Antigone
Scene: the royal palace at Thebes.

ANTIGONE and ISMENE are two sisters whose two brothers Eteocles and Polynices, have killed each other in a battle, because Eteocles refused to honor an agreement that they should share the ruling of Thebes.
NOTE: alternating power: what problem might that solve? what problem might it provoke or cause?

All four are the children of Oedipus: this is a cursed house.


antigone: Why, has not Creon honoured one of our brothers and dishonoured the other in the matter of their burial? Eteocles, they say, in accordance with justice and with custom he has hidden beneath the earth, honoured among the dead below. But as for the unhappy corpse of Polynices, they say it has been proclaimed to the citizens that none shall conceal it in a grave or lament for it, but that they should leave it unwept for, unburied, a rich treasure house for birds as they look out for food. This is the proclamation which they say the good Creon has made to you and to me—yes, I count myself also—and he is coming this way to make the proclamation clear to those who do not know of it. He is not treating the matter as unimportant, but for anyone who does any of these things death in the city is ordained, by stoning at the people’s hand. There you have the way things stand, and you will soon show whether your nature is noble or you are the cowardly descendant of valiant ancestors.
ismene

But, my poor dear, if this is how things stand, what could I contribute by trying to untie or to tie the knot?

41
antigone: Will you bury the dead man, together with this hand of mine?
ismene: Creon has forbidden it?
antigone But he has no right to keep me from my own!
Ismene: And now consider how much the worse will be the fate of us two, who are left
59 alone, if in despite of the law we flout the decision of the ruler or his power. Why, we must remember that we are women, who cannot fight against men, and then that we are ruled by those whose power is greater, so that we must consent to this and to other things even more painful! So I shall beg those beneath the earth to be understanding, since I act under constraint, but I shall obey those in authority; for there is no sense in actions that exceed our powers.
antigone: I shall bury him! It is honourable for me to do this and die. I am his own and I shall lie with him who is my own, having committed a crime that is holy
ismene: I do not have it in me to act against the will of the people of the city.
antigone You may offer that excuse; but I shall go to heap up a tomb for my dearest brother!

82

ismene tell no one of this act beforehand, but keep it secret, and so shall I.
antigone Ah, tell them all! I shall hate you far more if you remain silent, and do not proclaim this to all.
ismene  it is wrong to hunt for what is impossible.
98

Exeunt antigone and ismene. The chorus of elderly men, leading citizens of Thebes, enters
151
But here comes the new king of the land, . . . Creon, under the new conditions given by the gods; what plan is he turning over, that he has proposed this assembly of elders for discussion, summoning them by general proclamation?

Enter CREON.
Creon

Sirs, Eteocles and Polynices have perished by twofold ruin on a single day, striking and being struck by the polluting violence of one another, I hold the power and the throne by reason of my kinship with the dead.
175
There is no way of getting to know a man’s spirit and thought and judgment, until he has been seen to be versed in government and in the laws. ... who rates a dear one higher than his native land, him I put nowhere. I would never be silent, may Zeus who sees all things for ever know it, when I saw ruin coming upon the citizens instead of safety, nor would I make a friend of the enemy of my country, knowing that this is the ship that preserves us, and that this is the ship on which we sail and only while she prospers can we make our friends.

I have made to the citizens this proclamation touching the sons of Oedipus. Eteocles, who died fighting for this city, having excelled in battle, we shall hide in the tomb and we shall render to him all the rites that come to the noblest of the dead below. But his brother, I mean Polynices, who came back from exile meaning to burn to the ground his native city and the gods of his race, and meaning to drink the people’s blood and to enslave its people—him, it is proclaimed to this city, none
203
 shall bury or lament,

221

Enter guard.
Guard: Someone has just gone off after burying the body, sprinkling its flesh with thirsty dust and performing the necessary rites.
264
 And we were ready to lift lumps of molten lead and to go through fire and to swear by the gods that we had not done the deed and did not know who had planned it or who had done it. ... We had to report the matter to you and not conceal it. This view prevailed, and the lot constrained me, poor fellow, to accept this privilege.

289
Creon: But long since men in the city who find it hard to bear me have been murmuring against me in secret, shaking their heads, unwilling to keep their necks beneath the yoke, as justice demands, so as to put up with me. I know well that these people have been bribed by those men to do this thing. There is no institution so ruinous for men as money; money sacks cities, money drives men from their homes! Money by its teaching perverts men’s good minds so that they take to evil actions! Money has shown men how to practise villainy, and taught them impiousness in every action! ... If you do not find the author of this burial and reveal him to my eyes, a single Hades shall not suffice for you, before all have been strung up alive to expose this insolence, so that for the future you may know where you can get your profit when you plunder, and learn that you must not grow used to making money out of everything. One sees more people ruined than one has seen preserved by shameful gains.
315
Exit Creon.
Exit guard.
chorus: (the famous "Ode to Man")

Many things are formidable, and none more formidable than man! He crosses the gray sea beneath the winter wind, passing beneath the surges that surround him; and he wears away the highest of the gods, Earth, immortal and unwearying, as his ploughs go back and forth from year to year, turning the soil with the aid of the breed of horses.
And he captures the tribe of thoughtless birds and the races of wild beasts and the watery brood of the sea, catching them in the woven coils of nets, man the skilful. And he contrives to overcome the beast that roams the mountain, and tames the shaggy-maned horse and the untiring mountain bull, putting a yoke about their necks.
And he has learned speech and wind-swift thought and the temper that rules cities, and how to escape the exposure
358
 of the inhospitable hills and the sharp arrows of the rain, all-resourceful; he meets nothing in the future without resource; only from Hades shall he apply no means of flight; and he has contrived escape from desperate maladies.
Skilful beyond hope is the contrivance of his art, and he advances sometimes to evil, at other times to good. When he applies the laws of the earth and the justice the gods have sworn to uphold he is high in the city; outcast from the city is he with whom the ignoble consorts because of his recklessness. May he who does such things never sit by my hearth or share my thoughts!

The guard leads in antigone.
Guard: This one did the deed! We caught her burying
385
 the body! But where is Creon?
... I have come, though I had sworn never to do so, bringing this girl, who was caught adorning the grave. No lots were cast in this case, but the gift of fortune belongs to me and to no other. And now, king, take her yourself and judge her and convict her; but I am free, and have the right to be released from these troubles!
404
428
antigone I say that I did it and I do not deny it.
...
Creon: do you tell me, not at length, but briefly: did you know of the proclamation forbidding this?
antigone: I knew it; of course I knew it. It was known to all.
Creon: And yet you dared to transgress these laws?
450
antigone Yes, for it was not Zeus who made this proclamation, nor was it Justice who lives with the gods below that established such laws among men, nor did I think your proclamations strong enough to have power to overrule, mortal as they were, the unwritten and unfailing ordinances of the gods. For these have life, not simply today and yesterday, but for ever, and no one knows how long ago they were revealed. For this I did not intend to pay the penalty among the gods for fear of any man’s pride. I knew that I would die, of course I knew, even if you had made no proclamation. But if I die before my time, I account that gain.

chorus It is clear! she does not know how to bend before her troubles.
Creon 473
This girl knew well how to be insolent then, transgressing the established laws; and after her action, this was a second insolence, to exult in this and to laugh at the thought of having done it. Indeed, now I am no man, but she is a man, if she is to enjoy such power as this with impunity.
499
Are you not ashamed at thinking differently?
antigone There is no shame in showing regard for those of one’s own stock.
Creon Then how can you render the other a grace which is impious towards him?
515... you honour him equally with the impious one.
... he was trying to destroy this country, and the other stood against him to protect it.
antigone None the less, Hades demands these laws.
Creon
529
Enter ismene.
ismene I did the deed, if she agrees, and I take and bear my share of the blame.
antigone Why, justice will not allow you this, since you refused and I was not your associate!
545
Some thought you were right, and some thought I was.
560


antigone and ismene are taken inside.

Enter haemon.
Haemon Father, I belong to you, and you keep me straight with your good judgments, which I shall follow. Yes, in my eyes no marriage shall be more highly valued than your right guidance.
653
Creon The man who acts rightly in family matters will be seen to be righteous in the city also.  This is the man whom I would trust to be a good ruler and a good subject, and when assigned his post in the storm of battle to prove a true and noble comrade in the fight. But there is no worse evil than insubordination! This it is that ruins cities, this it is that destroys houses, this it is that shatters and puts to flight the warriors on its own side! But what saves the lives of most of those that go straight is obedience! ... we must never allow a woman to vanquish us. If we must perish, it is better to do so by the hand of a man, and then we cannot be called inferior to women.
680
Haemon the city is lamenting for this girl, saying that no woman ever deserved it less, but that she is to perish miserably for actions that are glorious, she who did not allow her own brother who had fallen in the slaughter to remain unburied or to be destroyed by savage dogs or birds. ...707
 your opinion and no other must be right! For whoever think that they themselves alone have sense, or have a power of speech or an intelligence that no other has, these people when they are laid open are found to be empty. It is not shameful for a man, even if he is wise, often to learn things and not to resist too much. ...No, retreat from your anger and allow yourself to change;
Creon
So men of my age are to be taught sense by a man of your age?
Haemon

Nothing but what is right! If I am young, one must not consider my age rather than my merits.
730
Creon Must I rule this land for another and not for myself?
Haemon Yes, there is no city that belongs to a single man!
Creon Am I offending when I show regard for my own office?
Haemon You show no regard when you trample on the honours due to the gods!
Creon Contemptible character, inferior to a woman!

Exit haemon.
Creon
I shall take her to where there is a path which no man treads, and hide her, still living, in a rocky cavern, putting out enough food to escape pollution, a so that the whole city may avoid contagion. And there she can pray to Hades, the only one among the gods whom she respects, and perhaps be spared from death; or else she will learn, at that late stage, that it is wasted effort to show regard for things in Hades.

Exit creon.
chorus

antigone is brought in from the palace under guard.

863
Enter creon.
Creon
887 leave her alone, isolated, whether she wishes to die or to be entombed living in such a dwelling. For we are guiltless where this girl is concerned; but she shall be deprived of residence with us here above the ground.
antigone O tomb, O bridal chamber, ...I am confident that I shall come dear to my father, dear to you, my mother, and dear to you, my own brother; ... Yet in the eyes of the wise I did well to honour you; ... by acting piously I have been convicted of impiety. Well, if this is approved among the gods, I should forgive them for what I have suffered, since I have done wrong; but if they are the wrongdoers, may they not suffer worse evils than those they are unjustly inflicting upon me!
937
antigone is led away.

Enter the blind prophet tiresias, led by a boy.
Creon In the past I have not been used to depart from your counsel.
Tiresias That is why you steered the ship of this city straight.
Creon I can testify from experience that it was profitable.
Tiresias Think, for you are again upon a razor’s edge!
... it is your will that has put this plague upon the city; for our altars and our braziers, one and all, are filled with carrion brought by birds and dogs from the unhappy son of Oedipus who fell. And the gods are no longer accepting the prayers that accompany sacrifice ...All men are liable to make mistakes; and when a man does this, he who after getting into trouble tries to repair the damage and does not remain immovable is not foolish or miserable. Obstinacy lays you open to the charge of blundering. Give way to the dead man, and do not continue to stab him as he lies dead! What is the bravery of killing a dead man over again? I am well disposed to you, and my advice is good; and it is a pleasure to learn from a good adviser, if his advice brings profit.
Creon Aged man, ... even men who are clever at many things fall shamefully, aged Tiresias, when they skilfully speak shameful words in the pursuit of gain!
Tiresias the best of all possessions is good counsel!
1055
Creon all you prophets are an avaricious race.
Tiresias Rulers, also, are prone to be corrupt.
Creon Know that On account of this there lie in wait for you the doers of outrage who in the end destroy, the Erinyes
Exit tiresias.
1095
Creon to yield would be terrible, but if I resist, my will may run into the fowler’s net of disaster.
chorus Go and release the girl from the subterranean dwelling, and make a tomb for him who lies there!
Creon Alack! It comes hard, but I renounce my heart’s purpose, and shall act! One cannot fight against superior force.
... Since my decision has been thus reversed, I who imprisoned her shall myself be present to release her! I am afraid that it is best to end one’s life in obedience to the established laws!

Exit creon.

Enter messenger.
Messenger
Haemon is dead; and his own hand has shed his blood ...in anger against his father for the murder he committed.
1180
Enter eurydice.
Messenger relates death of Haemon and Antigone
Exit eurydice.
Exit messenger, and from the side enter creon, carrying the body of haemon.
chorus Alas, you seem to have seen justice only late!
Your wife is dead, own mother of this dead man, unhappy one, through wounds newly inflicted!
... at the last had called down curses upon you, the killer of your son.
1338 Creon Lead me out of the way, useless man that I am, who killed you, my son, not by my own will, and you here too, ah, miserable one; I do not know which to look on, which way to lean; for all that is in my hands has gone awry, and fate hard to deal with has leapt upon my head.

Exeunt creon and his attendants.
chorus

Good sense is by far the chief part of happiness; and we must not be impious towards the gods. The great words of boasters are always punished with great blows, and as they grow old teach them wisdom.