Carly Symington

TAP Greek Tragedy

2^nd Document

Ancient Burials

Background Information

The Greek tragedy Antigone was written by Sophocles around 441 B.C. Sophocles is one of the most famous tragedian playwrights of Athens. He was born in 496 B.C. He had already won first place at the festival of Dionysis by 468 B.C, when he was only a mere 20 years old. He is said to have written over 120 plays, but only 7 exist today in their entirety, Antigone being one of them. He died in 406 B.C. at a healthy old age of 90.

Characters

Antigone is a play about a young woman avenging her dead brother and honoring her family. In this play, Antigone offers the reader the perfect representation of being one of William Arrowsmith’s modals. William Arrowsmith is a well- known translator of Greek tragedy. He his theory of modals is where he takes different characters of Greek tragedies, and places them into three different categories. The three different categories are immortal, mortal and animal. He mentions how in most plays mortals are always in opposition with immortals and animals. This characterization is known as a mode of existence. Another way to characterize in Greek tragedy is through the characters role in society. This places the character in a societal hierarchy, anywhere between the King (at the top of the hierarchy), and the servant (at the bottom.) One of the main themes of Antigone is based on this mode of existence because Antigone does not know her place in society. She goes against state power in a time where women were subservient.

Other characters in the play include Ismene, which in the play Antigone is Antigone’s sister. In the play, she represents the contrast to Antigone because she knows her societal role. She knows how women are supposed to act.

Polynices and Eteocles are Antigone’s and Ismene’s brothers. They were supposed to take turns ruling Thebes after Oedipus was exiled. Unfortunately, the myth goes that Polynices gathered an army and fought Eteocles. They killed one another, but Creon, Oedipus’s brother and current ruler of Thebes, treated Polynices as a traitor and forbade him to have a proper burial like his brother Eteocles, therefore, dishonoring the family.

Other important characters are Haemon, who is Antigone’s fiancé and Creon’s son. Antigone’s boldness is her tragic flaw that leads to her downfall, as well as the downfall of Haemon and Eurydice, Haemon’s mother and Creon’s wife.

The Plot

Antigone is a play about a young woman who tries to avenge her dead brother. She goes against the state because she has so much love for her family. The play opens with Antigone and Ismene explaining what happened between their two brothers in an argument about Polynices. Antigone is trying to persuade Ismene to help her perform a proper burial for Polynices, who is seen as a traitor throughout the city. The parados, or opening choral ode, (99-161), explains the background of what happened with the brothers and introduces Creon, the ruler of Thebes. This is where the first episode begins (162-331). An episode is the action, or drama, of the play. The first episode explains how Polynices body was found with soil on it, which means that someone gave him a proper burial. The guards are arguing with Creon because they did not see who did it. The first stasimon (332-383) explains how Antigone was caught by the guards in the act, and taken into punishment. A stasimon is a choral ode between the episodes. Creon questions Antigone and asks her if she’s guilty in the next episode (384-582). Antigone does not deny one thing. She was caught in the act of burying her brother, and could not possibly deny anything. The guards took the soil off the body when they discovered the burial first time, and so they knew to keep a close eye on the body this time. She seems proud to be standing up for the rights of her brother. Also in the episode, Antigone disputes with Ismene about how Ismene should try to save herself. Antigone believes that she should not be punished because she did not want anything to do with the burial, but Ismene wants to share the punishment. The second stasimon (583-625) is the chorus preaching about how once ones house is intervened by the gods; it is hard to get it back to normal, meaning that the house of Oedipus was cursed from day 1 when Oedipus’s prophecies came true. The next episode (626-780) introduces Haemon, who is Antigone’s fiancé. Haemon and Creon fight about who is in the wrong for the crime committed. Haemon is standing up for Antigone and Creon tells him to stop supporting the criminals who go against the state. The third stasimon is next (781-800) and discusses the love between Haemon and Antigone. The following episode (801-943) is Creon telling Antigone that what she did was wrong, and that the death sentence still stands. The following stasimon (944-987) talks about Antigone’s life. The last episode (988-1114) introduces Tiresias, the blind prophet of Thebes, who tells Creon that he should not give Antigone the death sentence because he will inevitably kill his son Haemon. He says that he had a prophecy that Haemon will die if Antigone is put to death. In the exodus, or final choral ode that concludes the play, Creon tries to stop Antigone from being killed, but he is too late. He finds his son Haemon already dead beside the body of Antigone, who is dead. Eurydice, Haemon’s mother, enters, and kills herself at the sight of her son and Antigone.

Ancient Burials

Burials in ancient Greece are not like they are today. In ancient Greece, a sufficient proper burial consisted of sprinkling soil on the body. Everyone is entitled to a proper burial out of respect, except for the outcast, i.e. criminals, traitors, and those who have been sent into exile. This made it easy for Antigone to go back each night, and sprinkle some more dust onto her brother’s body, therefore, honoring his existence. This also explains why the guards kept unburying him and wiping the dust away. The body did not have to be buried, but in some cases it was. Sometimes, Greeks were buried with some of their possessions. This is how people learned about the ancient Greeks. Men were sometimes buried with weapons, and women usually jewelry. Bodies were usually taken out of the city to be buried, and this was for many reasons. The first reason being that graveyards tend to receive a lot of crime with grave robbers, and another reason being to keep spirits away. However the body was buried was not important, the fact that the body was getting buried was the important part. A proper burial meant that the person was respectable. The fact that Creon did not want to give Polynices a proper burial, deemed him as a traitor to others.

Ancient Greek burials can be compared to other cultures. For example, in ancient Egypt, bodies were mummified. This is where the body is preserved, so that it will not deteriorate. Only people of importance were lucky enough to be mummified. Other traditions belonged to the ancient people of Polynesia who buried their people in “weird yoga positions”, where sometimes their skulls were taken off for ceremonial purposes. However the body is treated, in all cultures it means the same thing; it means that the person is being offered a final token of respect.

Analysis of Antigone

Antigone is a play that focuses its attention on the question of who is in the wrong. Is it Antigone in the wrong because she went against state power? Or is Creon in the wrong because he does not honor his family? Antigone does break the role of the female of her times by playing a more modern feminist, standing up for her family and by doing so, standing up for her rights as a woman. In Creon’s defense, he does give Antigone plenty of warning, so even though he may be stubborn, he has the right to be. As a ruler he needs to be stubborn. This play also analyzes the differences between the two sisters. Ismene is docile, and she knows her place in society. She knows that she should not speak up against the obedience of the state, unlike her sister, Antigone, who knows no boundaries. She speaks out of place, and subsequently she is punished. She has been marked as a feminist of her time.

Bibliography

“About Antigone.” Gradesaver.com. Gradesaver 9 Nov. 2006

www.gradesaver/classicsnotes/titles/antigone/about.html

This webpage provides background information about Antigone, as well as a quick summary. It gives insight to the different characters and how this particular myth fits into the other plays in its trilogy.

Barker, T.M. “The Note on the Antigone of Sophocles.” The Classical Review Vol. 21, No. 2

(Mar.1907): 12 Nov, 2006 http://www.jstor.org/browse/0009840x/ap020184?frame=noframe&userID …

This is an article that analyzes the choices that Antigone made. Barker mentions the irony of Antigone’s rebellion in sticking up for her brother, and how Creon does not blame himself because she had enough warning, and knew what she was doing is wrong.

“Biography of Sophocles.” Gradesaver.com. Gradesaver. 9 Nov. 2006

www.gradesaver.com/classicsnotes/authors/about_Sophocles.html

This webpage provides background information on Sophocles. It explains that he lived from 496 B.C to 406 B.C. There is information on this site about his family, his jobs, and his work. It is a great site explaining the complexity and dedication he had for his plays.

“Polynesian Cemetery Unlocks Ancient Burial Secrets.” ABC.net.au. 31 Oct. 2005. ABC News

Online. 12 Nov. 2006 www.nbc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1494750.htm

This website is a news site that gives an example of a Polynesian burial tradition that was just recently discovered. The people who first settled on the island Polynesia buried their dead in “weird yoga positions.”

Sophocles. “Antigone.” Theban Plays. Hackett Publishing Company Inc. 2003.

This is the text of Antigone by Sophocles. It provides a complete translation by Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff.