He initially seems willing to forsake Antigone, but when Haemon gently tries to persuade his father to spare Antigone, claiming that 'under cover of darkness the city mourns for the girl', the discussion deteriorates and the two men are soon bitterly insulting each other. When Creon threatens to execute Antigone in front of his son, Haemon leaves, vowing never to see Creon again.
Creon decides to spare Ismene and to bury Antigone alive in a cave. By not killing her directly, he hopes to pay the minimal respects to the gods. She is brought out of the house, and this time, she is sorrowful instead of defiant.
She expresses her regrets at not having married and dying for following the laws of the gods. She is taken away to her living tomb, with the Leader of the Chorus expressing great sorrow for what is going to happen to her. Tiresias, the blind prophet, enters. Tiresias warns Creon that Polyneices should now be urgently buried because the gods are displeased, refusing to accept any sacrifices or prayers from Thebes.
Creon accuses Tiresias of being corrupt. Tiresias responds that because of Creon's mistakes, he will lose "a son of [his] own loins" for the crimes of leaving Polyneices unburied and putting Antigone into the earth he does not say that Antigone should not be condemned to death, only that it is improper to keep a living body underneath the earth.
All of Greece will despise Creon, and the sacrificial offerings of Thebes will not be accepted by the gods. Creon assents, leaving with a retinue of men. The Chorus delivers a choral ode to the god Dionysus god of wine and of the theater; this part is the offering to their patron god. A Messenger enters to tell the Leader of the Chorus that Antigone has killed herself. Eurydice, Creon's wife and Haemon's mother, enters and asks the Messenger to tell her everything.
The Messenger reports that Creon saw to the burial of Polyneices. When Creon arrives at Antigone's cave, he found Haemon lamenting over Antigone, who had hanged herself. After unsuccessfully attempting to stab Creon, Haemon stabs himself. Having listened to the Messenger's account, Eurydice disappears into the palace. Creon enters, carrying Haemon's body. He understands that his own actions have caused these events and blames himself.
With her last breath, she cursed her husband. Creon blames himself for everything that has happened, and, a broken man, he asks his servants to help him inside. The order he valued so much has been protected, and he is still the king, but he has acted against the gods and lost his children and his wife as a result. After Creon condemns himself, the Leader of the Chorus closes by saying that although the gods punish the proud, punishment brings wisdom.
View 2 comments. This drama highlights the differences between state and divine law. Especially interesting is the language. Sophocles has done very well to portray this conflict.
Even after years still a worth reading, profound text. View all 9 comments. Antigone is a real heroine; she stands up for what she believes in. She was faced with a strong dilemma. The law of man, the word of her uncle the king, demands that her brother's body remains unburied in the open with no funeral rights, to be savaged by animals. She buries the body and fa Antigone is a real heroine; she stands up for what she believes in. She buries the body and faces the consequences of the crime.
Creon: And still you had the gall to break this law? Antigone: Of course I did. It wasn't Zeus, not in the least, who made this proclamation-not to me Nor did that justice, dwelling with the gods beneath the earth, ordain such laws for men. Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods. Who has the right of this situation? It is easy to brand Creon a tyrant, though to do so overlooks the reasoning behind his actions.
In reality he is being an effective, albeit harsh, ruler. When his niece breaks his law, he has no choice but to punish her as he would any man. Thus, Sophocles presents a beautifully conflicted situation. There is no longer a discernible sense of right or wrong, only a thin line of morality that separates a tyrant from a man of justice. And his conviction only gets worse; he refuses to hear what his son and the city the chorus think about the situation. He only sees his narrow-minded sense of justice, and ignores the effects it will have on his loved ones.
He has no doubts about his actions, and demonstrates the questionable nature of a cold approach to kingship. The laws of man are not always right. Something Creon simply cannot perceive. To his mind, he is morally right, a man of good character and a king of honour. Is this not the most dangerous of leaders? Creon: I will take her down some wild, desolate path never trod by men, and wall her up alive in a rocky vault, and set out short rations, just the measure piety demands to keep the entire city free of defilement.
There let her pray to the one god she worships: Death—who knows? Or she may learn at last, better late than never, what a waste of breath it is to worship Death. His hamartia, his tragic flaw in Aristotle terms, is his severe lack of judgement, and his inability to perceive the wrongness of his decree. The reversal, recognition and suffering come in the form of the priest Tiresias, an old wise man who speaks to the Gods.
He tells Creon what will happen if he persists down his current path, and after much resistance, Creon finally relents his folly. But it is far too late. The blood has already been shed.
Tragedy has already struck, death has already struck: Creon is left in tatters. It is the hardest of lessons to learn. So what do we learn from this? Greek tragedy was didactical in purpose; it was used as a learning tool, a means of imparting wisdom to the audience. What is Sophocles message? Never presume that you are right and an absolute morale authority. For Creon, his realisation came too late. The result was a sacrifice he will never forget, Antigone's death, and the one most readers seem to sympathise with.
But I implore you to look further into the play, and consider the full role of Creon. The only crime is pride. I need more Greek tragedy in my reading diet. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection. View all 15 comments. This was a reread for me. It's fabulous and now I want to read the rest of the Theban plays.
This review will not focus on the play itself, but on the wonderful translation by Anne Carson. Anne Carson is a poet.
She is a wordsmith in the highest "Your soul is blowing apart. She is a wordsmith in the highest sense of the word. She has an ear for modern language that makes this translation fresh and contemporary while honoring Sophocles true intention. Carson's translation is full of dry, dark humor and avoids the pitfalls of those dour, humorless translations that are of one note and written to emulate a funeral dirge.
But more importantly, Carson shows that Kreon, not Antigone, is the true tragic character of the work. He refuses to heed the wisdom of others, when Kreon relents at the last, only to find his family dead and his city in despair. But, ultimately, I think it would be best to call this an adaptation rather than a translation. View all 14 comments. Of all the Greek theatre, few works remain. Among the scarce works that we still have, Antigone is one of the most famous. It must be said that it is deserved: this tragedy is a powerful, deep, immense, great work: you had to be Sophocles to do this to us.
It's big; it's beautiful, it's strong! View all 4 comments. May 05, Dave Schaafsma rated it it was amazing Shelves: plays. Ismene: Who said that?
Antigone: Hegel. Ismene: Sounds more like Beckett. My daughter was in the crew for the production stage left props , as I once was for a production of Antigone when I was in college decades ago. Like Antigone, Sophie was a teenager who defended her brother honorably, following in their activist footsteps, doing the right thing in the face of a patriarchal authority who, like King Lear, raged with demands of loyalty.
Philosophy professor Hans Huber, who guided The White Rose Society, was executed for resistance to the Nazi state: "And thou shalt act as if On thee and on thy deed Depended the fate of all Germany, And thou alone must answer for it. They made signs, wrote and signed petitions, and some of them were interviewed by the media.
When I was in high school we shut down the school on a couple occasions, insisting that the curriculum reflect growing concerns with the Vietnam War, racism, the environment. We made signs, we wrote pamphlets, we created sit-down strikes, and we got some concessions and curricular changes. View all 11 comments. Sep 05, James rated it really liked it Shelves: 3-written-preth-century , 3-multi-book-series , 1-fiction.
Book Review 4 out of 5 stars to Antigone , the third in a trilogy of Theban plays written around BC yes, almost years ago by Sophocles. In my junior year of high school, our Advanced Placement English teacher assigned all three Theban plays.
This is a mini-review on the final one, Antigone, which was my second favorite -- Oedipus Rex was of course, my favorite. In this Greek tragedy, Antigone, Oedipus Rex's daughter, fights to have a proper burial for her brother.
She is str Book Review 4 out of 5 stars to Antigone , the third in a trilogy of Theban plays written around BC yes, almost years ago by Sophocles. She is strong-willed, determined and forceful, yet respectful and fair in her arguments.
What I love about these plays is that ability for the characters to call on your emotions, logic and your intelligence. The plots are incredibly complex and shocking, but the players are what help you fall in love with Sophocles as a writer. Given its years old, and a translation, there are a number of areas where might not fully understand, especially if you aren't familiar with your Greek Gods and Goddesses.
The words themselves are beautiful. The images you see are intense. It's a fantastic read. But read them in order. And think of Antigone as your very own Wonder Woman. About Me For those new to me or my reviews I write A LOT. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. A brilliant part of this book is that rather than the author or any other human, the tale is told by a cynical, aggressive and sarcastic crow, who observes everything that is going on whilst on the lookout for food, usually of the dead variety.
At the end of the book, the same crow interviews the author Ali Smith, Jeremy Paxman-style, about why she wrote this story and this is another clever idea as it reminds us how the Ancient Greeks loved a full on discussion to get to the truth!
It is the crow who first spots the young girl Antigone, who despite warnings from her sister Ismene, decides to break the law of the land. Made possible with the help of the community, three Antigone employees have successfully become the new owners!
In , three women opened Antigone Books and named the bookstore after the Greek mythological character who stood her ground against male authority figures.
Kate Randall and Trudy Mills owned the store for about thirty years. Now, meet the three women who are about to begin writing the next chapter of Antigone Books.
She was taken off of the stage. Prophet Tiresias came and he was brought by a boy. He told Creon that the birds told him something bad will happen. He observed their behavior and he heard some strange noises so he decided to make a sacrifice to the gods but they rejected him.
Creon accused Tiresisas of only wanting his money and that he stops speaking because Polyneices will not be buried. Tiresias predicted a death in his family because he refused to listed to the gods. The boy took Tiresias and Choirmaster warned Creon that Tiresisas was never wrong in his prophecies.
Creon had to do something fast before someone close to him gets hurt. Creon decided to tell his servants to dig up a grave for Polyneices. He went with his servants. The Chorus is happy about Creon changing his mind and deciding to forgive Antigone. They hope for a happy outcome. A messenger arrives. Creon had two sons and one of them was Haemon. Now Haemon also committed suicide.
In the moment Eurydice left the palace with the servants the messenger described all that had happened.
She hung herself and Haemon was crying next to her. He tried to attack him but Creon managed to defend himself. Filled with anger Haemon stabbed himself. When Eurydice heard about it she went to the palace with her servants. The Choirmaster became suspicious because of the silence and he sent the messenger to chaperon her. The Chorus started lamenting because off all the deaths. Creon cried because of his son and realized his own madness brought him to this situation.
The messenger came with bad news. The doors of the castle opened and showed Eurydice dead. Creon told the servants to get him away and calls for his own death. An arrogant man will always be shot down by destiny and brought to the realization of his own guilt.
From the beginning to her suicide she knew she was right and she was ready to die for her cause. She never got scared of her own decision but she did cry over her destiny. Ismene on the other hand believed her sister was ruled by passion which made her unreasonable. Her suicide proved to Creon he never had her faith in his hands because she picked her own death. Antigone told her that she picked her death and Ismene picked her life. Ismene was too weak to stand up to anyone and after wanting to help Antigone she was taken away and we know nothing of her destiny.
It was assumed she died without getting married or having children. Creon was a stubborn ruler who only believed in his own laws.
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