaoxe) among human beings.

to its universahty. It

tional and yet universal. It therefore reminds one of

equaUy to be

seem

to be

even more

conventional

and yet

closely connected, for

universal;

they both have

is entirely conven burial rites, which

indeed, they to do

seem

with what

is

Interpretation

1 84

beneath the In

22.8):

(1200).40

for Hades is Plouton

another name

decisive respect, however, Plouton the god of dead differ. The conventionahty of

one

the

(cf.

earth

Plouton

wealth and coined

god of the

money does

not stand in the way of exchange between one currency and another; but the conventionality of burial rites forbids the discovery of equivalents between two different rites. Darius offered money to both Greeks and either were willing to foUow the burial practices of the other (Her. 3.38.3-4). This difference has its ground in another difference. Any set of burial practices takes its character from what is held about

Indians if

the

No

soul.

directly.

other

Coinage,

on

far

practice,

as

the other

hand,

I know, implies so much so it no such implications.

as

carries with

may be held to preside over the ways in which money is exchanged (cf. Od. 19. 395-8); but no god determines the values, let A

god

alone

the use,

deface it, always and

bury it,

remains

is

and

man

pieces

it is in use, it

be

is in the

is in the new,

new

old

it

the

indelibly

Polynices

and

at

wiU

coined

which

currency,

it

which gives

without

currency

But

obol).

stamped

that could

metal

corpse

But Creon issues his

have

of

Polynices'

valuation.

soul

treats the corpses

of

Eteocles'

(Charon's

god

the

gods and

Creon, however,

Eteocles as if they were in any denomination: now to be discontinued;

it;

can without sacrUege

and when

the transaction be between one man

whether

The

One

of money.

or even not use

between

even

never neutral.

themselves.

with

it,

melt

neutral,

or

another,

corpse

this or that piece

of

a

is

higher

altering the beliefs

that alone can validate the change. Creon does not pretend to understand

he

on

puts

realize

each

not a radical

both the

19.5.

Creon

not so

education.

be the

leading

of

equivalent of where

so painfuUy.

torture

they

for the

wiU

pain

For 213:

Idicov

the elnslv

death,

the

and

(cf.

13.2). His

impiety

is

blurt

out on

not

distort

connection

[SoXcova

ovvaXXay/idxcov elvexa roig

future they

accordingly.

(for

death suffices) as an though it seems to

which

Hades;

might

The torture is

and

the existence

of

Hades

the lesson they wiU have future reformation presupposes that under

body it.41

between

Xiyerai]

act

practice

that which

the

the soul. He threatens

of

that in the

must assume

can

guards'

so

mention

Creon

guards

The

inflicted

(the soul) but does M

gain

much as a punishment

learned

esp.

rightful

death,

to

Creon is the first to

place

the corpse in itself entails a

interpretation

the third

gives

know the limits

justified

assigns

gods and the soul

impiety.

the guards with torture

a

is independent

corpse

that the neutrahty he thus

reassessment of

as

differently. He believes that the price (xi/itf) of such beliefs. He does not

the gods or the soul

either

I8xi

they

opens

and

The soul, then,

vdpog

and

avxdg rjyeixai

Idicbxaig

Creon already know; truth hidden within

up the

which

v6/iio/*a

see

dgyvgiov

/xiv

is too Dem.

guileless

24.212-4;

vd/uof*'

evQ-n/xivov, xovg di v6/xovg

elvai xwv

v6fita/ia

xfjg

ndXeiog elvai. 41

On the

pros and cons of

torture in the orators

see

Wyse's

note on

Isaeus 8.12.1.

A to invent to

through

which

lacks both nobUity

and

from the

separate

(cf.

body

and yet

the

true touchstone

the

of

its guUty knowledge. 20 (315-22). 20.1. After

presents a

topology

Indignation is speeches, the

of

of the

which

soul,

enough

strong

17.4). Both interpretations, is

pain

body,

however,

Creon's

nonbodUy

resides

is too

weak

to the

the inverse

assumes

held the

soul

to be

to protect it from pain

bodUy

share the view that

the soul, whether to prove its innocence threats that

pain

in the soul,

or

torture,

of

accompanies

two kinds. One resides in the

other

which

soul when subordinate

deivdxng. Creon thus of

185

Antigone

to the

it learns. The

the second interpretation

of

Sophocles'

he, is tightiy bound

a plausible

resist and

body

or

Reading of

ears

qeveg,

the

guard

indignation.

and reacts

only to

only to this difference.

and reacts

deeds (cf. Her. 7.39.1). Creon, however, is unaware of He has confused the pain he feels at the report of the crime with the pain he feels at the criminal; and as the criminal is unknown, his indignation discovers the criminal in the reporter of the crime, the only person

avaUable.

bribed the

guards

Creon's instant suspicion that his pohtical enemies is merely a gloss on this confusion. Indignation of

the soul cannot be satisfied with the emptiness of

"the criminal"; it

must

"this criminal"; but as it has no special sense which can detect it him, it finds the guilty everywhere. The guard by thus seems to give the obverse side of his interpretation of his own always

vent

itself

on

showed the soul in self-induced before fate; this interpretation shows the soul in righteousness lashing out at everyone but itself. What holds the two together is the pain of frustration, whether born of its awareness soul

(cf.

fear

and

15.2). That interpretation

guUt prostrate

of

undeserved

but

of

those who

deserve to be

reminds

one

of

unavoidable

Odysseus

or

punishment,

punished.

confronted

with

of

its ignorance of

frustration

Posidon's wrath; the that is his own. The

AchiUes slaying Hector for a crime would thus be an ignoble Odysseus, who of

born

The first kind

as

second guard

cleverly talks his way

out of danger; and Creon would be an ignoble AchiUes, who also is forced to aUow the burial of his enemy. Creon's remorse, moreover, atonement has as httle effect on his subsequent punishment as has on his fate. 20.2. It would not suffice, if one wished to paraphrase what the AchiUes'

reaUy makes you indignant, if the guard means only that, for I am just a irritant"; regions to Creon's twofold pain, separate assign to have not he would but merely discriminate between its two external sources. The guard, guard

says, to have him say, "The

criminal

superficial

rather, means,

"The

criminal

self."

your superficial

The

makes

soul

the

real

you

indignant, I irritate

thus stands for the true self, which is

and scarcely communicates with it. his former view of the soul's paralyzing influence on the true self, which is subject to punishment for crimes it was whoUy unwilling to commit. Creon accepts this identification separate

from the

In this sense, the

rest

of

oneself

guard reverses

Interpretation

1 86 the

of

the self, but he denies that it is something separate: he tells the guard, "but what is Money seduced the guard

and

soul

crime,"

"Not only did you commit the worse you betrayed your soul for into giving up his true self. Here for meaning

life, but

of

body

it the

he

and soul

does

as the guard

the

who

the

love

most

should

and

inseparability

equivalent of

of

(675)

ipvxv

their separateness; for the guard wants to deflect wants to punish anyone

on

away from himself, but Creon thwarts him in a way that leaves nothing

Creon's

keeps its primary

soul

as much on

as

alone uses awpia

one

what

as

same

12.4). Creon thus insists

honor (cf.

first time

the

the same time it bears a trace of Creon's first inter

at

made

which

pretation,

money."

anger

of one's own unpunished

uncorrected.

or

The

20.3.

separate

and

separate

and

What

no

the

and

guard

five inter

presents

The soul is: (1) ( 15.2), (2) ( 17.4), (3) connected and weak ( 19.5), (4) oneself ( 20.1), (5) connected and oneself ( 20.2).

the

of

pretations

between Creon

scene

separate and weak

soul.

strong

maintains

one

interpretation

is

that

the

soul

have the

is

connected

the

and

strong.

much rely unlike 5, be pain all resistant to be and, 3, bodily 2, but, contemptuous of life. One is therefore tempted to conclude that, as these traits exactly characterize Antigone, the ground for her devotion

Such

an

would

on

soul

gods

as

unlike

as

Polynices'

to

which

corpse,

is

so

that she unnecessarily returns

great

interpretation

of

the soul (cf. 95). Whether this is the true ground of her actions, or

at

10.1), hes in her living

to it (cf.

this

paradoxical

best only a fragment of the true ground, only Antigone's two remaining defenses can properly determine (cf. 27, 48). 21 (323-31). 21.1.

they

wUl

spurred on

by fear, but

fate,

is

guard

of

not

longer

no

afraid.

In

spite of

Creon's

the guards discover the culprits,

unless

take him

pure chance wUl

seriously.

decide

Not his diligence,

whether

the

culprit wUl

thus moves from expressing his own resignation which he had entered, to expressing the indifference of

be found. The to

The

his threats that, be punished, he does

reiteration

with

guard

chance,

with which

gerated

either

he leaves (cf.

his initial fearfulness

17.5). The guard, then, has exag his final lack of concern; and

or

he later indicates that he did take Creon seriously (390-1, 408, 413-4, 437-40), one must say that his relief at not being punished at as

once

he

makes

neither

him

veer

extreme. He acknowledges that judged it probable; for it was dexterity, but to the gods. The

to the opposite

hoped for his

escape

nor

ultimately due, not to his own verbal gods do not intervene on behalf of the innocent in of

the ordeal (cf.

than

one

to be the

hopelessly discovery

devised. The debt, the

gods

opens

17.4),

but in

feared they

would.

of

the

at

any rate,

the way to

the

way The

soul cheated of

our

which

the spectacular

of events

turning

providential gods

out

way better

thus seem

the future its own fears had

the guard beheves he owes to

understanding why the first

stasimon's

A

implicit

Reading

that

the

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

do

1 87

as a limit to man is in overcoming the seemingly impossible, equipped as he is with a wisdom beyond hope (366; cf. 10.8). The first stasimon, however, shows man in his limitlessness only by suppressing any mention of his soul (cf. 11.2), the significance of Aeschylus' which clearly emerges if one compares the first stasimon of

assertion

gods

not

stand

connected with man's artfulness

necessarily

Choephoroi.

The guard therefore is just as necessary as the first for the fuU understanding of man. That the soul comes to light in the element of the ridiculous, whUe art comes to hght with the greatest solemnity, although art has seemingly nothing to do with the stasimon

play's

action

and

everything, Ulustrates the way in

soul

competence always outstrips unavoidable

for

us

and

his

error

than to the guard

22 (332-75). 22.1.

Creon's

of

proof

his

to

self-knowledge.

give

more

It is

weight

which

man's

but

almost

a great

the first

to

stasimon

speeches.

The first

presupposes

stasimon

that the gods did

not

the

Polynices (cf.

bury

correctness

19.2), from

the Chorus sUently concluded that men of great daring and skUl involved in perpetrating so clueless a crime. Man's navovqyia, which according to Creon constitutes man's impiety and hybris (300-1, 309), is now given the morally neutral name of deivdxng, for which which were

the

Chorus, in charting

try

to . Creon had given the love of base gain

the

extent of man's

stoppmg-at-nothing, do

(money)

criminality; but the Chorus do not, as one that cause with the neutral love of gain. Neither

cause of man's replace

Prometheus

end nor a

explains man's

inventive daring. It is

as

not

the

might

expect,

some

ulterior

irreducible

an

part of man.

22.2.

The

stasimon presents man's

four aspects, to

of

superiority to,

man's

devising the

its

and

choice

and

foUowing

the of

own characteristic set

retains

its

by

cognate

the

mastery of,

understanding,

of

uncanny awesomeness as consisting it devotes a strophe: man's restlessness,

each of which

and

or

good verbs.

original sense of motion noXevwv

and

;

second strophe

gvpneqaoxai; with

his

the

and

sociahty:

Throughout the

in turn has: the

second

naqslqwv,

stasimon

living beings,

bad. Each

and

is

echoed

strophe

with

at

and

ediddaxo,

rest:

has

which

xmQeh

is likewise

plausible

anoqog

thus

neXei,

the strophe's end

antistrophe

Schoene's

man's

leaves to him

which

The first begins

The first

dnoxqvexai, IXXofievwv. piece: djMpifiaXwv, dyqei, xqaxel,

The

other

aU

freedom,

these two verbs frame the

neqwv, a

man's

en

aU of

dxfid^exai.

ovbev

eg^era,

antistrophe

contrasts

man's

freedom

naqiaxiog,

yevoixo,

laov

qovwv.

the prepositions, compounded or uncompounded,

and rising above him: swamp ndqav, neqi-, every dno- (first strophe), (first antistrophe), d/it-, vneqxdxav, vn, v/j,- (second strophe), vndq, en (second antistrophe). vn-, in',

carry the

notion

of

man's

confronting,

outflanking,

chaUenge, even those that threaten to

neqi-

22.3.

The

stasimon

seems

to

progress

from showing

man's

mastery

Interpretation

188 of the

inanimate

the

then leads

by

(second

gods

animals

from there to his

and

for his

who contrives the means which

(first strophe), to his mastery of relation to himself

sea and earth

(first antistrophe),

to his relation

contrast

This

antistrophe).

the Chorus

with

as

one

(second strophe),

own self-preservation

others, the city

is

schematization

and

to

open

the

scarcely aware, that the unwearied difficulty, earth, which man tries to wear out, is a goddess, and the highest of the gods besides; which should place her as such in the second antistrophe, which

of

where high.42

Man's

iUustrates the

its

Chorus

the

are

gods

and

Chorus its

breaking across

aU

of

man's

surface

not

only

hmits, (i.e., traveling whether

the

as

sea

the

of

how the city

stands

harborer

unwUling

Cain,

of

better than the

understands

not

see

that art,

it be in allowing

man's

to

in its

other

proper

man's

as

earth

The descendants

crime.

he

navovqyia,

impiety. The Chorus do

apparent

dividing

the

the

on

beivdxng,

essential

of

and

the highest god, which, the Chorus recognize, does not fit with their later assumption that

only wilfully but not essentially subversive of the city, laws. For all the narrowness of Creon's belief that money

for

s

laws,

the earth's

speak of

violation of

man's

arts

are

of

offered

to

points

but

crime

who

or

cities)

place,

the

as

age

ignoring the

city itself founded

as

God the first fruits

God did not find acceptable, discovered the arts and founded the first city. However unaware the Chorus are that the city can only be high at the expense of the highest of the gods, the Chorus do see that the city cannot be, as Creon assumes, unqualifiedly

land,

the

of

which

(cf. 19.4); for man's beivdxng partly consists in his teaching himself daxvvdfxoi dqyai, which are evidently not the same as man's submission to the laws of the land. Although the city must rest on good

both the

arts

harmony

with

through

the

another

one

arts

man's

laws), its

(their

the gods

and

10.9):

(cf.

need

or

43

two

s

for the city,

desire to

are

not

which

serves

himself, does

preserve

in not

necessarily find the gods useful. 22.4. The Chorus list nine ways in which

as such

man's beivdxng is revealed: (1) sailing, (2) farming, (3) hunting, (4) taming, (5) speaking, (6) thinking, (7) daxwdjioi dqyai, (8) housing, (9) medicine. The first four have

to do

with

to himself

man's

taught speech is yet

there

are

prevent the

itself teach

305, 758),

gods

hmiting

its limitation to

and

of speech

man

us about

we

men.

central

the

to non-men, the last five

with his relation One is therefore inclined to say that selfbecause it separates men from non-men. And

relation

other

and

their

speaking

them?

with

Leaving

swear, "for the

42

For the meaning

43

Cf. Arist. Politica 1328M1-3.

of

dxptnoXig,

see

hearing,

man.

aside

have the testimony

mortals should never

blxa.

evoqxog

to man's

of

and

Oaths

and

What, then, does

Creon's the

F. Sommer,

op.

prevent

the play

three vain oaths

guard,

afterthought

prayers

divine laws

who

belies

suggests

one's

cit., 174.

(184, that

judgment"

A Reading of

Sophocles'

1 89

Antigone

(388-94). If a change in circumstances sanctions one's right to depart from what one has sworn to, oaths could not be a way of ensuring

truthfulness, in The

guard

to

speech of

17.4),

it

were

not

of

attribution

that divine

that Creon has violated divine law through

suspects

barbaric

(cf.

Chorus'

the

1.138.1).44

(cf. Her.

a share

confirm

law,

Antigone appeals, contradicts it. But even apart from the the gods, which is divine law, one cannot forget that Tiresias

which

first

discovery

large

so

thus unwittingly

to man's own

speech

justice has

which

would

sound

of

hearing

birds (1001-2). The light-witted birds

speak

the

more

wisely than men. The Chorus do not recognize ornithroscopy or any other kind of divination as showing the limits of man's unaided resource

fulness. The future is whoUy open to man as man (360-1). If speech, then, is entirely a human invention, and oaths, prayers, and omens are not ways of communication between gods and men, it remains mysterious how the Chorus

inventiveness

would unite man's

The Chorus

city.

and

divine law in

the

to take their actual coexistence in the city as

seem

a

inventiveness, despite the im neutrahty plication in their own description of it that denies it any such neutrality. By starting from Creon's proof that the gods could not have buried Polynices, the Chorus have drifted into a view that completely cuts off proof

the

of

of

moral

the gods from

men.

Aeschylus'

22.5.

man's

Prometheus

also

lists

nine

discoveries

as

his

own:

(1) housing, (2) astronomy, (3) numbers, (4) letters, (5) taming, (6) 450-504).45 sailing, (7) medicine, (8) divination, (9) metaUurgy (PV The first of

above or

divination

neither earth

the

nor numbers.

involves,

that ploughing

of the earth.

surface

the Chorus treat xd

strikingly differs from this list by the absence in it below the earth: neither astronomy nor metaUurgy,

stasimon most

anything

housing

the

says

to the

that

ways

in

which

stasimon's

men

the

slight penetration of

stasimon restricts man's

The different

also point

Prometheus

ovqdvia.

Apart from the

beivdxng

Prometheus

dehberate

first lived in

to and

exclusion of

sunless

caves,

he taught them to buUd out in the open houses that face the sun; the Chorus imply that men first lived under the open sky, exposed to frost and rain, and men taught themselves how to avoid them, but whether by building houses or retiring to caves is unclear. No light, natu ral or artificial, Uluminates the horizontal plane on which man hves and moves. Man's daring is exercised in a closed world. His daring is without and

aspiration.

himself,

There is

suspects that neutral

of

of

only

is,

44 45

at

sense

inabUity

the

what permits

besides their

the human

look

no

other

world.

men

here of

of man's openness

things to

the Chorus to

resist

regard man's

sUence about what motivates

Man

crosses

the

sea not

One therefore

daring

it, just this

as

moraUy

closedness

to trade with, conquer, or

(cf. a3, Her. 3.139.1); he merely

Cf S. Benardete, AGON 1967, 160-1. Cf. S. Benardete, RhM 1964, 126-39.

to things beyond

man.

outbraves

it,

as

Interpretation

190

Like an engine idling, whose does gears have to be engaged before it any work, man's daring has to be the gods before it moves toward and of the seen in the perspective city terribleness is a good or evU end. Its partly due no doubt to this idling; though he were

at

but

time the Chorus have

at

the

same

recalcitrance

terrible than

22.6.

by

once more

being

to

the

harmonized

elements.

with

thereby drained it

its

of

essential

the gods. Man

is

the city

and

to

thrice, twice by name, and dvBqwnog there is nothing

more

the Chorus beheve.

even

The

with

play

stasimon

the neuter

refers

man

pronoun: as

he is nsqiqadrfg,

dvijq

uncanny, as

and as

Neuter man, furthest removed from

the

sea and wears out

directly

demonstrative earth.46

which

he

xovxo

exactly

crosses

the

characterizes man

man under the sway of Eros her for aU 21. (cf. artlessness, shares something in Antigone, then, that provokes her daring needs 10.8). If the law with him (cf. common the antigeneration of her name and nature, it must somehow be related to the arts that make manifest man's daring, which equally rests on his as

stands

artisan,

1).47

unerotic

Chorus

How they are related one far off in their conjecture

nature.

are not as

to the

as

23.1). The as they later imagine (cf. Antigone in more than a negative way. The

thrice,

stasimon mentions gods

character

is

stasimon

culprit

22.7.

say; but the of the

now

cannot

twice

by

relevant

name, and

to

once

Earth, Hades, Bewv evoqxog bixa. Earth coUectively is the highest of the gods, Hades is the only god or thing from which man and the gods cannot escape (note the triplet evyeiv, ev^iv, vydg), are those whose justice men swear by as a guarantee of their own. Both and

men and gods

sun, rivers,

anonymously:

in Homer

and

Zeus,

80, S 271-4, O an

obstacle

man;

and

Earth,

sun and

sence, moreover, the highest of the

by Earth, and men swear by Ouranos, sea, and

the gods

36-8). For the Chorus the

to man;

the

swear

and

seems

sky

though

are conspicuous

to be

sea

divine, is

deliberately

by

is

first

someone caU

Eros the highest

of aU gods

has the birds

caU

by

the

Styx ( r 276divine, but merely

continuaUy

outraged

by

their absence. Their ab

referred

gods, vneqxaxog

not

as weU

to, for Earth is

caUed

in Hesiod: Zevg xng, og vneqxaxa bw/iaxa valei (OD 8). Pindar invokes Zeus him self as the highest in connection with his thunderbolts (O. 4.1); Euripides has

vipijUqefie-

occurs

(fr.

269.2);

and

Aristopha

Zeus'

he has usurped Pisthetairos, throne, the highest of the gods (Av. 1765). It is not uncommon, however, for "highest" to have entirely lost its literal sense of above the but nes

once

earth;48

when combined with

46 47

On

xovxo

see

Earth this

sense

is

incongruously

restored

to it. The

Schneidewin; P. Friedlander, Hermes 1934, 59.

Cf. L. Strauss, The City and Man, 95-6. 48 When is not to be literally understood, the object it qualifies is vniQtaxog something the gods have raised to the top (cf. 684, 1138; Ph 402, 1347; OC 105). Are we to understand that the gods hold Earth to be the highest?

A

Chorus

the Earth

call

promise

Sophocles'

Reading of

highest,

Antigone

191

as a result of an

perhaps,

between its true owner, Zeus, to

whom

impossible

the Chorus

com

any limit

deny

and its omission, the consequence of which would have been that man as man has nothing to reverence or look up to. As that is far too radical for the Chorus, they attribute the epithet to Earth,

ing power over man,

only god whose presence in the midst of men they believe cannot be denied. Everything divine, which the stasimon's theme forbids the Chorus the

to mention (in accordance with their brand of moderation [cf.

is

11.2]),

into the Earth. One has only to compare the second strophe of the second stasimon to see what is properly highest, unaging, and unwearied. Earth, in any case, is the only god who survives in the dominion of horizontal man (cf. 46.7). compressed

22.8.

Earth

as a goddess

in two ways, both

stasimon

has

far

so

perplexed our

a

third

difficulty

or

by:

around which

violation of the

and

cannot

immortality

is

not such a means.

It

whose surface

the

the whole play revolves. The

the only limit man

earth, to

of

of

reconciling laws. There is,

as

that the stasimon suggests that

tal, therefore,

difficulty

Hades

stasimon acknowledges

breach

understanding

its oaths,

the violation of the earth with the city,

moreover,

to the

of which pertain

his

put

we

is

daring

by

cannot

any means be acciden

together

otherwise

man's

restricted,

only limitation, which as a place is somewhere below the 4.1). Its omission of mining now seems to be of some 19.4).49 importance (cf. The whoUy inviolable part of the earth would with man's earth

(cf.

thus be

Hades, whose masters are Plouton and Hecate (1199-1200); and in turn are the gods in whose custody the laws and customs of burial they reside (451). Not death in itself but Hades and his laws would constitute the true limitation

man, for the death

of

of

individuals

cannot prevent one

from ing on the fruits of its beivdxng to the next. The human world is not as closed to the gods as the stasimon makes

generation of men

out.

The

Chorus, however,

the

other

difficulties Earth

import

of

man,

They

limitlessness,

to a

universal applies to each man

limitlessness. The

is that nothing man as man.

provides

the

a

sacred

of

22.9.

In

a

way

impiety

not

interfere

the class

hence

with man's

as an

connects

individual

the city and

Chorus'

the land

bond between the land and

the

of

(cf.

mining

see

and

universal come

reminiscent of

of personification

For the

class-

,

Hades that the particular

degrees

are of

confusedly move from a limitation that though equaUy

treating and

they

not understand the

under (xBwv) are not in the Earth (/a) i.e., the laws of burial (cf. 382). Anti necessary corrective to the stasimon itself, for she

The laws of

thus

this than

They do

way that does

a

between

then stands

standing the laws is

in

consequence of

gone therefore

for them.

this.

man a neuter

calling

characteristic of

are no more aware of makes

the parodos,

11.5),

the

earth.

It is through

together. which

displayed

various

the play as a whole seems to give

Pliny NH 33.1-3.

Interpretation

192 hst

an exhaustive

ways

in

occurrences

of

Of the twenty-one the dead below the and

the

of

the last to the tumulus

Polynices'

remains

to

earth as stuff

unifying earth

(24, 65)

Creon's

of native soU

servants

divergent

earth's

the

and

earth's

it be identified

country,

and

for

appears

sense

of

to be the

Somewhere between the

meanings.

hard

(338),

erected

(1203). Burial rites, in aUowing for the

which

surface,

unyielding

in itself comprehends, hes the city, the regime, the fatherland (the place

either the goddess Earth or the whether

be understood. ^e ^si refers to

can

earth

coincide with that of earth as

of

core

the

yfj, xQ<*>v, x^Qa> the middle to earth as a goddess

(24),

earth

which

earth

with

buried), or the possession of the gods (110, 113, 155, 187, 199, 287, 368, 518, 736, 739, 806, 937, 1162, 1163). As the surface of the earth, moreover, no less than its depths, is linked through dust with burial (247, 256, 409, 429, 602), the city and Hades are never far apart. The roots of the city, however, do not aU reach to Hades, for it is also founded on the violation of the earth; and only ancestors

where one's

are

in the play aUudes to earth as the mother of aU growing things (cf. 419, 1201-2). That the dead Eurydice can be caUed nap.pi'ijxwq of Haemon's corpse (1282), though nafjtfirjxwq suggests the earth (Aesch. PV 90), seems to point again to the same abstraction from what earth this age

primarily

ignoring

It is this abstraction, which is of a piece with the existence (cf. 9.2), that allows Antigone as antito represent the laws of earth and hence of the city.

connotes.

of

generation

Of the

22.10. seventh,

Ismene's

nine

dorvvd/j,oi

emphasizes

its

of

manifestations

dqyai,

is

anomalousness

not

is

at

that

aU

beivdxng

man's

once

intelligible.

the rest

seem

only the What further

to be paired:

hunting-taming, speakmg-thinking, housing-medicine. A to its way meaning is given, however, if one contrasts speaking and swift thinking with the dumb fishes (cf. A]. 1297) and light-witted birds sailing-farming,

wind-

It would then stand opposed to the savagery of land animals dyqlwv eBvn) and would mean man's self-domestication, the training of his temper without the aid of the gods. Such a self-limitation for the sake of living together on the part of a being that otherwise men capture.

(Bnqwv

recognizes no

that civUity or

limits the Chorus

decency

results

regard as uncanny;

from

man's own

laws

but this very makes one

claim

think of

burial. The daxvvdfioi of Athens were charged with the task of seeing to it that aU dung was dumped farther than ten stades from the city's waU; and

they

themselves

picked

Ath. Pol. 50). One is thus xonqtwv

with

this

exfiXnxdxeqoi precept

up

anyone who

reminded of

(fr. 96). Even if

(cf. PI. Phaedo

died in

(Arist.

the streets

Heraclitus'

saying, a

115a3-5),

Socrates

can

vexveg

laughingly

the city does not treat

ydq agree

corpses

it treats dung; and the difference of treatment must he in the fact that some laws and customs of decency are not self-taught. The Chorus have simply not reflected on the connection between domestication and piety, on the doxvvd/uoi Beot behind the doxwdjuoi dqyai, for they as

Sophocles'

A Reading of

Antigone

193

form."50 piety only when it has decayed into habit and "good of doiag Svexa altogether eludes them (cf. Eur. meaning IT 1461, Eubulus fr. 110.2, Ephippus fr. 15.4, Wyse at Isae. 7.38). They therefore can caU Antigone, just after she has defended the divine law of burial, savage and from a savage father (471-2). 22.11. The triad of Bey/ia, qdvrjjua, and daxvvdfioi dqyai, which

understand

The

original

man

has taught

himself,

and

yvw/urj,

which

(cf.

$ 12.4). The

remind one of

only the

triads

Creon's triad

exercise

be

cannot

of

of

ywxij, qdvn/j,a,

pohtical

matched

rule

reveal

can

for Creon's

one-to-one,

Chorus'

Bey/xa and qdvnfia whUe their daxvvd/uoi yvwpirj embraces the dqyai is a partial combination of his rpvxrj and qdvnfta. The Chorus thus expand what Creon regards as the easiest aspect of ruling, and they

into daxwd/ioi dqyai

contract

boldness is

Chorus, life; for Creon,

the

man's

in town

deliberations is the assert

the

correctly dqyai cannot be

as

test

of

knowing

mUd

Creon

courage of

ultimate

that for

what

as

analyzes more carefuUy.

his

the

astonishingly in abiding by the best

ruler

Creon, then, indispensable, for

exceUence.

is

a man rule

For

sacrificed

extrapolitical and

the Chorus beheve. His

dqyai

would man's

must stUl

savagery to defend his country. He must value his country his life. Despite the war that Thebes has just endured, and even because of it, the Chorus do not reckon the ndXignaxqlg,

retain enough more than perhaps

to the

as opposed place

it

aside as

daxv,

as

constituting

the haven

of aU that

faU to consider its connection Creon somewhat understands.

with

a part of man's

is

beivdxng.

good and noble

the soul,

a

They

because they

connection

that even

22.12. The ordinary punctuation of line 360 makes navxondqog no different from anoqog xxX ; but without the colon it says that man, resourcefuUy resourceless, comes to nothing in the future (cf. El. 1000, fr. 8).51 This is surely not what the Chorus mean, but as an unwitting 871, portrayal of

Antigone it

could not

be bettered: completely artless, but infi 9.3, 10.5). For the Chorus,

to death (cf

nitely resourceful, Antigone man's beivdxng consists in the gap between his daring and his apparent limitations, before which daring these limitations coUapse. The one limitation that is equaUy apparent and real is death; but Antigone shows goes

.

her navovqyla within the area that death seems to circumscribe for itself. She does not show that it too is only apparent; she breaks only the

50

The

guards'

willingness

their innocence

well

of a custom that

did

nvgog in'

bi

that as

El

man

he

Uvai ovdiv comes

ultimately

1166):

fr. 536).

to

go

illustrates (and

later decayed into

through

perhaps

is

fire

(tivq diigneiv)

meant

a manner of

to

illustrate)

as

the

a

proof

original

of

force

expression, as in Xen. Symp. 4.16:

(cf. K. Latte, Heiliges Recht, 5-6, n. 2). inl could be distinguished from sgxexai to nothing

of

any



for

is (cf. El 245, 1129); but it is

xaxBavcbv

di nag

dvfjQ

yfj

xai

not

oxld

ftrjdiv i. as meaning his resourcefulness, resourceless to be insisted upon (cf. Ai. 1231;

all

xo /irjdiv

eis o-udiv qinei

(Eur.

Interpretation

194

limits

Ismene

that

thinks

8.6). Antigone does Death is brought recalcitrant

are

law, nature, and power (cf. death, she sides with it against life. the bvvaxd, though it seems to be

insuperable:

not get around

the

within

to exploitation,

realm of

through

the

unwritten

law. Antigone's devotion

to the law leads to her accepting the conditions of death itself: Death is not the limit but the goal. If one thus xelaofxai. alel Chorus'

the

daring finite

a colon.

question of why Antigone should What is the Chorus looking at when they pause and anoqogl Man's flight from death results in his

navxondqog

everything that threatens death. With his in expands the horizon of possibihty. He thus pushes

confrontation with

resources man

to the periphery

future

what

navxondqog

originaUy was in front

what

center and puts off into the him. The colon, then, between in the displacement of the horizon

the

at

of

remains

right

and

is grounded has brought about. The

anoqog

that man's artfulness

the barrier that

man

himself has

in

awe.

Man's artfulness,

Chorus

stand

daring,

which

to

neutral

daring The

art as well.

is

not

it,

sUence represents

before

there, however, does and

omission of

the

cause of man's

it is before it has committed itself to art. The commitment would be Antigone's to the divine law

which there

place

displacement but

daring

alternative of

to

burial, in

a rearticulation of man's original

so

gods once

turns

not a

his

have

that the domain of Hecate and Hades comes to occupy the of death and nothingness. As Antigone recovers the horizon that

horizon,

original

choose

on man (cf. 456-7), man's daring as radical piety only neutral but hostUe to art: art is the perversion of daring. Art is not at first moraUy neutral and then free

imposed

to be

out

man's

to

is

not

the

it is art; it is

neutral when

points to what such a

which exhaust

not

in itself does

and which

just moraUy

Chorus'

Chorus'

made

precedes

necessarily

to issue in it. Man's

the

ydq

misreads

meaning, one must face the

lurk behind between

exel

not

the good or the

bad; it is from

the

unholy, and the

start

difference between its subsequent morahty and immorality is, strictly speaking, illusory. Creon's mistake of identifying decree with law reflects a necessary mistake of the city itself, for the city cannot dispense with art; and therefore it must condone its essential unholiness whUe it the

punishes

in the

accidental manifestations of

glare that

Antigone

Antigone, therefore, has to forget

22.13.

once

to be replaced

again what

The Chorus

this

casts on

Antigone

seem

its

misuse.

The city

must

original compromise of

by

Tiresias in

reminds

it

order

(cf.

of

blink

the city.

for the city

51).

to enforce their punctuation of line 360

through the corresponding line in the antistrophe, where vtplnoXig stands to navxondqog as anoXig to anoqog. The city is high if man weaves

into (naqelqwv) his artfulness his country's laws and the sworn-by justice 52 but there is no city for him if thanks to his daring he of the gods; 52

This is the only

supplied

antecedent

understood

possible

for

the

meaning nag-

it; but it is difficult. The

of

(cf.

the mss. reading, with naQanXixco

closest parallel

I

),

which

could

xixvTl the easily is how Hermann

find is PI. Lgs. 823a4-5:

A

ignoble.53

the

embraces

Reading of

The misreading,

that here too one should

daring

of

there is would

himself

aUies

no

in her

consist

the

to her (cf.

however,

of

line 360

suggests

immorality, for him

with

daringly time and

same

195

Antigone

the line to read that whoever out

repunctuate

the city is high and looks like Antigone's. It rerninding the city of one of its divine for the same reason that the city is of no

This two-edged

city.

sanctions at

Sophocles'

immorality

2.4). This

characterization of Antigone remains true Antigone that what she does is noble (cf. 9.4), for her morahty undermines the city no less than her immorality. As the gods, moreover, are the source of Antigone's double relation to the city, one

if

even

is

one agrees with

Creon's saying that the gods shook and set upright again 12.2). The city uneasUy exists between the gods who the same gods who cannot sanction its unpurifiable impiety.

reminded of

the city (cf.

it

Just

Antigone, then,

as

and

in herself

nuUifies

Antigone anoXig. But if

navxondqog and

Chorus'

sUence

between

the gods nuUify their sUence one asks what the Chorus think

so

anoqog,

the

and

between viptnoXig and justifies their sUence between these two words, the answer can only epiol be a hope or prayer for man's submissiveness to the city: of When caU Earth highest the the Chorus the naqeaxiog yevoixo. jxfjx'

gods, it is

necessary blunder, for the city must man; and if the city alone determines something the good and the noble, that something can only be Earth, whose ambiguity as itself or one's country conceals the violence it suffers in becoming rest

not

just

a

on

one's

blunder but

The

own.

a

of

outside

Chorus, then,

compelled

are

to point to the

crime

of

the city in praising the city; and this in turn necessarily arises from their mistake as to the character of the culprit. Their behef that only man's artfulness can

for the

success with which

Creon's decree

justifies the seeming irrelevance of the stasimon; but justifies its relevance is that this mistake of the Chorus is the crime. Man's omnicompetence is man's criminality (navovqyia). was violated

The Chorus

22.14.

to their own

hearth;

not some coUective of

their

revulsion

end

with

the

hope that the

but their hearth is hearth

against

of

a

the

city.

public

each one's

The

crime.

belong

hearth and measures the depth

separate

private

The

culprit not

what city's

culprit

is automaticaUy

city, but he is not thereby automaticaUy without a hearth shared with others. His isolation is only completed by a hope, a hope without

Saa

xaXd

a

ifmenXey/iiva yodeiv (cf. Phdr. avx doxei xai [i^ xaXd elvat, vdfioig deiv6xr\g- theme that the Chorus would be in accordance with the

244c 1-2). It stress man's

interlacing

of art and

law

rather

than man's obedience to

law (ysgaiQav

or the like). 53

ist

Bockh

staatlos,

equivalent

(237) does wem

of

is contrary to

put

tiylnoXig

Hoh'

together with

das Edle ferm wohnt"), but only

nagafiatvcov

what

;

he therefore does

the Chorus intend.

not

&noXig ("Auf des Staates by taking nageiQcov as

recognize

that his

the

interpretation

Interpretation

196

that the Chorus employ to slide over the difference between the

the

and

the

If servants, relations,

city.

Chorus, the presence hope, would be common

their

only

however, mentions the indeed, not untU Creon 23 (376-83). 23.1.

friends

arrested

poignant; but

of such a

have in

the

of

or

as

of

Antigone had

Antigone, after the expression it is, Antigone and the Chorus 11.1). No one,

Theban citizenship (cf. in the whole of the

foUowing

ndXig

Haemon does it

confronts

Prometheus'

gifts

fanuly

comprised

fire

of

scene;

(656).64

recur

the

and

arts

were

by his settling in men blind hopes, which deprived them of seeing death as the fate in front of them (PV 248). The human being who has no arts, is whoUy without hope, and sees death before

accompanied

her is Antigone (cf. She thus

man.

mentioned

10.8). Antigone is

3.2, 10.5,

stands

to Ulustrate

man's

pre-Promethean

everything that the Chorus have just beivdxng and the Chorus acknowledge this of

outside

calling her a baifidviov xeqag (one must reject Piatt's baifidviov fuUy restores to xeqag the "rehgious

by

be),

xd

where

nuance"

in

neuters

originaUy Whenever xeqag

monstrum.

composed

of

immediate

source

Hipp.

is

being

that

either

had.55

Antigone

-ag

1214,

refers

in

monstrous

that do not

parts

is

a

more

living being

to a shape

or

origin

belong together,

that

and not

(Io

an

event,

Helen), i.e.,

or

the

or

aU

human

than

gods

are

its

1098, Aesch. Suppl. 570, Eur. Hel. 255-60, PI. Crat. 394d5). Antigone is the only nonvisibly monstrous (cf. Tr.

whoUy human being that is ever caUed a Chorus do it? Their association of daughter and

xeqag.

with

Why, then, do

father

suggests

the

that

her incestuous

origin partly s for her monstrousness. She is, besides, deivdv in herself, not through her success but her faUure in breaking any of the apparent limits set for man. Man's qdvn/na was for the Chorus an aspect of his beivdxng but now they are confronted

It had

Antigone's dqoovvn.

with

irrationality, sound,

could

irrationality world of the recedes

which also

the divine

first

before

transgression

as

occurred

to them that human

known its intrusion into the

makes

stasimon.

man's

is

not

belongs to rationality as much as sUence does to be terrible (cf. 10.12, 21.1). In the guise of

The

gods are not an outer

daring; they nothing is the

are within even

compared

with

unlimited

limit that

from the

divine

start.

always

Human

possession.

The

gods'

answer

particularizing Chorus. With her hot heart for xdbe

antigeneration, Antigone

human,

which

cold

shows

to the generalizing

things, her love

that the union of

(the Chorus thought) the city

of

the

death, divine

harmonized,

of

the

and

her

and

the

xovxo

is essentiaUy

monstrous.

54

Cf. S.

(ed. J. 55

Benardete,

"Sophocles'

Tyrannus,"

in Ancients

and

Moderns

Cropsey), 3.

Cf. P. Chantraine, Formation des noms grecs, 422; E. Risch, Wortbildung der daifidvwv xigag occurs in Bacchylides 16.35 (Snell)

homerischen Sprache, 80. of

Oedipus

Nessus'

gift to

Deianeira.

interpretation journal

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SOPHOCLES'

A READING OF

ANTIGONE:

II

S. Benardete

24 (384-405).

24.1.

The

guard's

to the

answer

Chorus'

question

that he can be brief and to the point; but in answering Creon he seems to be as garrulously impertinent as he had been on his first proves

entrance

(cf.

15.1). His

he is the tenor

him to

of

his first

chief concern

last

and

is

himself:

still

on each occasion

to Creon. His

remarks

joy

now prompts

his fear had done before; but there only of himself; he now begins with a

as much self-justification as

differences. He then spoke that he finds applicable to himself (cbiojfiorovcmcofiorog). He then explicitly distinguished between soul and self; he now implicitly distinguishes between gods and mortals. He then expressed his resignation are

generalization

to his cbzcog

fate; he

Sfr]

now

glories

replace

it

Chorus

were

with

in his luck. His parting remark ovx did not suggest that he later would

iWovra fie an oath. He

devq

av

have thus bound himself

must

while

the

human daring. But the

of

the boundlessness

of

guard now its that

he

could not maintain

that self-imposed limitation.

He accordingly brings In ignorance of future

out

singing

the difference between human

and

divine law.

circumstances mortals cannot obligate

themselves;

only the gods, it seems, could on men. And yet one

stipulate

binding

such an

automatically it before he can be her

second

obligation

if so, in

and

obligation;

alone

what way.

Does the divine

establish

the obligation? Or

punished

for his failure to

self-justification,

(cf.

that some action be unqualifiedly

might ask whether men must acknowledge

tries to

command

must each man swear

by

abide

for the



it?

to

Antigone, in

source

of

her

27).

24.2. The guard speaks of hope and expectation three times, twice before and once after the first stasimon (235, 330, 392). When Creon frustrated the guard's expectation that he would meet his fate, the latter attributed to the gods the cause of his survival, so contrary to his expectation and judgment (330-1). The Chorus then sang of man's artfulness beyond expectation and its entire independence from the gods. The guard now speaks of his stroke of luck that set at naught

*

The text

myself, not

used

however,

see

any

connection

age, I have

Each line numbers

Each

in

is Pearson's OCT

not always accepted

or

ed

group

over of

my

otherwise

chosen

and

I

am

indicated. I have silent, for if I did

my interpretation

of

the

own preference.

lines interpreted is

every

where

readings wherever

between the reading

parentheses after

paragraph of

except

his

given a section

number, with the line

it.

section

is

numbered as well

for

ease of cross-reference.

Interpretation

2

his expectation, of which he had been so it with an oath. But the guard does not because he thinks that the

perhaps

pleasure

(392-3);

he later

and

asserts

his

joy

unexpected

that the

his

even

pardon

not

would

gods

confirmed

thanks to the gods,

give

trivial and harmless perjury. He now tells of

boundless

that he had

certain now

and

greatest pleasure

escape from evils, and that for him everything else naturally takes second place to his own safety (436-40). He had not (neqrvxs) mentioned pleasure when he expressed his gratitude to the gods. Not

lies in the

the

but

gods

either

or

oaths

first

guard's

is the

chance

the gift of Hermes

author of

(Oovoficuov)

his

(cf. 328): he does

joy

to prove his innocence. The

gods

entrance

not owe

to Hermes (cf. 274). He no longer needs movement

from the

to his final departure seems to be from fate to

(the first stasimon) to chance. The movement reminds one of the of the tenth book of Plato's Laws. Three causes, according

art

argument

to the Athenian thing: goes of

Stranger,

are said

by

some

to be the sole

causes of

every

qwaiQ, Tsxvrj, xi%r\ (Lgs. 88e4-90a2). The Athenian Stranger then on to trace this understanding of nature to the supposed priority

body

to soul,

is the

pleasure

a

priority that necessarily leads to the assertion that (886a9-b2). The Stranger himself, however,

greatest good

asserts the temporal and

hierarchical priority

body,

to

of soul or mind

priority that he links up with the existence of gods and the goodness of a providential order. Now the guard's understanding of fate is plainly not the same as this, for fate for him is no less unintelligible than it is a

unjust; but it is

remarkable

that he drops the soul and fate when he

drops the gods, and that pleasure, chance, and (cf. OT 977-83). The guard, who originally had

first

stasimon

omitted,

now speaks

in

take their

nature

place

spoken about what

accordance with

the first

the

stasimon.

Antigone is entirely isolated. 24.3.

her

The

uses

(385), "she the corpse you had

burying of

guard

burying"

these

a plainer

as

the was

ddnrco

verb

burying

forbidden"

formulation

of

the

(404-5). The

an

was

object),

(rov

and

"we

(402),

"I

caught

her

saw

guard offers

the last

and it is the only one for the first fails to say what of seven where Ocbirco lacks

the second uniquely refers to

Their

avdga).

times:

the second;

6.2); literally true (cf. burying (the only case out

that seems to be

Antigone

three man"

inexactness, however,

Polynices'

corpse as seems

to

catch

the

man

Antigone's

understanding of what she is doing better than the literal third. If burial is not indispensable for conveying the soul to Hades, as the own

silence not rites

it throughout the play implies (cf. 4.3), dcmrco a transitive verb, but would mean the whole

about

be essentially that

the

involves the

mourner

corpse

or

performs, not

regardless

(cf. 395-6).

of

whether

Nothing,

even

of

would set

of

them

any if done to the

corpse, would be done for the corpse. That the guard, moreover, when

he does say what Antigone was burying, can call it "the suggests Polynices' how readily Antigone can disregard the difference between 4.3). The unity of body, soul, and corpse and Polynices himself (cf. man"

A which

self,

in attributing

a

25.1.

first three

another

between the time

during

of

guard's

speech

is

not

compelled

difficulty

no

falls into four

main

parts,

describe in turn the waiting of the guards Antigone (422-31), and the arrest of Antigone

part

the

concerns

guard's

own

to her

reaction

xai

prior

and

subsequent

to the

dust

(415-22),

storm

the guards had their eyes shut. Antigone thus

which

his former

with

squares guard

clearly marks off the second from the first the third from the second. The guard distinguishes

(436-40). One and

The

which

of

(407-21), the discovery (432-5), while the last part,

hardly

3

disassociate himself from himself, he finds similar unity to the dead (cf. 20.3).

25 (406-40).

arrest

Antigone

distinguish them. Now that the

through fear to

the

Sophocles'

of

the guard's words convey,

to

attempts

Reading

approached

the corpse undetected; she was able to move straight toward it despite

fact that

the

too must have

she

totally filled the assurance

to his

She

that the blind grave

sacred

drawn to the

corpse

her

speaks of

guard

air.

need, then, to

eyes

through

the

Oedipus displayed

when

capture

as

if

plain

fastidious to

attribute

the

with

he

went as

same

unassisted

irresistibly be: the

would

beast (432). There is

no

that the gods directed Antigone's steps through

(250-2). The

the trackless

she were a

dust that

the

against storm

(OC 1541-6, 1588-9). Antigone is as any beast that feeds on carrion

assume

Antigone homes in

her

shut

moved

most

one

could

to her a canine sense Polynices'

on

corpse

by

of

say,

smell,

"instinct."

if

is too

one

would

be that

Polynices'

corpse

is her home. 25.2. or the

The first

had any or

seems

language in The

implicitly

denied that on

man,

either

and

that

the man

chthonic

as man

him manifestly understanding 22.5). The dust storm, lies hidden below him (cf. first to refute it; but the refutation lies wholly in the

concern with

exploiting

then,

stasimon

imposed any limitation

celestial

what

stands

above

what at

which

guard uses

the

couched,

not

in the facts themselves.

rvoog, axtquirog,

and

ovpdviov metaphorically.

the facts words

are

by itself, could mean a tireless thunderbolt, and axrjjirog any kind of lightning that strikes the earth [(Arist.) de mundo 395a21-5]; but makes plain, the guard is describing a as the ablative-genitive %6ov6c, and "divine are thus terrestrial phenomenon. "Heavenly rvwg,

harm"

plague"

equally inexact (cf. Aesch. Pers. 573, 581); indeed, the guard, when he could have used ovqavoc. in its precise sense, preferred to speak of the air (415-6). The dust storm, in any case, has only to be endured, (cf. 356-60); it does not entail a response of The dust storm, moreover, even if it does not hinder Antigone, does not help her. An eclipse of the sun would perhaps have let her get away undetected a second time; but the dust storm seems only to conceal Antigone when she does not have to be concealed, and

that is easy

reverence

56

or

of

enough

awe.56

Cf. Th. 2.64.2; L. Strauss, The City

and

Man, 161.

Interpretation

4 for the

guards

burial. In

her only when she already has begun the rites of Creon's prohibition against ritual lamentations (204),

seize

spite of

the guards choose to convict her for her deeds

for the

not

sounds and curses

(strictly

understood) and

that she utters, let alone for any intention

to be inferred from her presence

with

pitcher

a

libations (cf. 384,

of

4.4). The dust storm, then, is more indicative of Antigone's 434-5; of direction than of the . The dust storm sense unerring Polynices' also seems to fail her in another way: it does not re-cover gods'

corpse.

That

such a

storm as

moist and putrescent

flesh

should

before it looks like the

be

as

single most

bare

the play. (But we must note that the guard never calls the and

storm,

that this is

directly

due to his

bringing

of

dust

after

in dust

event

uncanny

storm a

down to

earth

a

vocabulary.) If the dust storm had continued for days on end, Creon might have had to it that the gods themselves buried

celestial even

Polynices; just less to

no

the Chorus of the first stasimon might then have had

enough; for burial

not

in

limitation to

that men themselves must

thing as

as

acknowledge a

But burial is

some

24.3). On this ground,

those rites might have (cf.

whatever effects

then, it

consists

man's power.

do; the simple vanishing of the body is at least as much in the rites themselves

to say that Antigone sees the corpse as still unburied because she recognizes that the dust of the storm is not her own. What seems safer

Polynices'

distinguishes the two dusts is this. What is unseemly for unburied corpse to suffer from birds and dogs is the opposite that the dust

unseemliness

(206, 419). The

inflicted

guard ascribes malicious

that blasted every vestige of life

malice

Antigone

that

storm

Furthermore, might have been, they

matter

how

might yet

the

of

the foliage in the

plain

intent to the storm; and this be the same as the love

cannot

into the dust that

poured no

on

Polynices'

covered

unelaborate

her

have borne the

original

marks of

corpse.

arrangements

human artifice,

the haphazard swirling of the dust could not duplicate. Perhaps, Polynices' however, Antigone's ritual dust and whatever dust clung to which

corpse

during

chance

differ

It

law that

storm

eyes of

governs

(cf. PI. Rep.

variations

that would

law to

an

not so much

the

loving

(if

at

stamped

all) because artifice and that dust with herself.

Antigone her

a performance

variations

the

differ

because Antigone had

as

in the

carried

or

the

can

be

so

own signature.

strict

as

No

rule

to exclude

all

473al-3); at best, it can only exclude those make a difference; and yet the indifference of

indifferent difference

would

not

make

that difference

irrelevant to Antigone. Antigone's recognition, then, that the storm's dust is not her dust perfectly agrees with the law's prescription that man must

(cf.

bury

man.

The law Antigone

obeys shines through

Antigone

1.2).

25.3.

The

guard

bereft

of

guard

is the first,

its

likeness. The

nestlings

likens Antigone to burst

except perhaps

strangeness of

a bird that on seeing her bed piercing cry of lamentation. The for the Chorus (113), to make use of a

out with a

Antigone

compels

him to find in the familiar

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

5

Antigone

something comparable to her; but the differences between the image and the imaged seem to outweigh the similarities. The cries of a bird are not the same as ritual cries of mourning; Polynices is not Antigone's son; the bird grieves because she does not because she does see Polynices. That a

her young, Antigone for this

and while

see

grieves

probable source

Aeschylus'

(in

simile

Agamemnon),

to

tries

which

vultures

compare

the loss of their young to Agamemnon and Menelaus setting out as plaintiffs in a legal action against Troy for the loss of Helen,

bewailing

be equally inexact in its parallelism does not seem to be accidental 40-67; see Fraenkel ad loc); for beasts can no more unqualifiedly

should

(Ag.

be

called

308-9).

than

or vexvsg

vexqoi

What

defeats the

they

can

be

in his

guard

subject

attempt

to justice (cf. Ag.

to

Antigone

make

intelligible is her humanity, for the purity of her devotion, which sures a mother's love for her is due to the law. Antigone children,57

lives the law. She has nothing in common with beasts. The guard in borrowing the word l%oc, from the human world only stresses its to Antigone. She is the very in humanizing the likeness

inapplicability guard

succeeds

likens. And

only if

yet

one

takes the

opposite of generation.

The

by being false to what he guard literally can one grasp the

the bond that obtains between Antigone and Polynices.

of

peculiarity Polynices' The likeness is revealing because it is misleading. corpse stripped of its ritual dust affects Antigone in the way in which the loss

her brood

of

dust her

Antigone

the

affects

The

young.

mother

it in dust. The

clothed

houses the dust. The life Antigone's

own.

The

Antigone looked not

his head,

of

is lifeless

the corpse is the

was occupied when

now that

dust; it is

it

longer

no

the dust that is

in sweeping away the dust swept away what strictly her own not Polynices, not his corpse, his soul. Antigone's attachment is not just manifest

guard

in the dust. The dust is

attachment consists

the object as the means of her

her devotion, the law

of

corpse

is Antigone's nest, the

corpse

tenantless; it

on as

and not

in the dust; her

bird. The

corpse now stands

and

devotion,

for it

comprises

Polynices. The law

makes

as

the two the

much

sources

thirsty dust

Polynices'

corpse, so that without it property of the corpse is ipdog, i.e., deprived of what properly belongs to it; and Polynices turns the dust into his nourishment, so that Antigone is

(246, 429)

compelled

an essential

to

keep

brood only in 25.4.

The

on

order

returning

with

it like

a mother

bird

to forage for them (cf. Luc. de luctu

brazen

well-wrought

pitcher

from

which

who

leaves her

19).58

Antigone

poured

the libations does not seem to have been a sacred object, but merely

57

That Antigone

extent

to

speaks of

which she regards

it

burial

as

"lightening''

as

a

caring for the

most

(xovtpieic., 43) indicates the of beings; cf. Tr. 1025;

helpless

Or. 218. 58 and

One has to poetic

is laid

out

reckon

meaning

of

(cf. 1224-5).

with

tomb,

the possibility that and

evvrj

M%oc the meaning

here bears the secondary bed on which a corpse

of

Interpretation

6 domestic instrument that

a

serve

could

the purpose (cf. OC All). The

to illustrate that neutrality of art that was the burden of winethe first stasimon. Its use for libations rather than for washing or

pitcher

seems

its artfulness pouring wholly depends on the . In this case, moreover, and Antigone delight to does not either add to its usefulness or give (cf. sacred the to of itself Polynices. The beautiful does not belong 32.11).56

Yet it does

bronze, for bronze 2.37.1, 147.4);

to be accidental that the pitcher is of

not seem

often occurs

in

(cf. fr. 534,3 P; Her. (2.36), bronze

sacred contexts

and, according to a Theocritean scholium

thought to be pure, effective in averting pollution,

was

employed

for every kind

5.19.11).

Antigone, then, if

pollution,

as

unburied.

One

mother

whose

she

polluted

liable to

or

fault because Polynices

at

lies

now

readily imagine such self-reproach in the case of a absence from her young leaves them defenseless before can

But if Antigone thus

predators.

to think herself

seems

somehow

were

therefore

and

(cf. Macrob. Sat.

of expiation and purification

comes

to make amends, she

prepared

that the guards would sweep away the dust "instinct" Creon did not order it or know by of their desecration.

have

must

In

either

guessed

case, Antigone's understanding of her obligation must have She now interprets the law as commanding her continual

either

deepened.

Polynices'

presence

by

eternally

helpless,

of

the

of

side

it

trapping Antigone

the scene of his crime

her

vigil.

just "for form's

ever, exposes her to

stay the

in

alive

order

tranquility

(cf.

another

way

because Antigone

accepted

bury

the

trap

the dead is not

22.10). Antigone's reinterpretation, how not Antigone now obliged to

difficulty. Is

to preserve through the performance

of

rites

yearly

the dead (cf. Wyse ad Isae. 2.25.4)? Should she

of

is

corpse naive

that the criminal always returns to

assumed

succeeded

sake"

his

guards'

The

pointing to the true intention of the law. To

as

since

and

corpse;

she can never quit

not

thus have resorted to the utmost guile to escape detection? And is not

Ismene's

to

appeal

to vofudiueva

the

perpetuation

of

the

family

as

8.1)?

Only

Antigone's desire to die (cf.

as

faithful

to

the union,

it seems, of Antigone and Ismene could fulfill the law. But the guard, in ing over in silence one part of the burial rites, indicates how

impossible that good

up fr. 488, against

union

is. A

12-4 K; the

cf.

guards

things she could

Aesch.

and

ask

Ch.

end

precludes

by failing 09

(cf.

147-9). Antigone

Creon; but

for (cf.

worldly benefits; and for her to death so that she can them pious

to the dead that asked them to send

prayer

things accompanied the pouring of funeral libations (Aristoph.

one

cannot

17.5). She ask

9.4). Antigone's

rejects

the dead to

would

make

unlimited

utters

conceive

of

evil

the very

bring

Creon's

curses

what

good

notion

about

impiety

her

of

own

serve

a

devotion to the dead thus

her praying to the dead. She can satisfy her desire to die only to satisfy the letter of the law.

Cf. Th. 2.34.5; Xen. Mem. 3.8.8-10.

A

26 (441-8). 26.1.

free that

and convict

his

burial

of

the

testimony He

niece.

Antigone

of

Creon does

the guard's

confirms

Sophocles'

Reading

dismiss the

not

so reluctant

was

a

Antigone

until

guard

is he to let the

loath to have his

seems

Polynices

7

political

guard

directed

crime,

go

falsified,

suspicion

not

at

upholding the divine law but at upsetting his authority. It does not now occur to him that his enemies could have put Antigone up to it, for no one in his opinion would have done it except for worldly gain (221-2). Antigone's confession, however, does not suffice to make her punishable; she must have known that she was violating his proclamation (cf. PL Pit. 297el-3). Creon thus someone

demands

accordance with the

he had before denied, that perfect innocence, i.e., in

what

acknowledges

in

have buried Polynices

could

17.2).60

(cf.

of custom

It seems, then,

Antigone, who knew of Creon's decree, should have tried to bury Polynices, while Ismene, who had not known of it (Antigone knew that she would not know, 18), should

to be a remarkable coincidence that

not

have

begun the

at once

herself to

ritual cries of

Ismene's

grief

not express

does

not go against

lamentation,

Antigone

and

does

rites of

itself

of

her

mourning, which

never

accuses

necessity in

if

her

of

she

nature.

the

on

She

just

less

no

being

other

unfeeling-

hand, is

the law no

of

desecration, because

violation

of

thwarted

was at once aware of

guards'

embodiment

confined

prohibited.

Creon's decree

conventional ways.

Antigone,

grain.

precisely along the lines of her prohibition, as later of the

even

Creon had

it

be

could

as

Creon's

the

unknown

living

to her.

In this sense, the Chorus correctly suspected that the first burial of Polynices was deijXarov, i.e., the automatic consequence of the divine (278);61

law

at once on

26.2.

for it is through Antigone that the law's

execution

follows

the law's existence.

Of the

seven occurrences of

xaqa,

three are in

similar

forms

(1, 899, 915, cf. 1.1), three in phrases describing some bodily movement (269, 291, 441), and one in a periphrasis for the personal pronoun (1272, cf. 764, 1345). In six of these cases xaqa is not the of address

inevitably

right word

her

and

sister

that he

and

his

heads;

they hung

their

Thebans

affective word: struck your

60

head to the

a

Only

question

is

champing the

in Creon's

does

even more

his

pathos

address xaqa

rule,

addressed

have

said

by

ever

xaqa

seems

to be

saying that a god

to Antigone

occur

damaging

could

mentioning how have rephrased his suspicion

could at

have

could

guard

without

afraid

Creon

enhances

ground"

fact: Antigone

different way; the were

and

were

Creon

his head.

Creon's

a matter of

colleagues

that

some

for

brothers in

in

"You

a phrase

than in this

regard

an

heavily

who

bow

that could not

to his own case;

{EN 1113b32-14a3), ignorance of a prohibition of positive law that one could only be ignorant of through negligence is punishable. So Creon tacitly its that his decree is not a self-evident consequence of his soul's laws Aristotle

for,

as

that

everyone must acknowledge.

i

remarks

Cf. Miiller, 74.

Interpretation

8

be

The

altered.

sameness of

the

guard's

eg

tie ttjv vevovtiav eg nedov xaqa

think, any more than time, that her posture is

if

we should

nothing she is the

we were with

compatible

that Antigone

suggests

Creon

same now as she was when she

Creon's

does

perhaps

not

seeing Antigone for the first defiance and contempt. But

bows her head

now

and

nidov xaqa vevaai

is deceptive.

out of

betrayed

fear

or

shame;

no emotion on

her

(433). Antigone, however, is not just meditating whether she will it to Creon what she itted to the guards; rather, she faces 4.1). Her the ground because she believes that the dead are there (cf. It is more follows her thoughts.62 She is a capture

"fundamentalist."

body

inevitable that Antigone look down than that the three-footed Oedipus did (cf. OT 795, Hes. OD 433-4). She is one step beyond her father. Oedipus Antigone

have

not

inexactly

spoke

out

acts

and

and

exactly

literally

Antigone

meant so strictly.

what

cannot

law

and

live the law

true;63

literally

was

what

metaphorically

convention

unless she

may takes

it literally. Antigone's reply to Creon's herself to transgress his decree

27 (449-70). 27.1.

bring

could

she

it

of

speaking lines (450-60

459), and

Gods

"die"

the third

in

of two

own

key

"gods"

(451, 454, (466, 468bis),

"pain"

"foolishness,"

the triplet

persists

its

contains

part

12.1). The first is

(460, 462, 464),

epilogue contains

Creon

parts plus an epilogue

465-8). Each

three times (cf.

the second

the

falls into three

dcboeiv, 460-4,

repeated

word,

law

as a

to how

as

question

"folly,"

and

"fool."

men, to whom Antigone refers three 458);64 death is under avOqconoi, dvnxdg, and dmjq (452, 456, opposed to life (464); but pain is not understood as the opposite

are understood as opposed to

times as stood as

and joy. The ordinary pleasures of human life are not for the divine law that unconditionally commands burial is considered, linked with Antigone's pain at nonburial through the fact that of

pleasure

Polynices'

she

counts

is death:

her

own

davov/xevrj

death

as

a gain.

The link between

d'

ydq el-ydr)

rl

or

is the

central

and pain

gods

line

of

the

whole

speech.

27.2.

seeming

In

her

each part of

speech

Antigone

absence of which makes each part

suppresses something the incoherent. Her enthymemes

that Creon accepts her unstated major premises. Although she believes that Zeus failed to inflict no possible evil upon herself and Ismene (cf. 2.2), she does not believe that he could have prohibited her from burying Polynices. Zeus is forever constrained by the laws that

presuppose

62

Cf. Wolff-Bellermann; L. Campbell. On the form of Creon's address see T. Wendel, Die Gesprachsanrede im griechischen Epos und Drama der Blutezeit, 118. 03 Cf. S. 5-6. Oedipus Benardete, "Sophocles'

64

K.

Reinhardt

chthonic gods with on

86, 264);

cf.

rightly

says

the "polar

1075.

Tyrannus,"

that

Antigone

comprehends

Dike

expression''

Zeus

and

the

uranian

(Sophokles, 85-6

and

with note

Sophocles'

A Reading of

he

either

Justice

and

Mortal Creon unwritten

with

and

the

or

his

all

below have

gods

is

proclamations

unchanging

before the

among

to

powerless

life, and no one knows when (or from what light; and Antigone was not one, in fear of punishment

men.65

established

they first

cause)

eternal

to

came

pride, to face

man's

any

the

override

the gods, for these have

of

vo/ii/ia

9

Antigone

gods'

tribunal for violating them. Antigone opposes and human to divine punishment; but she inserts

human to divine law, between these two arguments

an

argument

of

kind,

another

whose

apparently not have injured her case, or, if she had it would have been a sufficient defense. Aristotle, in

omission would

given

it

order

by herself,

to illustrate the rhetorical

1373b6-13); for

(Rhet.

chthonic

gods)

human

if

only

immediately it is

they

beings when

lines 456-7

quotes

is in

these

discover

first

were

vdjjujxa

or

nature not

are

human nature;

established

have

gods

human

accordance with

themselves

by

punishment

If the

right.66

accordance with

alone

that Zeus (or the

assertion

natural

be in

can

cannot

aware of what

known

not

from

argument

these vdfiifxa,

right,

Antigone's

the law nor her appeal to divine

established

properly belongs to the established

use of natural

neither

(i.e.,

and

if

whether

are coeval with man), they are not self-evidently in accordance human nature, for their antiquity, however remote, does not confirm their naturalness, though it may confirm their Antigone seems

they

with

sanctity.67

to square either their eternity with their antiquity, or their selfsanctity with the need for divine sanctions. Her argument would

unable evident

be in

order

if

burial in the the

she supposes that

past

thus

gods

rediscovered

because

supplement

would

separation

between

aaxvvofioi oqyal

and

man's

for himself the

Antigone

thus

would

a

divine

of

inclined to

am

of

moral

man's

these

practice of

now

ancient and

progress

supposition,

however, unless

the pain she would

tion affects her at once

I

but

punishment

another; she knows them because

65

validity

the

which required

that

has

man

practices.

deny

the

morality that the first stasimon had affirmed: not be neutral to the difference between good

(cf. 94). Antigone does

unburied

reveal

beginnings,

art and

for Antigone's fear punishment as

to

point

had to

gods

understanding;

eternal

22.10). Such

bad (cf.

the

of man's rude

(cf. Earle's

accept

if

suffer not

would not

she

understands

have to learn the

they live in her heart, 25.1, 26.1). But this

correction

(also

proposed

that

Polynices to lie

she allowed

vd/ufta

from

and their viola automatic

by Bruhn),

self-

ol rovg...

ojgiaav.

Cf. Cicero de 67 since

it

also entails

Antigone here

re publica

That the law is

says

seems

fragment

of

understand shame

that if it

aatpaXf)

to be

IU.33.

unwritten means changes

52.4). The

(cf.

unattested

that one

before Philo;

man

does

cannot change not

of

addition vdfioi

Oewv

Oewv

ayqaoi

Archytas (Stob. flor. IV.I, 132). Antigone does the

unwritten

(Th. 2.27.3).

laws

as

merely

habits,

it consciously; but it was before

what

the

to

ayQcmra vofitfia

occurs not

violation

in

want

of

a spurious

Creon to

which

brings

Interpretation

10

Ismene,

unlike

insensitive

to those

restricted of

capable

have to

would still are as

be

would

punishment

experiencing

mete out another

as

who

kind

like Antigone but 8.5). The gods

are,

such pain

(cf.

Antigone

27.3. violates

her knowledge

connects

divine

of

its

and

in Creon's

none

of

mouth

dlyog

occurrences of

Antigone, derivatives, six are 64, 230, 436, 439, 466, 468 bis, 551, 630, 767, 857; 1332-3; 3.1, 10.11). in the

to those who

of punishment

Creon. Of the thirteen

(4, 12, 316-9; Ai.

cf.

if

punishment

she

the divine law with her knowledge of her own mortality that she

possessed prior

to Creon's decree. She did

to know her obligations.

either case

a proclamation

not need

Antigone does

in

distinguish between

not

the lawful and the natural: her death is obligatory because she is mortal,

her

burying

Polynices is obligatory because she is human. The one is other may well be equally imposed on men by the gods.

certainly, the

She is indifferent to the possibihty that death, for such suffering will be

she as

painful

which would

have

To this tacit for those

before

awaited

her if

she

Antigone

argument

had

adds

that she

is

xov xqdvov nqdaOev

misery and not her failure to live out imminent death into gain (cf. 1326-7).

allotted

We

as

a

thus gain.

present

that turns her

span

expect

a gain

argue

to be her

would seem

her

(1)

the laws of burial.

is. Antigone, however, does not counts her death before her time

inconsequent, for it

to that

death is in fact

as miserable as she

she

and

violent

compared

nothing

not observed

another:

adds

a

suffer

may

Antigone to

say:

forever; (2) death is a gain if one miserable, death is a gain for me. With

there is no hope that I could live

is miserable; and (3) since I am her "before my Antigone makes a different point. There is hope that she will ever cease to be miserable (cf. 3.2); and there is time"

such

hope because

man's misery.

(cf.

life

Antigone believes that the

be

of

either

sooner

dies,

she

no

the

constitutes

the

more

she

the law.

Antigone

27.4. obedience

says

That

painful.

have anything to do be no less painful. If thought as in on

that

her death is

a painless

to Creon equally unpainful, but her

to

racing

Man's mortality is for man's misery, or it itself mortal.

(cf. OC 1224-38), for the only eternity open to mortals is death 9.4). She seems to be as much oppressed as exhilarated by the

eternal

would

is born

and sufficient condition

necessary gains

man

no

language,

to what

truly

not

burying

with

she

her death

had

would pains

Polynices is

being

stopped

at

not

be

with

those she

burying

Polynices

does

not seem

painful

painless; her death

ovdev,

could

in

everything,

have been in order; but her thought, in her, makes her cast her own death in its

. Her death is both painless and gainful. It is will then

nothing, and dis

loves;

it is

painless

gainful

because

because

she regards

she

it

as

for obeying the divine law. Creon's decree is the unwitting instrument of divine benefaction. For Antigone, it is the indispensable coda to the divine law, without which the law carries in itself an a

reward

A automatic

Antigone

Sophocles'

11

Antigone

of

only for its nonobservance, but no automatic Death by public stoning, to which only

punishment

for its

reward

Reading

observance.

refers

part

as

Creon's decree (cf.

of

4.9), is

therefore

a

necessity for her; the punishment Creon later devises will not do, for if Creon has a change of heart, it allows for her being condemned to live.

Antigone,

accordingly,

her

suicide can make extract

confers upon

herself

suicidal mission

suicide as

strictly

from the divine law its hidden

her

suicidal

reward.

The

Only

reward.

(cf.

10.5)

and

defect in

apparent

Antigone, that Creon seems to be just a little too late to save 9.1), and which was justified as revealing the way in

the plot of

Antigone (cf.

the gods punish intention no less severely than act,

which

now

turns out

to be the same as the way in which the gods reward piety (cf. 14.2, 17.4). It is, however, of the utmost importance that Antigone does not

here

express

27.5 so

the true

content of

Antigone does

awkwardly

not

to

refers

her

reward

mention

him

xov

(cf.

Polynices

48.9).

by

instead,

name;

ef efiijg /xrjxqog

davdvxa

that

she she

Polynices solely her mother's son and Jocasta her brother's murderer. Antigone never acknowledges that her brothers killed to

seems

make

mother

killed them?

think so if her abstraction from the war and its

consequences

one

another

She

could

led to

(cf.

that her

reflection on mortality: Jocasta by giving birth to Polynices his death (cf. Xen. Ap.S. 27). Life is a process of dying; the

source of one

is the

are alive or

as to

death. But

Only

can normalize

when

other;

and pain

for her

son.68

unburied

As

consists



solely of

the

3.4), Antigone is

dead (cf.

as

indifferent to

generation

is antigeneration, the true offspring of an incestuous the abstraction from that which constitutes the family she

12.2) and make Antigone a family of Oedipus (cf. Only in Hades can her family be at home, not

the

familial

model of

an

their relationships with one another regardless of whether

they

marriage.

source of the

giving birth to

mother

family keep

just

she think

a

assured

in her

2.4). Does

it dies

piety. and

there

goes

"for

eyes,"

says

with what

Oedipus, mother?"

"if I went to Hades could I ever behold my father and wretched (OT 1371-3) but only if it was formed and never left there. Antigone,

then,

must unsex

her

family

and cleanse

it

of

its origins; but

she

thereby

the source of her own peculiar devotion to her family. She is

removes

up out of the impossible demand that she combine the abstraction from the incest of her parents with the compulsion to fulfill a sacred made

duty

that can come only from that incest (cf.

10.9). However ironical

may be in intention, with which Antigone seemingly qualifies her scorn for Creon, it indicates in fact that not only the fool would 10.12). convict her of folly (cf.

a%ebdv xi

It is

27.6 in

8

of

Read

not accidental

the law

el86/inv

should

with

H. D.

that Antigone's only defense of her

bring

to light the

relation

Broadhead, Tragica, 73.

in

actions

which she stands

Interpretation

12

they have caused her the most painful 10.4), they cannot be far from her consciousness

to her incestuous parents; for if

(857-68;

concern

cf.

when she speaks of

to characterize the

Antigone

whether

the

reveals

injunctions. Must the that is most

law. Lines 456-7 could equally serve incest. We do not know as yet essential bond between these two sacred

unwritten

against

prohibition

an

families breed the

of

unholiest

holy

against

incest

defense

suggests a

as

way to

answer

all

48).

these questions (cf.

Agathias in his Histories

27.7.

of

champion

in the family? Does Antigone embody the prohibition much as she embodies the law of burial? Her third

(2.30-31)

tells the

following

story.

Seven Greek philosophers, dissatisfied with the prevailing opinion about God and falsely informed about the state of Persia, that its people were

just

and

its

ruler

Plato's philosopher-king, decided to leave the place living without fear and to settle in

laws forbade them from

where the

Persia, despite its

alien

and

incompatible

Although they

customs.

were

royally entertained, they found that neither the Persians nor their king lived up to what they had heard; and on their journey back the Persian

stipulating in his treaty

king

with

alone regardless of their opinions

lately dead, burial. Out

tossed

burial

accordance

holy

be wronged, they had their then bury it in a mound had and

beard

the

attendants of

knew, but for and

dress

of

without

and

in

in their power, prepare the body for

not

lay

night

know

one

of

and who

of that with

all a

of a man

custom

barbarian law

That

earth.

he did

a man whom

to anyone he

no resemblance

countenance

dream:

a

of

to allow, as far as it

and

philosophers

Persian

with

to be left

were

the corpse

came across

for the lawlessness

of comion

the belief that it was not nature to

in

aside

Byzantium that they

they

philosopher,

an

the

bore

august

seemed

to

him with the following injunction: "Do not bury the unburiable; let him be prey to dogs. Earth, mother of all, does not accept the Neither the dreamer nor his comrades could mother-corrupting make anything of the dream; but on continuing their journey, and the lay of the land being such that they were compelled to retrace their address

man."

the corpse they had buried the day before lying "as though the earth of its own accord had cast ground, it up and refused to save it from being Thunderstruck at the sight, the philosophers made no further attempt to perform any of the burial rites. They concluded that the Persions remain unburied as a

steps,

they

came across

naked on the

eaten."

punishment

justly

for their committing incest

torn apart

by

28 (471-2). 28.1. remark on the

they

It

are as silent about

speak of a

plain,

and

even

at

first

astonishes

tone rather than on the

be. But the Chorus do

they

with

their

mothers

and

are

dogs.

father's

her

argument

not speak of and a

that the Chorus seem to of

Antigone's speech; as Creon will

from the divine law

tone (note

daughter's

the way in which

us

content

they

Moscophoulos'

qxbvrjfj,');

Their meaning is not it seems strange: "It is

savagery. phrase

A

Reading

Sophocles'

13

Antigone

of

the offspring is savage from the savage father of the though the Chorus wanted to separate Antigone the

girl."

plain:

as

(xo yevvnfia) from Antigone the daughter (xr\g whether

fully

conscious or

not,

effects

The

naiddg).

the same

69

It is

generated

hyperbaton, Antigone

separation as

desires: consanguinity without generation (cf. 8.6). The Chorus detect Antigone's secret while ignoring the plain meaning of her speech. Perhaps

they

noticed

that her

In any case, their

lated, own

naxqdg

child of a ionate

sire";

does their

nor

explanation, that Antigone does not know how to bend before

evils, for what

himself

blinding

look the same, brutal to them wfjiol?

corpse

his

saw

Oedipus'

they thinking

his

of

dead (cf. OC 437)? But violating a divine law do not

mother

horror

at

her glorying in the

unless

of

reward

death

seems

as

his self-inflicted punishment. And yet why are they The Chorus once thought that the love of death marked the as

flesh-eating

d)/j,6g

occurs once

(697). Are Oedipus

violator of a most

in their

more, in the

dogs that Antigone tried to

like dogs that become united

to Oedipus. Are

ascribe

he

of and

fool (220). Now the

they

when

Antigone's dread

of

co/iov

e

Jebb, "ionate

with

equally applies to Oedipus. is too emphatic to be trans

xdv ef e/xfjg pjnxqdg

cb/xov

Antigone

raw

Polynices'

away from like carrion? Or

they feed on? Are they law and the defender of

cannibals?

what

sacred

equal

and

violation

of

a

di/xntixrjg,

compound

keep

they

Are the law

sacred

a most

third unwritten

are

law? Cannibalism

incest have one thing in common: both are extreme examples of the love of one's own. And some tribes bury their dead by eating them (Her. 3.38.4). Antigone was not disgusted by the corpse's stench (cf. 4.6), to which she found her way back in a blinding dust storm (cf. 25.1), and whose devouring by birds she thought would be a sweet and

treasure

of

Antigone's

delight (cf.

4.7).

They

argument.

sense

The

Chorus, then, do

comment

that her devotion is incompatible

on

with

22.10). The law, whose pohtical effect is mansuetude, shows civility (cf. itself through Antigone as the instrument of bestialization. The Chorus shy away from attributing

such opposite effects

law

must share with

him.

29 (473-96). 29.1.

his

entire

side with

speech

to

law; they prefer Antigone, which the

to the

to charge Oedipus wholly with the responsibility for

Creon

them;

her does Creon

Chorus'

up the until Antigone

picks

not

again speak

remark

claims

to her (508). His

and

directs

that the Chorus speech

falls into

Antigone (473-483), Antigone's and Ismene's punishment (484-9a), Ismene and Antigone (489b-96 and eight smaller sections: (1) Antigone's twofold character (473-479), (2) her hybris of deed

three parts

(480-1), (3) her hybris of boasting (482-3), (4) the necessity for her (484-5), (5) the necessity for Antigone's and Ismene's punish ment (486-489a), (6) Ismene's crime of plotting (489b-90), (7) her

punishment

The

repunctuation

is due to J. Jackson, Marginalia Scaenica, 176

n.l.

Interpretation

14

(491-4), (8) Antigone's hybris

character

boasting

of

(495-6). The lack

four

symmetry between the first and the last the balance between the sententiae ovydq

complete

of

despite

d'

(478-9) Creon

and

Ismene's

regards

6v/j.6g...zexvco/Lievcov

d

dei

the lesser

as

to exemplify Creon's

impartiality

relations; Antigone's

punishment

does

Creon

but

of

Her

comes

indicates

to

that

has only with his own

punishment

dealing

corrective

committed a crime

and

sisterly concern;

Chorus'

(at the

off

exneXei...neXag

(494-5)

well, for

as

she

19.5). Yet

(cf.

the meaning of Ismene's frenzy. It is not the sign of a

mistakes

conscience

guilty he lets her

it

has to be

that she has

not acknowledge

crime.

when

sections

when

Creon learns this,

prompting), even though she had not told

not hold her guilty knowledge to (cf. 266-7, 535). He allows her this measure of loyalty to her own, for he does not expect full devotion to the city of anyone except 12.5). But even if Ismene had conspired with Antigone, himself (cf.

him

be

of

Antigone's intent. Creon does

punishable

her

frenzy

what

necessarily have meant her it could merely have

would not

did

she

was

wrong;

Creon identifies the fear

punishment.

that

acknowledgment

signified

her fear

of

To

remorse.

of punishment with

his decree, trying in every way to avoid detection, thereby itting that his decree is just, seems as impossible to 0.5). They both deny that caution can be Creon as to Antigone (cf. in

go

stealth against

without

an

ally

thing

defiance. It is for this

of

except

Antigone's

reason

that Creon ignores almost every

Only

stubbornness.

error of

Creon

29.2.

ticularly liable snaps

and shivers

spirited

turned

assures

to

horse.

by

the

of

its

Creon

Chorus that

the

He

collapse.

gives

own accord,

excessive

a small

application

of

art

will

destroy

nothing but slightest force and

being

artless

(cf.

her. On the

other

failed, hand, Antigone

and

she

the

by

a nature

art.

For

must read

from

with

the

altogether

that has been made over

art we

tried

slightest

suffers

nature, easily brought into line She is both altogether artful and

22.12). She has

and a nature untouched

iron

has been

nature

into brittleness;

untamed skill.

par

bridle disciplines the

to be both uncompromising and resilient; but she resistance

is

wilfulness

overtempered

Antigone's iron

that

suggests

unskilled

and

is irrefutable.

own case

two examples:

teach her

can

punishment

her ways, so certain is he that his Her arguments do not deserve an answer. the

by

art

law. Antigone is

nothing but the law and nothing but her nature. Her nature has put on the law, but the law does not temper but exaggerate her nature. Creon understands Antigone's appeal to the law as the rationalization and not the

expression of

her

natural wilfulness.

He thereby

its

in

way the uncompromising character of the law; but he believes that Antigone is not tough enough to live up to it. She is principle without power, so that the very burden she has assumed will break her. Yet Creon is far more certain that he can subdue her than that he has a

correctly read her character : he his first example with olda for the

replaces second.

the

Creon

av

must

slaidoig

tame

of

Antigone

A

because it is

out

He takes her as

a

possible

suspected of

thus offers

her

humility

his

political

to be proud.

slave

crime

educative

to her

And through Antigone

reminded

of

all

19.3). Creon for punishing

speech

Antigone

punishment,

position as a slave

to punish

his

of

he had

whom

enemies,

burial (cf.

to Ismene as well. Antigone

Ismene Creon

and

Ismene's threefold

would

alike-

the

preventive

must

his

show

exemplary punishment. to dissuade Antigone:

attempt

are

must

have

must

and as a woman

lawbreakers

be violating the law, they those stronger than themselves (cf.

they

by

of

one of which applies

own willingness are

point

Polynices'

proper

a

more

exploiting the issue of three reasons in the course

punishment.

We

says, for

15

seriously than her crime. If she goes derogates from his authority. He seems to see her

rallying

Antigone, only it

Antigone

of

the question, he

wilfulness

she

unpunished,

of

Sophocles'

Reading

women,

they

and

8.4-5). Ismene

are

now

ruled

proves

to have predicted exactly Creon's response. His educative punishment the weakness of Antigone; his preventive punishment is designed

assumes

to

Antigone in her place; and his exemplary punishment pre that his decree is a fundamental law, the violator of which

keep

supposes must

be

however, which

punishment, educative speech.

if the

punished

punishment,

fabric is

city's

counts

far less the

occupies

two

punishment, with which he

He

to the

refers

be impaired.

not to

Creon than

with

lines

central

(and in

ends

law, but he does

not

his speech,

of a

Exemplary

either preventive

sense

city (cf.

the

mention

or

begins) his

22.14).

Creon

29.3.

kinship it

with

will

not

be because

to

seems

miserable

Antigone

that

says

him,

of

their

(cf. 531-3). He thinks

to save them from

punishment.

In

Ismene,

and

the

avoid

most

kinship order

their

that that

perhaps

regardless

they

their

of

death; indeed,

miserable

death

relied

be

must

on

to indicate the norm of

kinship kinship

Creon says, 6 nag r\ixlv Zevg eqxeiog. The phrase means no more than Zeus," "everyone who worships at our household altar of i.e., Creon's immediate family. Creon, however, does not mention worship; Zeus merely stands in for the family. He therefore is unimpressed by Antigone's argument prohibit

that she dared to transgress his decree because Zeus did

her. He took her

specious periphrasis

658-9). The Zeus a

formula devoid

who of

Zeus is his to do

for

ov

ydq

xi jaoi

Zevg 7\v 6

xrjqv^ag xdde

laws"

did not proclaim your be fatal to his position is but

"My family should

any

sacred

significance

not

as

part

a

(cf. of

(cf. 192); and since this himself on his willingness

he likes, he prides his own. In Plato's Euthydemus, one of the last arguments Socrates has with Euthydemus and Dionysodorus concerns the status with as

to sacrifice

of

Socrates'

consists

own

in those things that he

living beings, Socrates to accepts

(301el0-303a3). On

this

to sell, give,

it

His

other

rj/uv

that his own

ission

can use as

or sacrifice

that, among

argument.

Socrates'

he

wants

and, in the

case of

to any god, Dionysodorus forced gods,

shows

Zevg

eqxelog

is his. Creon

that he confuses

the

genitive

Interpretation

16

belonging

of

was

is

he

(exelvcov,

the gods would

the dative of possession,

with

when

aware

have

not subject

19.2), but

cf.

destroyed his

at once

killing

if he had

which,

case against

distinction

dedications,

Antigone,

of

which

he

lands

of

and

here, Zevg iqxeiog

itted

rj/icbv

to his will.

Creon

30 (497-507). 30.1. in the

a

the temples,

of

spoke

Antigone,

of

and

Antigone. Her recantation,

says

that his entire satisfaction

consists

this in spite of his intention of converting

perhaps

less important than her death (cf.

because he is

certain

so

43.2). Antigone then

says

it, is

of

that the

time for

talking is over, and in a three-part speech their mutual anti (499-501), her claim to the greatest glory (502-4a), the approval of her deed (504b-7) provokes Creon into talking to her Chorus'

pathy silent

(cf.

29.1). Of the

in the

are

eight

occurrences

of

the

notion

"pleasing,"

seven

Antigone (75, 89bis, 500bis, 501, 504), of which to her deed pleasing the dead (cf. 9.4.), the next

mouth of

the first three refer

three to the displeasure she takes (and always hopes to words and the natural

take) in Creon's

displeasure Creon takes in her (as

a

woman,

as

in her pride), and the last to her deed pleasing the Chorus. Antigone here starts out with an opposition between Creon's deed and a

slave,

and

and

word,

the future with

her

"How

in saying that nothing Creon says or (she hopes) will say in can make her recant, she implies that Creon's deed meets

entire

nices?"

I have

Her piety but

Antigone,

moreover,

hers;

fame. Creon is

resemblance opposite

of

whatever

he

show

that though

must concede

less

of

they

her

own

cannot

death.

possibly

that only hers are compatible

satisfied with

both find

by burying Poly

his

arguments than she with

in her

death; but there the Her glory, which derives from her piety, is the Creon's happiness that consists in his doing and saying

they

and

to

her from saying

checks

dead than

her fame is independent

not

wants

no

implication that

more pleased the

Creon

agree on principles with

an

approval,

else could

will

satisfaction

ends.

wants.

self-gratification

is

Nothing at

pleases

her if it is

not

honorable; but Creon's

the expense of honor. He can through fear compel

the acquiescence but not the iration of the

Chorus (cf. 13.1). One Antigone understood the Chorus' remark, that she is no than her father, as praise (cf. 38).

wonders whether

less

savage

30.2. himself

Creon is for Antigone a tyrant (cf. 8.4). He betrayed he called her a slave (479). When it was open to him

when

to

say "dovXdg eaxi xfjg ndXemg or "xwv vdfuov, he chose x&v neXag (cf. PL Crito 50e4). He thus revealed that he took the household as his model for ruling; and the punishment of Antigone, far from proving his impartiality, testifies to his understanding the citizen as his property. Creon never speaks of nollxai (79, 806, 907) but only of daxot (186, 193); nor does he ever mention Thebes by name (cf. 844, 937, 940). He calls the Chorus Ceans (508). Creon does not represent the city

over

against

the

family; he

represents

their

identification,

for

which

the loss

of

direct

opposite

of

A

Reading

his

family

his

mimic

is the only

Sophocles'

he thinks himself only

Oedipus,

17

fitting punishment. He is the largely is the public man

who

It is Antigone

son.

31 (508-25). 31.1.

the private

man

can

who

the ndvbnyLog

who speaks of

(7, 36).

The

falls into three parts,

stichomythia

in turn the Chorus

presents

Antigone

being; but Creon is

as

sister's

ndXig and public punishment

which

Sophocles'

of

each

(508-11), Eteocles (512-7),

of

and

Hades (518-25) as the proper judge of Antigone's deed. Antigone has implied that she does what she does because she is who she is; that Creon does Chorus do

he does because he is

what

now

what

tyrant; but that

a

to because fear

say they Creon ignores the first two and denies the last not

want

constrains

Antigone's

of

the

them.

assertions

(cf. 23). She is entirely alone in her vision; she does not see what is But Antigone's denial of her isolation compels Creon to

self-evident.70

his

phrase

hypothetically:

point

Chorus]?"

from them [the

apart

can

be

never

breath (cf.

of

27.5);

incestuous

their

one

mother

when she

Lgs. 627c4). Their Antigone's

father too is the must

denies

it,

burial is (cf.

honor,

never calls

217, 283), he until

70

he

nor

Antigone

744-5).

Creon

themselves,

There vexvg

uses

a

occurs

to be

seems

a

the

and

does

not

own

same

speak

their mother's son. Creon believes

as

neither

wife

cf. e%ow

and

again

in front

of

d>g

think

he

(197,

uses

vsxvg

never

cUAd

elvai, 6qu>

4.3).

scene

(1299).71

300c4-6:

private

is impious

(cf.

the first

him

av
that

of what

corpse"

after

PI. Hipp. Mai.

recognizable

both Sophocles

indeed,

Eteocles

argument.

impious favor. Antigone

an

would

word vexqdg

his

of

that their



is fatal to her

corpse;

the

sees the corpse of

as

xovg

them; but, in light

Eteocles "the dead

calls

For this meaning of 6ga>, Soxetv jx,h xi oQav oiitrng

71

of

forced to

hold himself to be the judge

Eteocles

never

and

equally her

not

moreover,

each

are

Polynices

of

xivSvvsvoi

and

what

because Eteocles

perhaps

an

suppose, for

itted

her honor

regard

Antigone,

concern, we

same as

Antigone has

that

mother

most painful

flesh

plural

"ex fiiag xe xd evog naxqdg (cf. PL is one, but their father is the same; the

otherwise

same, we should

glory:

one's

the

(mother)

one

think

to

father

one

and

of

you

claim

saying mother and father in the same later brings herself to do so, she bewails

(865).

marriage

for

use

Eteocles is

replies, from

if

ashamed

regard

Her

5).

ask whether

avoids

again

you

reverent

(cf.

shameful

dfiotinXdyxvovg lets Creon brother. He is, Antigone father. Antigone

the

they think,

regardless of what

blood

"Aren't

Antigone then drops the

Antigone,

yaQ iyco

lacag

8'

odder.

difference in meaning between vexodg use them. In Herodotus, vixvg only

Herodotus

in the first four books (always singular), vexodg throughout, vexodg is the something bodily, to which one can do things, while vexvg, which often

corpse as

defining

takes

a

living

person, a

not

vexQo-

genitive

being

(5.92tj2;

cf.

that

(rare for vsxgdg), is the corpse in its can itself do something: Herodotus has

Soph. fr. 399P). So the

shepherd puts

relation

to the

vexvo/iavTrfiov,

the vexodg

of

his

own

Interpretation

18 the

on

hand, does

other

have

could

she

her imagination

he did

(cf.

(cf.

does

not

by

equal

24.3)

bear

witness

little does

so

9.6). That Eteocles beside

count

con

nothing that a brother.

and

relation,

15.3). He lived

was

their

died

and

their relationship nor its result is of any importance. she fulfill the law, even if the good Eteocles does

origin of

Hades demands that

like the bad Polynices (cf. Ai.

to be treated

want

dvrjg

corpse

a

make

grave

Eteocles'

he is (cf.

can affect what

Neither the

not

impious

Polynices is

sanguinity.

hesitate to

xaxdavwv

beyond the

Polynices

and

patriotic

move

not

d

said

1344-5) The

defense Eteocles perished, has no connection with knows," Antigone says, "if this [the 4.1). "Who what is below (cf. Antigone pleads burial of Polynices] is free from pollution in

earth,

whose

below?"

ignorance in the face

Creon's attributing his

of

own opinion

to Eteocles.

of the law the meaning law that the be therefore defense must (cf. 457). Her exactly coincides with her nature. Her nature validates the law. "It is not my nature to side with either of them in his enmity but to side with both kind" 9.5).72 To bury Polynices (cf. of them in the kindness of their

She is

about

uncertain

as

as

about

the

origin

ultimate

is

an

her

of

act

burial

love,

of

of comion

25.3). This is the

(cf.

own

one's

tenderness, that

essence

understands

and

fails

then

below,

and

love them if love

how

paradoxical

to

understand

is Antigone's

when

essence

he

must."

you

living

of

her

unites

the law that

of

Antigone is that

and

own;

and

by

with

ens

the

Creon

nature.

scornfully says, "Go His literalness shows

the law. Burial for him is an

cannot be a way of life. In punishing Antigone, her understanding of the law (cf. literalize 47.3); however, and Antigone in a way cannot but be grateful for his easing the burden 29.2). that nature and law have tly imposed upon her (cf.

honor

and a

he

at the

hardly

ever speaks

be listened to. In her

will

Ismene

will

Antigone

31.2. she

reminder; it

or

Chorus)

the

beginning

in

she

order

to

to anyone in the

exchange

with

twice drives home a appeal

expectation

Creon (but

with

xoi,

once

to him on the only ground

they

could

point

possibly share, the concern with reputation (502), and once at the in order to define her nature (523). After that she does not use

in the

son

that carried the prince's but offers to show

casket

that with

never

end xoi

tcw naidiov xov vixw

(1.113.1-2); Tomyris seeks among the dead Persians for xov Kvqov vixw, but while abusing its head, she speaks over t<5 vexqco (1.214.4); and most strikingly, in the story in 2.121, the corpse of the brother is always vexvg, but the to Harpagus

corpse cf.

whose

4.71.4. In

Antigone

contrasts

(26-6); Tiresias cf.

515. vexvg

other 72

is

arm

cut

Antigone, in Eteocles

says,

rwv

off

to

fool the king's daughter is

those cases roig ivsgdev o&v

ix

where evrifiov

rmlayyyiav

is surprisingly rare in the other cf. El. 433; OC 621-2.

playwrights;

Cf. Reinhardt,

op.

cit., 88.

the

two

vexgolg

iva /

are

with

xov

vixw vrxgciiv

plays of

vexgdg

121t4,5);

metrically equivalent,

Sophocles

TloXwtlxovg vixw (1066-7);

d/totfidv

as well as

in the

A in

again until

the dead

(cf.

of

a single speech

it

(897, 904, 913;

yvvrj.

of

three times when she

occurs

Ai. 854-5).

cf.

19

Antigone

They

addresses

her only friends

are

11.1).

32 (526-30). 32.1.

is

Sophocles'

Reading

It

herself

The last

a woman

as

Creon

word

far better to her than to

applies

(cf.

8.5). Ismene

if the tears fall down

before Ismene

utters

Antigone, sheds

thinks

the tears of a

loving

because she has bowed her head to gaze at what hes below the earth (cf. 26.3). She shows a woman's way of expressing love and grief (cf. Ai. 579-80). But Antigone never weeps (cf. 831-2, 881-2), though even the Chorus are later moved to tears (802-3). Ismene's cloud of grief-laden tears and

sister;

makes

her face ugly

gone's

beauty;

was

(cf.

such

23.1).

concentrated

to

recalcitrant

Nothing poetic

not

become

expression

the guard's

poetry:

cheeks.

Nothing

is

in her

uglier

Antigone's

of

not

Anti

said of

her looks is that in death her

about

(1239). She does

white

xeqag

know

(xdxco),

her fair

and wets

all we

it is

enters

hardly

who

grief:

cheek

she

is

a

the Chorus to

ever provokes

Ismene has done. Antigone is

as

attempt at a simile was most notable

25.3), Ismene's face is bloody, not from any blush 540-1), but from raking her cheeks in accordance with 90).73 She way of mourning (cf. Aesch. Ch. 24; Soph. El.

for its failure (cf. (cf.

of shame

a woman's

has to

herself in

mar

has been

affected.

Antigone has would

she

order

Creon

to show to herself and to others how she

her raving witlessly in the palace (492). If she had wished to go undetected,

saw

no need of such signs.

never

have betrayed herself. She is thus the

to be filled with the law's impersonality.

Nothing

of

her

the way of her observing the love of her own. In her neutral

(cf.

yvcbftr] (cf.

be

regarded

of

resolution

to Ismene's

vessel

in

she

is

ion

34.2).

33 (531-7). 33.1. and

perfect

own stands

If

12.4),

one and

adopts

Creon's triad

Creon's first

of

attack on

ym%ri, (pqdvrjfia,

Antigone

(473-96)

mostly concerned with Antigone's q>qdvnjj,a, the kind she has brought to her action, and their exchange prior

as

entrance

(508-25)

as

his

attempt

to discover Antigone's

may have for her action, then these lines between himself and Ismene prepare the way for Antigone's declaration of her rpvxr) (538-60), what she is most devoted to or loves. Antigone's

yvd)fj,r],

the

reasons

she

however, can be revealed only if Antigone confronts Ismene, for only her rejection of Ismene can show that that which distinguishes them in q>qdvn/ta has its ground in the difference of their yrvx^. Up to then Creon cannot but suppose that Ismene's yvoj/tw would have been yrvxv>

the same as

Antigone's,

which

Creon

mistook

for

a

woman's

reasons.

moreover, primarily thinks of the soul as nothing more than 15.2). When he likens Ismene to a viper aspect of the self (cf.

Creon, an

73

Heath, W. Schmid (RhM 57, 624-5), and G. H. Macurdy ( 1946, 163-4) this interpretation; Bruhn did too but doubtfully.

offered

Interpretation

20

in his palace, he does not say, as Clytemnestra drinks dry his pure life's blood (xov/zov

lurking that

785-6), but merely

axqaxov alpa.El.

cannot

the

understand

del

stronger

(cf.

body

than the

herself presents, that the as what

same

is,

one

Despite

33.2.

the

all

belief that Antigone directed to the ment

will

20.2);

the possibility,

Antigone in

in

what

most

loves is the

something

being

look to him like

evidence

his

of

are

(cf.

rule

of

part

the

or

self

(562). persists

pohtical

a

in the

conspiracy,

and which their punish

525),

29.2). Antigone

(cf.

one

madness

to the contrary, Creon

Ismene

and

overthrow

prevent

from which

soul

must

tpvxfjQ

drinks him dry. Creon

she

distinct

as

soul

that

Electra,

of

says

ixTiivovce'

she

in

was

a

sense

responsible

for this error; by calling his rule a tyranny, she questioned his legitimacy, 12.2). He suspects that Antigone on which he had put such stress (cf. and Ismene have buried Polynices in order to embarrass him; for though Eteocles buted

He

could

be honored

cannot

Creon

Polynices'

did

him

makes

not

Ismene

asks

lying far

would go as

itted

guilty

Ismene

knowledge,

exaggerates

ask

will

she

Antigone

bono? to her ignorance

swear

whether

estimate

she would swear

of

Ismene's

dvfidg

only the fear of committing perjury would (493-4); he did not believe that Antigone's impudence

as to

to

cui

that

deny,

his

while not

says

being

Creon

servants.

impudence has nothing to do 33.4.

buried because he had to be

was

is always,

whether

not

contri

to succeed them (cf. 173-4).

right

do the deed (442). His

suppose

stop her from

freely

question

burial; he did

of

that she

last

and

champion, Polynices

country's

believe that Polynices

buried. His first 33.3.

his

as

Eteocles to Creon's

as much as

under

thus

impiety

with cleverness or

that she did the

which not even

deed;

Antigone

her culpability, on the One cannot therefore

what

oath,

acknowledges

she

could

assumption

she

had

that

her

(cf. 300-1).

does

not

her

it

have denied her. Ismene that intention counts as

wondering whether Antigone's vehemence in insisting that act must be strictly understood does not arise from her fear that those below will hold her own act to be no more than an intention (cf. 10.1-3, 48.4). much as

act.

34 (538-60). 34.1. and

Ismene,

the

Creon. Their

same

exchange

which

in turn decides

should

be (546-54),

its theme

There

as

there

were

falls into three

whose

between Antigone

are seventeen exchanges

number

also

help

deed it

and whose choice

it

was

was

between Antigone

parts

(cf.

31.1),

(538-45),

whose

(555-60). The

and

each

of

death it

"subjectivity"

Antigone use eyco (five times), which she did in talking with Creon. Parallel to Creon's assertion that Antigone's vision is her own stands Antigone's assertion that justice forbids Ismene from claiming Antigone's deed as her own; and just of

not

as

use

then

requires that

once

Antigone

asserted

that

reverence

for

human opinion, so she shameful, those below bear witness to her deed being her regardless of

one's now

own

makes

cannot

Hades

be and

own, regardless of what

A

Ismene Yet

Reading

That the

says.

Sophocles'

of

testify

guards could

21

Antigone

on

her behalf does

herself to say that the

not count.

does not love her who loves in speech ('Xdyoig iXovaav ov iXovai xr\v iXnv). She cannot be certain of what holds there (cf. 521); nor can she be unaware that she too might have to plead intention. Ismene, at least, senses that Antigone's death is somehow the same as Antigone's she

bring

cannot

nether

world

sanctifying of the dead; for to share in one is to share in the other. If Creon understands the unsuccessful crime to be punishable, perhaps Hades will not determine too exactly the degree of failure on either's Punishment

part.

will validate the

however, decides,

gone,

the

touching

of

Perhaps

she

than

more

hand

by

corpse

to handle

willingness)

Ismene had the

might

suspect, 28.1).

Creon had tried to

34.2.

(771),

her

of

intention. Anti that

the

actual

difference (cf.

the

all

makes

Ismene in light

condemns

of act and

equation

Creon does later

as

own

900).

willingness

(and

rotting corpse, for which,

the

same

repugnance

if Antigone

argue that

as

the

granted

guards

she

(cf.

that Eteocles

brother than Polynices, she could not justify the burial Polynices before his brother; but Antigone granted Creon's premise

less

was no of

a

any between her

sister and

the ground that

Antigone

without can

be dear

still

lives (cf.

Now, however, Antigone has to distinguish herself, while Ismene tries to die with her solely

they

are

would

She

sisters.

be

to

cease

3.2). Ismene does

not

to

care

was

took

pain.74

impious in the could

not,

Creon had eyes

as a

of

have the

for

strength

Ismene

what

she

to live alone;

The mockery Antigone's pain

that her mockery has its Antigone's favor to Polynices

replies

said that

his

brother,

precedence.

brother; Antigone had replied that and if he did, the laws of Hades

object, of

Ismene

matches

the

dishonor

of

Hades'

laws her mockery as the insult to Eteocles. Antigone can only live up to the law

Eteocles; excuse

(ftiog)

for. Ismene thinks that Antigone

thus pains her gratuitously; Antigone

Eteocles

Life

to die alone. Antigone does not need to be

strength

helped; Ismene has Creon in her

to die because her life

wants

lXog.

hateful; life (/?) for Antigone is merely

or

Antigone has the

source

sameness of origin outweighed

difference.

subsequent

on

his conclusion, for their

drawing

without

and

excuses

putting aside the difference between her brothers; and she can only die in accordance with her choice if she puts aside the difference between fliog and fan?. She can console Eteocles with the law; she

by

cannot cannot

her

acknowledge make

his merits;

obedience

to

Hades'

the laws in their insistence goodness

hatred, 7

on

can

she

consists

laws; they

are

of

offer

the

Ismene

choice

of

life;

she

death

and

both necessarily painful; for the difference between

suppress

uniformity badness that partly constitutes the ground for love and less than the choice of death suppresses the difference

and

no

and

her happy. Antigone

Cf. J. H. Kels, BICS 1963, 53-5.

Interpretation

22

between misery

i.e.,

abstractly,

(554,

pain

There 86).7B

49, 82,

cf.

27.3).

Antigone

words

or

(cf.

happiness

and

piously.

no

are

She has

hot heart for

a

only live for her

can

sounds

even

things (cf.

cold

10.6). 34.3.

Antigone implies death

of

choice

choice was made

a

lapse

of

Ismene's

that

in the face

judgment,

and

of

no

her

and

that

replies

her

own

Antigone's

as

warning, the choice was merely

own

than a

more

life

of

choice

irrevocable; Ismene

are

of

proof

her

inability

own

to persuade Antigone. The arguments as arguments were sound. Anti

however, denies

gone,

Ismene's

case.

herself

anyone

have

could

else

the full

met with

approval

stronger

a

put

living,

the

of

she

the full approval of the dead. Ismene has no ground for

with

for Antigone's

self-reproach,

that someone

reasons

that

arguments

time. As her

warnings prove

Antigone brushes this

possibly her guilty

aside

The fact that Ismene talks

was

choice

not

and

knowledge, her

continues

in

at all

based

of

on

fault

line

shows

last

one

their fault is

own

on

argument,

Ismene then tries

refute.

could

equal.

thought.

of

that she persists

in accepting life. Ismene still believes that it could have been other wise; but Antigone did not mean that either chose what she did among other possibilities. "My soul has long been dead, so as to be [exclusively]

fit to

help

the language the

dead,

not

a

dead."

the of

For

Antigone

rj eprj xpvxf) for

not

Antigone's

soul else

in

result,"

speaks

to

use

dead helps

being

of

*s

yn>xy

Philoctetes'

state

unconscious

v/ilv

vfilv

Antigone's way of being alive death. Creon thought he was exposing

of

premise

now

as

ndXai,

1030).76

(Ph.

comparable

Bdnxew

nowhere

"natural

eyco :

has been to be in the dead below. Antigone

a

that her

the grammarians,

periphrasis

shows, is

Antigone, it is

he bid her in death love the

when

that she had been

answers

doing

that all

in avfiiXeiv, 31.1). Her choice of death has nothing to do with Creon's Hades' laws. Her punishment; it is the same as her obedience to performance of the rites of burial is her love of death (cf. 25.3). She is what she loves. Ismene cannot die with her because it would along.

means

and avpyiXsiv

means

to

be

alive

death (cf.

75

It is

tional

in the

remarkable

to

interjections that

what

an extent

express

Antigone

grief and other

refrains

from using the

intense feelings,

alal

conven

occurs

only

Creon (1267, 1288, 1290, 1306); even Ajax uses it (370). Im Antigone uses four times (844, 850, 862, 869), as does Creon (1261, 1266, 1284, 1320, cf. 1310 Erfurdt), the Chorus once (1146). Antigone never uses
mouth

Tiresias

codd).

of

each once

Antigone

oi/xoi

(323, 1048), Creon five and

Ismene

each

use

times

thrice

(1276bis, 1300 ter, cf. 1310 (86, 838, 933; 49, 82, 554),

Creon five times (320, 1105, 1271, 1275, 1294), the Chorus once (1270). Other interjections are entirely absent: ncmal (Ph., OC. EL); ototototoI (El.); I (OC,

Tr., El.); 76

anomnoaial

Almost

as

xeXevxriadvTmv

(Ph.);

ndnoi

paradoxical

ipvxal

Swa/iiv

ngayfidroiv em/jeAovvrau.

as

(OT, Tr.).

Antigone's

fyovotv

riva

assertion

is PI. Lgs. 927al-3:

TeXevrrjoaoai,

fj

ai rcbv

xar'

riov

avOgmnov

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

23

be only as punishment that it confirmed that Ismene buried Polynices; it would not be what it is for Antigone, the worldly equivalent to the truth of the unwritten law. 35 (561-73). 35.1.

Creon again shows that his hatred of Antigone deeply into Antigone than Ismene's love for her. Ismene's willingness to die is a momentary aberration; Antigone was senseless from birth. ndXai in her -r) i/j,rj ipvxrj ndXai xeOvr/xEv means,

lets him

see

more

6'

she hopes her according to Creon, vctei. Ismene, however, pleads deferential wva!; will have some effect that no one in misery keeps

balanced

a

mind.

but Antigone is

Creon

not

bad things (nqddtieiv

that

concedes

(xax&g

miserable

It is

xaxd).

that

holds true for Ismene; she is bad and does

nqdatiei),

part

of

Antigone's

nature

senseless

to be

bad; Ismene only made a bad and senseless choice. But Ismene that she has no other choice; her life alone without Antigone is

says

living, for if Creon

not worth

her

in

answers

his

will

hopes for their family's

own

such

a

way

inflexibility

own

as

nor

wife of

sister's

longer is here among the therefore have no place for

(cf.

own

son,

8.1). Creon

understands

nature; Antigone

living

his

(cf.

collapse

to suggest that Ismene

her

she no can

kill the future survival

is

not

neither

a

fjde ;

13.1). Her life in death

through generation. However

survival 6'

he crudely Creon expresses Antigone's r) ifirj ipvxrj ndXai xidvnxev, "this," does not wholly mistake its meaning. Since Antigone is not a to whom someone are

be attached, Creon can be crude: there Antigone is particularly liable to (cf. 891, 1205).77 Ismene calls her "bridal

living

fields for his

other

others'

rites"

abstraction:

Creon's denial

But Ismene

protests

betrothal

Antigone

points

can

son to plow.

of

and

Haemon

of was

Antigone's individuality. unique

The

in its fitness. Ismene

to their concordance in a legal relationship;

she

cannot

bring

herself to say that they love one another (cf. 73). Creon again generalizes: Antigone is no more unique morally "I loathe bad wives for than she is sexually. Ismene then despairs of dissuading Creon, for he holds his son's wishes to be of no . In calling Haemon "dearest," Ismene underlines, not only how far Creon has gone in sons."

the dismissal of his rests

on

of marriage

35.2.

First, his

son.

(cf.

486-7), but how

much

aside:

her

she

own

and

hope

her talk

annoy him.

There

we

consists

own

Haemon. But Creon brushes Ismene

must

are

giving line 572 to Antigone. Creon's dishonoring of Haemon

three objections to

then

suppose

that

in his calling Antigone a bad wife; but Creon does not criticize Antigone is as bad for Haemon as she is bad in herself; Creon

on both counts (cf. 495-6). Creon, moreover, would then be saying to Antigone that he has no patience with her and her marriage; but Antigone neither speaks of marriage (even if line 572 be hers),

hates her

See Porson

on

Eur. Or. 1051.

Interpretation

24 has

nor

Creon

been pleading for

she

His reply to Antigone him in loathing

said.78

of what

finally,

And,

ayav ye

Xvnslg

Ismene, but not his violent hatred 1.393P).79 Ai. 592; fr. 314, 589, 1084; 760, Creon

36 (574-81). 36.1.

is

whose remonstrance

him.

They

law,

nor

do

Creon's

faces his third opponent, the Chorus, they can hardly be said to oppose

now

mild that

take up Antigone's

not

even

so

dishonor

Antigone (cf.

of

with

annoyance

not

suits

have to have been: "I do

would

you."

any other . Ismene had

this or

on

pardon

Antigone in

could not answer

Ismene's first

that she

argument

that

plea

divine

obeys a

deranged Antigone

a

should

be punished, but merely repeat with a tone of wonder Ismene's plea: "Is it really certain that you will deprive your own off her?" They are surprised that Creon will not relent merely spring of to indulge his son. The Chorus know nothing of the law, either in its

not

second

"to to

put

put

the

or

way Haemon's

It

marriage.

Chorus for speaking

light

the law proves to be the

of

If Creon had been

a

desires

son's

(cf.

he

have

would

one

thing

to

Chorus,

prudently, it is

act

at

gone

a

fond

reason

in

individuals. unpunished.

a

what

of

with

accordance

of

of

rebuke

father gratifying is holy (octet dqav)

holy

of

end

to be

worst

in light

uncanniness

as

to live it from within. The

it is

refusal

have

would

Creon do

made

nothing else could the 9.3). It is one thing to act in out

another

that

"un-principled,"

the thus

should

The

strongest argument

concession, moreover, the very reverse

a

brings

Creon

the destruction of his family.

precipitates

little importance

of

guarantees

Yet Creon's

girlishly.

so

is

son's wife

that

proper

seems

parent

That

his

that he is not going

means

but Antigone's death

other

Creon replies,

of

nature

Creon

marriage."80

stop to this

a

Hades,"

"It is the

mercy.

to death Antigone the bride

one

the

in its

or

sacredness

Antigone's piety the sacred, it is

any rate, have just to be wise (cf.

shown

11.2,

another

4).

36.2.

The Chorus

Ismene's she

be

entrance

killed."

you as well as

they

a

inadvertently

Creon is

by

me."

law (219-20). But his still

"xai

they

Cf. Schneidewin.

7r>

For the

arguments

pros

and

for Antigone

cons as

L's

Ep.01

fiancee; his

puts

on

the

too great

satisfaction still

up the

fast if

fiev

a

on

consists

resolved

by

by

he

the

Chorus, not

could

would

have

said

fjv (cf. 749, OT 64), for Creon

not come

by A. Taccone,

stress

largely

do

"Yes,

his request, to which those who break the

of

against

accepted

the attribution of this

speaker

cue:

the Chorus

stand even

dedoy

Creon's reply is correctly interpreted 80

pick

since

"It is resolved, it seems, that

the city's resolution

aot ye xdfiol xai xdXei

78

to

reminds

decree,

thereby become

not

quick

Creon

assented, that

never

introduce for the first time

quasi-political note:

Creon's

line,

see

Miiller, 109. His

to grips with the

difficulties.

Mouseion 1923, 187. satisfaction

in killing

a

in

lawbreaker.

killing

his

son's

A

Sophocles'

are

If he

anything to be done, he

wants

Chorus

could

lukewarm,

no

a corpse

recur

more

incapable

as

guard

in Sophocles (cf. Antigone is

which

word

rely

they

1189, 1249), indicates how (cf.

a slave

now restricted

keep

could

watch

does

which

c^ucoeg, moreover,

to his own

not

Creon

unpolitical

household,

30.2).

Creon thinks that Antigone

36.3.

opposing as ing him. on his own servants. The

of

must

two women than

(cf. 215-7). The

himself has become. His domain is in

25

for their

the Chorus

over

Antigone

of

the Chorus because he mistook their adaptability to circum 12.3). Creon senses that loyalty to the royal house (cf.

convened stance

Reading

Ismene,

and

who

in her

each

way has rashly chosen death, will try to escape, now that they see Hades drawing close to their life. It is plain, however, why Ismene would not desert Antigone; but why Antigone should not do everything own

to avoid an

she can

unjust punishment cannot

Socrates (either Plato's the

Xenophon's)

or

Athenians'

condemnation.

be based

Plato's Socrates does

on

his

justify

to

gave

the reasons

acceptance of

know

not

whether

only hopes her A might love (897-9). Socrates have family young escaped; Antigone seems to have as much to live for as to die for. Socrates accepts his punishment as the price he pays for his choice of

there is a

Hades; Antigone

her

that

doubts its

never

she

existence

will

remaining in Athens; Antigone accepts her punishment as the reward for her piety. Socrates divines but does not wish that the Athenians will be punished not

(Ap.S. 39c3-d3;

divine that Creon

Solon's double Croesus had

asked

cf.

of



Solon

answered

366c3-d3); Antigone

punished

Tellus;

but does

wishes

(925-8). These differences

human happiness

he thought

who

"truthfully"

Rep.

be

will

(Her.

1.

the happiest

was

and when

he

30-2).

recall

When

men, Solon

of

asked who was

in

second

place, Solon answered Cleobis and Biton. Solon's descriptions indicate why he ranked them as first and second. While Athens was flourishing,

Tellus had "beautiful

in turn had

good"

and

sons,

all of whom

children

that were still alive; he himself had a modest fortune and met with a

"most brilliant and

fell

at public expense and

Argives, had

life"; for in a battle at Eleusis he routed the enemy beautifully"; and "the Athenians buried him where he

end of

died "most

whose

livelihood in

won them prizes

honored him was

greatly."

"adequate"

athletic

contests.

A story

their mother had to appear at a festival to

her

cart

were

not

drew it forty-five "best

end of

a man to

at

hand, they

stades

life,"

since

die than to the Argive

prayed

Hera,

themselves

and

"god

live."

women

showed

The Argive

in their men

Biton

were

strength"

told that when

the

under

case

and

"bodily

was

to the sanctuary; for which

youths,"

report"

put

Cleobis

and whose

oxen

the

they

to draw

yoke

obtained

and

the

that it is better for

"blessed the

strength of

the

their mother, who "joyful at their deed and

to the statue of Hera to

grant

her sons,

who

had honored

Cleobis and Biton were her greatly, "what is best for a man to in the found dead sanctuary, and the Argives made images of them, obtain."

Interpretation

26

they dedicated

which

at

that

Delphi, "thinking

they had

The first story turns on seeing, the second Croesus asked him whom he had Tellus

men."

best

knows

hearing. Solon

on

about

to be the

proved

seen most

happy;

"story"

about Cleobis and Biton, whose mother prayed he only knows a because of the (prf/ir) her sons received. Tellus had "beautiful and brilliant death"; sons; Cleobis and Biton were strong. Tellus had a "most Cleobis and Biton had the best. Tellus was honored by the city and good"

buried

at public

Cleobis

expense, for he had fought for the sake of the

Biton had helped their

and

buried them. Tellus lived

who

mother; nothing is

own

about

said

its

prosperity Tellus'

Biton in

brilliant from Tellus

freely

Tellus lived

death

sanctuary.

a

at

a

to

chose

died

and

die;

a

within

and

view, gave to

god

the human

had been

ripe

the

was

age

most

Biton's from the divine.

Biton their

end.

the horizon of the

city.

Cleobis

horizon,

at

setting, Cleobis

political

Cleobis'

a civil point of

flourishing;

was

preeminence

the time of Io's rape (1.1.2). Tellus dies in a and

Athens

a time when

at

Argos'

nothing is

city.

about

said

and

everything that men regard as desirable. Cleobis and Biton obtained what gods thought best for men. The city looks to the beautiful He

obtained

fine things, the

and

to the best. The human good

gods

the same.

not

One

and

the end to visible

restricts

the divine

and

tangible

good

are

goods

beautiful children, grandchildren, public honor. The -money, cares more for nonpolitical and even antipolitical ends; it says

other

living. Cleobis

that life is not worth

Antigone's the the of

holy

pohtical and

its

xaXd

Socrates'

life

while

human life (cf. Ap.S. 33c4, 41b5

within

the

political

and

its

the

resembles

pohtical

Tellus,

Biton. Socrates, however, transcends retaining its estimate of the sweetness

and

xaXd

and

while

context); Antigone remains

transcending

human (cf.

the

27.3).

37 (582-625). 37.1. happiness

Only

exactly.

One

might

The theme

of

the

second

is human

stasimon

misery, but it is not easy to formulate its unity more three nouns occur in both strophic pairs: dedg, axa, qeveg.

and

therefore say that the Chorus are mainly concerned with how soul work together for man's destruction. But

the gods and the human even

if this does

differences individual The first qtCa,

through and bind together both strophic pairs, their

run

seem to separate as part of

them more. The first

his family; the

strophic pair speaks of

as part of mankind.

generation, root,

and

house

olxoi) ; the second The first strophic pair

avdqeg).

individual;

the

the

him

dd/j,og,

for the

strophic pair sees

second sees

speaks contains

of

mortals

and

(yeved, yevog, (dvaxoi,

men

no nonmetaphoric

substantive

second contains no proper names except

Olympus

Zeus. The stasimon, then, as a whole turns on the ambiguity of "kind" (yevog) : man in his parentage and man in his humanity. The first and

strophic

pair

speaks

perishing (dixoi) and his existence

;

of

the

man's second

(ftioxog)

past

(dqxala)

speaks

sleep,

old

of

and

man's

age,

and

his

future time.

becoming (sXntg,

and

eqcog)

The stasimon,

A

however,

nowhere

city does (cf. 342-5).

the

37.2.

considers

not

strophe

Antigone

of

man

properly

The first

Sophocles'

Reading

as

part

constitute

begins

follows it is

with

of

27

the city, perhaps because

in any

a

yevog

a

general

natural

way the

which

statement,

illustrate. The second strophe begins with a general statement, which the facts that follow it are meant to prove; and the second strophe ends with the statement of a lav/ binding for all time. The first antistrophe begins with an example, which the Chorus have themselves seen, that confirms the first strophe's statement,

elaborate simile that

the operation

law's

universal

whose pair

is

seems

it then illustrates in

which

is plain,

second

and

distinct

a

a god

human life. The

of

leads a man astray of disaster within a

the gods. The gods

at

dwdaxag

and

strophic

pair

to be the wise

strophic

pair

explains

the first s for the

(vneq^aaia) family but not

for its initial

subversion

the first strophic pair are chthonic, the gods

of

the second Olympian. The chthonic has to do with the

of

occurs elsewhere

second seems

;

the

way, and The first strophic

vnsq^aaia

second

case

of

homely

95 1.81 The first

only here, dvvatitg only to be the poetic interpretation, the again

continuance

by

with an explanation

meaning is in turn revealed by a renowned adage. vivid and imprecise every one of its substantives

(620) interpretation why

particularly in the

more

begins

second antistrophe

validity,

in Sophocles; the occur

is then illustrated

of which

Antigone. The

of

meant to

irrational,

which

it itself represents, the Olympian with the immoral, whose delusions it brings. The first strophic pair seems to pardon Antigone, the second to condemn

37.3.

The

never

motion

let its tremors

the sea's

the first strophe likens the Thracian winds that

simile of

the surge in

set

of

her.

to the

cease.

depths,

and

gods who once

The

from

they have

shaken a

house

in racing across the darkness it stirs up dark sand, must be the

ruffled surge which

darkness),82 of whom now lie below in family likewise stirs up the original dxn, and which the individual of this last generation confronts as a shore confronts the storm. But the simile, however vividly it conveys that of which it is a simile, still more

(all

present generation of a which

looks forward to the antistrophe's description of Antigone. The parallelism is remarkable for its inversion. The surge that races over the nether darkness

under

stretches over

the sea is turned upside down in the light

from the depths is gods that

buries

81

Cf. A. A.

82

It

cannot

83

ajxq.

with

inversely

echoed

Antigone;83

Long, Language be

accidental

Tartarus

and

and

that

of

hope that

the dark sand rolled up in the blood-red dust of the nether

house;

the headlands in their groaning and

Thought in egefiog

Sophocles, 57-8.

everywhere

else

in

classical

poetry

is

death; cf. OC 1389-90; Trag. adesp. 377 N. is difficult if xdvig is kept, but I venture to suggest that it has nothing

connected with

to do

Oedipus'

the last root of

and

the verb to mow, but that

basic meaning *to

dig,

the

nominal

it is found in dta/idco

forms

of which

are

afin

(cut through)

(mattock)

with

and

the

dfidga

Interpretation

28 are taken up,

rumbling and

fury

Antigone

of wits that

once more enters

backwards, in

again

poetry

senselessness

32.1). She

duress (cf.

resists

Ismene

she

of speech

to the sacred law of burial. Antigone

adds

under

the

the poetry; the Chorus

is antigeneration, who cannot embody, as she does, the hope in generation. The Chorus cast her in this (the dark sand) only to discover that the original crime of her family and

believe role

to be the blood-red dust

proves

to the

owed

The

nether gods.

be

paradox of

only by culminates in concluding that it is better not to be born. Thus there manifest to the Chorus in her inherited savagery and to Antigone family,84 the very character of her Creon in her inborn senselessness equating

law

sacred

a

which

wiped

which

the

through

out

Oedipus that

Chorus'

avoided

generations

of

succession

But if the

argument rests.

can

crime

original

an

with

on

Labdacids'

original crime

in generation itself, Antigone strangely is the hope of her race, in perpetuating but in reconstituting it in Hades (cf. 27.5); and her senselessness of speech and fury of wits are the deepest wisdom (cf. 22.10, 11). That which buries Antigone is that which finally

consists not

her kind.

purifies

37.4

The

second

(cf.

omitted

stasimon

22.7,

light-witted birds that delude

man

unless

ascribes the ascribed to

laws

the

of

man

But the

of

sings

neutrality goodness

first

that the

all

had

stasimon

dsivoxng

the

become the light-witted desires

that

Nothing snares

it be hope, to

moral

same art.

25.2).

the

which

man's

second

antistrophe

here

had

the second antistrophe there

as of

of

remains

art

depended

on

its

alliance

with

the land and the justice of the gods; the goodness of far-

ranging hope seems to depend on nothing. The city no longer mediates between the confrontation of gods and men, for it does not ister law that the Chorus

the

the city

lay

now

down. Yet the benefits

be limited to the life

to

seem

according to the Chorus,

of

the happy. Such happiness is

the guard's understanding of the greatest pleasure, the

from

of

by

untouched

hope

evils,

without

life,

the

consistent with

unexpected escape

24.2), but neither with the splendor of Solon's Tellus nor with the happiness of tyranny (506-7). Everything beautiful and brilliant belongs to Olympian Zeus. Man's delusion consists in his hope evils

he

that

can

(channel), thinks

(cf.

acquire

xarafidco

that

two

for himself these

would

distinct

then have

the

might

be

roots

Worterbuch); but Chantraine does

not

prerogatives

same

sense

involved

(Dictionnaire

as

of

Zeus; but he is

xarogvoow.

Frisk

also

(Griechisches Etymologisches etymologique

de

grec).

See

further N. B. Booth's defense, CQ 1959, 76-7. Heimreich's axiq (for d/ia) is to be preferred to xonlg; but if xonlg must be accepted, the best parallel to the whole age would easier

to

it,

be Aesch. Ch. 286-90. Even xonig, however, makes the for if Xdycov avoia and
to understand;

the Chorus

can

Laius

was

apposition

only be saying that Antigone's destruction is due to

chthonic power, which power can 84

age no

only be the law

held to be the first homosexual.

of

burial.

some

A

held in

always

check.

unfortunately the

Sophocles'

Reading This

of

Antigone

is formulated

check

29

as

in

law,

a

which

term is corrupt; but the sense seems to have been

key

everything wholly loved and desired comes disastrously to Antigone's devotion to her family both of its divine origin through generation and of its divine sanction in the unwritten law and looks upon it as an entirely individual and human phenomenon, no different in kind from Haemon's love of Antigone, then the Chorus that

If

man.85

one strips

condemn Antigone for her lack of moderation. But it is then not easy to say how Antigone transgresses the power of Zeus. Or do the Chorus mean that Antigone's love of her own offends Zeus through its

simply

denial

his

of

noble

everything

prohibition,

and

splendid

The Olympian

splendor would?

forbidding

as

much

gods would

equally the

exclusive

the

as

emulation

of

thus represent a twofold

love

of

one's

own,

which

turns away from everything higher than itself, and the exclusive love of the beautiful, which challenges their supremacy. The human embodi

this twofold prohibition is the city, which looks up to the gods and its aspiration. But the Chorus do not mention

ment of as

both its defender

the city. Their silence would seem to indicate that

the city does not embody but

hibition. If, however, human being together and

the

of

between the love

One

second

her

with

character as

of one's own and

a monster

in any case, to be the sarily entails the love 37.5

uneasily keeps Antigone's character

one

in the

counsel of of

refers

85

to

despair if the

10-20);

but

satisfy, for

his

jSi'otoc cannot

prosperity nd/moXvg,

own

is

an original

shown

not

does

that Heath's

not

is

nor

oXfiog, the

occur

in

in formal prose; Isocrates does not have it; Jebb paraphrases the impossible ndjxnoXv

proposed

directly

y'

in

tragedy; it

further order

attributable

represents

the final

of

explain

prosperity.

to be

seems

Miiller, 145, to

the hope of

and

for the disastrousness

see

guilty.

is impossible (CQ 1957, by Kayser) does not

y'

nd/inoXv

extant

while the

helplessly

nd/ifieyag ndfinoXvg,

ground

exclusively

be traced back through

one to

(also

not

does,

pair

crime, the other

nd/tnoXvg

by itself be

moreover,

9.3,4).

23.1). It seems,

that the second stasimon does

that only the first strophic

fttoxog

origins

resolution

perfect resolution neces

individual's hybris. On this view, Antigone

H. Lloyd-Jones has

her

perfect

the Chorus (cf.

that

individual

an

expression of

to Creon. Creon is willfully, Antigone

one's own ancestors an

as

aware

twofold pro

death.

might suppose

Antigone, but

are

the love of the beautiful (cf.

eyes of

Human misery has two different sources, to

the

sacred, Antigone herself looks like the

But Antigone is

refer to

they

contains this

rather

note

avoided

1. When

the antistrophe's

I suggest then either the ydg, he says, "No inordinate desire comes to or ngoayiXig. The other possibility is the often conjectured unattested najxiXig disaster," navreXig: "Nothing comes complete to human life except i.e., only art] men...."

stands

follows

at

the

as

peak of

closely

on

human hopes. Possibly nag nddag the heels of human life as

deformed the proverb, vipeoig di

should

be

read:

"Nothing

artj."

ye

nag

ndda

Sophocles

fSaivei (nagd nddag

would

codd.).

have

Interpretation

30

her inheritance, and Creon the beginning of a new chain of disasters. Ismene does not yet pose a problem, for the Chorus believe that she will share in the fate of Antigone; but Creon not only commits out of

working

he

the first crime,

There

be

will

its destructive force

sees

later

no

to

generations

in his

at work

Creon's

assume

family.

own

Creon's

crime.

the operation punishment, which hes in the loss of his family, illustrates of inheritance so perfectly that it fails to illustrate the operation of

inheritance. Ismene's survival, auguring a fresh onset of

the

on

strophic

second

If, however,

of

crime

have been

could

(cf.

crime

Chorus'

and generalizes

race

become

a

would

Prometheus'

theft of

it to

keep

or, to

fire,

to

original

antistrophe

as

man

man,

This

sin.

to the

first.

the

with

in the first

pertain

man's

as

hypothesis). The

reconciled

restriction

family,

be taken

could

second

be thus

cannot

ignores the

one

to the individual's the first

then,

pair,

hand,

other

Laius'

sin

presentation

the first stasimon, man's own invention of the arts, the punishment for to Hesiod, first Pandora and then the race of which was, of

according

women, or, to

telling

more of

keep

again

example

on

to the play,

proper pendant of

Prometheus'

a

stasimon

second

crimes

of

blessing a

and

misery

itself,

is

Pandora as

which

into its

no

race

own as

the

the second, according

23.1),

and

frustrated

the

to man,

gift

Zeus'

by

power,

the indispensable companion to man's ineradi

curse

would

(cf.

inevitably

of

be found than the

the first. Although man's hope

Aeschylus, of according to Hesiod,

to

cable

could

second strophic pair would then come

Laius. The

hope is both

generation



either

as

the irresistible lure to transgression. The

thus have been the

Chorus'

meditation

on

the

first stasimon, to which the intervention of Antigone would have provoked restraint that he did not let the Chorus them. It is a mark of Sophocles'

express

to

us

this meditation;

make

it (cf.

it is

a mark of

him that the hope

remind

his

wisdom

The Chorus tell Creon

38 (626-38). 38.1.

They

and

that he

encouraged

11.4).

of

his

of

own race

Haemon's

depends

on

coming.

his only

They thus obliquely refer to Megareus (1303), whose death in appeasing the wrath of Ares has just now helped to save Thebes. It would seem, then, that Creon has already shown that he rules in accordance with his own laws: he gave up his son for the

surviving

son.

sacrificial

sake of

his fatherland. Yet he did

but strangely have

would

His his a

chose

as

to prove his own

need

decide to glorify the highest form of

rated at

legitimacy

less than

Megareus'

not

Eteocles'

apparently

The

what

one

outweighed

a pardonable pride

in his

death

patriotism.

no

own consistency.

would surely have gained in poignancy if the loss of Antigone.86 But could underlay his hatred of Polynices and has just sacrificed his son in obedience to a soothsayer's

punishment elder son

man

word

86

who

have failed to

Creon's

Einleitung,

8.

relation

consult

him

to Megareus is

about

often

the

prohibition

of

misunderstood; see, e.g.,

Polynices'

Schneidewin,

A

Sophocles'

Reading

of

Antigone

31

burial? And if he had, would he then abuse Tiresias as Creon does? Creon has given no indication up to now that he has ever experienced 27.2). Are we then to suppose that Creon was indifferent suffering (cf. to his son's sacrifice

his

and

obligatory that he ceased to impress us as a humble man. that Creon tried to abet

(Phoen.

self-sacrifice

If,

Or that he

own?

count

them

moreover,

Megareus'

one accepts

(Menoiceus')

962-85), Creon

would

them

regarded

as

Creon does

as obligations?

so not

Euripides'

version,

ostensible avoidance of

be nothing but

a

hypocrite,

than willing to save his own at the expense of his fatherland. One two conclusions would then follow: either Creon punishes Antigone

more of

sacrifice was

his

case, one would

form;

and

Megareus'

lapse from patriotism, or Creon thinks unnecessary, a pious invention of Tiresias. In the former

out of shame at

expect some

in the be

advice would

own

latter, his

demonstrably

Haemon has

ask whether

hint

come

of a remorse

that takes so spiteful a

to have never departed from

claim

Tiresias'

false (993). When, however, the Chorus in grief and pain for his blighted hopes,

Creon gratuitously replies: "We shall In the mouth of Creon /idvxig is no

soon

know better than to be strictly

more

soothsayers."

understood

than

Zevg iqxelog, unless, perhaps, Creon now shows his resentment of Tiresias, whose unerring advice might rankle. His glorification of Eteocles would

be his way

be simply

any overwhelming

ion

suspicion, spite, and

It

would

then

punishment

call

principle.

He is

with

in the loss

one

term

he had just

messenger as

The Chorus

Nothing

dominates but petty

being

cold without

much reflection on the ways of of

63.1,3). He does not,

Eurydice

38.2.

or

resentment.

for

consists

to him (cf. or

getting back at Tiresias. Yet perhaps Creon cannot The truth about him might lie in his very lack of

of

explained.

of

at

any rate,

affection;

addresed

ask

those who have

Creon

whether

if Creon's

meant

much

the dead Haemon

he then

nal

magnanimous.

gods

never

address

and

his son; &

the

addresses

the

(1289). 8T

Haemon has

come

in

pain

grief; Creon asks Haemon whether he has come in fury and anger; but Creon asks the alternative as well, whether he remains dear to and

he does. Creon does not ask whether Haemon pain. If he is angry with his father, he is against his father; if he loves his father, he approves of him. Creon refuses to take love and pain into . But he expects a loyalty on the part of Haemon that he otherwise condemns, for Creon despised Haemon remains

regardless of what

loyal to him despite his

12.4). Haemon does his lXog before his country (cf. his judgment but not neces defers to not answer Creon's question. He not mean that Creon can actions. That Creon's does he is his sarily to anyone who put

29.3). As Creon is his guide because his do with him as he likes (cf. judgment is sound, Haemon implies that he does not simply defer to 87

Hermann

except

here

(cf. 479).

that this ordinary form of address is absent from tragedy Aesch. Ch. 653-4: for Creon only the master-slave relation counts

remarks

and

Interpretation

32

him need

does

father. Haemon knows

a

as

judgment is. Does he

sound

a

what

love

then anyone at all to guide him? Haemon also knows that and

not

and

wisdom

cannot

free

his judgment. He is

affect

of self-interest.

have to defer to

someone whom

he have

this

cited at

point

In

Creon

have to do something marry anyone of his father's

against

acknowledged

to

-and

his

judge

competent

of

first, he would to be wisecould

to prove the

order

Tiresias?

a

the second, he would

prove

self-interest

offer,

for example, to

It is partly because he does not do this that neither Creon nor the Chorus accept his silence about his 43.1). Haemon love for Antigone as a proof of his disinterestedness (cf. does not know how to argue; he knows only how to be right.

whose

in

two

central

parts:

fathers

obedience and

The theme

lines

concern

the

are

naturally

of

those who

order

three

39. 1.88

(639-80).

39

choosing.

and sons

Creon's

of

speech of

consequence

is hierarchy, to

failing

keep

speech

falls into

the private and the public

(655-67),

his

(639-54),

his

kind. The

own

disobedience (668-80). In

each part

Antigone

exemplifies

something different: the bad wife (651), the improper claims of the private (658), and woman (678). Only in the first part does Creon speak to Haemon

directly

(639, 648),

though

not

even

there does he

ever use

indeed, in the entire confrontation with Haemon he uses but twice, first to ask whether Haemon is last to declare that Haemon's speech loyal him to (634), unqualifiedly the second person pronoun, which,

is wholly

on

39.2.

Antigone's behalf (748).

Creon

says that

which

expressed,

Haemon

hold to the

must

Creon interprets to

mean

that

a

sentiments

he has

son

set

must

his

father's judgment before everything else. Thebes no less than Antigone Creon falls under this rule. Men pray that the offspring they beget does

the prayer to sons

their father's enemy with

their

as

restrict

not

requite

father does. Children

are

evil

be obedient, in order that they and honor their father's friend

useless

unless

they

to this

conform

purpose, for the father has then sown nothing but troubles for himself as well as his ridicule. Children are a calculated risk that can pay enemies'

off

in benefits; they have nothing to do with pleasure what Creon would have said about the duty of

wonders

or

love. One

sons

to

bury

fathers (cf. Lys. 13.45; Isae. 2.25.4). Creon himself, moreover, is aware of a difficulty. Sons get married and become fathers in their their

own

homes (iv

dd/noig) they

do

not

as

a rule

stay

at

home (ev ddfioig

sxeiv), forever obedient to their fathers. The son acquires his own iXot, whom

he

has to

imply

simply unless

on

he

I do

his father in turn to honor. Creon therefore

that no enemy of his is good and no friend

the basis

wants

argument,

88

could not expect

the

of calculation

(eidcbg),

should not

to inflict troubles on himself. Creon thus

inner

not accept

coherence

of

which

Seidler's displacement

of

is

668-71;

not

see

bad;

so

gives a

self-evident.

below

Haemon,

marry Antigone,

39.3.

tripartite

It

would

A Reading of follow

at once

from the

The

opposition

And

is

Creon

what

and

pleasure

Creon inserts between the But why

for his

prayed

wants.

33

everything to a father's judgment for Creon says that she is bad.

Antigone,

between judgment

yet

the prayer of fathers.

Creon has

Antigone

subordination of

that Haemon must reject

clear-cut.

Sophocles'

The

duty

of

the

not want

the

more

conclusion

Haemon obey Creon because must obey because that

should

Haemon

obedience?

the father. But Creon does

be

not

could

premise and

son

is

grounded

anything

in the

pleasure of

be

else than what would

for Haemon. Creon, however, can give no other reason why he wants Haemon's good except that it is his own good. He does not say that he cares for Haemon. His argument founders on the tension between good

a

father's judgment

judgment simply,

and

which

he in

tries to ease

vain

through prayer.

Creon knows that Haemon

39.3.

loathe Antigone simply will let her go as if

cannot

Creon's command; he is content if Haemon (d)tiei) she were ill-disposed to him. Creon does on

fulfill the

literally

fathers; he does

prayer of

Creon

further. It

not

not ask that Haemon have to be his father's

difference whether he has always before spoken euphemistically of killing (308, 489, 581) or let someone else give it its name (220, 497, 576) because as she alone out of the whole city was openly disobedient he does not forget for a moment his secret champion.

Haemon

enemies

obeys

or

he

(291)

dative"

is

ndXei

pardon

goes

him

even

not; he

will

It

Antigone because he

his indulgence to Haemon

only the Olympian and 37.2). He pretends

is the The

same as

mean

The "ethical

city.

that Creon

either

bear the

city's

will

not

mockery

of

that Antigone's disobedience threatens the

supremacy of the city. Antigone Zeus is again in Creon's mouth cf.

can

could not then

or

no

himself false to the

will not prove ambiguous.

makes

kill Antigone

can

harp

all she wants on

Zevg vvai/j,og.

29.3). Creon takes empty term (cf. celestial Zeus seriously (184, 758, 1040-1; that Antigone's appeal to the Zeus of kinship an

her asking for pardon on the basis of her kinship with him. between Creon and Antigone does not differ from

natural relation

the allegedly sacred one's own natural

relation

between Antigone

kind to the

point of

disorder

and

Polynices. To

cherish

entails the encouragement

of disorder in the city. Creon implies that he would not hesitate to kill Haemon if he found him disobedient. What can only be a father's prayer to hope for becomes a ruler's power to enforce. Lines 661-2 look as

though

they

only one of two things: either that whoever is his own will be just in his dealings with the city

could mean

just in his dealings

with

(cf. Her. 5.29)

that whoever as ruler subordinates his own good to

the

city's good

or

iv

xoig olxetoitiiv

dvfjQ

xQVar^

Is

a

Just

ruler-

Creon,

663 is the same however, as the daxig of 661, and it means the ruler, the ruler's justice consists in his obedience to the city's laws; but since the law in question is Creon's own decree, Creon has to replace it with the ruler's will, from which it follows that the ruler obeys his own self-interest. If, on the can

mean

neither

of

them. If the

rJtf-nc

of

Interpretation

34

hand,

other

the

with

are

identical

with

becoming

661, but it whom he, consists

subordinates

Only

ruler's.

out

the

It

ruler's?

know that his

private man

would

the

seem that

the private

could

self-interest

mistaken

of

disobey. But how does the

coincide with

ruler

justice; he simply If Creon thinks that the ruler's interests the subject's, it would be very easy to be good in dealing

own.

one's

of

oaxig

that is independent of

interests to the

own

man

same as the

citizens, has established; but his justice then

other

obedience

his

with

663 is the

of

orrac

the subject, the subject is just if he obeys the

means

along in an

the

interests

own

banks

subject

on

his

in turn. The city is nothing but a mutual exploitation compensate for every citizen has his chance as ruler to

a ruler

society, in which

the injustices he has suffered

Creon, however,

subject.

as

cannot

say

that. The obedient subject is the noble ruler. He is noble because he

his

subordinates

own

interests to the city

its laws; but the laws

and

of

the city are Creon's decree. Creon could avoid this consequence, which no less faces him as ruler, if he supposes that the tacit obedience of the to his decree is equivalent to their

citizens

interests to the

Creon

of

Creon

must mean

his

who

Creon city

family.

"Whoever keeps his

own

the

is

family

children.

order

not

The

become the

future

or

of

an

is

father

a

family

a

proper

depends

unjust ruler

to

the on

mean:

also

maintain

it

that the

will

order

men.

models

Lines 661-2, then,

versa.

in its

father,

of

superiority

family; but he in fact

Creon, however, has

city."

be true, threat to his

or potential

the

on

rule

and not vice

the

proper

Every

citizen

iyyevfj

xd

literally

cannot

30.2). Obedience to the

father,

to the

obedience

present

(cf.

family

the

olxela.

As this

to oppose the city to the

seems

on

own

that every citizen sees in Antigone

own

base his

must

imply

would thus

his

as

vaei

rule within

He

city.

their own

of

subordination

that everyone regards

model, for fathers have to pray for obedient family therefore needs the city in order for it to

actual

actual

model

family. Without the

other

fathers

no

father

could

be

The city guarantees that the superior male be the superior father. But the city exacts a quid pro quo: the city actually will the family in all its dignity if the family subordinates itself certain of obedience.

to the city; but the to the city. Creon of

family does

cannot exist

not see

this

in

the city. He can thus subordinate the

time that he

39.4. ruler,

a

subject

can maintain

the

dignity

Whoever scrupulously good subject, and in

assigned

post,

a

just

of

obeys

a

of

be

exact

family

storm

obedience

by

obedience.

by

the

The threefold threefold

if it is

subordinate

because he is the

ruler

to the city at the same

the father.

of

ruler would

spears

would

That he

be

a noble

stick

would

be

itself turns him into the

the ruler's will; and that he be

matched

dignity

the city's

follows only if his martial competence would be a noble ruler follows at once must

its

and good comrade-in-arms.

follows only if

instrument

to

all

vicious circle

a

can on

just

and good

to

his

a good perfect

naqaoxdxng

be presumed; but that he

his

realization

consequence

consequence

of

of

that the ruler

obedience

seems

disobedience,

which

A

Creon

treats as

to him that

Reading

being

lack

equivalent to

dvaqxla

and

neidaqxta

of women to

subordination

Sophocles'

of

the city,

and

depends

on

and routs

disobedience is the

of

The first

success.

first

now

the ruination

city's

ruler,

does

nor

a

his father, a in her obedience

obedience to woman

obedience,

The

Chorus,

at

wonder whether old

be

to

him the

of

obedience,

invariably

guarantee

counterpart of

the

second consequence

have its

cannot

proper

up his own rule when he obeys prove his competence to rule in his

in her a

Creon's

praise

it automatically

the

of

(xovxov

to her

obedience

man.

xov

hierarchy avdqa)

husband, of

the

acquires

Creon

on which

or

a

unqualified right

models

by explicitly restricting implicitly to fathers.

and

any rate, though they think that Creon speaks prudently, they have not been deceived by time (681-2). As loyal

by

now

have been fathers, they cannot but rule (cf. 988). Haemon,

Creon's granting them the right to hand, cannot be much moved by an

pleased with

on the other

a

households

of

the self-contradiction

all of whom could

men,

not

obedience; but the

son

wife

avoids

the right to rule to men

does

disobedience is the

so that whoever practices

Creon

on

which

not give

to rule, undercuts the very basis pohtical rule.

depends

husbands,

the third consequence

its,

and second consequence of

correlate, for the father does the

which

Disobedience destroys cities, in battle. The third consequence army

consequence of

disobedience

of

fathers,

pleasure.

counterpart of

however, Creon

which,

an

occur

fall together, he relies on the is far more firmly established

the subordination of wives to

or

judgment overriding

households,

ruins

When it does

of order.

than either the subordination of children to prayer

35

could

which

men,

Antigone

argument

it deprives him

right to rule as a man while

of

that promises

the way to become

father.

40 (683-723). 40.1. center

has

consists of

The theme

no more prized possession than

what greater

delight

father than his

could children

children's.

of which contradicts

demand that

Haemon's

of

speech

is wisdom,

whose

two parallel sentences, the first saying that Haemon

The

his father's success, the second asking have than their father's glory, or a

speech

in turn the three

a son must set

turns on three sententiae,

parts of

Creon's

speech.

each

To Creon's

his father's judgment before everything else, not reside with fathers qua fathers

Haemon

answers that

judgment does

(683-4);

to Creon's claim that whoever is good in his own things will

be just in the city, Haemon answers that whoever thinks most highly of his own understanding is empty (708-9); and to Creon's praise of unqualified obedience, Haemon answers that it can be only the secondbest

Haemon

(720-3).

opinions with a

his

pride

Haemon possessive

follows

connects

his threefold

opposition

to

threefold attack on Creon himself: his ignorance

(688-91),

(705-6), his obduracy (711, 718). Throughout his speaks

directly

adjective

seven

here

to Creon. occur

times more (cf.

The

seven

39.1).

second

times,

and

Creon's

speech

person

pronoun

and

in the

exchange

that

Interpretation

36 Creon began

40.2.

with

the superiority

a

of

father's judgment

and

Haemon begins with human beings, the highest of in implanting (
with

ended

superiority

of

the

men;

gods

(qeveg)

sense

gods'

distribution

unequal

of wisdom as to

his

filial piety, does

own

not prevent

Although Creon inspires terror

him from reporting the criticism of others. in the ordinary citizen (dn/udx-ng), Haemon relies not only on his adopting the messenger's role (cf. 277) but on his father's affection to offset his displeasure. But the impossible task Haemon has thus set himself wipes out

any

gain

his

have

might

self-effacement

him. He

won

now

must

prove that the ordinary Theban is the wise man. And Haemon faces another difficulty. Creon does not need Haemon to learn of the city's

disapproval; he He is or

counted

ignorant

not

his disregard

rule

shifting from

difficulty by

to the moral

speech

it

his

as

greatest merit

his

(178-81).

(290-1) murmuring (655). Haemon tries to sidestep the the correctness (dqdmg) of Creon's

of either the secret

the hidden defiance of his

first

of

beauty (xaXcog)

of

enemies

(cf. 706, 723).

of a counter view

And he tries to sidestep the second difficulty by appealing to Creon's own concern for reputation. Creon betrayed such a concern twice: he spoke of

the mockery of a father's enemies

called

woman's

a

(647),

inferior (680). Haemon

and

exploits

he

this

refused

to be

in

concern

a

He virtually identifies Creon's good fortune with Creon's his own cherishing of the one and delight in the other. and he urges glory; For Haemon to cite Antigone's glory while appealing to Creon's only looks absurd; he in fact obliquely threatens Creon with the power of peculiar

way.

the city. He could lose everything if the city acts on its now-secret opinion (iqefivn dxig), for Antigone can obtain the golden honor (xqvcffjg xififjg) she

deserves only if the city publicly grants it. Haemon therefore good fortune and repute in of his own possession

Creon's

delight in

order

downfall. Yet he

to

show

adds

that he would take

that

a

father has

Is he thinking Or does he insinuate that Creon children's

glory?

human

glory.

of can

no

no

pleasure

greater

and

in Creon's

delight than in his

his brother Megareus (cf.

38.1)?

bask through Haemon in Antigone's

However this may be, Haemon tries to link wisdom as the highest possession with public opinion through his own most precious

possession, the good fortune of Creon. In the absence

Haemon can

puts

flourish

and

of

his

own

wisdom,

be his; and Creon's success highly thus remain Haemon's only if Creon abides by public

must esteem most

what can

opinion, his knowledge of which depends on his devoted son. It is Haemon's care for Creon that eases the tension between public opinion and wisdom

(cf.

39.2).

A 40.3.

does

According aat

not

say brother fallen in

Reading

Sophocles'

of

to the city, Antigone's

Antigone deed

most glorious

the city

in the burial

consists

eqycov evae^eaxdxcov

37

of

her

(iv ovalg), whom she did not allow to be destroyed (dXiadai) by ravenous dogs or any bird (cf. 1314). The city does not say that Polynices died in battle ("iv fiaxn); indeed, it speaks more euphemistically of his death than of his threatened con sumption

by

had

advised

war

in

bloody

slaughter

beasts (cf. 1018, 1029). It prefers to forget, as the Chorus themselves to do (150-1), both the war and the kind of

which

Polynices

The city, therefore, does

was engaged.

not

say,

any more than Haemon does, that Antigone's glory lies in her resistance to Creon's decree. The city speaks cryptically even outside of Creon's hearing. It speaks as if the very handling of her brother's body, and not the fulfillment of a divine the divine law

of neither

deed

as

intended to

Antigone neither

however, just

Antigone's

dogs

prevent

nor

between

the many bodies

spoke of

Polynices.89

destroying

she saved a corpse no one mentions:

occurs

vexqdg

speaks

It interprets Antigone's

piety.

birds from

and

her brother. That

saved

vexvg

law, distinguished Antigone. The city nor

515

818.90

and

Creon,

that obedience saves

(adifiaxa)

(676). The city understands Antigone militarily. It tries to assimilate her 36.3). Thebes deed as much as possible to a victory like (cf. Tellus'

does

not

see

Antigone

Polynices'

might

city

see

as

Argos

Cleobis

saw

Biton. Creon had

and

to be left unburied in

body (difiag)

ordered

order

the birds and dogs eat and disgrace it (cf.

that the

4.6). The

city itself, however, speaks of the brother being eaten and perishing. Antigone is to die disgracefully (xdxiaxa
something more, the loss

consequences of

(1029-30); but

and

punishment,

for the divine law (cf.

52);

Tiresias

of self.

Polynices'

and

he

can speak of

hence

of

can speak as well of

the city knows nothing

about

in the

any

the unholy

the sacred

its

this.

of

reasons

meanness

Just to be

the whole nothing meaning of lack of burial. To be incorporated into the nonhuman, the literal bestialization of man, one can say, is the primal terror (cf. 108 1).91 eaten,

89

It is

and

constitutes

else,

On the inexactness of a piece with

of

the

the

city's

city's

speech,

Thucydidean

no

Socrates

refers to

the

speaker

corpses

opinion

A. B. Drachmann, Hermes 1908, 69. of the reason for

(or Antigone's) misunderstanding

Creon's calling the extraordinary assembly 90 Their t abstention from the word speech:

see

city's

the

Chorus;

cf. note

to be in

accordance with

(unlike

generals

7.

the

seems

of

Herodotus) failed to

ever

recover at

uses

Athenian

vexgdg.

When

Arginousae, he

says

(PI. Ap.S. 32b3); likewise Lysias 5.36. When orators use invariably refers to the dead buried at Marathon. On no Greek

xovg ix xfjg vavfiaxlag

vexgdg,

it

almost

inscription is vexgdg I vixvg used, as far as I know, before the third century; see W. Peek, Griechische Grabgedichte, numbers 129, 195, 220. Peek's remark about the increasingly euphemistic language about death (p. 37) would have to be verse

modified.

01

Cf. Moschion fr.

6, 30-3 N: xdx rovde xoiig Bavdvrag &giaev vdfiog / xv/ipoig iv 6q>8aX(ioig iav / rfjg ngdade / vexgolg dOdnroig, fit]d'

xaXvnxtiv xam/ioigdodai xdviv

Oolvrjg

fivrjfidvevfia

dvoaepovg.

Interpretation

38 The need

for

the gods,

gods arises or whether

law that

through the

en

which man's

this terror is part of the core out of

question whether

Antigone. Antigone herself

to

seems

having

live up to their

man

his humanity,

given man gift

of

all

underlies

to the truth of either answer

point

28.1).

(cf.

with an up the veiled threat of the city have nothing to do with the city. He has wisdom yield to public opinion only to have public opinion yield in turn to moderation. Regardless of the city and regardless of what the issue is,

Haemon follows

40.4.

that seems to

argument

Creon not

in himself

must

Antigone, two

purposes

Creon had

becomes the triad

of

sight

dealing are

with

matched

iron

it

overtempered

by

the likenesses of trees

exactly

correspond of

with

Creon's as

of

his

resolution as vanity,

torrent

winter

a

of

29.2)-

horses (cf.

and

a

22.11).

his fearless

pride

(rpvxi])

arguments as

resolve and

irrelevant, Haemon

is hence

(yvcb/nrj)

argument

his way

and

daxwdfiot dqyal (cf.

and

Creon in his

hollow. Creon's distinction between

What in

attack

likenesses

and the two

to maintain what he is most devoted to

(qdvvfia) question

Creon's;

deyfia,

Since Haemon has to

12.4),

Haemon's triad, however, does not it resembles much more the first

overstraining the sail's sheet. triad

(cf.

rule

character

facing

and

yrvxV>

spirited

and

seaman

stasimon's

of

only in

and yn>x)];

qovslv, yX&aaa,

that Creon had used to illustrate Antigone's

adopts

now

The triad

said come to

The Chorus, for his own

adaptable.

more

Haemon

model.

Creon.

of

remarks

which

yvmfin,

be

(iv tiavxCo)

be his

should

the

presents

specious, and his devotion

rulers

and

is false.

nonrulers

to sight in the ruler must be the same as that which is latent

comes

everyone else.

The

ruler's

laws (cf. 191)

must

be the hidden

opinion

that the city has at any moment. Haemon speaks of the people and later of the gods but never of the city's laws (cf. 52.3). Between the

divine law to the

and

is nothing to

doing

the opinion

irresistible force guide

the people,

stormy The

ruler.

a

concealing

fear for his

Thucydides,

whether

its

40.5.

ruler's

skin.

so

violation

According

long

Haemon thus

the

3.81.2),

moderation consists shows

expense of a

his

skill. or

he

who

about

mere

He can

can

yield

accept

to

bluster,

the divine

law, for he does

not

know

punishment.

Creon, Antigone is

drowns. He

solely in care for

He is the typical tyrant, according (1.17). It is for this reason that Haemon

unskillful

art

and/or artless

nature; according to Haemon, though Creon runs the risk of the same, he does not have to be like the uprooted trees or the seaman

there

futile but possibly

he believes, is

high-mindedness,

involves to

Haemon tacitly likens (cf. Her.

own safety.

who takes no risks

for

silent

Creon's

which

stream or sea

argues self-preservation at

noble resistance.

keeps

the

of

anything to save his own

Creon: he

to

of a

can

restrain

his

nature

what

cannot

be

resisted

the opinion of others (to

(rjdog)

or

(to fxrj

becoming unskillful

improve his

dyav) They are

xelveiv

fiavddveiv noXXd).

A equivalent, for the

Reading

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

opinion of others

is

39

be

what cannot

Creon

resisted.

that it is pointless to

learn mere opinion (rpdxig) object, however, and base to yield to it. Haemon therefore has to go further. The best thing is to be born wise; but as that rarely happens, it is noble too to learn from others who speak well. To speak well is the result of either being born wise or learning from still others who speak well. As Haemon could

hardly claim that everyone in Thebes was born wise except Creon (cf. PL Ap.S. 24d3-35all), he implies that the people learnt their wisdom from others, who must be either their more than human ancestors or the can

themselves. Haemon defers to his father's wisdom only to

gods

establish

the wisdom of his father's fathers. He thus presents a sophisticated version

Antigone's appeal to the unwritten laws of the gods (cf. 27.2). These live in the tpdrig of the city, which has inherited the wisdom the gods implanted in human beings long ago. Haemon can therefore replace of

the divine punishment for the law's violation, which Antigone saw in

her pain, with the Creon away.

people's

41 (724-7). 41.1. in the

They

play.

punishment,

The Chorus

now speak the only Creon to learn from Haemon

advise

learn from Creon, "for it is well said their wisdom to be only a mimicry of for the

who argues

Haemon, however,

threatens to sweep

which now

both

on

sides."

lines

Haemon to

The Chorus

suggest that

They

wisdom.

ridiculous

and

show

Creon,

authority of the ruler, can compromise with for the divine authority of the city's voice. Fathers,

paternal

who argues

They begin to become ancestors as soon as dead (cf. OT 987). 92 Such a transformation can occur only through burial rites, which declare that the father is not carrion and they

are

does

not

are not ancestors.

40.3). Now Creon talks

(cf.

perish

fathers

of

as

begetters

(qmaavxeg) who pray for obedient children (yovdg), Haemon of the gods begetting (qwovaiv) wisdom (qevag). To endow parents with the authority of

wisdom, it is first

beings, i.e.,

as

incest

against

not

embodies

the injunction to

bury

it

this

necessary to look objects

of

issue; it is

confrontation

them as nonsexual

desire. The

prohibition

It thus belongs together

reverence.93

one's parents under

the

upon

sexual

the

16.2). Antigone's burial

them naked (cf. to this

of all

possible

prohibition against

of

her brother

between father

and son

with

seeing

points

only

that makes

plain.

perhaps

he

to be taught

Creon does

links

the Chorus

means

the Chorus

by not

a man as add

that

as

with

92

Cf. PI. Lgs. 717d7-el.

93

Cf. Thomas Summa

whether

young

"we"

closely decay ageing is needed to turn

age

natural

asks

Creon

41.2.

himself (cf.

well

as

Haemon is

as with men

as

men"

old

as

too are

contra gentiles

"we

(ol xnXixolde)

39.4)

are

by nature (xrjv qwaiv). old men by nature, for nature wisdom. Something more than

into

III.124.

respected

fathers. But Creon

Interpretation

40 does

not see

fathers

than begetters

begetters;

except as

unless

they

fathers

and

pattern themselves

after

become

cannot

more

the ancestors, which

do only if he abandoned his position (cf. 1113-4). He conceives of his own interests too narrowly to ally himself for long with the ancestral. Once he has finished with Antigone, he never again argues Creon

could

the case of the fatherland

42 (728-65). 42.1.

against

The

Polynices.

exchange

between Haemon

Creon falls

and

Creon tries to force Haemon's

into three parts, in each of which tion, first through argument (728-39),

capitula

(740-9, 756),

through abuse

next

last through threats, to which Haemon finally replies in kind (757, 754-5, 750-3, 758-65).94 The theme of the exchange is reverence and devotion, or, better perhaps, honor and love: what one looks up to and and

what

cares

one

interruption

12.7). The

for (cf.

His disrespect toward the Chorus Creon

and it

that his

says what

his

time has

Haemon's

whether

prepares

answer

for his

be

Haemon's

with

Creon's

question.

to defer to

refusal

defect (cf. 719-20). He

a

that Creon should examine, not

not unjust and

him, but

made

can

own youthfulness to

teaching is

begins

exchange

Chorus, before they

the

of

he himself has done.95 Creon asks the unruly is something to be proud of.

what

reverence of

Haemon probably meant that to warn Creon of the city's mood, which could cost Creon his life, showed his devotion to his father's welfare. Creon prefers, however, to ignore his self-interest and argue his case on its

Haemon does

merits.

directly

not

answer

Creon;

deny

than

rather

Antigone's unruliness, he denies that he would even urge the show of bad.96 reverence toward the The good citizen, he implies, is not neces sarily the

good man.

mean either

Creon then

Polynices. If he

means

the people of Thebes

he

means

Some

ambiguous

Antigone the latter, Haemon's answer

all

04

asks an

that Antigone is bad or that

the

now

of

the

and

lines

the issue of

seems

750-3. I

of

upbraids

Haemon for trying to

Haemon

asks whether

Polynices'

necessary;

Creon

avoid

will

just

revile

him

or

that the witless Haemon will regret his attempt at

at

So I

could

be

egya

to

one who

does

not

argument

know that Haemon's threat is

If the lines

757

are not rearranged,

(cf. J. H. Kells, CR 1961, 191-2); but this

still

a

last

must

effort

be

leaves Haemon's

read

threat

point.

understand

ed

things

by

nobly

the

difficult

xagya.

PI. Chrm. 163b l-c4, and

Jebb's interpretation where

beneficially done;

1.2.56-7. 6

Creon

be insane (755, cf. 765); Creon threatens and Haemon issues he says cannot be a threat to a man as devoid of under

Creon, i.e.,

the wrong 95

Enger's

accept

which

to put some sense in Creon (750-3). as a statement

I

and

(756); (757); Creon instruction (754); Haemon

listen to

that Creon must

as

criminality in

affirming his total devotion to Antigone

says

standing

startling:

understand the sequence thus:

says

counterthreat,

be

Pallis'

transposition of 756-7

a

would

can

the bad

think that Eteocles was in the wrong. If

former, Creon drops

rearrangement

He

question.

reverenced

Cf. J. D. Denniston, CR 1936, 115-6.

Critias

cf.

Iliad

of

says that

it

as

Hesiod

"merits"

restricted

LX, 319-20; Xen. Mem.

A

Reading

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

41

favor

of convicting Antigone of disobedience, regardless of whether that disobedience violated the city or his pride. His long silence on Polynices suggests that he has abandoned for good any political justification. But it is Creon, one should not forget, who interprets his question and hence

Haemon's

answer

whole

The threat that Haemon's

city.

be

being solely concerned with Antigone. Haemon's imply that Creon's enemies have now won over the

as

answer could still

disguised in his

similes

speech

the more menacing if it involved a repudiation of the war that Creon "the had won. When the Chorus celebrated the would

all

general"

Theban victory,

11.6-7). might

they did

Precisely

not

what

praise

have happened: the

now

Eteocles

Creon brought

or

about

politicization

of

blame Polynices (cf. but

strove

to

prevent

burial (cf.

13.2).

Haemon's answers, in any case, up to his scornful, "You would be a land," fine ruler of an empty are as compatible with the city's approval Polynices

of

as

with

Antigone's death

its

should ordain.

approval

destroy

(751). Creon

revolution

that

will

now

not

could

as a

be

a

further warning

foolish question, but Creon

to carry

of

the city is to say what he

asks whether

Haemon takes it

to be a ruler means

Antigone. Even his threat that

of

someone

the orders of

out

explains

another ruler:

"Isn't the city customarily held (vofil&xai) to belong to the Haemon answers that there is no city if it belongs to one man. Creon as ruler must simply execute what the city says. If Haemon does not ruler?"

only

that Creon must take his bearings

mean

to survive, he implies that Creon opinion, for the people

in itself its

good

citizens must

be

than its people (cf. seems

are never

19.4), but he had

(cf.

good.

666).97

He

public opinion

in

order

not

drawn the

conclusion

that

that the city is something other He turns to the Chorus to remark that Haemon supposes

to be Antigone's ally, for the Chorus

6/j.dnxoXig Xecbg

by

look up to (evaefieiv) public bad. Creon thought that the city was must

exaggerates

the

are

the proof that Haemon's

city's unanimity.

both Antigone

The Chorus Tiresias

are com

as (843), 988). are not the who (940, fear, 6-n/j.dxai, They according to Haemon, to tell Creon to his face what they think (690-1). The Chorus intervene on Ismene's behalf, and Creon gratefully accepts their correction (770-1); and when they later hear Tiresias, they do not hesitate to advise Creon, and Creon again obeys (1099). The factionalism of the city, on which Creon relies as he denies it (cf. 12.3), makes the

the

posed of

whom

rich

and

address

the rulers of Thebes

dignify

such

as

citizens

an

impossible

public opinion and ruins

42.2.

The

weakest part of

object

his

of

reverence.

Haemon tries to

case.

Haemon's defense

of

Antigone is Antigone;

dared up to now to defend her openly on the grounds she herself chose; and his respect for her seems to depend wholly on public

he has

not

opinion.

97

Creon therefore tries to

Cf. L.

Strauss, Socrates

and

goad

him into

Aristophanes, 94.

an

ission

of

his

Interpretation

42 subservience

to her. All Haemon's talk

of respect and reverence conceals

his entrance that he almost says that Creon is his he now Creon's and (635); wholly The reverence due care. He does not that he cares for the city. only say its opinions does not entail any devotion to its interests. The way of

his

the real object of

Haemon

care.

proclaimed on

was

Megareus is on

not

Antigone's

Creon, himself, xai

Haemon's. When Creon

behalf, Haemon

Justice

does, his

(cf.

36.2). The

He

unjust.

last

at

Creon's speech,

of

be

speech

is wholly

"xai aov

ye xd/iov

suddenly replace the in opinion, however

gods

in the gods, not respect for his father. Haemon's

grounded

for Creon from his

is that Creon is correctness

be

must

care

his

says that

that it is also in the interest of

the nether gods. He does not say

and

ndXecog xfjg av/jmdang

city.

answers

answer

that he never accepted the

reveals

one of whose points was that the ruler

of his injustice. Creon now wants to know how he can be unjust if he merely cultivates the respect his office is due. Haemon replies that he cannot do so if he tramples on the honors

(father)

must

obeyed regardless

the gods. It is

of

people's

does

rule under

Justice

true that the

not

wishes; the

gods

tell him

democratically

ruler

he

what

the guidance of others; but

be

they

executes

the

The ruler, then,

should ordain.

are the

gods, not the

in the gods, not in opinion, however unanimous (cf. 369). What Haemon has done his best to avoid has finally happened: he has been forced to adopt Antigone's position. Creon city.

must

grounded

is triumphant: "Defiled to

seems

Haemon,

identify

(^dog)\

nature

piety

Lower than

His

womanishness.98

with

woman!"

a greatest

Creon

abuse

of

any rate, coincides with Haemon's appeal to the gods. One wonders whether his harping on Antigone the woman has not been his way of replying to Antigone's argument about the divine law. Male and

female

at

would reflect

Olympian 42.3.

The

demand

gods

in his

and chthonic

coincidence as

simple

gods

of

understanding the distinction between

(cf.

37.2, 39.2).

the city's opinion with what the

nether

their due raises the question of whether the city and

Hades have something in

Aeschylus'

A age in Agamemnon The herald from the army opens his speech with an invocation of the "paternal ground of the Argive land"; and he goes on to say that out of all his shattered hopes he has obtained but one, "to have a share on my death in the dearest (503-7). The points

the way to

common.

an answer.

grave"

herald, those

whose special protector above

and

(Ch.

his parents, wife, longing like

return

to

is

a private

not

below"

or

is Hermes

164),

(514-5), "greatest herald

never

Ibid., 233-4.

99

The

exact

wording is

not

he

of

longed to

longing for what is his (cf. 414-9), nor does he look the future glory of the army (567-81). children; the

Menelaus'

forward to any comfort except When the Chorus greet him, he reiterates his saying that he does not now refuse to be dead 98

that

says

recoverable;

cf.

Fraenkel,

joy

on

(539).99

ad

loc.

his

return

by

The love for

A

Sophocles'

Reading

of

Antigone

43

his fatherland

manifests itself solely in the willingness to die there. That the Chorus interpret him to mean, through their personalizing of his love of country (540-5), that the present circumstances are so

intolerable that they too welcome death (550), does not affect his declaration. The way in which patriotism reaches the same level of intensity as private desires does not consist in the desire to die for one's country but in the desire to be buried there. Haemon, then, original

the city with the nether gods as unwittingly

might not so much replace point

to Hades as the core of the city.

Polynices

as

Haemon's

unjust

and

has

has

not

Even if Thebes

Eteocles,

repudiated

as

still

regards

the drift

of

Antigone's love of death, from which all attachment to the family as generated has been drained, suggests that Antigone in herself represents the link between the city and Hades. Antigone had to reconstitute her family in Hades in order to cleanse it of its incestuous character (cf. 27.5). But the family without eros is the city, for fraternity, which in itself has nothing to do with eros, is the highest degree of attachment that citizens can "fraternal" The bond that Creon possibly have to one remarks

made

doubt,

us

yet

another.100

saw

mistakenly patriotism

and

between his denial

the

the bond among citizens,

Antigone's

silence

fratricide

of

exclusion

of

her

about

burial to

of

his decree (192), between should in fact be

and

brother,

a

Creon

whom

the

never

speaks

Polynices'

war,

brothers thus other

laws

soul's

of

take

concern

and

crime, on

deeper

a

than that

(cf.

30.2).

the

mutual

significance.

her brother lies

Her

every city believes it merits golden honor combined with the im partiality of her natural love for both her brothers despite their own

unburied

the

her the representative of the city as the city itself be. But, as Antigone shows and Creon confirms (cf. 31.1), that for which the city longs is only possible in Hades, where the fraternal bond in its purity, apart from its source and the nature enmity (523),

would

of

makes

to

wish

bonded, can be established. Creon's xdxm vvv iXdovo', el (pdnxeov xeivovg (524-5) buries the city's hopes along with Antigone (cf.

the

iXei

46.8). 42.4. Haemon does more than it that he is also arguing on Antigone's behalf; his threat to Creon proves that his deepest care is for Antigone. If that is what Creon wanted him to say, he indirectly

it; for his

be understood merely as a final Although Creon is merely spiteful and cruel in wanting Haemon to see Antigone die, Haemon threatens suicide out of more than spite. He loves his father and thinks that confesses

effort

to

to

bring

Creon loves him; too

cf

.

vvv

so

cannot

senses.

for Creon

no

PI. Menex. 237b6-3: atixdxBovag

xai xge<poftivovg xai

threat

Creon to his

xelodai

vnodeSa/xivng;

oi>x $n ftrjxgviag
ol

longer to

xai x& ovxi &XX'

aXXoi,

iv

vno

see

his head

naxgldi

olxovvxag

fiTjrgog xijg x&QQ-S

iv olxeioig xdnoig xrjg xexovarjg

239al: fiidg ftnzgog ndvxeg

adeXrpol qrvvzeg.

with

xai

xai

&

ft

his

t,&vxag <%>xow,

Bgetpdarjg

xai

Interpretation

44 eyes

Haemon, in the to

duty

the

does

silence

city's

will

act

Creon. But

punish

buried Polynices? His

on

would

suppose

40.4),

(cf.

and

its opinion, takes upon himself he have done so if Ismene had which

the

And if

the

innocent Ismene, tells against him.

justify,

altogether

therefore

might

sanctions

the

about

silence

not

divine

of

absence

the city

of whether

unsure

One

1.1).

him (cf.

pain

would

own

that

his concern, he could have threatened to duplicate Antigone's holy crime. But the truth is that he can no more live without Antigone than Ismene says she can. Ismene's protestations were

gods

nether

when

between

and eqwg.



becomes the gods',

and

is, in

Haemon's

the warning; the

beyond the

because never

and

could

both

34.1),

and

have

to

seems

him

convinced

that

Antigone to death; but he suspects that interfere if he kills her in a remote part of the stone

way that no one's hand has to be raised he frees Ismene because she did not touch

in

and

country,

such a

against

Polynices'

Just

as

he frees the city from touching Antigone. The whole city innocent if he meticulously prevents the city from being (cf. 13.2). We do not know whether the formal purity of

so

corpse,

remain

polluted

Antigone's

would

execution

injustice,

of which

appease

only Haemon

the

on

city.

his

own

city forget

Would the

has

(728, 743), The Chorus,

spoken

if Creon exactly complies with the demands of piety? at any rate, do not object. Perhaps they understand it as an acsxwdfioi

of man's

43.2. of

itself, is

unflinchingly (580-1), Creon's resolve The Chorus, however, easily save Creon decides to forgo Antigone's public

30.2). Haemon

(cf.

the people would not

its

suicide

unchanged.

the people would not

will

alone

8.3). To risk death for

death

face

is

girls

(cf.

execution

her.

young dismisses

Creon

monetary gain Creon can understand (221-2); but to die 27.2). As Haemon could is unintelligible to him (cf. himself to carry out his threat, any more than Antigone

of

bring

Ismene

let

suicide,

a mind as

owner.

of pain

Ismene

kill

to

of

contemplation

its

to

oppressive

pain,

Creon that

warn

human. He forgets Jocasta (cf.

the

sake

silence

The Chorus

43 (766-80). 43.1. as

only underline the difference Haemon, then, begins as the city's spokesman, ends by cherishing Antigone unto death.

Haemon's

to

next

set

much

so

dqyal,

which

though morally

deivdxng (cf.

22.10).

Creon

Antigone's

presents

being fulfilled,

or withhold a

for Hades is

neutral

suit of

not a god

favor. If Hades is

at

one

of

Hades for life

like

work, he

are

example of

the

as

glories

incapable

other gods who can grant

cannot produce

his

opposite.

To worship him and what belongs to him is useless labor. It does not pay. The lesson Antigone's punishment will teach her is that her punishment

is

what she worships.

(cf. of

The

killing

30.1). But precisely the

marketplace

Antigone

as

the

that

what

all

of

Antigone is the

offends

%aj?s

perfect worshipper.

is Her

Creon,

education of

Antigone

holds to the view (cf. 4.7), reveals

who

reciprocal

reverence must

be

disinterested,

A

Reading

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

45

for

she worships the one god who cannot reward her. It is this very purity that, according to Creon, will prove to be too heavy a burden for her (cf. 29.2). And if she herself believes that her piety will be that rewarded, only confirms for Creon her madness and the ease with which she can be broken.

44 (781-801). 44.1.

The Chorus

the first time in lyrics parodos

the vocative and

they

men

Eros. For

of

sing

pronoun.101

the eye of the golden

themselves

exhorted

old

In the

in the day (103) Zeus (609), but in neither case did they go beyond a verb in the second person. In the parodos, however,

stasimon

second

they

addressed

they

of

the second person

use

the

and

and

Thebes to

rest of

the temples

visit all

the gods with night-long dances (150-4); in the first stasimon they wished that the culprit not be of their own hearth (372); and in the of

second they spoke of the unceasing sorrows they had seen befall the Labdacids (594). But the song to Eros is, despite the repeated "you," almost entirely impersonal. Were it not for the deictic xdde (793), it

could

be

read

as

first stasimon, a

neuter

Troy

of

"this"

do

her

spell

looking silent

of

old

men

her

Chorus, however, do they do catch

beauty

44.2.

The song is

and

speak

this

the

center

one

to the

man

was

the elders

of

their

of

two

Eros

while

her, they are (cf. 32.1, injustice, and

of

tears

own

of

of

sing

sight

madness,

self-sacrifice.

The Chorus

of

eleven

love,

about

statements

the

that he whom Eros possesses is mad. Around

sets

five

of

"Eqcog dvlxaxe

to

akin

which

acting through Eros.

as

composed

central one of which says

pendant

not

when

and

think of Antigone

not

in

remind

45.1). In the song itself Eros is the cause strife, but not of tenderness, harmony, or do

somehow

and

seeing Helen, "like unto the terrible beauty of the begrudge the war, though they at once throw off

Antigone;

about

deivdxng

not

(T 156-60). The

at

It is

poem.

man's

sang 22.6). The

(cf.

on

who,

goddesses,"

independent

an

which

fidxav

statements

is that

not

balanced.

each

are

even

the just

can

The resist

Eros'

him; to swooping attack on what is one's own (xxri/iatii, cf. 684, 702, 1050; fr. 210, 36P)102 is the pointing to the turbulent strife of kindred blood (gvvaifiov) that he has caused; to keeping watch Eros'

is the

on soft cheeks of a girl

in the and

a

office of

girl; to

the

as

either

restless

assessor

who

how

close

uses xxr\aiog

the Chorus as almost

are

the

to

of

the or

see

motion

great

being

wins

pseudo-Arist.

equivalent

cf.

29.3, 53.2. Note

Oec.

of olxelog

(Tr. 690).

also

sea and

escaping battle.

every

1345a26-30;

understanding of what is one's own is

Creon;

desire

over

ordinances;

human

effortlessly

Cf. E. Norden, Agnostos Theos, 158. For this very broad sense of xxr\p.axa economic

of triumphant

evocation Eros'

any immortal

Aphrodite,

goddess

PL Grg. 461c5-6. This of

manifest

marriageable

impossibility is the

Eros

102

of

land is desire's

to the

i01

eyes

that

indicative Sophocles

46

Interpretation

It is

easy to say, as this summary reveals, how the Chorus under Eros. The only other occurrence of eros is in the second stasimon,

not

stand where

the Chorus speak of hope

27.4). The

(cf. Eros

Chorus

where the

(cf.

ways

literally

as

of

human

as

do Eros

and

to whom one

different beings in was

center

animation

different

eleven

occupied

of

the parodos,

of

one

by

madness,

Capaneus. But here, unlike the parodos, nothing the miserable Polynices and Eteocles is found;

Aphrodite appear, like Dionysus and Zeus, as a god pray or offer tribute. Eros far more resembles Hades, at

does

work

43.2). The Chorus

he is (cf.

what

Eros, desire (l/j,eqog), and Aphrodite; but l/neqog literally, for apart from its

set

in

into life in Perhaps

at

least

being

one

to

as

xdiv fieydXviv ndqedqog much

the "clatter

as

iv

aqxalg Ares"

of

Betificbv, was

which

galvanized

juxtaposed to dvxmdXov bvaxelqoifia dqdxovxog (126-7). say that the night-watch of Eros on the cheeks

could

does

girl

even

apposition

it

animates

"poeticization"

take

one cannot

a

reminds

desires"

light-witted

Chorus'

to treat as equivalent

seem

of

can

he is

who when

it is

divinity

characterized eleven

frenzy

of

degree the

what

belief in his

11.4). There too the

the Bacchic

nor

to

question

their

reflects

the "deceit

and

not

divinize him

than

more

"piney

Hephaestus"

(123)

divinizes fire; and that the fusion of Polynices and eagle (112-21) is as little literal as the swooping attack of Eros on one's own. But Aphrodite is a goddess, and her playfulness no more detracts from her divinity than leading of the dance, for which the Chorus Dionysus'

once wished

to

whom

which

to

overcomes

make

deivdxrjg, and

(153-4), detracts from his. The ubiquity

wilderness

dividing

the gods

him

the

which

set

Earth,

or

aside

the

and

now

assert

Eros limits

that,

Zeus,

while

22.7). Eros

detvdxng (cf.

to

seem

Eros,

replace

Earth

Eros is the

whose splendor and

moreover,

his power,

and

limits imposed

apparent

the highest of the gods (cf.

Chorus, then,

of

obstacle,

day,

seem

man's

own

a

god.

the missing cause of man's

The

an

easily as men who live for His ubiquity resembles

as

highest

is

sea

him

on

seems

by

sea

to supply

22.1; Eur. Med. 844-5). Eros or Aphrodite,

with

cause

of

human transgression,

immutability

apparently checked 37.4). Does Eros lead astray the Zeus who justly punished Capaneus? The Chorus imply that there is no Eros for justice. They seem at first to understand the core of Eros as sexual, manifest in young girls, but they also say that desire holds sway over

human transgression (cf.

the great ordinances. If the text is are

love

for children,

of parents

sound,103

Eros'

ordinances too

a part

of

they

suggest that

domain. The love

and that of children

for

of

the great

country, the

parents will

belong

to Eros. His power shows own

and

itself in his being both the love of one's the love that destroys one's own. It is desire's indifference

to the goodness of either that makes the Chorus speak of Aphrodite's

103

If my interpretation

possibility

of

of a proceleusmatic

ndgedgog

here;

see

is correct, the issue

Miiller, 174-6.

would

turn

on

the

A

Reading

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

47

Antigone, however, has

playfulness.

shown that the love of one's own, to its extreme, entails the love of death; and the extreme the love that destroys one's own is equally the love of death, for

when carried of

in the

one's own

follow if Creon

Antigone is Antigone

is oneself, which 2.2). The latter

strict sense

(cf.

itted

unwittingly)

was

silent

about

Hades

and

wrong

could

Her

the afterlife.

even

Antigone (however

consequence

has

soul

would

not

Antigone hfe: but

grant

been dead.

long

thus seem to embody Eros, the love of one's own Chorus' that destroys one's own, and the song to Eros an ode to death. But the Chorus understand Eros as primarily sexual, and Antigone's

denial

would

of sexual

her

sets

limits the

the Olympian gods share

which

generation,

Eros. Antigone

above

to overstep the one

seems

with

men,

limit that

Eros'

The question, then, which possible divinity poses, is this: does Antigone offend against someone or something divine that lends to the gods some of their splendor? Is her justice stricter gods.

than the gods', and her suicide

45 (801-5). 45.1. had sung of so different

punishment?

Chorus beheld Antigone

after

they

man's

seeing Antigone

(decffiot)

divine

a

the

daring artfulness, they looked upon her as a monster, was she from the culprit they had envisioned (cf. 23.1); after they have impersonally sung of Eros, they confess on

now

and

When

and

again

cannot

that

too

they

restrain

their

are

carried

outside

limits

the

The limits that the Chorus

tears.

transgress would seem at first to be the great ordinances over which

Eros presides; but the Chorus do not acknowledge comion to be an effect of love; and in so far as it is implicit in the great ordinances that command the love of

them

and yet

love Antigone 11.1).

be

and

of

one's

their

under

suddenly

They weep

they

own,

They

sway.

her

recognize

cannot

be

do

not

as

one

weep because they of their own (cf.

carried

outside

their will, for her cause is unjust (853-5).

against

Their tears

are solely caused by her approaching death. They are unloving and impersonal tears (cf. 527) that well up from a source almost beyond the consciousness of the Chorus. Theirs are not the

tears

of

The Chorus

pity.

never

speak

Sophocles'

the only extant play of though no other play has

oixxqdg, eXeeivdg, exception: still

104

lay

unpitied

This tells

related

ways

supplication

Trachiniae

the

their several

against

with

two) have

Chorus

call

(604). Antigone's ngog

phrase occurs

in

a

of

no on

that

Chorus'

olxxov

Sophocles'

occurs

only

less than

six

no

word

for pity occurs,

instances

(Ajax) of olxxog, There is, however, one

Polynices'

tears, then,

at

indeed, Antigone is

pity;

cognates.104

says

LA's reading rest

invocation

or

later

of

which

less than

(1197). The

from the

other than the once

and

messenger

a

in

dog-mangled

arise

from the

858. Antigone differs in two

extant

plays:

ngog

dediv

as

a

same

other

form

of

(838), whereas other plays (except five (OC); and all the rest have persons

once

Zeus in the vocative; here only the Chorus do so moreover, is the only case in Sophocles where

decov,

request

body

that the speaker does not wish to be true.

Interpretation

48 source

which

that

as

Antigone to

prompted

that

imply

her hopeless

27.3). It is this dea/idg that misery consists in man's mortality (cf. the Chorus of old men on seeing Antigone find themselves carried themselves.105 Antigone beyond; and whatever pity they feel is mostly for

rightly

therefore

their heartless

calls

a

consolation

herself

of

mockery

(839).

45.2.

The Chorus say that Antigone where all sleep. The forcible

(ddXa/xov)

to take the

view of

Creon that

itself

chamber.

generation, the Chorus

end

she

of

for

living

as

kind

a

granting

a

immortality, Eros

of

the

death in the

is the death

own

in love

acknowledgment

one's own

each man

compels

(cf. 789-90). It is the

day

Antigone

marry in Hades (654). If love is primarily sexual and should

to

point

death. One unwittingly accepts another self. The survival of one's of

chamber

Hades is

and

though pitiless, do not so much scorn

Everyone dies in that bridal its

ing

Eros

of

Chorus,

strange, for the as

the bridal

approaches

sight of

of

generation oneself.

In

to see himself

Antigone that brings

Eros that the Chorus had ignored in singing of Eros. But Antigone herself is antigeneration; she has so far acknowledged out

truth

a

about

the death but not the

burden

life in Eros. Her

46 (806-82). 46.1. are

by

sung

it is the

painful recognition of

the kommos.

of

The kommos

Antigone

and

four

by

consist of nine

parts,

the Chorus. The

of which

Chorus'

parts

five are

the first pair concerns Antigone's glory, which is offered as a

paired:

for her mortality (817-22, 834-8); the second pair concerns is linked with her inheritance (cf. 37.1). Antigone's

consolation

her crime,

which

the other hand, fall metrically into three, two stanzas and an but epode; thematically they can be sorted differently. In the two strophes Antigone appeals to the Chorus, first, as fellow-citizens of a on

parts,

common of

to see her imminent death and

fatherland,

the city, to wait

antistrophes

then, as the rich men her death before they mock her. In the two her reflections, first on what she has heard of

until

she voices

then on the incest of her parents. Each stanza, however, also hangs together: the first is Antigone's desperate attempt to normalize what she

Niobe, is

and assimilate

what

is

she

herself to things

and

known,

delineates her

while

uniqueness.

address to

her fellow

who can as

easily be Oedipus as Polynices. iycb (866, 868).

does

but

citizens

ends with

in the

second she accepts

She thus begins an address

Only

in the

to her

with

an

brother,

second antistrophe

she use

46.2.

Antigone

now speaks of marriage

for the first time. She

wants

the Chorus to see her as one of their own, whose death will come before

her wedding song. She therefore presents Hades, not Creon or the city, as her executioner (cf. 575, 847), and throughout the kommos remains 105

Cf. 1G I2972 (=48 Peek):

[(5dp]

[x]azagl-oy,

inel

'

xai oi ftivet

AvriXdxov

ddvarog.

afj/t'

noxl

dyadov

xai

ocbq>govog

dvdgog /

A

longer certain,

no

Chorus,

confirmed, that the

were

her deed (504-9). But

approve of

49

Antigone

of

her deed. Antigone is

silent on soon

Sophocles'

Reading

they

her uncertainty is

and

Creon,

not afraid of

her

she cannot throw off

would

strangeness

do

more than mouth the role of a girl deprived of her marriage. Not does she fail to mention Haemon but she never speaks of the hus only band and (in the kommos) of the children she will never have (cf. El. or

165, 187-8). The speak of marriage

its

rites

the

but

she

itself

by

its

not

vividness

most she can

in the way that

They did, but solely

uniqueness.

she

to the

but Antigone had

no mortal

to

seem

speak

will

descend to Hades

Heracles.

Creon intends to hide

a

if her fame is due, not to of her death, as if, that is,

her

not speak exactly.

is

alive;

she

in

man-made

a

Orpheus

no

chamber

or

underground

to death (774-5). The Chorus thus seem xdd'

hidden

like Creon,

They too,

moreover, do

Chorus,

insist

self-normalization and

killed himself.

Antigone

chamber where she will starve

burial, something

as

manner

ever

marriage

4.6). She

22.10).

43.1). The

to confuse

burial (cf.

of

others understand

forget Jocasta (cf. not

to her loss of

bring

lack

The Chorus disregard Antigone's

46.3. what

cannot

Polynices'

through for form's sake (cf.

one goes

her

herself to do in eliciting pity is to particularly of its ceremonies. She knows

bring

She

substance.

brought to

understands marriage

on

and

with

...xevQog

for the task

vexvcov,

consoling Antigone so poorly suits them that they can only exaggerate "demythologization" of her uniqueness to the point of nonsense. No

of

their language can rid it of its nonsense.

die

gone will

It

Antigone.

of

hear their of

alive: such a paradox

would

not

does

do

that Anti

not mean

Chorus'

fit the

understanding

be surprising, however, if Antigone did When they say that she is independent

words as genuine praise.

any law but her

(avxdvofiog), Antigone doubtless

own

to mean that she uniquely holds to

itself;

They

not

when

and

Hades alive,

she

they

add

must

that

she

or

even

alone

of

uniqueness

of

her

of

the law

her. The

them

will

descend to

think that she has at last found someone who

in nothing else but in her living is this misunderstanding of the

understands

mortals

takes

the divine law

embodies

living

descent into Hades hes

of

burial (cf.

Chorus'

words

that impels

34.3). It

Antigone

to explain herself through her likeness to Niobe.

46.4. in three

Antigone ways:

occasion of

(the

her

seems

to forget that

she

does

not

resemble

Niobe

(her boasting), the the agents of her punishment

the reason for Niobe's punishment

boasting

(her children), and make up for the last

Antigone tries to

dissimilarity by

saying ignore the vanity of Niobe the mother? In order to normalize herself, she is driven to liken herself to a mother, just as the guard could for her actions only gods).

that a daimon lays her to rest; but how

in that

of a mother

is itself

strange

bird (cf.

can

she

25.3). But Antigone

and needs a

likeness

the only

picks a comparison one

Antigone

ever

Interpretation

50

to make it familiar. The gods rewarded Niobe in

uses106

recognized of

the love

in her

boasting

of one's

for the loss

and to compensate

own;

death; they

that challenged the gods the extreme case of

her own, they

living growth of rock eternally weeping for Nothing remains of Niobe but the signs of sorrow,

transformed her into a

loss

her

of

own.

that

rain and snow

her

itself in her (456-7).

leave her

never

Antigone too is

grief.

remains

life is the law. She thus

one with

her grief, but her grief does not show 32.1) but in the eternally living law of burial (avxdvofiog). Her of Antigone but the law

one with

tears (cf.

own

Nothing

She is

as she melts away.

the

the

sures

Niobe, for Niobe's love

her

of

own

led

to the death of her own, while Antigone's love of her own is based on the death of her own. She is piously in accord with the divine.

boaster. The love

not a

of

her

her

own never made

She is

In recalling

vain.

Niobe's fate, she does not think of her own future recompense, whether it be from the gods or from men. She does not even want very much the Chorus'

of

life the

same

attributes

is, in a sense, nothing pitiable in the "most mournful Niobe. Antigone, rather, wants the Chorus to see in her kind of all-consuming devotion that the report of men

There

pity.

perishing"

to Niobe. The truth

abiding self-sacrifice The Chorus, however,

shown as much

in her

law-

44.1).

in madness, injustice, and strife (cf. her meaning and thus, instead of consoling,

as

mistake

Antigone.107

mock

46.5.

born

Eros is

about

The

They

Chorus

Antigone that Niobe

remind

gods, while she, like themselves, is

of

Antigone

that

suppose

in her death the fate

was

mortal and

boasting that she Contrary to the

was

god

a

born

and

of mortals.

divinely

would

literal meaning of their words, which they think Antigone has misinterpreted, Antigone will not descend to Hades alive. They do not understand that it is her life in death that most resembles Niobe's tears. They therefore obtain

Niobe.

of

only console her for her death but not praise her for her life: "It is a great thing when you have perished to have it said [xdxovcfai Wecklein] of you that in your life and then in your death you did can

in the lot

share a

the

godlike."108

to be like

thing

great

of

Niobe,

for they then

their words,

If the Chorus had

said

that it is

there would have been no ridicule in

would

have

agreed

with

Antigone that in

the love of her own she rivals Niobe. But the two additions of

108

She

Antigone

says

seems

nothing

as

to speak in trimeters much less poetically than the others.

contrived

as

Ismene's

Ismene's vp,nXow (541); Creon's

language

291-2, 474-8, 531-2, 1033, 1037-9), never

(14,

indulges in

cf.

13, 55)

107

Cf.

108

I

so

or

artificial

an

nor

xaXxalvova'

(20)

is

also

not

as

or

as

plain

metaphoric

(cf.

163,

as

190,

is Haemon's (690, 700, 712-7). Antigone as Ismene's pug. rjftiga dmXfi xeuji

opposition

Creon's ngog dutXfjg /xoigag

ijfiigav

xad'

fiiav

(170-1).

Miiller, 186-7.

understand

xaxa$r\ar\

Oifieva

but

as

Jcotrav

still

xai

ineixa Bavovoav

referring only to the

as

manner

a of

corrective

of

C&oa..."Aidip>

Antigone's death.

A

Sophocles'

Reading

Antigone

of

51

humiliate Antigone. After the Chorus' insistence on the gulf that separates her from Niobe, dxovaai implies that she will resemble Niobe in fame (dig
of

similarity denies at

her death to Niobe's her

a stroke all

be ed, and rpBifiiva did can be of importance

will alone

greatness

what she

only to herself. 46.6.

Antigone

turns away from the Chorus. Their incompre the first and only time by her father's(s') gods. Those whom she took to belong to her fatherland have proved

hension

makes

be merely the

to

now

her

swear

and call on

as

Antigone

wealth

mentions

why the city,

reason

replace the

things,

places and

it

as

in

order

now

to

come

Chorus,

They

to

whose

them

remind

them.

satisfies

first

which

of the

old men

perhaps

stands,

12.5). She

the unchanging elements of Dirce and the sacred ground

her country to bear her witness: the springs of (aXtiog) of Thebes. The sacred and the ancestral, sight

(cf.

representatives of the present regime

therefore must go beyond them

the

of

would never

do anything that could possibly lead to the confiscation of their estates. Their replacement reminds one of the shift Creon was forced to make in

defining crime

Polynices'

crime

his desire to

as

fratricide,

and enslave

that the gods

his

might

laws

into

sacrilege at

of

19.2). Creon had first

his fatherland

destroy

the Thebans

come

destroy

to

and native

the

temples, dedications, land,

up for the

living

Polynices'

crime

against

own

of

growth

and

Thebes

with

kind

a

of

rock

of

land, however

under

her

They

can

her, for

she will

prepares

alone a

not

heard;

seeing the 3.4); it is not to

(cf.

sun

has

she

it

now

spring that

and piece

the

loss

of

say that there is life in

the way for her qualified defense

48). reject

Antigone's

denial

of

the

justice

of

the

suffer; but they try to soften their assertion address her affectionately for the first time

which she will

injustice.

(& xixvov,

the

rock, let Antigone begins to

9.6). She thus

The Chorus

46.7.

of

upon

see

and neck of

sacred.

heavily

her deed (cf.

laws

brow

life.

friends to weep for her and thus imitate that is Niobe. And yet (e/unag) Antigone

for the last time. To live is to

a rain-drenched

of

gods,

of

absence

be

life weighs Hades (cf.

beings.

Polynices'

knows that the eternally weeping Niobe is just a story the primary truth is what the Chorus see: Antigone is sun

living

So Antigone, in despairing of the Chorus, tries for herself in the hoped-for indignation of sacred places.

But Antigone invests Dirce the

dread

restate

people.

to find

make

commit

Chorus'

Creon to

the gods (285-7). Creon thus transformed

and

gods,

the

compelled

the price of suppressing his crime The sacredness of divine things replaced the life of

brother,

Polynices'

presented

(199-202); but later

have buried Polynices

Polynices had

crime:

and

(cf.

cf.

They

987),

and

as those that Antigone

Antigone to her face

they

adopt

had just of

the same (and similar) measures

employed.

injustice, for

she

They

are

has just

the first to accuse spurned

them

and

Interpretation

52 invoked

The Chorus Creon's

not

patriots,

according to the Antigone's foundation

does

alone

not

in any case,

fully

The Chorus there

too

They

to

fiddqov

with

lofty

the

against

the

inanimate; but

reminds

the highest

as

one of

the first stasimon,

of

the

22.7).

(cf.

gods

compelled, in the absence of any other god limit to human daring, to assign to Earth the

were

reach as

struck

by

Creon's decree

endow

animate

strictly

is the desperate Antigone that indignation remains doubtful. The juxtaposition,

than Hades acting as a Olympian prerogatives of the she seems

must

being

to be outdone

not

for life

described

was

Chorus

the

(oloig vdfioig) are Theban

they

punishment,

43.1). And

Antigone has

god.

a

make

of vyrnXdv

Earth

where

of

Justice.109

her

and

sacred,

are as aware as

they

whether

the

lawful

so-called

the double implication:

partisans;

to

majesty

of

her

witness

resent

law, is just (cf.

appeal

the

all

with

to

places

sacred

punishment.

high

as

Here Justice is that limit; and gods and as low as the nether

gods.

the Olympian

Antigone, Justice dwells (451). The could be, for they suggest that

gods, among whom, according to

Chorus themselves indicate how this

Antigone is paying for the ordeal of her father. She is paying for the dead as well as for herself. But her own rashness is not unconnected

her

with

the

paternal

inheritance. The Chorus had discerned in her savagery 28.1). Her father's nature has thus Oedipus (cf.

savagery of her pay for her father's

crime.

made

46.8. occupy

That the the

words

same

position

metrical

or

sounds

they

ld> fiaxqwai,

nqdnavxog, id) Atqxalai

in the

in

ola

oiwv, Ttqdg

the

antistrophe

second

had

(iniyavxov

strophe

nqdg, id)

dvtixavog

ld> dvcmdxfiojv) serves only to bring out the differences between them. The strophe began with Antigone's outcry at the mockery and Chorus'

humiliation

herself;

of

the Chorus have

The to

unholy

most

with

her

painful

34.3).

(cf.

Chorus)

of

her

mother

and

father. The

strophe

appealed

the sacred places to witness the suffering the laws have dealt antistrophe

presents

her incestuous

her misery as the very nature she (cf. 6.1). The strophe spoke

parents

the

on

sacred

marriage

that

confession

care

turned away from Antigone's fellow-citizens (the places of her country; the antistrophe dwells

strophe

the

begins

the antistrophe

touched on her

now

her;

to

the

from

received

her going,

of

by friends, to a strange kind of tomb; the antistrophe speaks her going, unmarried, to dwell with her parents. The strophe ended with her dwelling with neither the living nor the dead; the antistrophe unwept

of

ends

she

with

is

an

slain.

address

to her

Antigone thus

brother,

through whose ill-fated marriage

accepts

the

Chorus'

second

charge

that

is paying for her father's ordeal, while denying their first charge, which they had somehow connected with the second, that she suffers she

justly. One is due to her

109

Miiller rightly

reads

nature

ngooinaiaag

by birth, and rejects

the other is due to

Lesky's defense

of

unjust

ngooineoeg.

A

laws. The her

unholiness

invoking

Sophocles'

Reading her

of

Antigone

of

does

origins

it

the sacred; rather,

not

promotes

53 in the way

stand

such

of

invocation, for

an

the sacredness of Thebes partly rests on the incestuous relation among

her earth-born people. The bond forbidden within the family is the indispensable bond for the city it is what guarantees that its citizens be brothers (cf. 42.3), But Antigone cannot imagine herself as anything but accursed when she thinks of her parents (cf. 27.5). Her unmarried

does

that she

state

means

own;

and that which she

entails

her

of

that she confront

As their incest is the love

own.

cannot

not belong to any other family than her has longed for, to lie with her own (cf. 9.6), in her parents that which s for her love

her piety

maintain

1698). This tension

within

of one's own writ

she

unless

Antigone

large, Antigone

the tension

parallels

(cf. OC

impiety

their

condones

within

the

22.12-3). city between the neutrality and the impiety of art (cf. Out of art's impiety its moral neutrality arises; out of her impiety arises Antigone's neuterization of her family. Both impieties

parents'

and

neutralizations

converge

city

rests

violation

Oedipus;

on

and

art's

in the fourfold makeup of the city. The of Earth as it aspires to the incest of

the city rests on the neutrality

antigeneration of

Antigone (cf.

34.2). But

of art

it

as

aspires

what constitutes

to the

the holiness

city in one respect (Oedipus) condemns it to unholiness in the (art); and what constitutes the fraternity of the city in one respect (Antigone) condemns it to disunity in the other (art). It is not accidental of the

other

therefore that Oedipus should the

any

sacred,

"this"

and

46.9.

Antigone

connects

herself

matter

in Hades. If it

with

Polynices

state.

the

the riddle of artful

perhaps

for

whose

man

man

and

be

should

a

violate neuter

22.6). tell

not

could

her brother's ill-fated

at

Polynices'. No rest

that

turn out to be Antigone (cf.

exclamation

any

than

more

"solve"

marriage

us

refers

whether

her

Oedipus'

to

or

opt, Antigone despairs of finding marriage, Antigone somehow

we

Polynices'

she means

the marriage of her parents

settled

in

city in

another

her

and

to

order

own

destroy

unmarried

his

own city.

only to commit fratricide. He thus compelled Antigone to give up any hope she might have had of renormalizing her family through marriage. Polynices has made her die He

overcame

accursed

his incestuous

in her

own

eyes.

Oedipus'

marriage, she the

origin

If,

incest,

while

makes

it impossible for her to

these

being

circumstances

source

of

the

other

in her father her

suicidal

her death

embrace

life becomes very

hand, Antigone means another brother, whose devotion to Polynices,

precious

and

Antigone's

reinterpret

extreme

the

rashness

elements

of

becomes her

seem

their

to

shame.

rephrase,

original

self-willed

Justice becomes Creon's authority; foundation ordeal (xiv dOXov) becomes a father's for her of

without

In

to her.

The Chorus in answering Antigone

46.10. arrange,

on

recognizes

re

accusation.

temper; the high

Antigone's paying certain kind of piety. and

Interpretation

54

The Chorus had causally connected Antigone's rashness with her offense against justice, but they had not explained how that involved her paternal

inheritance;

they causally link her qualified piety with her but they do not explain how that involves

now

and

against

offense

authority,

6'

destroy her,

so

doXecf'

6'

her temper; indeed, just as ce her wilfulness alone, regardless

ddXov

or nothing to do both Antigone's temper

injustice had little

with

the source

and

of

her

temper made

divine

her

made

looks less it in his

offend against authority.

serious

than the first.

care cannot allow

But the Chorus do

fully

not

not

it

reverence

practiced

to

must

He is the

of

selfless

Antigone

candesce

for the

holy. The

as

gods

of

from

a

her

has thus

temper.

self-willed

be

must

an

indispensable

Since piety does not demand by itself could not so in

self.

Piety

beings

whatever

cannot

or relations

holy.110

not

her brother,

to

would

piety, piety

themselves are

devotion

own

however,

whoever

Creon's authority of its wilfulness. divine principle. Intransigent piety,

as to consume

gods stand apart

Antigone's

xqdxog

self-contradictory.

in the defense

self-sacrifice

such:

caretaker

hand, is

other

Creon's

against

for the

that Antigone's piety is pious; she has for the divine. Some divinity therefore

cleanses

the

offense,

divine;

not

to

own

Oedipus is

reverence

second

is

her

Her inborn

piety.

justice; her The

that

punishment.

Antigone's

Authority

cling authority as ingredient of Aix-n. A goddess on

her

sufficed

it to be transgressed. Antigone

to have offended merely

seem

divine

against

offend

suggested

that

suggests

any lack in her piety,

of

ixxiveig

naxqCoov

dqyd

avxdyvcoxog

They

therefore,

be

a

goddess,

they

establish

cannot

cannot

be

be

loved.111

grounded

solely in her devotion to the gods. The incivility of her temper has no warrant from the gods. The love of her own contaminates her piety (cf.

52.3).

46.11. songs:

Antigone

dvvfievaiog vfivncev

repeats

diXog

axXavxog

compresses

in the

epode several elements of

picks

up

tXcov

into

one

the

dxXavxog

of the

conjunction

her former

second

strophe;

v[ievaio)v...ovx...

the first strophe; xaXal
of

dyo/tai

antistrophe;

xdv exoifiav

first strophe, even as ovxixi recalls dfiexeqov ndxfiov of the

dddv

rephrases seems

[xoi...6qav

second

two

do;112

to

antistrophe,

expressions

and

second of

the

i/iov ndx/iov dddxqvxov...axevdCei xov

the first two words of the epode. But Antigone does not exactly repeat herself. She has said that she now sees the light of the sun for the

no

Neither

legdg

restricted sense of 111

holy, 112 and

In Plato's which

Antigone

OT has

of

ooiog

is

applied

to

the

gods,

and

dyvdg

only

in the

Euthyphro, neither Euthyphro nor Socrates ever suggests that the love, is the gods themselves. This is partly due to polytheism.

the gods

Deianeira

instances

nor

"pure.''

calls

(705)

xdXag,

four;

herself also

use

only here: Ajax

rdXaiva

xdXag

of

of which three are

no other

(838), Oedipus (OT 1363),

themselves only once.

in the

play has less than

eleven

Antigone has

seven

Creon (1211, 1295, 1298); (Aias); see note 75.

mouth of

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

last time; but she here presents that fact in no longer sanctioned to see the sacred eye Antigone

a

55

peculiar

"I

way:

torch"

the

of

am

(Xa/mdg).

to speak of sacred law (difug) "for form's 22.10), for she surely does not mean that Creon's decree, which condemns her to death, is a sacred law that prohibits her from seeing the sun. The decay of ovxeri jioi Qefiig into an empty phrase, no stronger sake"

seems

(cf.

than

ovxexi fioi

Antigone, but its

who

has

also an

her

on

strange

decay

in the

the lips

case

of

of

burial,

the sacred forces one to restore to it (or at

with

original meaning.

Or is "this

That Antigone

phrase?

empty

seems

resisted

conjunction

least think of) its

only in itself this kind of

not

eetixi,

the

sacred eye of

should animate

torch"

the sun to indicate

the loss of life primarily means is not surprising; sanctify the sun while calling it an artifact is

recognition of what

but that

she

surprising.113

should

Antigone

seems

to deanimate the

and

to sanctify the sun while robbing

her

own

accursedness

Antigone,

she

might

She

might

in light

difiig

her

of

most

holy

that the

mean

sun while animating it, its holiness. If, however, painful

eye

of

the

still

care sun

grips

abhors

her

defiled as her father, whom Creon once begged to hide his taint in shame from the earth, the sacred rain, and the all-feeding light of Lord Helios (OT 1425-8). Antigone, then, might not call her fate tearless to express her isolation

presence.

could

she

herself

of

regard

forget Haemon

as

well

as

Ismene?

as

but to

deny

the

possibihty that any friend could weep in the face of the horror she and her family must inspire. But why does she call the sun a torch? According to Prometheus, the blind hopes he gave to man deprived

his

man of

(cf.

arts

without

art.

Antigone she

is

has

no

is the

"3

ever seeing death except within the horizon of fire and the 23.1). But Antigone is pre-Promethean, without hope and

As the death

speaks

the

of

excommunicated

right to look

obstacle

I know

of

to

(cf.

similar

as

longed for

always an

52.4). The

piety (cf.

expression

presses

fire, from

artificial

artless

the divine source

upon

perfect

no

she

sun

and

upon

whose

her,

holiness

hopeless Antigone

of art and

hope. Her piety

25.4).114

in

classical

poetry,

seems

to be

a

defining

genitive,

such

as

f\Xloro

for

elsewhere

the like (cf.

there

104, Eur. IT 194, IA 1506, Ar. Ach. 1184-5 (=Trag. adesp. 45 N). For the night lamp endowed with sight see fr. 789P; L. Strauss, Aristophanes and Socrates, 263. 114 This interpretation restores to Oifiig its full meaning as sacred family right; cf. E. Benveniste, Le vocabulaire des institutions i-e, vol. 2, 99-105. always

or

148

A READING OF

SOPHOCLES'

ANTIGONE: III

Seth Benardete

47 (883-90). cal question

Creon 's

47.1.*

to Antigone

speech consists of

the Chorus

and

(883-4),

three

parts: a rhetori

a command

to his

ser

(885-7a), and, closely linked with his command, a justification of his way of dealing with Antigone (887^-90) Only when he comes to his own justification does Creon explicitly speak of, and point to, Anti vants

.

gone. gone

girl"

is

"This does

not exist

(cf.

Creon speaks

47.2.

before

opposed

they

as

to

"we."

Apart from that

opposition

Anti

567).

if he had interrupted Antigone and the Chorus another kommos. He seems not to recognize

begin

could

words as putting an end to any further sharing with the Chorus. He is unaware of the extent to which the Chorus have been his spokesman. He further takes it for granted that no song of grief could subject possibly dissuade him or anyone else. By universalizing the but one (7tpo tou circumstance av sic) and omitting every ftocveiv), Creon turns Antigone's death before her time (896) into the common

Antigone's

(008'

lot

Her fate becomes the

of men.

himself

makes

sciously must do the Creon

work

her

execution.

inexorable

scrupulous

He therefore

as

as

Creon

uncon

Hades, for Hades

piety forbids him from doing. fated if he is to remain inno

cannot

help beginning as if he were Were it

consolation.

for

not

Tipo tou

getting killed"), it would have been perfect as such: know that dirges would never cease if one was not fated to

9-avetv

"Don't

as

Antigone's death

a conventional piece of

offering ("instead

paradigm of mortality.

to be

that Creon's

must speak of

cent of

out

you

of

?"

But Antigone was not singing a yoo?, which strictly stop saying them applies to ritual lamentation for someone already dead (cf. 427, 1247). But as Creon cannot acknowledge the right of ritual lamentation without

of

the

undermining his case (cf. 13.2), he the yooi, of men do

god whose will

Antigone only by submitting to her them (cf. 777-80). 47.3.

Creon

expression

*

The text

myself,

combines a

brutality

(cf. 665). He tells his used

however,

of

must adopt not as

intent

servants

alter.

the

He

he himself

standpoint

can

punish

understands

with a certain

delicacy of

to imprison Antigone in her

indicated. I have his readings wherever I am silent, for if I between the reading chosen and my interpretation of

is Pearson's OCT

except where otherwise

not always accepted

did not see any connection the age, I have ed over my own preference. Each line or group of lines interpreted is given a section number, numbers in parentheses after it. Each paragraph of every section is well for ease of cross-reference.

with

the line

numbered as

A if

grave as

they

is to be left

Sophocles'

Reading

of

to wrap her in

were

isolated in

alone and

Antigone

149

(rceprnTu^avTe?) ; and she dwelling (o-Teyr)) as if she were

a garment

such a

beast left to roam a distant pasture (octets (iovyjv eprjfxov). he must reject the fate that piously "for form's he had just invoked when cutting short the threnodies of Antigone. Antigone now has a choice. If she chooses suicide, Creon will be plainly ayvo<;. If she chooses to live, so as to keep up her burial practices under some sacred

Forced to

sake,"

speak

ground (tu^Psueiv),115

Creon has only offered Antigone the means of Creon's way of punishing Antigone, literally fulfilling which suspends the issue of her death, duplicates the way in which Antigone herself understood the rites of burial. Creon has inadvertently her

own wishes.

discovered the most telling mockery of Antigone's life in death. It forces her at last to reassess the ground of her devotion. Creon

47.4. above

to this

sees

(fxeTouaat; world

as a (xetoixo?,

Antigone

t9j<;

(cf.

35.1).

first

as

deprived

of

He implies that

avco).

any share in what is here has been an alien in and

she

Antigone herself had twice sung of her status among the living and the dead (852), and

as an alien

to her incestuous parents (868, cf. 46.8). She saw her forced to be with either those with whom she cannot fully share because she is unlike them or those who, because she shares everything with them, find her abhorrent. Antigone is everywhere a metic (see then

as an alien

self as

3-4)48

(891-928).

of

Antigone, in her third

48.1.

herself in

a

threefold

way:

and

Antigone

last

and

defense, gives her

family

an

apart

from Polynices (8gi-902a), Antigone and Polynices (902l)-i4a), Anti gone and Creon (9i4b-28) Family links the first and second parts : the .

family she has and the family she hypothetically spurns in favor of her brother. And family again links the second and third parts : the family she has just spurned and the family she can never have because of her devotion to her brother. In

defense, the

pain of

gloss

the

establish

of

design, her

speech resembles

her

second

death was the link between the gods of the first part and the third (cf. 17. 1). Oedipus, Jocasta, and Eteocles now

where

connection

between

gods and

(Phersephassa displaces Zeus

Polynices

now glosses

the

law that and

inevitability

of

she

Dike)

had there tried to

; the

her death ;

irreplaceability and

the

punish

hopes Creon will undergo now glosses the pain she would have had if she had not buried Polynices. That law, however, now appears only in the second part, where any trace of its connection with the gods seems to have vanished, shows how much Antigone's imminent punishment has affected her understanding of what she has ment she

done. Creon has, in

115

Morstadt's

intransitively ; it

a

sense,

managed

vo^eiieiv should

is too

to

shatter

Antigone, but only

to

be rejected; but tujj.(ISeuiv should not be taken to bear it; cf. T. M. Barker, CR 1907, 48.

common a word

Interpretation

150

the

reveal

core within

will suffer no

The triple invocation with parts of her speech. She

48.2.

her

keeps

own a

resolve.

eternal watch.

the

region where she will

family. The

gTave

her

with

Oedipus

marriage.

x<xT<xcrxa <;

be

in her

o^ti

death,

metaphorical vujxeiov

on

no

her

less impossible for Antigone than

describes

ohcqaic, ast(ppoupo<;

Hades,

her

in replacing vu^ewv, replaces as well the earth (cf. 9.6). To stay at home

but Hades,

xaToccrxaai, and to which she of grave and

characterizes

place where she

(olxtjgic,) forever with the rest of her of being with a husband allows

tu^^oc,

Jocasta is

underground chamber

fusion

the

dwell

could not

and

Antigone begins

which

calls

becomes through the

that deprives

family, for

the olx-qmc, that

Antigone had ended her hopes that Creon

she now

a

place of punishment

with

her

is going to bridal chamber, and a deep-dug dwelling that What begins as a literal designation (t6[i$oc,) of

gTave,

her

to be

core of

by charging Creon with folly; less than she has suffered.

the three meet

the

defense

second

which

not

Antigone later

only Creon's S-ocvovtcov

calls

descend while still alive (920). This Creon has forced Antigone to reenact

will

which

the apparent redundancy in the coupling here exemplifies, is for Antigone indispens it rests the sanctity of burial. Antigone can no more give corpse to birds. If body in death than abandon and which

of ev vsxpoii; and oXcoXotcov

able, for

up her

on

own

Polynices'

herself to Hades, she cannot defend the obligation acted. The strange argument to which she now from the need to keep burial and her own

she cannot go as

has

under which she resorts

arises

Polynices'

death strictly together. 48.3. Antigone contrasts the hospitable reception (SeSexTat) that Phersephassa has extended to her own with her own most miserable descent before her time (cf. 59). Antigone no doubt continues to ignore

Eteocles

the

mutual

her

own evils as outside

killing

of

the

and

evils

(cf.

2.2) ; but the misery that burden of the kommos: no one

father, mother, and brothers. No her libations. Ismene will not risk

doing

for

Polynices, for

Antigone's burial rites (cf. 848-9 even more.

one remains

what she

the

secret

did for her

to wash, adorn,

or pour

doing for her what she would not risk

same prudential considerations now

in

depriving

apply

herself

indispensable for them. She therefore

nourish

She

do for her

her family

on

now was

were

that

than

as

will

her

80-1). She

rites

to them

overwhelms

with

the

votion

and she still must regard

greatest sacrifice consists

no more

without

do

the

Pobynices;

that Zeus has inflicted

must now confront

the hope that

greater

than her

they

own

will

lack

of

her

hold her

of

family can

de sanctity (cf. 867). ritual

to them over the head of Persephassa, on whom she rely to be gracious. Perhaps this consideration more than any other prevented Antigone from ever asserting that burial rites alone can assure one's age to Hades. It now prevents her in any case from plainly distinguishing between Hades and the grave. must appeal

cannot

A 48.4. of or

Antigone

to them

Sophocles'

Reading

seems

of

to think

She

separately.

of

her

Antigone

151

family together, but

will come


father,

she speaks whom she

does not address, Toayikric, to her mother, whom she does, and 91X7) again to Eteocles, whom she calls xaatyvrjTov xapa (cf 1.3). She cannot bring herself to say that she will come beloved to them all (cf 75, 89) ; indeed, she no longer speaks of love (cf. 73), for whom she has not done all that she did for the others (cf. 33.4). Only in so far as her .

.

Polynices'

family belong

to

one another.

only nonsacrilegious (cf. 8.6). 48.5. close

the objects of her ritual devotions do they Antigone's performance of burial rites is the bond her family has. Her family is not a ysvo<;

were corpses and

Antigone

now

knowingly lies for the she would heap up

to it in saying that

first time. She had come a tomb for Polynices (cf .

Polynices'

; but now she says that she laid out The technical verb TicnreXXco embraces even 10. 1)

has just mentioned; but

body

for burial.

than the three rites

more

did, we know that she dressed Polynices (cf 7 1) That she now invokes Polynices by name the only time she does so indicates the extent to which she depends on his good will to make up for her failings she

whatever else she

could not have either washed or

in

.

.

.

The wise (and Antigone told Ismene who they were know that she honored Polynices; but to honor is not the same [557]) as to bury (cf. 13.2) : the very argument Antigone uses to confirm the honor confirms the difference. The sacral rapio-TsXXco and Se^a?116 only here does Antigone refer to a corpse as a body signify Anti ritual piety.

gone's attempt

her of

own

living

the law is 48.6.

seems

as

adhere

to piety

as

sake"

of

To favor

to be

piety "for form's

despite its truth. To keep together the surface and the heart difficult as to separate Hades from the grave. to

a

brother

absurd when

it

the absurdity is due to the

over against a means

need

hypothetical husband

to favor

to

a

compare

or son

brother already dead ; but incomparable things. It is

precisely because death makes all the difference that any argument about burial must appeal to what does not suit the argument. The Sophocles'

Electra see in the stork the most fitting way to Electra for her devotion to the dead Agamemnon: "We see the wisest birds above carefully tending those from whom they grow and equalreceive why is it that we do not perform these duties Chorus

of

praise

116

The

sacred character of

same suffix

(cf.

note

55), is

Scroti;, which it shares with all neuters with the in Aavaa? Ssfxa? (944-5) ; and that Creon is in

plain

different to this nuance (205) is a sign of his consistency and on a par with his use of tnojxa (cf. 20.2). For the difference between Sejiai; and a>|xa, see Xeno phanes, fr. 15, 4-5, where Xenophanes has the animals make the aco^axa of the gods such as to be like their own 8e[ia<;. Greek, like English, often opposed head to body (cf. Her. 2.66.4; 3-no; 4-75-3, 103.3; 7-75-1); it is therefore significant that Antigone calls Polynices by name when she refers to his body but calls Eteocles xaaiyvr)Tov xapa when she speaks of his loving her, and again Polynices is xaalyvxov xapa when she speaks to him of Creon's injustice.

Interpretation

152

ly?"

(1058-62;

burial

rites

;

The Chorus

25.3).

cf.

and

Antigone likewise

must

seems

ignore the

absence of stork

to ignore the

same

difference,

Herodotus'

story so damaging to her piety (Her. 3.1 18-9). Yet to defend Antigone in this way and hence the authenticity of the age misses the import of her words.

is

which

her

what makes

adaptation of

Intaphernes'

wife was given the choice of saving her husband, her her brother; Antigone has to invent choices in order to children, give the semblance of choice to the inevitable. The way in which she presents these choices reconfirms the lack of choice. She says that if or

husband died

one

could run at

have

the two

first

death

cases

her

of

she could

another

(jzoaic,

from

have another; and if one child died she husband. Antigone, however, seems to

another

together, for in ordering them chiastically

she speaks

life (texvwv [it)ty)p e
children's

xaT-Suvcbv

husband to have

she would need another condition would make

another

that inevitable : if her

son;

son were

and

only

one

her husband (cf

.

Jocasta. Even ex hypothesi she takes her family to be the model family. Even ex hypothesi she does not depart from the antigeneration of her name : the husband 486-7).

Antigone imagines herself to be

another

her supposition is merely a lawful husband, a iz ogiq and not an av/)p (cf. Tr. 550-1), and the brother that could be born were her mother and father still alive would grow ((3XaaToi). Antigone, however, does not of

first to

mean what she seems at were alive she would not

make

her

action

depend

on a

that if her

what she

contingency

mother and

did, for she

father

could not

over which she would

of another brother.117

the birth

no control

imply,

have done

Lines

then

have

911-2 mean some

very different: there is no growth from those who can legiti 27.5). Her mother and father mately be a family only in Hades (cf. are now concealed in Hades ; they should always have been concealed

thing

and never have seen the light. Antigone cannot wish that Oedipus Jocasta could still supply her with a living brother. The duties to her husband would cease because she could acquire another; but the duties to her brother cannot cease because she would even wish that no one in her family had ever been born. Antigone imagines herself to

there and

be

a mother

for

no other reason

possibilities she envisions. against all generation

apparently 48.7.

have

she cannot wish

another

to have

Polynices, Antigone

117

to

No

and such a wish

special case a

repudiate

in

advance

the very

of

making a retroactive wish allows her in turn to call an

law.

Antigone would not

she could

not

;

than to

It is her way

more

than

she

bury Polynices.

bury a husband despite the citizens because she must bury her brother because brother. In order to prove the need to bury

husband; a

must

assume

thinks it

that "to

possible at 450

have"

or

"to be

with"

that Zeus could have told her

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

153

with"

(cf. primarily means "to live 9.6) : she could have a second husband because she would then be without (^fi.7i:Xaxov) the first, and she would be without a husband because he had withered away

(svrjxeTo) best be

.

To

bury

husband is

a

second-best

; to be

with a

husband is

Antigone, then, must bury Polynices because she cannot him; but in burying him she dies and hence is with him. Her

simply.

with

to the law thus looks like a rationalization of her desire to die ; but the spirit of the law informs that desire, for it says that to bury means to be with the buried. The rites for the dead are the means for being with the dead. They therefore compel Antigone's return to the 25.4). Antigone's pain at ever corpse, but they cannot satisfy her (cf. obedience

from her family her desire to overcome the endless forces her beyond burial to suicide; and indeed the law of burial contains within itself the inducement to commit sui cide ; but that inducement can come to light only within an incestuous

being

apart

repetition of ritual

family,

impossibility of ever living with one another neces sarily being with one another in death. The truth of the law, destroys the heart of the law for any lawfully constituted however, the

where

entails

family;

and so

the law becomes in

sake."

Only

the incestuous

family being

something done "for form's fulfill the spirit of the law, for it

practice can

with"

alone must regard

sense of

that burial affords as the primary "the The law that ens burial thus seems to en

with."

"to be

the law

incest; but

for consanguinity stitution of

the

can avoid

family

that

through the demand The law demands the recon-

consequence

generation.

without

in Hades ; it is in

perfect agreement with

Anti

gone.

Antigone

48.8.

to

three times

speaks

her brothers in their

share with

through the love

of

her

were

to be the

zens of

mother of

Thebes (905).

(523;

own

been born from incestuous

as

it

Merely

the third. Antigone's

makes

31. 1)

(866;

children, she

to

her nature. It is her

mutual

cf.

parents

that the link between the first esis of

of

put

cf.

nature not

hatred but to them ; it is her

46.8) ;

would not

these three

nature

and

to have

if her

nature

have defied the etpuv

together

citi

reveals

is the per impossibile hypoth her possible motherhood her own manifest itself in burial

and second

origin precludes

inevitable that the love

of

away the condition of her piety mother as totally as she is now the em be a She must to (cf long 46.8) bodied denial of generation: she must regret not having been a wife (N.B. tou, 917) and mother four lines after she has shown that she rites.

And

.

yet she cannot

help but wish

.

did for a husband's or child's sake. A life ; she would not die to give him burial. The divine law does not hold in such a case because a child is always replaceable. A mother's nature is to be the perpetual giver of life ; but the Tpo
have done

mother might

die to

what she

save

her

child's

Interpretation

154 22.9, 61. 1) guarantee

her

: with

has to die in

to

order

her

being

parents

dead

brother

no

could grow.

Antigone

from the repetition of burial ritual and forever with her own; when she considers

escape

or

lying

less holds fast to eternity, the eternal succession of generations, on of which no individual can be preferred over against the perpetuation of the race. Not only inexperience blinds

the alternative,

she no

Antigone to the possibility that a mother's love for a son might not that only stop with his death. Her family has so colored her imagination incest

can

properly

the love

express

of one's own.

She

cannot

being a mother without holding up Jocasta as a model at that

longs to be

she

a mother

She forgets Niobe (cf. The last

48.9.

the

just to be free from the love

think

same

of

her

of

time own.

46.4).

part of

Antigone's

speech

turns

on

three triads : wrong

926, 927), gods (921, 922, 925), and justice (921, 925, 928). suppose that Antigone would see their relation as simple :

doing (921,

One might Creon has done wrong in the eyes of the gods and she has done right ; the gods will punish him and reward her. Antigone, however, thinks that she can only wish that such a relation hold. The execution of her to

punishment

go

alive

to the

deep-dug

of

chambers

dead,

the

follows at once on Creon's judg ment of her wrongdoing; but the gods have delayed the confirmation of her justice. Antigone suggests that she has been expecting the gods

friendless,

to interfere and

40.3,

Her piety

all along.

been

not

and childless

unmarried,

46.10).

The

heart in

everyone

Antigone

might

What

by

qualified

gods

should

should

still more

and

by

about

piety the city (cf.

a

change

of

they have failed

to do so, be forced to acknowledge her

since

and

recognized as

ignored

have brought

but Creon; but

suffer

have been

the Chorus

does she have in mind? Does she suspect that the law she has just promulgated does not have the sanction? Or that her belief in her reward as she has imagined it is not the way of the gods? To discover that her reward will consist solely in Creon's punishment and not in any reunion with her family error.

error

gods'

would

be

enough

to break her. Antigone

the

(xaXov) might

be just

the

without

done,

be

yet not

be innocent

deserving

of

trans

of recompense

assumes that the just and the noble (cf. PI. Leg. 859d2-86oc3). But her action in itself

coincide

had to be

might

gods'

justice, for her death. Antigone, however, gression against

and

being

the

noble; she might have done

risk she

willingly

ran

to do it

what

simply

might not affect

gods'

(death) speech

estimate of its worth, particularly if the risk entails a reward that is nothing but the truth of the law itself. But in this

Antigone

never speaks of

the difference between her

through her

law the

her

own

death;

and

just in this lies

third defense ; she has death with the gain of being

second and

replaced

her family. Antigone cannot see that her justice might no more be noble than Creon's suffering for his injustice would be. In hoping that Creon new

gain of

with

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

155

unjustly has, Antigone counts his suffering She thus makes herself out to be the instrument of the punishment of Creon ; but as such an instrument she supposes she will obtain the other hope on which she has been nourished, to come beloved to Oedipus, Jocasta, and Eteocles. It is the tension within this double hope that makes her, if anything does,

suffer as

her

as

many

evils as she

own reward.

gods'

"tragic."

49 (929-43).

The Chorus do

not discern any difference between Creon of folly and the Antigone who would condemn him to suffering. The same onrush of her soul's selfsame winds still possesses her. The Chorus had spoken of pt7wcl avs[i.cov before: Capaneus in a Bacchic frenzy breathed against Thebes the

the Antigone

possessed as

he

was with

divinely inspired (pocx^sucov),

was

The Chorus

own soul. ascribed

they

and

;

have

(cf.

The

formerly virtually identify soul gods,

it from

who once

generation

metaphorical use of wind would seem

They might for her

spokesman

whole

have its

might

understand

roots

tjwxvj?

pwtai refers

Antigone just

family. The savagery in the gods.

to

to be

to Anti

now

she

to have

inherited

Creon then takes up obliquely what the Chorus have said: "It this that those who lead her will regret their slow

a consequence of

ness."

Since Antigone has

to

escape

not confessed

the only

(557-80)

slow execution of which of

pursue

whether twv ocutwv avefzcov ocutou

from Oedipus 49.2.

let disasters

to her

had

Antigone; but they

her family.

been the

possession

they

Labdacids'

herited the left it dark gone or

her

consistency (cf. 353, 1146). Gods and soul equally are linked through Oedipus, who in fate and ed it on. The Chorus, then, have

sole

for

owes

soul what

But the Chorus

28).

family

37.3).

Chorus'



to her

they had likened to Thracian blasts the

shaken a

generation

Antigone

now ascribe

to her father (cf.

and winds

the

hatred (137). Antigone is another Capaneus, hatred and impious defiance ; but Capaneus

of

winds

onrushing

is

49.1.

who convicted

thing

Creon

servants : someone must

does

Creon, however, death, on which

own

48.9). signal spair

The

for her suicide, hope that she

such a reunion can

despair

out

she

did

not even

try

death, the

has let her keep up the show his failure to break Antigone on

learn through suffering, someone must cry. in forcing Antigone to acknowledge her

succeed

she was silent

testifies to the

ol'jxoi

error

supposes

her intransigence. Creon takes

his

her

to do is to hasten her

is equally

which will

ever

be

be

throughout her third defense (cf. of

collapse

reunited with

more

than

that defense. It is the

compounded of

her

hope

and

family, despair

parasitic on

life. Out

of

de

that that

the gods, whom she thought she should no longer (922-3), to look upon her. The gods she calls on are

she now asks

look to for

help

gods of generation

(cf.

8.6), without whom

she can

face Hades but

not

death. 49.3.

Antigone

addresses

her last

words

to her father's city

of

Thebes,

Interpretation

156

the Chorus, whom she calls the rulers of Thebes last (cf. 988). She implicitly rebukes the Chorus for letting perish the He begun. had Creon where ends thus She past. link Thebes has to its the to nearest in was he to rule : title twofold a kinship had put forward

her

ancestral

gods,

and

12). Antigone now (cf. wholly devoted to the city for herself : she is last in the royal line and wholly for he both con pious. Creon failed to keep his two titles together, founded and divorced the city and its regime. Antigone, however, with her piety through the for she connects the ancestral

royal

house

adopts

this

and

argument

city

succeeds,

founded Thebes. Creon

gods who

Thebes (cf. 30.2); Trpoyevei? or

he

and

-rcocTpwot

-9-eol

9-eol

of

spoke

Ceans but

of

spoke

(199, 838). He is

but

syyevet?

unaware of

never

never

the

city's

of

of

-9-eol

divine

him. His laws were origin; his link with the Spartoi means nothing to Antigone's silence whereas but the as silent as Antigone's about gods; the gods, Creon's reflects his merely hid her law's ultimate reliance on 19.2). gods (cf. politicize the failure to Antigone, on the other partial political to the end: she invokes the the oblivious of remains hand, arjTu, not

the 716X15,

The

49.4.

her father (cf.

of

suicides of

Haemon

46.6).

Eurydice

are verbally prepared. threat to that effect, as the

and

Haemon angrily makes a scarcely veiled Chorus recognize (cf. 43.1), and Eurydice's the Chorus

the

and

messenger

to

a

departure

silent

similar

provokes

foreboding. Antigone, and the Chorus

piety,"

however, then

piety, and

it

her

necessarily

50

gods

(cf.

(944-87).

and

once at

the

50.1.

relevant.119 Chorus'

would show

ity

to any

118

of

the

and

her

the Chorus

stasimon's agreement

her

peculiar uniqueness of

deeply

see more

of

strain

situation

;

they

and

sons'.

and

49. analysis.

It

address

than Tiresias

seems

twice

could

second

of which

Lycurgus',

to have little to do

at

the

beginning

man seems

and

the least

be partly due to the for, Antigone; it

comion

to

they

the

the only

as

and

are under

the best

Cf. Wolff-Bellermann's

Danae,

irrelevance with,

Cf. L. Strauss, Aristophanes

Inquiries, 119

punishment

(949, 987) ; Lycurgus

The

lack

re

hymn to

avowal of

The fourth stasimon falls into three parts,

whom

end

Antigone's

Perhaps the

Antigone to

the third Cleopatra's

Antigone,

by

Chorus'

the

has

52.4).

the first describes the

with

during

she

the interval

part of

go together.118

circumstances allows

into the

and

that

the play where the issue of the gods One is forced to wonder then whether piety and

in that

occurs

most prominent.

suicide

Creon

with

It is thus introduced

occupy.

notice

suicide occurs sometime

confrontation

Dionysus

exercise of

way that wholly fails to

a

to kill herself. Her

Tiresias'

that

is

her in

console

solved

"by my reverent

ends with

prove

can

their

perfect adaptabil

do for the

Tepoo;

Antigone is

Socrates, 82-3; S. Benardete, Herodotean

A to

three

Sophocles'

Reading

of

fate. To

Antigone

157

Antigone's compliance with for showing off their own moderation. Yet this explanation fails to for Lycurgus, in whose connection the Chorus do not mention fate and abstain from cite

fate

drawing guilty the

examples of

to be the

would seem

urge

best

suited

Danae nor Cleopatra, unlike Lycurgus, was Lycurgus, then, forces one to look more closely at

a moral: neither

of

crime.

any

Chorus'

under

precept

intention. Even if

rubric

it in Cleopatra's Antigone, for none

case,120

will

despite the

examples

Chorus'

silence about

one cannot extract a meaningful parallel

them died in

figuratively

fraXafi-oi;) was

Antigone's

of

the three

one comprehends

"imprisonment,"

the

be just the

literally

a grave and

reverse

Danae's

prison.

(cf.

48.2).

for

prison

(tujjiPy|py)<;

a marriage

chamber;

But this difference

might

indicate that the Chorus death (cf. sionate

and

49.2)

than

they

"Fate"

50.2.

lag behind Antigone's final understanding of that deliberately or not they are more compas

seem. birth"

"high put together Danae Danae and Lycurgus, and

and

"imprisonment"

and

Cleopatra,

"Thrace"

Lycurgus and Cleopatra, but nothing seems to put all three together. The stasimon's coherence therefore might be thought to lie in its very incoherence. Since the Chorus point the moral in the first strophe (the second antimerely repeats it) and all things considered Danae does seem to fit Antigone better than the other two, the Chorus during the rest of the stasimon, one could argue, are induced despite themselves to sing of the irrelevant Lycurgus and the distracting addition of Cleopatra's sons. They then are caught in the grip of something like inspiration, strophe

,

them

which carries

801-2). The

the limits

outside

they had

set

for themselves (cf

.

"poetic"

than any rate, is more ornately anything the Chorus have sung before. The Chorus would thus experi ence for an instance an equivalent to the "gusts of her soul's self-same second

at

strophe,

winds"

that

Antigone and we should get to know Anti inspiration through our hearing a more conventional

always possess

gone's peculiar

Muse. Through the begin to would

adoption of a voice not

sense what

be

as

well

never recognize

50.3.

Chorus'

it

a

that

must entail

fitting

their

for Antigone to live

punishment

they had been

own we should

divine law. It for the Chorus: they would a

possessed.

Such an explanation, however, ignores the stasimon's apparent It begins at least as a reply to Antigone's last words ; but it

continuity.

does

not

ruling,

reply to everything she said. The ancestral city, their own Antigone's piety find no echo in the Chorus. They are

and

rather struck gods

(cf.

imprisonment

birth too 120

by

and

Antigone's

descent

and

her

kinship

link Antigone to Danae, fate's dread power, but because Danae

or

the treasurer

See Pearson

royal

They directly

46.5).

of

Sophocles'

on

Zeus'

son.

Phineus,

311,

Lycurgus, n. 1.

on

the

not

with

the

through

was of

other

high

hand,

Interpretation

158

denied the divine birth of Dionysus, the gods. That the gods generate

of

in

stasimon,

Danae

which

while

Cleopatra

with mortals

represents

its

was

the offspring of the

is the theme

promise

for the future,

(the only verb in the present tense in the first antistrophe), and Cleopatra its claim from the past. inspiration is not in the poetry or the moral but in this

Lycurgus its denial in the occurs

present

Chorus'

The

theme,

of

which, I

have

would

for Oedipus

IXxoi;

apocTov

51-2, OT which

the

his

and .

.

are

wholly unaware, for

phrase \io:xgbc,

'iyovizc,

otherwise

avu[i.suTov yovav

they (980)

(cf. OT 1214-5, 1403-8) and much of (972-6) for his own self-blinding (cf

children

xspxiSwv ax^airjiv

.

The Chorus

1276).

they

think, they

reserved

.

stick as always

to the immediate

likeness,

then poetically elaborate before drawing the moral. All the to some degree from the tension between the moral,

choral odes suffer

which lends itself to poetry, and the theme, which does not (they thereby imitate the tension between the law as it is practiced "for form's

sake"

the law

and

as

it is

lived) ;

and

the fourth stasimon,

as

bafflement before

the

Chorus'

from it Antigone, necessarily For its theme, but not for its moral, Lycurgus is central. Antigone angers the Muses as much as Lycurgus did (cf. 32.1, 37.3). confession of

the

suffers

most.

Her

crime is his. As Lycurgus tried in speech to disrupt the continuity divine generation, so Antigone disrupts in fact the continuity of human generation. As antigeneration she embodies the denial of

of

Eros'

(cf. 44.2). Aphrodite and Dionysus in her future. She has no right to appeal to forgets Ismene (cf. 8.1). but

divinity

not

51

are

in her lineage

7tpoyeveti; if she

-9-eot

(988-97). 5 1. 1. Tiresias is the only character with a proper name the Chorus do not announce (cf. 155, 376, 386, 526, 626,

whose arrival

801,

1180, 1257). He

messengers

the

nor saw what

complicity

with

he

speaks of

them both

;

the

and

watchman

like the

and

watchman

the two later

he

neither

did

(238-9,

and

1012), though Creon believes in the for the same reason ; and again like the

his first entrance, he takes the Chorus and Creon by The Chorus had concluded just before the watchman's

watchman

surprise.

of

shares

role of reporter

on

that no one would disobey Creon's decree because plainly no is in love with death; and they now advise Antigone to resign herself to fate just before the knower of fate, Tiresias, enters. He, how ever, begins by offering hope, but he ends by confirming the fatefulness that the Chorus had divined. The two scenes are the ts on which the play's action hinges. The first dealt with the soul, the second deals with the gods ; and gods and soul are united in the question of burial (cf. 19.4). The watchman needed three speeches and eighteen entrance one

lines to

protest his innocence and quiet his own fears (cf 237) before he described the signs, or rather the lack of them, attendant on Polynices' burial ; Tiresias needs three speeches of a line each to remind Creon of his own infallibility and arouse Creon's fears (cf. 997) before he .

Sophocles'

A

describes the

Reading

he heard

signs

Antigone

of

heard

and

about at

his

159 augury (cf

place of

.

257, 990, 252, 1004, 1013). When the watchman left, he gave thanks to the gods for his unhoped-for salvation (au>&dc,) ; when Creon now

leaves, he fears the

(a^ovTa) second

that it be best throughout

established

chance; the

Creon

gods give

the difference between

decree

a

at

none

and a

life to

one's

laws (11 13-4). Creon

gave

the

keep

safe

watchman a

Creon learns too late

all.

law.

Thebes, whom Tiresias addresses, seem to be the Tiresias does not object to Creon's answering for spokesman. They them, he apparently regards Creon as the would in that case be as guilty as Creon (cf 577) That they are in no way punished would underline how indispensable Antigone is in order 51.2.

The lords

Chorus; but

of

since

Chorus'

.

that Creon be

to

terrify

as

little

and sons

about

and

Chorus

their

long

might not

their

and

17.5).

Tiresias,

316-8).

his blindness in

this despite their

however,

(cf.

punished

the Chorus (cf. OT

.

at any rate, says nothing He talks to them as if they knew

blindness in general ; blinding of Cleopatra's

particular as about

just sung

having

acquaintance

know any

of

of

the

Tiresias (1092-3).

with

this ; he

might

His

boy-servant, then, something like, "Tiresias,

political position.

Tiresias,

know nothing

of

would

the

have

the lords of to him as they approached and Tiresias simply repeated what he was Thebes are gathered told. The error in the address, if it is an error, suggests that a part of the city agrees with Antigone and holds the Chorus to be the active 46.6). But this may not be the full or the only partisans of Creon (cf. words. He might address the Chorus possible explanation of OT (cf. 1155; 631, 911, 1223). Creon would already be proleptically said

here,"

Tiresias'

finished,

Tiresias

and

not act upon. as

the future

would

then

proceed

If Tiresias thus toys

rulers of

Thebes,

that

with

they

to

give

him

Creon, he

advice

warns

he

the

could

Chorus,

can never even once afford

to

him (cf 1058) He must therefore speak to them as if they were ignorant of him in order to charge them with forgetfulness (cf. OT 297-9). They had in the first stasimon been silent about divination act without

(cf.

22.5).

.

.

Without any

risk

to

themselves, they

could

have

suggested

Creon, they heard the decree, that Tiresias be consulted. That they suspected Creon's prudence but not his competence to act as he did shows the degree to which the sacred not only has decayed to

as soon as

but, in light

of

divine law did

Antigone, not

must always

be in decay. Her

appeal

to the

impress the Chorus.

51.3.

On 993-5

see

razor's

edge; and

he surely

38.1.

Tiresias tells Creon that he speaks as

if Creon had

stands on

a choice.

the

Unless

Creon was fated to reply as he does, his immediate acquiescence at line 1033 would apparently have canceled his fate. The opportunity has ed seventy-two lines later (1105). Whether that interval would have been enough to stay Antigone's suicide is not an altogether idle question; perhaps her reprieve, we should suppose, would have so

Interpretation

160

her that

altered

longer be

and no once

at

he

him

with

would

and

might

acquiesced,

perhaps

then have been

she would

have

have

still not

gained might

to

content

her family. But

Creon,

gone

Polynices

bury even

if he had and

unpunished;

have been his ignorance

of

all

his

54.1). Tiresias, at any rate, does not connect the signs of his from which he infers that the city is polluted with his foreknowledge 55). He might have come to save the city and not of Creon's fate (cf. Creon. We, however, could not perhaps have borne the city's redemp tion if Creon had not railed against Tiresias ; for it is Creon's distrust of public-spiritedness that seems to justify his punishment (cf.

fate (cf. art

Tiresias'

61.2). Creon in this 52 with

scene never mentions

(998-1032). 52.1. The first the

conclusions

them is

his art (998-1014), Tiresias draws from those

xai tocutix

ex

ttjs 0-7J5

sections:

Tiresias'

speech

deal

with

the

seventeen

(1016-32). What links

signs

(1)

30.2, 56.1).

of

the last

(1015). The first

vorjet toXic

pevo?

in two

second parts are each

lines

seventeen

of

signs

the city (cf.

the

sounds

(999-1004), (2) the sights he heard about from his (1005-14), (3) his interpretation of the signs (1016-22), (4) his

himself

(1023-32). So the

interpretation, of

its

plan

and advice.

directly

points

to the

three

exact and particular

language

and

parts:

speech allows a

which one

the

other

is

twofold

couched

mostly

servant counsel

signs, their

misalignment

apparent

advice, of

art and

analysis

between

in the

most

consists of non

Tiresias disregards the unholiness of Creon's when he foretells Creon's punishment (1068-73, stresses instead its meanness: "Why kill once more the

generalities.

specific

he

returns an(i

1080-3) dead?"

That the

of

Tiresias'

Tiresias'

deed

consists

speech

whole

and

Tiresias heard

Tiresias

to it

argues

that Creon has

being

makes mistakes

and not

needs

his

Creon

art

to

demn him. The

convict

the

to

to

bury Polynices,

whether

single not

of

every human He

committed sacrilege.

error; but he does

not use

it to

con

inauspicious but corrigible; Tiresias is silent crime for which they stand Creon's failure

signs are

as

made a mistake

that he has

his burial

Antigone

of

its of correction.

Creon's future punishment behind the possibility of Creon's future happiness; but the happiness lies in Creon's service to his country the restoration of favorable communication between the He thus

veils

city and the gods. Tiresias demands of Creon a sacrifice as unrewarding for himself as was in light of Creon's own failure to memo Megareus'

rialize

his

pense.

If he

son

invested, he 52.2.

will

At his

barbaric

(cf.

38.1).

Creon is to benefit the city without recom the position in which he has so much

abandons at once

be acting

place of

cries of

birds,

justly but

not nobly.

augury Tiresias heard the he knew at once that they

and

unintelligible and were

Tiresias'

clawing

at one another.

edge of a

language

not

art

consists

primarily known to other Greeks (cf

.

murderously in his knowl

1094) ;

when

bird

A

Antigone

of

161

to everyone else, he knows know what those cries signify burnt offerings at the altar. The "dying oracles from tell him that the fault lies in birds and dogs and private altars with flesh. But for all

dark to him

cries are as

that something is

before he

Sophocles'

Reading

they

as

always are

But he does

amiss.

not

"tastes"

rites"

non-prophetic

infecting his

Polynices'

public

description Tiresias does not explain how birds and He talks as if Polynices were a sacrificial victim

exactness of

dogs infect the

city.

flesh refused to burn properly ; yet that could literally hold true only if birds and dogs, having eaten Polynices, were themselves sacri ficed. Tiresias could have avoided this difficulty if he had argued as

whose

follows. He cannot understand the birds because the corruption of a dead man's fat has rebarbarized their voices. In order to keep them "hellenized,"

are offered withdrawn

to line

his his

the

gods must on each occasion accept

that these

and

;

fail to burn

now

this favor. But Tiresias does

He inserts between them

1019.

own experience

(N.B.

proves

not go

the

sacrifices

that the

directly

a conclusion

gods

thay have

from line 1015

that

universalizes

it each citizen at birds. The infection of the

r)(xtv, -rjjxwv, 1016, 1020), as

the

own altar could understand

cries of

its altars therefore seems to be symbolic. Not until Tiresias city predicts Creon's downfall does he suggest that an unholy smell in the mouths of birds interferes with the smell of sacrifice (1080-3). He now omits that key to his because he wants to as closely as possible two different aspects of himself, soothsayer and citizen. He and

thus

minimizes

pends

entirely arguing for

of

The

ground.

birds

unless

The

his own importance while implying that the city de him. His speech, accordingly, suffers from the strain burial on both a universal and a particular

on

Polynices'

of omen

universal

do

the

says

other

the

from

particular ground says

lapsing

resias of

their

in the

even

beasts.

the city 52.3.

"hallow"

with all

did

who,

as

Tiresias

121

Perhaps

i.e.,

as

col.

ii, line 5)

saxiai

corpse

bestiality

not connect

forbid human

the

now

it

are

the

easier

for

ecjxiouxov

aeXas

=

a

law

they

of

28), but the gods, gods

of civility.

reject carrion

The gods for them-

be taken as a case of transferred epithet, Aesch. fr. 343 Mette (= Pap. Oxy. 2245, saxtav aeXai; x0UCTav-

reap'

:

to the Chorus (cf.

the mainstay

form,

7c6Xt? should

tcoXiouxoi; cf.

imply that

over

53. i).121

her devotion to

in any

its

its birds inform Ti

must prevent

precedence

was evident

explains,

sacrifice

Jaxiouxo?

with

of

dogs and wild but they mangle, only birds pollute

birds take

its hearths (cf.

Antigone's

they

case

convey.

sacrificial prayers of

that Thebes

into savagery, for otherwise the gods do not plans and wishes. Yet Tiresias cannot help but

general

They

they

good regardless

cries of

that every city must prevent the gods do not welcome the ; the

which cannot work

messages

hand, holds

otherwise

citizens

art,

birds. The universal ground carrion from polluting its sacrifices,

the

whether anyone understands

for

own

not contaminate

on

ground,

Tiresias'

is

particular ground

Interpretation

162

not

for their

and

selves

have

resorted

injunction to

messengers

to

bury

(cf.

Antigone, however,

1081).

could

entirely disregards the law's On the basis of what Tiresias says, Anti

an argument

one's own.

that

so

have defied Creon even if Polynices had not been her brother and had been besides most hateful to her (cf. 10). She would then have been acting on behalf of Tiresias and Thebes ; but Antigone would never have done what she did unless the law had not only sup ported but been grounded in the love of her own, which made what should

gone

offended

the

gods and

barbarized the birds, the

Polynices'

of

stench

innocuous, to herself. Tiresias, however, Antigone's devotion to it. He is "soul"

Creon buries

the

and

consumption and

something innocuous,

corpse,

mentions neither

the blood

silent about

the

"corpse"

he does

more

and

the law

relation

not

the

than nor

between

(1069-71). He

Antigone nothing but her conviction that Creon is in error. Yet his intervention has the effect of restoring to "the established does not recur after Creon uses that phrase (1113) shares with

"law"

laws"

the

obligation

that

it

to obey them. He succeeds,

obligation political

He

unqualified.

his art; the soul (cf.

;

makes

need of

and

of

9.8).

he succeeds,

and

the

obligation

he keeps it Burial

no

political

unqualified

longer

Creon, in making Antigone, in keeping

against

against

through the

through the

engages

the

soul of

Antigone's r\ 8 epu) tyuxh 7iaXou t&9-vt)xs is now impossible the issue of body and soul of the dead, for the benefits wholly in this 52.4.

is

fire,

world

(cf.

names

control, Tiresias

self

to have

a

Chorus

of

cast were

of

fire (cf.

silent

If fire

have inferred from the

the

"piney

(123) ; and it in turn must depicting the fire-bearing Capaneus,

choice of

fire, who

gods.122

Hephaestus"

impious

with

of

In this light, fire Thebes was in it have determined the

failure to burn the displeasure attempt

of

sacrifices are significant.

could not

sacrifices'

Polynices'

living

involves burial are

or

is Hephaestus. The god

that the smoldering

were under man's

the

55).

The only god Tiresias guarantees

city's

suppression

Chorus'

whom

Zeus destroyed

In the first stasimon, however, the fire (none of the nine examples of man's

11. 4).

about

it; cf. 373) ; in the second stasimon like "once burnt twice to illustrate (cf. 265; El. 619) ; in hope as "the deceitfulness of light-witted prohibition of "Dionysian the fourth stasimon they counted as one of his three crimes (964) ; and finally in the hyporchema they call on Dionysus as the choral leader of the fire-breathing stars Ssivott]? they made

entailed man's possession of

shy"

use of a proverb

desires"

Lycurgus'

fire"

(1 146-7;

cf. 1 126).

122

Fire

runs an underground course

Aeschylus'

through the play

Chorus'

Cf. Eur. I A 1602. Clytemnestra, in order to answer the to who of messengers could come so quickly from Troy, was forced to say Hephaestus (Ag. 281): puxx6i; (282) or the like would not have sufficed; indeed, not until 293 sq. does she mention human beings and have them kindle the light. question as

A only to

in

emerge

Sophocles'

Reading

Tiresias'

unnoticed presence

tasting has to

Antigone

of

wait

of

163

the e^Tcupa; but the

for the

for its Creon's

reason

play's greatest shock :

Polynices'

burn remains (1202). Nowhere else is cremation hinted at. To bury has always meant heretofore to bury a body in the earth (cf. 4.1, 16.2). Antigone talked of how she prepared the bodies of her family for burial, and she once boasted that she would servants even

10. 1); but she seems to have been up a tomb for Polynices (cf. indifferent to, or rather wholly unaware of, the alternative to inter

heap

Cremation is equally compatible with the law but not with Antigone's devotion to it. Interment allowed, if it did not promote, Antigone's blurring of the distinction between body and soul, Hades and the grave; but it no less diminished, if it did not prevent, the ment.

Polynices'

Antigone's arguing that only the burial of body soul access to Hades.123 The structure of the play is doubly gracious to Antigone. She does not hear Tiresias propose an interpretation of the gods that undercuts her understanding of the possibility

of

could grant

his

law ;

and she does not live to learn that Polynices is burnt before he is buried. The two favors are related, for the smell of carrion but not of burning flesh offends the gods and barbarizes their messengers. The burnt and the raw are polarized in the way that the holy and the unholy are. The first pair is the marker for the second; and the Chorus called Antigone and her father raw right after she had cited the divine law as

her defense. Antigone is in the

23.1).

She

antedates

the

strictest sense pre-Promethean

prohibition

ancient authors often associate with

against

the eating

cannibalism,

of raw

(cf.

which

flesh (cf. Her.

H48b 3.99; Arist. EN 19-24); indeed, it can only be the discovery of fire that makes Plato's Athenian Stranger head a list of the arts with

prohibition against cannibalism : the second art he mentions is the 975a5-b2).124 making of bread (Epin. By standing outside the arts Antigone had threatened the link between the holy and civility (cf.

the

28.1) ; through burnt gone stood

for

Tiresias restores it. But its restoration.

sacrifices

cannot survive

all

that Anti

52.5. Creon must be astonished that Tiresias does not differ from Haemon in the moral he draws from completely different premises (cf 40) The sameness of the moral, however, does not extend to the language in which it is expressed. Haemon's was so vivid that it .

.

concealed

123 able

it

the

political

threat it contained;

124

is flat because he

Cremation is rarely mentioned in early grave epigrams. How inconceiv would be for Antigone is shown by this late fifth-century distich: 8(x(j.ax'

orapxai; ajitpi?

Tiresias'

fjiv

jxup

aeiXexo

xfjSe

'Ovrjaoui;, /

8'

oaxea

88*

av-9-C(x6ei? X"P?

&xsl (IG II/III: 1237 58 Peek). Cf. Juvenal 15. 78-87: =

ilium in plurima sectum / frusta et particulas, ut multis mortuus unus / sufficeret, totum corrosis ossibus edit / victrix turba, nee ardenti decoxit aeno / aut veribus; longum usque adeo tardumque putavit /expectare focos, contenta cadavere crudo. / hie gaudere libet, quod non violaverit ignem, quern summa caeli raptum de parte Prometheus / donavit terris. elemento gratulor et te exultare ast

/

Interpretation

164

gods behind a proverbial wisdom. Creon, change in is Tiresias says, error; but he can change, and the wilfully will not for he will be itself change the Even pleasant, him. profit will have to learn through suffering. Haemon had told Creon that it was wise oneself. He as noble to learn from good speakers as to be naturally conceals

the threat from the

did

put

not

it in

promised

Creon if he

He

Creon to

urged

in to the

give

for the prosperity or glory he no more Creon's than his own.

of pleasure,

relented would

be

judgment; Tiresias

people's

urges

him

to give in to the dead Polynices. The people had judged Antigone's deed most glorious because she tried to stop Polynices from utterly could not have argued as Tiresias does now that perishing.

They

Creon's

efforts

to

the dead

rekill

eating dogs horrify that Creon's crime is

them

more

are

unworthy

than the birds.

of him.125

They

do

The

not

flesh-

imagine

has infected themselves (1015) ; that it has deprived them of the fruits of the victory he had brought about; and that as long as Polynices remains unburied the celebration at the temples cannot

can

of

the gods,

take

place.

Dionysus

sacrilege and

which

Not

answer

until

the

the Chorus had

proposed

Hephaestus lights the

Chorus'

request

in the parodos,

sacrifices once more

that he lead Thebes in

night

dances.

long

53 (I033_47)had

on

cannot

his

Creon addresses Tiresias as respectfully now as he

53-1-

entrance

(991,

help deferring

wilfully

make an

1033,

1045).

to him (cf.

error;

and

his

Tiresias is corrupt, but Creon Tiresias could not except

1053).

error

is

so gross

that it betrays the

profiteering behind it. Tiresias is in the pay of Creon's political enemies; but no matter how far his avarice will induce him to lie, Creon will not

cravenly submit, the

rest of

if, he implies, Tiresias

even

the city (cf.

178-81).

The

succeeds

in

imagine Tiresias asserting wouldbe that the eagles of flesh to the seat of Zeus; but since no human Polynices'

form

can pollute

the gods, Creon

hoodwinking

lie Creon can Zeus have brought

most extravagant

sees no reason

for

being

in any

taking seriously

Tiresias'

Tiresias'

interpretation. Creon's silence about own art points to the difference between the soothsayer's interest in keeping the birds uncontaminated and the citizen's interest in having the gods accept his sacrifices. His silence further suggests that he does not think that wisdom, which he never doubts, depends on the cries of birds. Tiresias, in any case, does not refer to that point again. Creon limits the issue to the mechanics of pollution, which Tiresias had left obscure. If birds, Creon argues, have brought flesh to the much weaker

Tiresias'

Polynices'

125

Tiresias'

aXxr), the refusal to yield in combat before one's enemy, is the his etxe (cf. E. Benveniste, Le vocabulaire des institutions i-e, vol. 2, 72-4). For the difference between to &av6vxi and 6XcoX6xa (1029) see Th. 7.75.3: ot <; xaxaXi7t6[ievot. tcoXu xcov xe-&vecoxa>v xot? coaiv Xu7x/]p6xepot 9jaav xai toSv d7toXo)X6xcov dS-Xicoxepoi. opposite of

.

.

.

A thus

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

165

them, then, according to Tiresias, eagles Zeus himself. The sacred cannot be susceptible to what the gods are not (cf. 46.10). Creon points somewhat obliquely . Why should any beast have to to the weakness in link the stench of carrion with its interference with the city's sacri altars

and

should

be

to

able

polluted

pollute

Tiresias'

fices ? It is Even if

the beasts themselves that

not

Polynices'

Creon

had

corpse

would

still

have

make such a stench unholy.

remained as undefiled as

committed

(cf.

sacrilege

Hector's was, Tiresias

1070-73).

Polynices'

annihilation by dogs ignores both the horror the city felt at and the tenderness with which Antigone regarded corpse, so that even its consumption by birds was something precious to her. If the birds whose cries Tiresias can no longer interpret had not touched Polynices'

Polynices, Tiresias

could still

have

argued

that the

gods are

depriving

divine law has been violated, which would equally follow from the failure of the sacrifices to burn without dogs and birds having polluted the altars. But Tiresias does not appeal to the the city

of

his

art

because

a

law; he replaces its violation with the pollution of altars, to he needlessly adds the notion of their pollution through however, which, divine

beasts. The birds

and

dogs he invokes vivify his , but

essentially belong to Antigone's devotion to Polynices recognition of it ; they are not indispensable for

and

the

they city's

Tiresias'

understanding have required Tiresias to integrate the divine law as Antigone lives it into his own . Such an integration seems to be impossible. That birds have consumed fat, as the blind Tiresias declares, is plausible but false; of

the

gods.

To

make

them indispensable

would

Polynices'

dogs

alone mangled

it (1198).

Creon denounces

53.2.

Tiresias'

avarice as

hyperbolically

as

he dis

Tiresias'

proves main parts of

divination ; but nothing else seems to connect the two his speech. He does not, however, harp on avarice now

just because, though he loathes and

therefore

sees everywhere.

only that Tiresias trades

on

the

it, it is

the only

The drift gods

of

thing he

his

understands

speech suggests

but that he trades

with

the

not

gods.

Sacrifice and omens are established currency (cf. 19.4), and piety is a kind of commerce between gods and men (cf. PI. Euthyphro i4e6-8). Creon surely misunderstands Tiresias, but Tiresias is partly to blame. Instead of simply citing the divine law, the obedience to which would be automatic, he chose to replace its authority with his own knowl edge; and his knowledge could only replace the holy with the ledger. He spoke of Creon's profit but not of his repentance. Tiresias tried at first to rationalize the holy; later he tries to do it justice; but he then offer Creon any choice. The divine seems to it of it is speciously rational; when it is holy, it is inexorable.

cannot when

54 (1048-63).

flection,

which

choice

54.1. Creon's speech prompts Tiresias to a general re Creon interrupts before he can complete it, as if he

Interpretation

1 66

Tiresias'

previous knew that it would be as trivial as the last part of speech. And it is trivial in content, but paradoxical in phrasing: who does not know that prudence is the best of possessions (cf. 40.2) ? of prudence, the kind certain prudence a means Tiresias, however, by submission to his own authority. Creon cannot accuse Tiresias of false

divination

without

convicting himself

of an

inborn imprudence. Tire

sias, it seems, had intended more to remind Creon of his once again to prove it. If Creon cannot take a friendly

it

what

is, he

should not

be

spared

learning

profitable and most pleasant

ignorance. He

terrify

would not

Creon

foreknowledge

Tiresias held and

of

out

wisdom

than

reminder

for

his fate. The to Creon was

thus delude him

with

hope

if Creon were only willing to reacknowledge his subservience. Tiresias punishment with his own. It is as though he anticipates the gods'

gods'

suspected ment

that the

punishment would not

for Creon (cf.

sufficient punish

Creon, in order to justify his abuse of Tiresias,

54.2.

directed

abuse was

against all soothsayers

of

said, he

concluded

usual patter of

his

explains

indiscriminately

that the

(cf.

1035).

; nothing Creon heard at all from what any soothsayer would have that Tiresias had betrayed himself in adopting the

money is their from Tiresias differed Love

be

38.1).

class characteristic

and as

Tiresias'

attempt at reasonableness

class.

backfires.

Tiresias'

special position Creon needs to hear something that reveals first speech really before he will consider his advice. If, then, offered Creon the chance to alter his fate, not just to save the city (cf. Tiresias'

5I-3. 52-1). the to Tiresias

would

be that Creon's immediate

reason would

have

shown

his

regard

for the

sacred

submission

in its

every-

dayness. The reasonable why rekill the dead? and the sacred in its everydayness are hardly distinguishable. The civil and the decent them both. To Creon's charge that he is the typical soothsayer, Tiresias replies that he is the typical tyrant: he loves base gain. Tiresias here tries to convince Creon of his unreasonableness and warn him of his impiety. To prohibit burial is a form of base gain, for it is an attempt to profit from either what is profitless or what cover

Polynices'

be turned to profit. If Creon refuses to understand the first has to be instructed in the second why burial in itself is sacrifices and mandatory, apart from the consequences for the art if it is not done Creon is past saving. Creon cannot learn should not point and

citizens'

Tiresias'

the divine

divine

ground of

punishment.

unmovable

(TobdvTjTa,

the

learning at the same time of his be punished not so much for his being 1027) as for his prying into the unmovable

He

(ixxivtjto?,

holy

without

would

1060).

Tiresias'

55 (1064-90). 55.1. than his first (the dispute and

authenticity,

proves

is harder to understand lines 1080-3, both as to their meaning it), but they do resemble one another. A second speech

about

A central

Reading

Sophocles'

of

line here too divides the

thirteen lines. The first

speech

deals

Antigone

into two

167

equal

each of

parts,

Creon's punish ment (1064-7), Creon's crime (1068-73), and the divine aspects of his punishment (1074-6) ; the second part also deals with three things the domestic consequences

part

consequences

(1080-3),

an(i

(1084-90). The first

ment

of

with

Creon's

Tiresias

part

as

three things

(xoy8b-g), its

crime

the human

is inspired; the

agent of

political

his

second seems

punish

to be its

ou [Aocxpou ^povou Tpip-yj replaces (xv) tioXXou<; Iti The first part explains the penalty Creon must pay 664P) the reasons for it ; the second explains the suffering he causes

translation:

prosaic teXcov

and

(cf fr.

xwx6[i.aTa

(1079),

The first

self.

other, the

...

.

.

ex&pa

(1080), Xurceu; (1084)

part concerns

second with

the

the

and now undergoes

relation of gods

relation of men

to

him

men and one an

to themselves. The bond

between them is the unholy; but in the first part it is the unholy (1071), in the second its unholy smell (1083).

corpse

Tiresias'

The symmetry between the two parts of but how deep it goes or what it means is not as 55.2.

came

from Creon's flesh

will provoke

do these

the

ritual

Tiresias know

ritual

and blood126

lamentation

is plain; The one who to be his payment for corpses

of men and women

lamentations include those of

her

suicide

speech

evident.

? The balance

on

behalf

of

in his house ; but Eurydice ? Does

of payments would

be

more

nearly equal if Haemon pays for Polynices and Eurydice for Antigone ; but Tiresias presents Haemon alone (ev<x) as paying for both of Creon's To conclude from this, however, that Tiresias knows nothing Eurydice is not warranted. He might suppress his knowledge, not to spare Creon, but to gloss over his own contribution to her death. Eury dice curses Creon for the death of both her sons, Megareus and Haemon crimes.

of

(1302-5, 1312-3) ;

but Tiresias

gareus'

death

nized

in

could not

have

accused

Creon

of

Me

38.1). Tiresias recog condemning himself (cf. suicide a sacred necessity ; he does not recognize it

without

Megareus'

in Antigone's. Haemon's death looks very different if only in the eyes of men but not in the eyes of the gods it is in payment for Antigone's. Tiresias, then, might have been closer to the truth when he held Creon's only crime, or rather error, to be his failure to bury Polynices (cf. 52.1). His art might better inform him about the sacred than his

inspiration. 55.3. will

Tiresias predicts that within not many circuits and he calls the Furies uo-Tspoftopoi

be punished;

126

Tiresias'

of

the

sun

and says

Creon

that

no

the hieratic tone of prophecy, nothing perhaps should ; but since anXayx^^ are technically the parts of a sacrificial victim eaten by men as opposed to the thigh bones reserved for the gods, Tiresias rejection of thigh bones with what could mean that Creon will pay for the otherwise would be his. The avxiSoai? would be superficially an exchange of human corpse for human corpses, but essentially an exchange of human corpse for bestial sacrifice.

be

In light

of

made of cmXayxva

gods'

Interpretation

168

before lamentations fill Creon's house. Tiresias Chorus) into believing that his fate is not tne yet foreclosed; he still has time to make amends (cf. 1 103-4). Since events prove otherwise, we are again forced to think about knowledge. If he did not know that Creon would be punished before the time

long



will

thrice deludes Creon (and the

Tiresias'

day

out, his ignorance

was

the hopefulness

would explain

his first

of

frighten Creon into correcting his error, the threatened loss of his son might ; and the second speech too would be meant to be hopeful. Tiresias, on the other hand, could have concealed

speech.

his

If the

loss

city's

cannot

knowledge : Creon

more exact

unforgiving a divine favor. Creon

to know that the

was not

The delusion

and repentance unrewarded.

of

hope

gods are would

to believe that had he just

could come

be

reversed

himself sooner, he would have saved his son. But that would only be Creon's consolation; the truth would be that Creon through his crime alone and not all men

to

err,

as

through his obduracy merited punishment. If, however, Tiresias says, the punishment would have then seemed

Perhaps Tiresias

men excessive.

truth

the

about sacrilege :

out of comion spared us all

the

reasonable and

sacred

in its

the

everydayness

Tiresias had pretended. Creon rejected their equation only to learn his fate ; but his fate was phrased in such a way as to keep him in ignorance about the gods. To sustain Creon's hope, moreover, in order that he never learn that an act of sacrilege is not the same as an act of impruduce, would not be incompatible with sustaining it for a are not as alike as

different

Tiresias

and

To

crimes are

have any

fuller

neither

has

prevented

explains still

above

a

(1) to

have

below

cast

delay

would

the immediate burial

most need

of

what

Polynices.

someone who

belongs

those above, for he has ruthlessly settled a life (^jy\) in a grave, (2) to have kept here (above) a corpse that belongs to the gods

below, for he has then

Creon into total despair

cast

the city

Creon's

55.4. with

reason. and

share

in

explanation of

he

nor

forcibly

the former

the

corpses.

Creon's

would

Tiresias thinks it unnecessary to give Could he have said that

other crime.

below have any

gods

deprived the

Hades ; to have

it from receiving due burial rites. Tiresias second crime : neither Creon nor the gods

further the

have

asserted

share

gods above of

in

souls?

Or that Creon

Antigone ? To have

the denial that there

entailed

the latter

would

have implied

are

asserted souls

in

some confusion

between the region of 01 avco and the region of ot avco We are above in relation to the gods below, but where are we in relation to the gods above ? The living cannot belong to the gods above because they -9-eoi.

alone are

because another:

alive,

they

any

too

does the

more

are

than the dead

dead. This

can

difficulty

xixtco of 1068 mean

the

belong

cannot

to the

be

gods

below from

separated

same as ev to^co xaTtpxtrja?

If they mean the same, Tiresias shares (1069) with Antigone a confusion of Hades with the grave. If, on the other hand, Tiresias means that Creon has put Antigone in a kind of limbo, an(i

the

xdcTto&ev

of 1070?

A

Reading

Sophocles'

of

Antigone

169

Creon's crime consists, not in his killing of Antigone, but in the way he killed her, the very way Creon had chosen in order to avoid pollution for the entire city (cf. 43.1). Creon would have committed the same crime twice aLtoipo?, axTspitTTO?, av6trio<; apply equally to Polynices and Antigone (cf. 1207) and therefore would have to pay only once. The parallelism Tiresias draws between Polynices and Antigone he them both

(1067) conceals his denigration of Antigone. Creon to his original crime, which Creon had almost forgotten in the face of Antigone's defiance (cf. 41.2), without making what Antigone stands for of little or no importance. And if calls

He

corpses

cannot recall

Tiresias

cannot

tween the

(cf.

generation crime of

do Antigone justice, the 50.3).

Creon's

reason must

that

excludes

own

flesh

gods and men above

exposing the dead in the

and

region of

her :

blood

the

lie in

they

link be in pay for his a

alone share

must

life-renewing

Tiresias'

sun.

prophecy strictly ends at 1076 ; what follows from up to 1083 translates the prophecy into human suffering and at the same time replies to Creon's argument at 1040-4. The translation and I078b

55.5.

the reply

are

in

a sense

the

same :

the

Tiresias'

art

signs of

forebode

human suffering, not divine pollution. Tiresias begins with the ritual lamentations in Creon's own house. The asyndeton of avSpcov yuvaixiov shows

that, though

strictly a woman's way of grieving, Creon had supposed, female (cf. 1206, not, 1227; 424) CT0^ Sojaok;, in turn, points back to crcov rjTtXayxvtov and the difference between Creon the father and Creon the master. Creon's burial

the rites

of

payment

for his

xcoxuji.aTa are

are

crime

as

is his son, but the

experience and expression of

sexually undifferentiable. These ritual lamentations, moreover, recall the barbaric cries of birds : Plato calls a kind of dirge the "Carian (Legs. 800C2-3; 25. 3). 127 Tiresias would thus be his

crime

are

Muse"

interpretation in light

of his prophecy : his own birds merely anticipates the un intelligible cries of mourning in Creon's house. His apparently selfinterested argument turns out to be in the interest of Creon. Tiresias

deepening

his

failure to

understand

then

goes

reargues

original

the

cries

of

further in playing down his own importance when he second sign. What is now at issue is not the fact of pollu

the

tion but the belief in

pollution. The mangled bits of corpses that dogs, The human birds hallow stir up hatred in every effect of a crime like Creon's against all the gods is manifest in the universal loathing of all cities. Regardless of what Creon himself thinks

beasts,

city.128

or

pollution, it would be to his self-interest to avoid such hatred in Thebes. The city, no less than the gods, can punish when every citizen thinks himself threatened at his own hearth (cf. 22.14). The city is its of

127

Cf. Wilamowitz, Griechische Verskunst, 28-9. Bockh (275-6) rightly denies that Tiresias could be referring to the second expedition against Thebes, but he wrongly keeps ty^pai (sc. xot; &eoi<;) ; only speech. Reiske's sx*Pa gives coherence to 128

Tiresias'

Interpretation

170

hearths: the according to

but, according

8-soi;

the

and

city

its unholy

(

gods as well

those

younger

is

(S-eyfza)

,

tongue

the

not

between the

to those above,

belong

hearths. The city seems It has a share in the nether

city's

above.

and

a

to

should express

those ignorant

have

and

,

Haemon

.

has

anger

his

fate), learn

thinks he

(yXcoo-o-a)

and soul

(tyvy?})

recalled

as

(&uli6<;) to

better than

(vou?)

whoever

Haemon's triad

alone

superior

the triad

is to

of speech

civility (aaTuv6[iot. opyat) that the Ssivott)? (cf. 22.11) ; and that triad, in

and

man's

back to Creon's

of

a mind

triad

same

his

that

said

tongue

(tppovy)|j,a),

ascribed

(i.e.,

the

somewhat

with

Creon

(yXcoo-o-a)

empty within.

pointed

at

speech

40.4).

than Tiresias

thought

Chorus had

turn,

(cf.

(tppevsi;)

(poveiv)

other

any

his

ends

present wits

sensible

belong

to those

belong

used

cherish a quieter

his

not

sacrifices mediate

does

corpse

and ot avco

ot avco

22. 9). 129

Tiresias

55.6.

Haemon had at

does

to

translation,

The unholy

gods.

smell

not altogether

prophecy, mediates between

to his

Nothing,

(1016).

than the (Bcolioi

more

count

ea^apat Tiresias'

triad,

own

soul

(<\>uyj]),

resolve

(povTjfia),

judgment (yvcofxy)), which Creon held to be evident only in a ruler 12.4). Tiresias now tells Creon that he proposed the wrong test. (cf.

and

It is

not what one

one

is devoted to

the

anguish of

have

loves that is decisive, let

even checked

message

(1091-1114).

56

him from

has nothing to do

Tiresias has

with

The Chorus

56.1.

and

falsely

never yet prophesied

Creon equally realize that citv. Neither can see a

prudence

right. Do they think, then, that

prudence could

therefore

so now

or

(cf.

61.4),

(su(3ouXia)

yet

the

other

for

neither

thinks

can put

have

retroactively the

condemn

tence in uncovering the truth

11 13-4).

to the

to why he should do Creon's fate to be unavoidable :

and

which

Tiresias'

his decree (cf. Antigone.

issuing

reason as

Megareus,

the degree to

alone

it, but civility. Civility would at least have spared him foreknowledge (xapStac To;su|i.aTa PefJaia), and perhaps

everything Oedipus or for his persis

saved one

patriotism

? As the

Chorus'

be in doubt, whatever one may think of Creon's, the be with Oedipus. But when should Oedipus have stopped his search ? If he had not been public-spirited, he could have failed to patriotism cannot parallel must

the

consult

he had

oracle or at

least kept

silent about

it (cf OT 93-4) ; .

and

if

thought that Jocasta despised him for his origins, he could have stopped when she begged him to. In the first case, the plague not

have continued until the city banished him for his lack of con (cf OT 47-50) ; and in the second, he would have gained no more

would cern

than could

.

a

respite,

have

if he had

until

shown

he learned

his

never summoned

Note the

syntax of

of

Jocasta's

patriotism without

Tiresias but

discovering

relied

Oedipus, then,

suicide.

solely

cmapayu,axa, whose antecedent

his

on

origins

the

is strictly

only

testimony

7t6Xei?.

A the

of

one survivor

Sophocles'

Reading

Antigone

Laius'

from

regicide and

of

retinue. He Does Tiresias have

else.

would

171

then have been

a similar role

a

in mind for

nothing Creon? If Tiresias had stayed away and sent his servant, or even if a nameless citizen had come to report the failure of the sacrifices to burn, Creon could perhaps have avoided his fate. Such a report by itself, Tiresias'

any of authority behind it, should have been enough to tell Creon that he had gone against the practices of custom. Creon comes to fear that this indeed was the case (1113-4). The Chorus,

without

however,

seem

to delude him into the

swift-footed mischief of

lease Antigone

gods

that he

believing

(cf.

They

951-4).

the

can outrun

advise

him to

re

bury Polynices; but Creon first buries Polynices and then goes to Antigone's prison. Is this, then, Creon's mistake and what the Chorus mean by prudence? If Creon's fate depends on the timeliness of his actions, Creon's very patriotism, which makes him release the city from pollution before he attends to his own, destroys him (cf.

and

51.3).

for Tiresias

But the Chorus

spoke of

Antigone

Haemon's death in the

seem

to have

misunderstood

Tiresias,

already a corpse (1067) and only put but since he also referred to Antigone

as

future;

soul, the Chorus took him to mean that she was still alive, whereas he really meant that Creon had killed her in an impious way (cf. 55.4). as a

As Antigone's death to be

seem

Haemon's

seems

for

no room

suicide can one

wrong (cf. 61.5,

to

Haemon's inevitable, there Not until one learns more

make

prudence.

whether or not

say

the Chorus

were

would about

simply

7). Tiresias'

Creon has some difficulty in adj usting to prophecy, the Chorus have none at all. Creon's mind and heart are in turmoil,130 the Chorus have never invested much in any position. The hopeful con 56.2.

struction of

Tiresias'

prophecy agrees with their politic lack Creon readily believes that he too can drift with the circumstance. As soon as the Chorus repeat word he hands himself over to them. He ceases to be his own

they

policy;

put on

and

Tiresias'

necessity

of

"prudence,"

master even

His

ment.

(xapSta?

before

they

remind

him

of

divine punish if one accepts his words only that his principles were deeply the

swiftness of

conversion seems precipitate

s^tCTTaLtat

to

Spav)

rooted

in his heart. His

obeys

the Chorus

as

implying

principles

rather

have

long since eroded

than Tiresias because

Chorus'

been to the city (994, 1058) and the doubt) to him. The confusion inherent in Creon's

always

not

home to him (cf. 56.3.

the

burying

130

8eiv

Polynices to

Brunck's 8eiX6v

xapa

1246, OC

655,

not

near

to

entrust

anyone else

is, I think,

42.1).

He has

loyalty loyalty (he does

principles comes

the

freeing of Antigone and

; but Creon does

right, and Jackson's axfl

the mark, but I but fr. 210, 45 P).

(1097)

.

12.4).

The Chorus tell Creon of

(cf

Tiresias'

should prefer

not

take them

'(iTcaXa^ai

xeap (cf. Ai.

xou[*6v

v

686, Tr. 629,

Interpretation

172

literally. He

assumes

that

they

mean

he

should supervise

the

work of

whom he assigns the whole task of burying Polynices apparently reserving for himself that of freeing Antigone. He cannot, however, be taken literally either; he is present on both occasions and does no work himself. Creon could not have perhaps

his servants, to while

removed

by

himself the

stones

that block Antigone's prison; that

nothing for Creon or, one might add, for Antigone (1216). But why should he think that his servants must bury Haemon does it

Polynices?

proves

so^aa

auTo?

xai

7rapcov

exXucrofxai.,

after

all, applies

as

Polynices, if less literally, as to Antigone (cf 40) Why, more precisely, does Creon think at once of cremation and a barrow ? Neither Tiresias nor the Chorus even hint that a simple interment would not suffice; and it would have sufficed if the city's pollution by dogs and to

much

birds

were

is due

the issue (cf.

53.1).

Creon

rites almost as elaborate as

mound

.

.

he has

raised would

be

seems

those he

conspicuous

to believe that Polynices gave

in the

Eteocles

plain

the high

(1203)

but

not

do them himself. The Chorus, however, might have meant that it was here and nowhere else that Creon's salvation lay: only if he were to handle the stinking, rotting, and mangled Polynices with his own hands could he find forgiveness from the gods (cf. 900). that he

Only

should

such an act would

imply

remorse

(cf. Diodor. I.

77.7).

But

not

only do the Chorus say nothing about remorse, Tiresias said nothing about it either (cf. 53.2). What genuine piety involves, rather than sake,"

just piety "for form's disappears from the play as soon as Anti gone leaves. Creon never thinks of his crimes as impious ; he continues to the

end

to talk

of

57 (1115-54).

57-1-

the priorities, but

Antigone's death as

his

unfortunate

imprudence (1261, 1265,

1269).

The Chorus now accept Creon's understanding of go even further: since Tiresias never spoke of

they

as

politically relevant, the burial of Polynices, as far alone counts. The Chorus abandon Creon to he is out of earshot ; he can take care of his own

the city is concerned,

his fate

as soon as

help of Dionysus ; but if the Thebans are to have Dionysus lead their dances, he must cleanse the city of the pollution that now violently grips it (cf. 52.5). The Chorus thus hark back to the end of the parodos (cf. 152-3, 1153-4), as if all that had happened between then and now were of no importance. What we have witnessed are the last traces of the war that the Chorus wanted Dionysus to help them forget. Dionysus now takes hold of them completely. The shaft of sunlight that the Chorus had greeted as their savior in the parodos yields to Iakchos the choral-master of the fire-breathing stars; Xcovu(j,o<; Nike becomes 7roXucovu(i,oc Bakchos; and the frenzied Capaneus is forgotten in the hoped-for presence of the frenzied Thyiads (cf. 11. 3). Dionysus is to wipe clean the memory; and he succeeds. The moral they draw at the end almost repeats the moral they had put in the center of the parodos (127-8, 1348, 1353). without

the

jj.eya-

Chorus'

A 57.2. The was almost

Reading

Sophocles'

of

hyporchema is the

antithesis of

wholly general, this is

Earth

no proper names except

Antigone

173

the first

stasimon.131

That

wholly particular ; that had Hades, this has seventeen, eight of

almost

and

; that called Earth, whom man wears away, the the gods, this says Dionysus honors autochthonous Thebes

which are place names

highest most

of

highly

Demeter

of all cities and presides with

to be the

over

Eleusis; that

sea, this begs Dionysus to come now over Parnassus or the Euripus ; that presented man as the hunter of wild beasts, this traces the origin of Thebes back to a wild

held

man

that

dragon;

conqueror of earth and

taming

spoke of man's

ivy-clad Nysaean

of

the

mountain

bull, this has the

Dionysus to Thebes ; that

mountains escort

thought, this hails Dionysus

man's self-taught speech and

nighttime voices and madness

;

that

and

spoke of

as master of

said man contrives a cure

for

impossible diseases, this relies on Dionysus to cleanse the city of a violent disease. But despite these antitheses, the stasimon and hypor do

chema

close man

share one

to Dionysus

has

is divine

no

fire to

Hades is

mine

who cares

the smoky flame

of

man.

the

comes

the city

Dionysus;

and cremation

and

(cf.

above

with

Delphi,

58

(603),

(1155-71).

or

dissolves the Antigonean

Antigone's

fire-breathing

and with none more

he has nothing to do 58.1.

leads the

only for sacred cremation. Sacrifices

holiness. Dionysus rightly a frenzy in speech and

and

earth

lution, for he sponsors gone's

the earth is as in closing it to man ; 52.4). He has no fire because it under

with

down to

the gods,

is

not alone

Dionysus is the offspring of Zeus his mother xepauvta, is seen by

master.

(264-5), festivals,

ordeals

vals unite

civility

earth

for Thebes

torches

in dance. Fire

sacrifices,

common : what

to

Dionysus is its

and

Papu(3psfiiTY)<;, stars

thing in

as

represents

and mind

with

and

closely than between

their Tiresian

; the

so

different from Anti

the

50.3).

moral of

the first

nothing that does not harmonize the hyporchema : the Chorus did not ask for Creon's safety. Once stasimon

festi

conflict

Hades (cf.

entrance upset

purposes:

messenger reports

with

they

Tiresias'

prophecy they are not interested in the appearance of Eurydice distracts them from and Creon; only messenger advised (cf. Ai. 904, 981-2). for as the the future, planning The messenger resembles the watchman on his first entrance : both are

have

confirmation

reluctant

he had

131

to

of

The his innocence; the

act as messengers.

proved

watchman

messenger

delayed his report until delays just as long in

a great extent out of triads. The first strophe opening invocation of three elements (TroXucivufxe, ayaXjxa, yhoq), followed by three verbal phrases (a[ieTrEi<;, (xSet.<;, vatexcov), the last of which is expanded into a threefold description of Thebes. The first antistrophe, on the other hand, is held together by three nouns, the first two of which (Xiyvui;, vajj.a) share the same verb, while to the last is added another noun and two participial phrases. The sequence of places in the first strophic pair is: Thebes, Italy

Rhetorically, it is built up to

consists of an

(KaaxaXta?

confirms

second antistrophe

TxaXtav), Eleusis, Thebes, Delphi, Euboea, Thebes. The

begins

with a

threefold invocation : xpaye. ercfaxoTre,

ysve&Xov.

Interpretation

174 to

order

first how Creon

show

his

exemplifies

human life. From his understanding

own

one could

understanding of moral that

draw the

is best; but whereas the watchman, though equally holding 15.2), as his final hope, was resigned to his fate (cf. the messenger has no hope, for there is nothing but chance. Chance the only scene replaces the gods (cf. 162-3, 1158-60). This is, in fact, either indi mentioned not in which the gods are in the

resignation

to

resignation

(1155-79)

play

vidually by happiness is

24.2), his

(cf.

pleasure

The

collectively.132

or

name

standard

messenger's

standard

for

for misery is to be

a

corpse.

58.2.

The

does

messenger

not address

the

Chorus,

as

Tiresias

had,

as

Cus'

the

rulers of

Thebes (cf.

51.2)

; he

calls

them the

neighbors of

Amphion's house. Cus founded Thebes, Amphion built its Thebes does not recur. walls; but after the hyporchema the name of and

The invocation

of

Dionysus

succeeds

in making the city

as an

issue

disappear (cf. 1094, 1247). The city and by the of what is one's enjoyment The 1203). land and the earth (1162-64, (cf. land's over the 178), enemies, kingship own, whether it be victory the

or

children,

alone

counts:

Amphion

was

regime are replaced

the husband

Niobe. The

of

course, does not know what else Creon will lose, but his messenger, wife's death would be a redundant proof of chance's power: Eurydice learns of her son's death by chance (cf. 1182). The messenger seems to of

Tiresias'

prophecy (cf. 1212) ; and it seems to be Creon's inopportune presence, in his , that occasions Haemon's suicide. The messenger's speech has three parts: chance (1156-60), Creon (n6i-5a), pleasure (ii65b-7i). Creon supplies the link, one would

know nothing

of

suppose, because the wipes out

and

sons,

moreover,

his

that the loss

of

Haemon

Creon's pleasure; but he needlessly refers to Creon's noble Creon never takes any notice of Megareus. The messenger, conceals

by holding of

assumes

messenger

Creon's loss

Creon's victory

enviable

life,

of

over

Haemon,

Argos

one of which

and

Creon

which

his

he does

kingship

cannot and

not

mention,

to be

elements

the

other

Creon

lose in any literal sense. The messenger therefore must shift from Creon's downfall, for which his thoughts on chance have presum ably prepared us, to Creon's pleasures now that his son is dead. In order, however, to extract a moral from the death of Haemon, the messenger must put himself in Creon's place, for he is not certain that Creon experiences the moral he wishes to illustrate. He lets his imagi does

not

nation

stretch

beyond Creon's

the pomp

good

fortune,

the tyrant's

where

he

sees

great

tyranny replacing Creon's victory over his country's enemies (cf. Th. 1.17) and then declares such magnificence to be deficient if the man who has them

wealth and

132

There

of

private wealth

are nineteen scenes in the play, the central one of which is the song to Eros. The guard initiates the fourth scene from the beginning, the messenger the fourth scene from the end.

Chorus'

A takes

Reading

Sophocles'

of

in them. Pleasure, then,

no pleasure

children; everything else is hollow

think,

not

Creon

as

Antigone

had,

that

without

comes

175

entirely from

them. The

messenger

one's

does

only if they (cf. 39.2). He does not

children are good

their father in his friendships

and enmities

the fortunate just because their fortune

change, but be (cf. Th. 2.44.2) ; nor does he find the unfortunate not to be unfortunate just because their fortune too might change, but because even in the absence of good fortune one can delight in one's children. The instability of one's own life is not in itself a matter of regret ; it is the impossibility of fixing the life of others on whom one depends.133 The messenger rejects both the life lived for the city and the life lived against the city, for, if Creon is any model, either involves the loss of a son, Megareus or Haemon. This twofold rejection forces him into a paradox: one cannot divine what is established for mortals. Creon feared that the preservation of the established laws is the best policy throughout one's life ; the mes senger makes us fear that the truth lies in the literal meaning of Creon's words: it is best in preserving the established laws to end one's life. The messenger inadvertently vindicates Antigone. He vindicates, over 35.1). against the ensouled corpse Creon, the dead soul Antigone (cf. praise

there is

cause

no good

fortune

might

without children

The Chorus have to ask the messenger three learn what he should have told them at once. Consistent with his first speech he is more interested in Creon than in Haemon; but he does not explain how he reconciles Creon's guilt with

59 (1172-9).

questions

the

59.1.

before

moral of

they

his first speech, which Creon exemplified precisely because its power in his case. Guilt seems to be as incompatible

chance showed

with chance as with

Creon's hand

necessity; and the messenger

was not raised against

his

the way that Oedipus was the cause of just give Creon the opportunity to be that Haemon love Antigone.

from

anyone's

as

the

two the

he

which

the

royal griefs.

suicide.

(cf.

6i.3).134

Jocasta'

guilty?

There

Antigone, however,

also makes

Creon into

in the singular, it

messenger now calls

Creon,

at

any rate,

That he failed to

her

that

was no

seems

necessity

to be furthest

ask about the grief of kings; and they include Antigone in the royal circle, even answer (re&vocrjiv) suggests that more than one has

are

questions

suicide,

it

that

messenger's

since

has to

Is Creon guilty, then, in s suicide ? Or did chance

thoughts. The Chorus

we might suppose

died ; but

son.

save

a

plural, and the

would

seem

murder, does

next

that Antigone's not count

holds himself her must look like

never

Chorus'

among for

responsible chance

to him

For this meaning of chance see Arist. EN H35bi8-9; Eur. Hipp. 258-60; for Creon to be an 'i\x4?uxoc, vexp6<; as the result of Haemon's death see Anti phon Tetr. II. p. 10: knl xyj (j.auxou araaSia aiv 8xi xaxopi>XiW)cro[/,at,. 134 Cf. Miiller, 253. 133

and

Interpretation

176

The pun on Haemon'sname

59.2.

any misunderstanding with his own hand")

bloody

be

might

and

ive

(alfiao-rjeTai)

to

would seem

preclude

reply ("he made himself ; but the Chorus suggest that the verb not have its literal meaning. To ask

the

of

messenger's

auTO/eip

possibly mean that Creon killed Haemon but the Chorus are impelled to ask it for several reasons. First, the messenger did imply that Creon was guilty, deeds. They had and the Chorus perhaps only recognize the guilt of that she had not grounds urged Creon to release Ismene on the thought his Creon just as corpse (cf. handled 34.1); and the

whether

is

messenger could

a grammarian's question

;135

Polynices'

see

killing

of

way

Antigone

themselves as

absolved

that he had the right to kill his

they

and

39.3),

the

whole

involved in Creon's

cannot

be

guilt.

own sons

certain

surely do not Creon had implied Second, if they disobeyed him (cf. city, so

that Creon

they

on second

thoughts had

Third, they did not dispute Creon's assertion that it would be more than human for Haemon to carry out his threat of suicide (cf. 43.1). And finally, Tiresias predicted Hae mon's death in such a way (ach-zbc, avTi8ou<; err/)) as to be at least as compatible with murder as with suicide. They took, at any rate, more prophecy avyjp, ava, pefbjxe Seiva S-e(T7rcra<; (1091) gone

not

back

his

on

word.

.

.

.

Tiresias'

understanding of Haemon's anger avY]p, aval; for they now exclaim at the Tightness s? 6py9j<; T(f.yi>Q (766) silence about Haemon's suicide despite prediction

seriously than their pspvjxsv

own

Tiresias'

Tiresias'

of and

its

cause and on

both

the

messenger's confirmation

counts.

standing For the messenger

now

their

of

own under

Not even the Chorus trust their own wisdom. to invite them to deliberate is unwittingly

ironic. 60 (1 180-91). 60.1. The entrance They call her TaXatva as

of

on

her

entrance

defense,

Eurydice lets the Chorus

(379). Once Antigone, however, had elicited from them again another

she never

condolence.

Eurydice,

on

the

other

avoid

they had called Antigone Suo-tyjvoi;

deliberation.

spoken

in her

expression

of

nothing to deprive later learn that she cursed Creon

hand,

her

now says

of their sympathy ; but when they for the death of Megareus and hence implicitly

condemned

Thebes for

its self-defense, they do not hold Creon responsible, despite his selfaccusation, for her suicide (cf. 64.1). Eurydice's death was not in cluded in prophecy (cf. 55.2) ; and the Chorus cannot Tiresias'

discern in it, Chorus she is what

they

to think. Creon

Tiresias silent

as

of

do in Haemon's, its justice (cf. 1270). For the intrusion. There is no one to tell them

an unable

could convince

Creon's; but

suffering lies outside their Without the mean vanity

advice.

135

Cf.

schol. 1 176: xoxoxt

them

neither prepared

Ipcoxa

of

Antigone's injustice,

them for

experience of

Creon

7r6xepa xxX.

Eurydice,

immune to their

and

or

the

axouaa? t]8t)

and

whose

holy

oxi

madness

aux6xeip

of

dit^avEv.

Sophocles'

A Antigone no

Reading

of

Antigone

177

suffering that the city as such inflicts and Tiresias preferred to remain silent rather

she reminds us of a

theodicy try to explain

comprehends.

why Eurydice

than

justly

had to

suffer

Creon's

punish

ment.

60.2. The messenger had addressed the Chorus as house-dwellers; Eurydice addresses the Chorus and the messenger together as towns people. The difference between citizen and servant means nothing to

her. Even the messenger is more aware of the city than she is. He later hopes that her silence is due to her shame of expressing her private grief

oixeiov) openly, he, 7coXi.v (1246-1249). She says that she the messenger's report while leaving the palace in order to

(tcev&oi;

overheard

pray to Pallas Athena, from whom she intended, we can suppose, to ask what the Chorus had failed to ask for from Dionysus, the life of her She wanted the virgin goddess to save Haemon from the effects Eros. She began, however, much too late : Athena's ability to defeat Eros the undefeatable is not put to the test. Chance, or perhaps more than chance, intervenes before one learns whether Eros is a god subject to other gods. Sophocles allows there to be no refutation in deed of the son. of

Chorus'

unprincipled wisdom.

61 (1192-1243). 61. 1. Eurydice couldnot have faintedbefore 1173 She might know that either one of her own is dead

much after 1177.

Haemon killed himself. She to

repeat

than

no more

explain

the

suicide.

The

doubted his

exact

she can

her to

senger

now might

departure in

yap

oux

oux

full report,

entitled

would

as

if

she

to the truth,

can

softened version

be later

proved

no

forces him to hope that to be

mes

messenger

Eurydice's in evils (xaxcov in judgment (yvcb[X7)<; but

be unjustified;

never

that the

false. The versed

1191) is the same as to be versed fazeipoc,, 1250). He believes so firmly in the decency of his that he forgets his own speech, in which he counted Creon a

oOTsipoi;,

mistress

living corpse

for

Eurydice has

losing the

enjoyment of what

no political pleasures

messenger spoke makes

she wants a

because her recovery from a swoon has take it nor because her experience of evils has

tell

silence

or

messenger either

neither

believes that the truth

yap

that

Creon. Eurydice is

listen, but because any

steeled

the

want

which

messenger assumes charge against

that

shown

therefore

he has already told the Chorus or to Creon is the cause of Haemon's

what

degree to

how painful,

matter

might

or

decency

when

he

made pleasure

he

speaks

draws back from the entails suicide.

Chance,

wonders whether

upon

standard when

for himself

the

Eurydice

to fall back

he

conclusion after

would

all,

for his

that the lack

could restore one

have

counseled

of

to

also

(cf.

and

The

the standard; he masters. certain

good

Eurydice, in

like Antigone's, to have more children (cf. Th. 48.8). messenger calls her 7ca(i.[jLY)Tcop (cf.

loses; 58.2).

2.44.3).

He thus pleasures

fortune. One an argument

The

second

Interpretation

178

(1197), see 45.1; for xuvorjTcapaxTOV (1198), (1198), 48.5; for rroyxaTn&ou.ev (1202), 524; for

61.2. For for

acofia

(1203),

53. 1 ;

vY)Xee<;

22.9.

The

that the burial

frames his true

messenger

Polynices

of

three

aorist

description (a'iT7)<javTe<;, XoucravTs?, but a slight incident on the way to the

in



way its

articulate

participles

xwaavre?)136

X&ov6<;

such a

to be nothing Antigone. However

seems

rescue of

important his burial is for the city, it is of no interest to Eurydice. and Creon's servants prayed that Hecate, the goddess of have seemed to been gracious. turn wrath and their Pluton check They roads,137

afraid

that the

Polynices'

chthonic gods were not pleased with

body,

above,

not suggested

had

not even

his

how Creon

indicated

what

were

should

appropriate :

Polynices is buried in

Piety

have been

would

their

They

did

pray to the But Tiresias

the gods;

accorded

rites

tomb

a conspicuous

indeed, he

Polynices. Creon

elaborate

most

not

angry.

equally

be

their uncovering of the excuse

own without

should propitiate

rites

decided that only the

own

on

25.4).

according to Tiresias

who

had

on

had done

from Creon (cf.

of such a command gods

they

which

were

now

of native earth.

satisfied and patriotism maintained

if he had

been buried outside of territory (cf. 12.7). Creon gave up his patriotism to save his son. He believed that Polynices had to be buried on the spot if he were to outrun the Furies. He thereby gave up his pleasure in his victory over Argos (cf. 58.2) and itted that the 42.1). Creon compen conquest of Thebes was unjustly thwarted (cf. Theban

sated

for his the

against

punishment

crime

city. could

principles as

against

He

to his

was

the

thus be due rejection of

by

gods

tested in

committing another crime and found wanting. His

office

to his betrayal

as much

Antigone's (cf.

of

his

own

51.3).

61.3. The messenger, like Antigone herself, speaks of Antigone's prison bridal chamber (cf. 46.2) ; but he amplifies this aspect still more

as a

(Xixroo-TpcoTov,

7rarjTaSa).

It

is, however,

the

presence of

Haemon,

who

by

embracing Antigone obtains his marriage rites in Hades (1224, 1240-1), rather than Antigone's marriage to Acheron (816) that dictates his ,

That Antigone has

choice of words.

the horror that implies (cf.

Haemon but suicide, like

not

Antigone

now reed

46.8),

miserable

family,

with all

nothing to him. He

means

(1234,

her

124i ; cf.

1272,

1310-1).

calls

Her

Polynices'

burial, is just an incident in his . No one ever regrets that they came too late to save her. Neither the Chorus nor Creon, on the other hand, had thought of stopping Haemon from entering her tomb. Creon had so confidently spoken against the possi bility of Haemon's suicide that this precaution, which even on the ground

that Haemon

sensible, 136

The

eluded

change

might

them. Creon

in

try must

construction

to free Antigone

have

(x6v

jxev

shift from aa>(ia to x6v 137 Fire is the constant attribute of

IloXuveCxoui; (1198)

.

expected

.

.

auS-i?)

(1199)

Hecate;

would

have been

suicide as soon as

calls our attention

(1202). fr. 535 P.

and

cf.

her

8

87)

to the

A

Sophocles'

Reading

Antigone

of

179

he had listened to her (cf 567) ; and he must have changed the way of punishing her, not out of a scrupulous piety, nor even out of fear that the city would not stone her to death, but in the knowledge that Antigone would do his work for him (cf. 43.1). The Chorus understood Antigone less well than Creon did ; but it was because of their advice that he had to pretend that he still had a chance to save her. He must .

have known

56.1)

what Tiresias meant when he for that reason put the burial

and

rescue of

called of

her

a

corpse

(cf.

Polynices before the

Antigone.

61.4. A servant told Creon that he had just heard from afar the shrill ritual lamentation near the tomb; but Creon did not act on

cries of

this

report

the tomb's their

before he had heard them for himself entrance wrenched apart.

source while

resias, to

they

deluding him ; all

but for

.

52)

.

He

Creon

not say.

stones of

elyl

(acr/)[ia) ; but,

opyta,

he did

the

(ap'

(lavTi?)

unlike

Ti

was not sure of

wondered whether

what purpose

the

gods

were

Could Creon have

to believe that Tiresias had deluded him

Tiresias had

wanted

to do

was put a scare

surely have relied on his former a lie (cf. 55.3) ; and, despite the of

indistinct

whom a servant reported acn)[jLa

their interpretation (cf

come

were still

and seen

He then divined

infallibility

with prophecy and that into him ? Tiresias could

to

put across so

Chorus'

exclamation at

the

salutary Tightness

his prophecy, nothing Tiresias said argues for a more than human Apollo.138 for its truth (cf. 59.2) ; indeed, he never mentioned

source

Had Tiresias foretold the death

of

Eurydice,

or given

the

circumstances

Haemon's suicide, he would have confirmed his inspiration as divine; but he would then have deprived Creon of hope, hope that concealed the severity of divine punishment and the difference be 55.3). tween sacrilege and error (cf. of

61.5. Creon seemed to have been bent on self-punishment. He over heard Haemon's bewailing Antigone's death, his father's deeds, and his own marriage ; and thinking perhaps that all was forgiven if Haemon could regret the cause no less than its effects, he tried to plead with Hae repenting any of his crimes. His speech would have been the if he had not revoked his decree. Creon did not ask Haemon for forgiveness but rather asked three questions calculated to enrage him what deed he had done, what he intended to do, and what circumstance distracted his wits. Since Creon saw what his servants did, mon without

same even

Haemon embracing Antigone around her waist as she hung from a noose, and then asked him what he had done, what could Haemon have thought except that Creon now dared to charge him with Antigone's murder?139

It

would

hardly

have

occurred

to him that Creon

might

138 It is perhaps because Tiresias fails to remind them of Apollo that the Chorus do not ask Apollo, the god of purification par excellence, to purify the city. 1S9 Cf. S. M. Adams, Sophocles the Playwright, 57-8.

Interpretation

180

have

his forcible entry into the tomb; and if he had had the him so, what could he have made of Creon's

meant

sense

to

third

question?

understand ev

tco

o-uu-opa?

8ie
not

that

question

a

a

guilty man asks. Creon simply bungled his self-appointed task of dis could have pleaded suading Haemon. Anyone why not Eurydice? Haemon time for his Instead of better than he did. case his giving sorrow

to abate, he

Haemon had

opposed

promised

it

at

that Creon

its flood. To face Haemon, after him again (763-4),

would never see

only have intensified Haemon's anger and frustration. Creon's imprudence, then, in word and deed was the proximate cause of could

Haemon's

suicide.

He is too heartless to be

wise.

61.6. When Creon had finished speaking, Haemon wildly glared at him, spat in his face, and in silence drew his sword ; but when Creon had succeeded in evading his attack, he grew angry at himself and slew himself. Haemon's suicide seemed to have arisen from a compound of

regret, remorse, vengeance,

for

remorse

having

and

love

contemplated

regret

for

patricide,

having

missed

vengeance

crime, and love for Antigone (cf. 1177). The remorse that Creon

for his transgression

Creon,

for Creon's never

law was shown by Haemon for his intention to transgress another; but this intention would never have brought Haemon to punish himself if he had not also wanted to punish Creon and Antigone in death. Nothing could illustrate better the peculiar character pious remorse and divine punishment have in common than Creon's evasion of death and Haemon's suicide. Creon's death did Tiresias know that Haemon would fail? would have deprived him of the chance to atone through suffering, and the com shows

of one sacred

Haemon's suicide suggests the difficulty of atoning for Oedipus rejected suicide on the ground that he could not bear looking upon his mother and father in Hades; and he chose selfblinding on the ground that he could not bear looking upon either his Oedipus' children or Thebes (cf. OT 1369-86). vain attempt to isolate himself from everyone and everything haunted Antigone (cf. OT pound cause of

sacrilege.

I349-56.

1386-90,

for

remorse

1409-15, 1466-70),

whose

which she could never atone.

own

Haemon,

piety entailed a the other hand,

on

could satisfy his original desire to punish Creon while making amends for his unholy impulse. Punishment and self-punishment make him doubly just, but they could not make him noble (cf. 48.9).

61.7. No one would have faulted the messenger's truthfulness if he had spared Eurydice the details of Haemon's suicide and said no more about it than the second messenger will say about Eurydice's ;

instead,

he dwells

(1315)

on

Haemon's still-living embrace of the virgin Anti blood on her cheek. The age reads like a grim

gone and

the

mockery

of a sexual

gush of

make it almost certain

to

choose

embrace; and the words Ta vu|j,
between two equally distasteful endings,

a

thwarted

marriage

A or a

thwarted

Reading

patricide

Sophocles'

Antigone

of

(their juxtaposition

recalls

181

the

Oedipus),

mes

the ending to which he could more readily attach a greater evil than imprudence belongs to man. The moral,

senger preferred moral: no

however, bears forbids its

a peculiar message when applied.

application

to Creon's

messenger never charges

having

yielded at once

impiety,

him, Creon

have let the love of his own If he had wanted to prevent their

should

have

cold

him (cf. 648-50). It

guided

context

be

reproached only for not Antigone (cf. 36.1). Creon override his sense of righteousness. can

to Haemon's love

should

Since the

which, in any case, the

with

of

embrace, Haemon's

would

have been

pleasure

prudent

to be

fond. 62 (1244-56). 62.1. The Chorus

are bewildered by Eurydice's silent forced to ask the messenger about it ; but they are not satisfied with his explanation (cf. 61.1). They either doubt that any grief (or at least Eurydice's) is publicly inexpressible (cf. Her. 3.14-5) or think Eurydice incapable of such restraint. They rightly suspect that her silence is ominous, but not that she might want to say

departure,

and

they

are

something not fit for them to hear. They forget Megareus, upon whose death Eurydice might look differently from the city. Eurydice's silence, moreover, is no more distressing to the Chorus than if she had indulged in an excess of lamentation. A few words of sorrow would have allayed their suspicion. A moderate utterance, they imply, is in compatible with an extreme resolution, for the mean in speech is consonant only with the mean in deed. They thought Antigone's defense of the law a proof of her savagery, but her last words (tyjv devoid of paradox and excess unlike, for (cf. 924) that they never suspected that she had resolved to kill herself (cf. 49.4). The Chorus always measure the deed by the speech and therefore fail to see the extreme that some suo-(3eiav

were so

o-efUcrao-a)

oma 7cavoupyr)rjacra

example,

times lurks

within

the

mean.

This failure

sets

the limit to their

wisdom

(ci. 65.1).

63 (1257-1300). 63.1. The Chorus still regard Creon as their lord address to them (cf. despite 51.2); and so they hesitate to Their si &epu<; eforelv allows Creon the Haemon's death to his error. lay chance of pleading not guilty; but he obliges them with a They behold the killer and the killed (Haemon is in his arms), the con Tiresias'

confession.140

sequence of

(*pevcov

his

imprudence, but

800-0-ePcov)

we must

plans

supply,

of

his

have led to his

impiety own un

of his son. That he blasted his son's does not occur to him, for Antigone's death is not The justice he sees too late are the miserable toils of

and

happiness

as well

his

not,

His ill-conceived

the early death

happiness one of

.

errors.

140 Cf. Andocides II. 5-7, 15 for the way in for his crimes.

which

Creon

expresses

his

regret

Interpretation

1 82

mortals, which, as his own overturned

and

trampled

joy illustrates,

the

savagely inflict. Creon its his guilt without accepting his punishment, for he had unwillingly killed Haemon and Eurydice (1340), and even Tiresias argued that error was common to all men. He gods

does not suggest what punishment would have been fitting; and once he learns of Eurydice's death, he thinks fate, not a god he never caused his names any god but the unappeasable Hades suffering (1345-6). Creon bewails the unwilled effects of his impiety but not their willed cause. part

in

a

He

must

be

silent about

kommos, for he

cannot

Antigone

lament

what

and piety if he is to take he does not understand.

something that is almost as surprising as was Polynices. He says to Haemon that in his death he was released (amskl&y\c) and as if to confirm that his choice of words is not casual, he later asks the second messenger how Eurydice was slain and 63.2. Creon

the

mentions

cremation of

,

released (1314).141

Perhaps Creon

"ed away"; but mism, sv

since

in Eurydice's

Creon, holding

the

wife, does

mean

hardly

corpse of

means no more

is

verb

ed

and a euphemism

ovau;

the

with

unknown

e-9-ave<;

qualifies as

his

that their

than that

this early

in Haemon's such,

they

have

as a euphe

case and with

one wonders whether

son and confronted with

that

of

his

from their bodies. Creon would thus be opposed to Antigone to the end, for whom the separation of body and soul in death would have made her devotion to the law impossible. Creon, on the other hand, has to be reminded of his duty to bury the dead (1334-5; Ci- noi). The restoration of the not

laws,

established can

only lead

to

which

once more

souls

Antigone

to their

are

now

separated

nothing (cf. forgotten (cf. 26.1).

contributed

being

17.5),

63.3. Sophocles allows Creon just one strophe to grieve over Haemon but this is not because Creon feels more deeply about Eurydice

alone :

about Haemon ; indeed, he never calls her his wife or himself her husband (cf. 1196, 1282). She is in his eyes a wretched mother and else. Yet the unexpected shock of her suicide does force Creon nothing

than

to

drop

mortals

his

(cf.

courage

Creon dead

141 142

thought

all

now

his deficient counsel and the miserable toil of Tiresias had asked Creon what proof it was of the dead (tic; dXxT) t6v e7nxTaveiv, 1030) ; and of

1317).142

to

rekill

tells the

&av6vr'

messenger

that

with

(oXcoXot'

man

e7iee!,pydo-co)

.

this

news

Creon

he has

speaks of

reexecuted a

himself

as

a

xaTteXuaax'

Read The frequency

; see

Miiller.

the antistrophe, accompanied with

which

sounds occupy the same place in it is by slight dislocations of the same by contrasting words or phrases in the same place, alerts us to the shift Creon undergoes (cf. 46.8) : 8ua9p6vcov (1261)8uaxd$apxo<; (1284) ; (1262) (1285); tco Ttai (1266) xt <;, d> TtaT (1289; see 38.1); voq vw (1266) vsov (1289); dm:Xu&Y)(; (1268) in 6Xe$pco (1291); (1273) (1296); gmxiaev h (1274) |j.ev iv (1297); avxp^rrcov xapav (1275) svavxa TtpoapXeTcco vexpov (1299) ; (1276) (1300). See also Miiller. For an example of a shift in thought accompanying close symmetry between strophe and antistrophe, see Aesch. Eum. 155-68.

strophe and word and

same

as

A

Reading

Polynices (cf 1077)

second

the

:

.

Polynices'

be

case could never

thought, however, that his Polynices'

Sophocles'

of

for

be his

would

the death

crime was

and

183

that he mistakenly thought in

crime

atoned

burial;

prohibition of

Antigone

he does

of

Creon

own.

Haemon,

not now it

not

his

the

guilt

he

envisions his unending suffering. He does not Suatppovcov d(i.apTY)[xaTa with lco Suaxd&apTOc; "AoSou Xi[X7)v, let alone his rekilling of Polynices with rekilling of himself. Mistaken as to his crime, Creon cannot see his suffering as his punishment, for even on his mistaken view, in of which his on either count when

together

put

9psvcov

Hades'

double

should

crime

suffering to guilty, as

his punishment, Creon still attributes his fate, but never to himself. As agent he is

as

either a god or

he is innocent (cf. OC

patient

(1301-46). 64.1. The

64

though Creon

Eurydice

prayed at

ill-success

Tza.$-oc,

(1316)

xocxal

izp&E>sic,

understood

of

not

altar of

Creon.143

of

Megareus',

alone

the

Creon's question

messenger answers

did

perhaps

266-7).

that

expect

anyone

the house just before her

She did

not

of

1296,

could answer suicide

think that Haemon's

death, let

adequately punish Creon. Not the 6;uxcoxutov her son, which brought on her own death, but only would

in the future

Creon's

can affect

incapacity for the

him. Eurydice

to have

seemed

He now, of his pain

punishment of suffering.

any rate, becomes terrified and for the only time speaks (cf. 27.2). The fear of punishment takes the place of remorse

at

should

for he

be

part of

and

for his death (cf. 15.2, 29.1). Fear, which his punishment, makes him want to escape from it,

Creon to

prompts

it.

for the

ask

as Antigone had, that he will be judged in he hardly thinks he will meet his wife and sons there. His immediate death would be the most beautiful of fates, for he then would not have to undergo another day of fear. Creon's

seems

Hades

to have

(459-60,

fear, however, for both about

and

alternates with

To the

another way.

fear,

no

925-6),

Megareus'

the

and manner of

to include the death

of

in the

protest

nation.

He

though

no one charges

vagance of

his

and

suicide.

Creon thus

Megareus, for he name

instead to him

of

with

(

guilt suggests

it

his

and

to him

responds with a question avoids

senses

extending his guilt would ill become

that it

the city Eurydice's blanket

it

ission

his

that Eurydice held him guilty

Haemon's deaths he

her

him to

prefers

his guilt,

messenger's report

condem

for Eurydice's death, even he himself is aware of the extra guilt

Itu|xov). He

wants

his

servants

to take

the way now that he is not even as much as a no-one. He is too empty to suffer any more. He is unable to atone. Creon is in his life less than the dead Polynices, for he has no one to pity him ; but he does

him

not

out of

complain,

143 accept

Nothing

as

Antigone

at

of

his lack

of

friends. He has too

in 1301 except pcojxta; but I 1303 because of 424-5.

seems certain

Seyffert's reading

did,

should

much

be inclined to

Interpretation

184 them;144

self-pity to miss sight his guilt is

punishment.

They that

advice

to

not

could

Creon,

and

they

or

exile

other

any

public

ready to comfort Creon: the way the greater is their own

renounce

they

as

their

must

loyalty

have

once

to Creon in

Oedipus. Indeed, their equally have served against not to pray for anything since the future does not mortals who must stick to what is before them, suits

(cf. OT

desting

of

are not

to forget Creon in his troubles

properly concern Oedipus far more exactly than name of

think

misfortunes are out of

want

forgotten Oedipus in his; words

he seems to believe that if he is out of So httle does his crime against the city

The Chorus, therefore,

his

sooner

gain.

out of mind.

to him that he does

mean

the

and

Creon,

whose

fate scarcely deserves the

1518-20).

(1347-53)- 65.1. The Chorus draw a parently did not need the play to learn (cf.

conclusion

the first stasimon, taught himself speech,

thought,

65

that

they ap Man, according to

57.1).

and

civility,

all

three of which are morally neutral; but if, they now say, thought is good it is wisdom, if speech is bad it is boasting, and if civility is good 52.3-4). Yet there seem to be two kinds of wisdom. it is piety (cf.

acting impiously against the gods, and chief ingredient in happiness; and is the piety wisdom comes in old age solely through suffering, and happiness is thus impossible, for Creon can now be called wise but not happy (cf.

Wisdom this

consists

solely in

not

non-Antigonean

The Chorus, however, see no difficulty, for the precept that the innocence trusts in from the start is the same as that which the wisdom of suffering learns late, and to the Chorus nothing matters but the precept, however learnt: Creon must do toc 7rpoxl|j.eva and 52.5).

wisdom of

tcoctIv xaxd. They never understand that civility is not but piety already in decay, the piety of precept. That one could live the precept, so that ^py) toc kc, &sou<; (j/rjosv dcrsTCTELV be transformed into Antigone's oma 7ravoupy7)o-ao-a, is wholly beyond them.

disregard

tocv

self-taught

They

therefore

precept would

Tepa?

can

Justice

must

Haemon 144

that

clear of

Creon,

had he followed the

who

trouble, forced

them to

confront

the

Antigone.

Corrigendum: in Part II

Creon

regret

only

have kept

Cf.

this

of

grounded

.

.

.

article

34.2.1.

thrice

Antigone

(977,

never

(vol. 5/1,

etc., read

totally bad in separating,

uses

common

be

calls

p.

"city as

42, line 10), for "city. the issue. Creon calls

he"

as

herself

\x.zkia.

or

1319, 1341; 1272, 1310-1). The

SetXata,

is fearlessness; but in Antigone's case it comes emptiness. Antigone is xaXattppcov,

soul, in Creon's from his

each

of

which

trait they have in from her greatness of

one

not

Creon.