But now that they have gone, sharing their
double end on a single day Creon
speaks here of the death of Polyneices and Dionysus, two brothers who had
killed each other on the same day. Because Polyneices went against Thebes,
Creon ordered that he not be buried, which is what this whole play is
basically based on.
Sire, I�ve had misgivings from the first:
could this be more than purely natural work?� (Leader)
The leader expresses his thoughts about the burying of Polyneices and says
that he believed from the beginning that it was a bad idea for Creon to forbid
the burying of Polyneices� body; the burial might have been done by the gods.
Next they�ll say they make it a priority to
bury him in state, and thank him for burning down their altars, sacking
shrines, scouting laws, and raping all the land. Or are the gods these days
considerate to criminals? (Creon)
But Creon is furious because he thinks that not burying the body is the right
thing to do, being that Polyneices came as an enemy to his own city, Thebes.
Now that the body has been buried, and the leader proposed that it might be
the work of the gods, Creon is somewhat accusing the gods of being nice to
�criminals.� He uses the word criminal to describe Polyneices.
Creation is a marvel and
man its masterpiece�All but
death, and death- death he never cures (Choral Ode) The choral ode is
praising man and how he is so great and does great things. The one thing man
cannot cure, although he has the cures for all diseases, is death itself,
which plagues many characters in Greek Tragedy.
Distinguished in his city when law-abiding,
pious. But when he promulgates unsavory ambition, citiless and lost
(Choral Ode) Here, the choral ode expresses the greatness of man, explaining
that when one goes by the rules, he is known as a hero, but when he goes
against his city by showing distasteful aspiration, then man is lost.
Antigone:
1. "Naturally! since Zeus never promulgated such a law, nor will you find that
Justice, Mistress of the world below , publishes such laws on humankind. I never
thought your mortal edicts had such force they nullified the laws of heaven..."
This is an
excerpt from Antigone�s speech to Creon. She disagrees with his edict not to
bury her brother. She tells him that she doesn�t think he has the right to make
a law against the laws of god. This quote shows Antigone�s bravery and courage.
2. "And if this hurries me to death before my time, why, such a death is gain."
She is willing
to risk her life in order to do what she believes is the right thing to do
3. "Where could I win respect and praise more validly than this: burial of my
brother?
One of the
things most important to Antigone is the burial of her brother. She doesn�t see
it as a rebelling action, but as something worthy of praise and respect.
Creon:
1.
�You wait and see! The toughest will is first to Break: like hard and
untempered steel,
which snaps and shivers at a touch , when hot from off the forge.�
This shows
Creon�s pride and narcissism. He will not have anyone rule him, especially a
woman. He believes that even the toughest will, like that of Antigone, can be
broken.
2.
� Curse you! Find the love for your outlet down there. No women while I live
shall govern me.�
Again,
Creon is too proud to kneel to anyone else. He is cursing Antigone, and
sentencing her to a bitter death.
Ismene:
1.
�Sister, do not scorn me; let me share your death and the holy homage to the
dead.�
Even
though Ismene did not want to participate in Antigone�s plan to bury Polyneices,
she has chosen to remain loyal to her sister now that she has been caught. She
wants to die alongside Antigone and pay final respects to the dead.
2.
�Yes, my lord, when misfortune comes it sends our reason packing out of doors.�
Initially,
Ismene was the voice of reason that tried to convince Antigone not to carry out
her plan. However, once misfortune came upon Antigone, she changed her
perspective and chose to stand by her sister.
Choral Ode:
1.
�Happy is the man who has not sipped the bitter day, Whose house is firm against
divine assault. No planted curse creeps on and on Through generations like the
dark and driven surge�
The chorus is expressing their view
of the preceding events. Oedipus� house is cursed and the curse keeps causing
pain throughout the generations. For example, it cursed Oedipus� two sons, who
died on the same day in battle, and now it has cursed Oedipus� two daughters,
Ismene and Antigone, with death.
2.
�So do I see the house of Labdacus struck down, In all its generations
victimized by some Pursuing Deity. Its Useless Dead� The final hope of Oedipus
Felled to the root pulled out in smoke and Hades� dust��
The house of Labdacus is doomed
forever. There is no hope left because of Antigone�s brazen transgressions of
Creon�s law.
3.
�Delusions and seething ambition. No man can tell What has come stealthily
creeping over his life Until too late Hot ashes and pain...�
This is summing up the fundamental
flaw that all those that belong to the house of Labdacus possess. They all
possess hubris, or false pride, that led to their eventual doom. For example,
Labdacus ignored the oracle and had his child nonetheless. Oedipus thought he
could also avoid the oracle�s decree by running away. Polyneices thought he
could take over Thebes by going against his own people, and finally Antigone
believed that she violate Creon�s laws and bury her dead brother Polyneices.
-Creon: �And I must let
the mob dictate my policy� Do I rule the state or someone else?�
-Haemon: �A one man�s
state is no state at all�
-Heamon: �She shall not
die�don�t think it�in my sight or by my side. And you shall never see my face
again. I commit you raving to your chosen friends.�
-Leader: �Gone, your
Majesty, but gone distraught. He is young, his rage will make him desperate.�
-Creon: �I�ll take her
down a path untrod by man. I�ll hide her living in a rock-hewn vault, With
ritual food enough to clear the taint of murder from the City�s name. I�ll
leave her pleading to her favorite God hades. He may charm her out a way to
life. Perhaps she�ll learn though late the cost of homage to the dead is
labor lost.
"No Wedding March, no bridal song," "cheer
me on my way, I whom Hades, Lord of the Dark Lake weds." -Antigone's
key complaint. She views her situation with a very pessimistic outlook. She
complains that her curse leaves her with a life without love. She sees herself
as wedding hell in death.
"What greater glory for a woman's end to partner god in death who
partnered them in life." -The chorus answer Antigone with hope. They tell
her that her punishment is really a gift. She is dying like a goddess, pure
and partnering god in death.
"Perhaps you aimed to high you dashed your foot on fate where justice
sits enthroned." -The chorus is chiding Antigone for being too
ambitious. She, like her father Oedipus, "aimed too high." She thinks she can
go against Creon's decree, and decides to bury her brother.
"A husband dead, another can be found, a child replaced, but once a
brother's dead, no other brother can be born or grows again." -Antigone is
saying that her brothers' deaths are truly unfortunate because a brother can
never be replaced. However, prior to this she felt that it was her
responsibility to bury her brother.
"See me, divine ancestral Thebes! Cast but a glance, you her princess,
on this last and lonely royal scion, see what I suffer from these men for
reverencing the rights of man." -When Antigone is about to die she refers
to herself as a martyr. She views her act as an act of honor.
Tiresias: Think, son, think! To err if human,
true, and only he is damned who having sinned will not repent, will not
repair. He is a fool, a proved and stubborn fool. Give death his due, and do
not kick a corpse. Where is the renown to kill a dead man twice? Believe me, I
advise you well. It should be easy to accept advice so sweetly tuned to your
good use.
Tireseas explains to Creon that he can fix his
mistakes it he takes his advice. For a fool is someone stubborn, someone like
Creon who is full of self-pride.
Creon: Old man, you pot away at me like all
the rest as if I were a bull�s eye, and now if you aim your seer craft at me.
Well, I�m sick of being bought and sold by all your soothsaying tribe. Bargain
away! All the silver of Sardis, all the gold of India is not enough to buy
this man a grave; not even if Zeus�s eagles come, and fly away with carrion
morsels to their master�s throne. Even such a threat of such a taint will not
win this body burial. It takes much more than human remains or desecrate the
majesty divine. Old man Tiresias, the most reverend fall from grace when lies
are sold wrapped up in honeyed words- and all for gold.
This quote displays Creon�s hubris and how he
doesn�t believe in Tiresias� prophecy.
Tiresias: All right then! Take it if you can.
A corpse for a corpse the price, and flesh for flesh, one of your own
begotten. The sun shall not run his course for many days before you pay. You
plunged a child of light into the dark; entombed the living with the dead; the
dead dismissed unmourned, denied a grave- a corpse unhallowed and defeated of
his destiny below. Where neither you nor gods must meddle, you have thrust
your thumbs. Do not be surprised that heaven- yes, and hell- have set the
Furies loose to lie in wait for you, Ready with the punishments you engineered
for others.
Tireseas warns Creon that he will pay for what
he has done. Because Creon has �entombed living� (Antigone) and �dismissed the
dead� (Polyneises) he will be punished.
Tiresias: does this sound like flattery for
sale? Yet a little while and you shall wake to wailing gnashing of teeth in
the house of Creon. Lashed to a unison of rage, they�ll rise, those other
cities, whose mangled sons received their obsequies from dogs and prowling
jackals- from some filthy vulture flapping to alight before their very hearths
bring them home-desecration reeking form its beak. There! You asked, and I
have shot my angry arrows. I aimed at your intemperate heart. I did not miss.
Come boy, take me home. Let him spew choler over young men. He�ll learn a
little modesty in time, a little meekness soon.
Tireseas leaves with an ominous threat and says
that eventually Creon will learn modesty.
Creon: yes, I go at once. Servants, servants-
on the double! You there, fetch the rest. Bring axes all and hurry up the
hill. My mind�s made up. I�ll not be slow to let her loose myself who locked
her in the tomb. In the end it is the ancient codes- oh my regrets! - That one
must keep: to value life than one must value law.
Creon finally realizes that he must save
Antigone and bury Polyneises because it is the right thing to do.
