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Sophocles' 'Antigone' is a touchstone of thinking about human conflict & tragedy, the role of the divine in human life & the degree to which men & women are the creators of their own destinies. This new translation aims to preserve the dramatic qualities of the original.
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LibraryThing member thorold
Antigone is a play that has plenty of resonances for modern audiences. It's often been used in situations where there's a conflict between political authority and private conscience - Athol Fugard's theatre company during the Apartheid years famously created a play in which two prisoners on Robben
The plot is surprisingly simple - two of Antigone’s brothers, fighting on opposite sides, have been killed during a failed attack on Thebes. Their uncle Kreon, the ruler of Thebes, has decreed that the rebel’s body may not be buried. Antigone defies the order, going out to perform a symbolic burial rite for her brother. Bad things ensue, for Kreon and everyone else.
For the Greek viewer, this is presumably meant to be primarily about the after-effects of the Oedipus story rumbling on, and about Kreon acting ultra vires by trying to assert authority over the dead, but Sophokles doesn't allow you to see it simply as the tragedy of Kreon. Antigone’s clarity of conscience is at the heart of the play, and is what has made it such a beacon for people confronted by oppressive government.
Anne Carson's translation is obviously meant in the first place to make this play performable by modern actors in front of a general audience. She avoids archaism and "high language" and keeps the text simple and punchy. Since the actors are going to find the right cadences when they speak the lines anyway, she doesn't bother with punctuation, which initially makes it rather odd to read, but isn't really a problem - it forces you to imagine the sound of the lines.
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Island are staging Antigone, for instance. The plot is surprisingly simple - two of Antigone’s brothers, fighting on opposite sides, have been killed during a failed attack on Thebes. Their uncle Kreon, the ruler of Thebes, has decreed that the rebel’s body may not be buried. Antigone defies the order, going out to perform a symbolic burial rite for her brother. Bad things ensue, for Kreon and everyone else.
For the Greek viewer, this is presumably meant to be primarily about the after-effects of the Oedipus story rumbling on, and about Kreon acting ultra vires by trying to assert authority over the dead, but Sophokles doesn't allow you to see it simply as the tragedy of Kreon. Antigone’s clarity of conscience is at the heart of the play, and is what has made it such a beacon for people confronted by oppressive government.
Anne Carson's translation is obviously meant in the first place to make this play performable by modern actors in front of a general audience. She avoids archaism and "high language" and keeps the text simple and punchy. Since the actors are going to find the right cadences when they speak the lines anyway, she doesn't bother with punctuation, which initially makes it rather odd to read, but isn't really a problem - it forces you to imagine the sound of the lines.
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LibraryThing member bdtrump
I liked this the best of the trilogy - Sophocles gives the reader something to sink their teeth into. Fervor and love for family, country, and duty are major themes here, and are shown to give dire consequences (good and bad).
LibraryThing member sdtaylor555
Read this in the classroom. Fun to read as a play.
LibraryThing member sealford
Antigone's story is a bit of a sad one. For those who haven't read it yet, I'm not going to spoil it for you. But keep in mind, there is a very good reason why it is required reading in many high schools. I read this one after reading "Medea," and I instantly become hooked on all of the Greek
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authors. Though relatively short compared to other works of that time period, the story is very profound, and tends to keep the reader hooked right up until the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member fufuakaspeechless
Excellent book, a great ending to the story.
LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
Read this for a Lit class... also, watched a production in class with Sir John Geilgud playing the old oracle.
LibraryThing member mstrust
The daughters of the late King Oedipus. Antigone and her sister Ismene are all that's left of the former ruling family. On the throne is Kreon, brother of the late Queen Jocasta, their mother. He is a military man who demands complete obedience from his subjects, who know his punishments are
This is the story of what happens after Oedipus Rex. In that play we see a younger Kreon, the soldier brother-in-law to the king, who himself challenges authority. Here, possibly years later, Kreon is a tyrant who refuses to listen as all around him counsel him to show Antigone mercy. The girl's character is held up as a noble sacrifice to show the danger of one man's absolute authority.
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severe. When he declares that the body of his nephew Polyneices will remain unburied due to his unworthiness, it forces Antigone to break the law and openly challenge Kreon.This is the story of what happens after Oedipus Rex. In that play we see a younger Kreon, the soldier brother-in-law to the king, who himself challenges authority. Here, possibly years later, Kreon is a tyrant who refuses to listen as all around him counsel him to show Antigone mercy. The girl's character is held up as a noble sacrifice to show the danger of one man's absolute authority.
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
This is the best of the Oedipus plays because it's the one that gives you a sense of the epic scope of the thing. Oedi is dead and buried and blessing Athens with his cursed presence, but his family are still slaughtering each other. Hatred, rage, self-loathing, the desire to make something
Eye of the blessed sun--
I shall miss you soon.
No tears will mourn me dead. No friend to cry
we (rarest, I say, of things) sympathize. And when Creon replies "Listen you! Panegyrics and dirges go on forever if given the chance," and seals her up, that's when he becomes unredeemably villain. Cartoons bore, no doubt, but seeing the process by which a complex and sometimes admirable human becomes a cartoon is shocking and compelling. Your city sickens, Creon, you crawling thing, you double filicidal killer. The curse got you too.
And then Antigone dead, hung, and Haemon dead, self-stabbed, and Eurydice dead, and Creon no doubt feeling he's paid and hoping to buy a reprieve by grief against the wave of human decency that belatedly overcomes the townsfolk (apparently it worked, as Wikipedia saith he was killed in old age by one Lycus, next king of bloody Thebes). And the chorus girls sing:
Creation is a marvel
And man its masterpiece;
He scuds before the southern wind
Between the loud white-piling swell.
He drives his thoroughbreds
Through Earth (perpetual
Great goddess inexhaustible)
Exhausting her each year
(...)
He's trained his agile thoughts
(Volatile as air)
To civilizing words.
He's roofed against the sky
The javelin crystal frosts
The arrow-lancing rains.
All fertile in resource
He's provident for all
(Not beaten by disease)
All but death, and death--
He never cures.
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admirable out of one's tainted life, spring eternal and feed one another. Also, I' a sucker for brother and sister stuff. Alongside my dad's comment that your sister is the only person who's with you for your life comes Antigone's, that once a brother is gone, unlike a husband or a child, you can never grow a new one, unless some miracle happens (or your parents are still young and birthy). In fact, the main reason this play struck me in the gut was the lines. "Ask Cleon. You and he are friends," Antigone says to her sister Ismene, who is desperate to prove her worth by helping bury her brother against Cleon's wishes but is scared. It's "Why don't you ask your boyfriend, Cleon?" taken to the edge of violence. Cleon himself is fascinating--the heir-presumptive become the good man-at-arms to Oedipus, come the scold and upholder of the good state, come the tyrant and hypocrite. You get the feeling that his personal hate for Oedipus is what licenses his revulsion at the cursed acts and persecution of the family, rather than the other way around. The equivocations and backdoor philosophy of the sentry--"unpleasant news is very unpleasant, you know!"--where the threat of death adds a queasy nervous giggle, a whole new realm, to what might otherwise be mere nervous Blackadderisms, not that that's a minor accomplishment in itself. Antigone, walking her life's last path, having bought--if anyone ever did--with her aggressive selflessness in acting against Creon to bury her brother the chance now to wallow in self-pity and (rarest of things) keep her audience--there is that within the human which recoils from the maudlin even when it is completely justified, which speaks to the power of Antigone's symbolic act. When she saysEye of the blessed sun--
I shall miss you soon.
No tears will mourn me dead. No friend to cry
we (rarest, I say, of things) sympathize. And when Creon replies "Listen you! Panegyrics and dirges go on forever if given the chance," and seals her up, that's when he becomes unredeemably villain. Cartoons bore, no doubt, but seeing the process by which a complex and sometimes admirable human becomes a cartoon is shocking and compelling. Your city sickens, Creon, you crawling thing, you double filicidal killer. The curse got you too.
And then Antigone dead, hung, and Haemon dead, self-stabbed, and Eurydice dead, and Creon no doubt feeling he's paid and hoping to buy a reprieve by grief against the wave of human decency that belatedly overcomes the townsfolk (apparently it worked, as Wikipedia saith he was killed in old age by one Lycus, next king of bloody Thebes). And the chorus girls sing:
Creation is a marvel
And man its masterpiece;
He scuds before the southern wind
Between the loud white-piling swell.
He drives his thoroughbreds
Through Earth (perpetual
Great goddess inexhaustible)
Exhausting her each year
(...)
He's trained his agile thoughts
(Volatile as air)
To civilizing words.
He's roofed against the sky
The javelin crystal frosts
The arrow-lancing rains.
All fertile in resource
He's provident for all
(Not beaten by disease)
All but death, and death--
He never cures.
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LibraryThing member Nitzan_Schwarz
I read this play as part of my literature classes in high-school, and I've got one thing to say about it - Five minutes.
If she waited five minutes; she'd be alive, he'll be alive and all would've been well with the world.
Five minutes.
If she waited five minutes; she'd be alive, he'll be alive and all would've been well with the world.
Five minutes.
LibraryThing member alexandremdang
I loved this book i am probably very biased as my grade in my english class depended on how i liked this book so fair thee well
LibraryThing member TiffanyAK
I actually read an online version of this text provided by my teacher as part of my Introduction to Drama course, so this is not the same translation I'm writing about, but is the same work. While I cannot be sure about this exact translation, I do know that the play itself is an excellent example
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of ancient Greek tragedy. Even more striking is the strong role given to the female lead, especially at that time in history. It offers a great historical perspective in general. If you are interested in drama at all, it is almost certainly a good idea to read some of the earliest examples, including this one. There are lots of good translations online, as well as in collections of dramas from ancient Greece and elsewhere, in addition to the stand-alone versions. In good translations, such as the one I was provided with, it is easy to read and follow, so there's no reason not to give it a shot. As someone who has read many ancient Greek dramas from several different genres, it's certainly one that I highly recommend. Show Less
LibraryThing member David.Alfred.Sarkies
This is probably the closest of all of the Greek tragedies to a Shakespearian tragedy. This is due to the end of the play having a huge bodycount and the action of the play is driven by one person's fatal flaw (not that I actually believe in the fatal flaw argument, but that is beside the point).
First I will discuss the term Harmatia, which is Aristotelian in origin, at least from his text on drama (The Poetics). I shall also look at the action of the play and finish off by discussing the main theme, which is the struggle between loyalty to one's family and loyalty to one's state. Well, no, I will finish off by looking at Creon's character, and how his actions bring about such a sticky end.
The concept of Harmatia is regularly found in the Bible where it has been translated into our word sin. Now, as I think about the concept of Harmatia I am somewhat torn between suggesting that Harmatia and sin are two different ideas, or that our modern understanding of sin does not exactly weigh with how the modern church translates and preaches it. The modern church preaches sin as being rebellion against God (of which we are all guilty), and then goes on to bombard us with what constitutes sin. However, to the Greeks, or at least to Aristotle, Harmatia is a fatal character flaw. Now that concept does not alienate sin because sin, in an of itself, is a fatal character flaw that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. This fatal character flaw of ours is our desire to live independently, and we see this more and more as we meet with people and associate with them. I also see it rampant throughout the church as people try to push God into a box and tell him what sin is rather than letting him demonstrate sin to them.
I say this because the list of sins seems to get longer and longer and we, as humans and those of us who call ourselves Christian, seem to think that sin is made up of our actions as opposed to our desire to rule ourselves. I guess the best explanation is that our actions, especially our selfish actions, are merely a symptom of this character flaw of ours. The Bible is correct when it says that the wages of sin is death, because as we see, especially in Antigone, that Creon's Harmatia leaves him desolate and alone, and as he says from his own lips, it is as if he were dead. Now, the Greek concept of death, the absence of life, and the removal of ourselves from this world, is somewhat different to the Biblical concept of death. In fact our modern understanding of death is more in line with the Grecian view. However the biblical view is that death is more to do with the break down of our relationships, particularly our relationship with God, than it is with the absence of life. To the Bible life is defined by relationships, and when we drive our relationships apart we are little more than dead. In fact it has been suggested that higher suicide rates occur among truly lonely people than it does among people who are surrounded by friends. That, though, is only speculation. However, consider this: even when we are surrounded by friends we can still be alone, especially if these so called friends of ours only seek us out for company and, in their self centred view of the world, seek to only have us by their side to make them feel good and important than really doing anything that is remotely friendly.
Now, the play itself is set after the Theban war, where Etocles and Polyneices killed each other after Polyneices attacked Thebes with his army to remove his brother and set himself up as king. Creon, by default, becomes king and his first order of business is to give Etocles a state funeral while leaving the body of Polyneices exposed. To be exposed was the worst thing that you could do to a corpse in the Ancient Greek world. A proper burial meant that you would at least have a half decent afterlife, while being exposed suggests that you would be left wondering the earth as a ghost, and a tormented one at that. Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, is horrified at this and seeks to bury him, much to Creon's displeasure, so he orders her executed. However the play is not as simple as that because Creon's son is in love with Antigone, and when he finds her dead, he kills himself, and in a fit of grief over the death of her son, Creon's wife also kills herself.
Now one of the main themes that comes out of this play is the struggle between one's loyalty to the state and one's loyalty to one's family and the dilemma that one will face when the state passes a law of which you do not approve. The question that is raised is: do you dishonour the state by breaking the law and honouring your family, or do you dishonour your family by upholding the law even when the law is unjust. In a way, there was nothing wrong with Creon's law, since Polyneices was a traitor, and treachery is seen as one of the worst crimes to commit (even today, though the definition of treason has become very ambiguous in the globalised, interconnected world). However, he was still family, and not only that, Etocles' ascension to the throne was dubious at best. The entire war was not so much about a deposed monarch seeking reinstatement, but rather a family quarrel between two brothers.
We still face these dilemmas today, though not to the same extent. The question of whether the drug laws are just is one of them (and I do believe that they are, even though they can be considered to be an outworking of the Nanny State). While it is true that people should be left to make their own decisions, we demonstrate time and time again that we are actually not capable of doing so, therefore the state actually does need to step in to protect us from ourselves. Then there is the war that the state embarks on that many members of the state disapprove of, and as a loyal soldier to the state, do you obey the state by embarking on a quasi-legal adventure, or do you uphold your morals by refusing, and face punishment or even gaol.
Creon mentions a number of times that he, as the king, is the state, and thus his laws are to be obeyed. However, ironically enough, the Chorus objects to this. Now the Chorus does play an important role in Greek tragedy, and usually represents what the Greeks call the 'Oklos', or the crowd. Crowd is actually a rather bad translation as my understanding of the Oklos is that it is a crowd that acts as a single entity and has a single mindset. Now, this is not always the case in Greek tragedy as at times the Chorus will split and then argue with itself, in a way representing division amongst the people. It is a shame that we do not actually see Choruses in plays any more (or not playing a major role as they did in Greek drama).
Now Creon, having become king, has pretty much become corrupted by power. Yet I am not entirely convinced that it is corruption at such an early stage of his reign. In a way, he is the new king, and he wants to stamp his authority on the city, or, as the Greeks called it, the Polis (I won't go into details of the meaning of this word as I have already spent too much time translating Oklos). For him to be disobeyed will suggest that he does not actually have the character to be a king. A king that is not obeyed and not respected is not actually a king because he has no authority. As such Creon wants to make sure that his authority sticks so when this law is broken he is forced to act. However, he is not caught in a dilemma deciding whether it is right to punish Antigone or not - he has already made up his mind, set the path that he wants to travel, and travels down it. However, it ends very, very badly for him, and this is emphasised at the conclusion when the prophet Tiresieus arrives and passes on the message from the gods. He has acted against the proper way and is now to be punished and there is no way to escape from it.
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However it is not Antigone who has the fatal flaw in this play but rather Creon, the king of Thebes. Unfortunately we cannot really look to Oedipus at Colonus to see the beginning of Creon's downfall because this play is not the final part of a trilogy, at least in the Aeschylan sense of a trilogy, though it is noticeable that when the copyists chose seven plays of Sophocles to preserve for posterity three of the Theban plays were kept which in a sense formed a trilogy, and in this trilogy we see Creon go from being a loyal servant of Oedipus to a ruthless tyrant that believes that he is the state and that his words are not to be disobeyed.First I will discuss the term Harmatia, which is Aristotelian in origin, at least from his text on drama (The Poetics). I shall also look at the action of the play and finish off by discussing the main theme, which is the struggle between loyalty to one's family and loyalty to one's state. Well, no, I will finish off by looking at Creon's character, and how his actions bring about such a sticky end.
The concept of Harmatia is regularly found in the Bible where it has been translated into our word sin. Now, as I think about the concept of Harmatia I am somewhat torn between suggesting that Harmatia and sin are two different ideas, or that our modern understanding of sin does not exactly weigh with how the modern church translates and preaches it. The modern church preaches sin as being rebellion against God (of which we are all guilty), and then goes on to bombard us with what constitutes sin. However, to the Greeks, or at least to Aristotle, Harmatia is a fatal character flaw. Now that concept does not alienate sin because sin, in an of itself, is a fatal character flaw that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. This fatal character flaw of ours is our desire to live independently, and we see this more and more as we meet with people and associate with them. I also see it rampant throughout the church as people try to push God into a box and tell him what sin is rather than letting him demonstrate sin to them.
I say this because the list of sins seems to get longer and longer and we, as humans and those of us who call ourselves Christian, seem to think that sin is made up of our actions as opposed to our desire to rule ourselves. I guess the best explanation is that our actions, especially our selfish actions, are merely a symptom of this character flaw of ours. The Bible is correct when it says that the wages of sin is death, because as we see, especially in Antigone, that Creon's Harmatia leaves him desolate and alone, and as he says from his own lips, it is as if he were dead. Now, the Greek concept of death, the absence of life, and the removal of ourselves from this world, is somewhat different to the Biblical concept of death. In fact our modern understanding of death is more in line with the Grecian view. However the biblical view is that death is more to do with the break down of our relationships, particularly our relationship with God, than it is with the absence of life. To the Bible life is defined by relationships, and when we drive our relationships apart we are little more than dead. In fact it has been suggested that higher suicide rates occur among truly lonely people than it does among people who are surrounded by friends. That, though, is only speculation. However, consider this: even when we are surrounded by friends we can still be alone, especially if these so called friends of ours only seek us out for company and, in their self centred view of the world, seek to only have us by their side to make them feel good and important than really doing anything that is remotely friendly.
Now, the play itself is set after the Theban war, where Etocles and Polyneices killed each other after Polyneices attacked Thebes with his army to remove his brother and set himself up as king. Creon, by default, becomes king and his first order of business is to give Etocles a state funeral while leaving the body of Polyneices exposed. To be exposed was the worst thing that you could do to a corpse in the Ancient Greek world. A proper burial meant that you would at least have a half decent afterlife, while being exposed suggests that you would be left wondering the earth as a ghost, and a tormented one at that. Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, is horrified at this and seeks to bury him, much to Creon's displeasure, so he orders her executed. However the play is not as simple as that because Creon's son is in love with Antigone, and when he finds her dead, he kills himself, and in a fit of grief over the death of her son, Creon's wife also kills herself.
Now one of the main themes that comes out of this play is the struggle between one's loyalty to the state and one's loyalty to one's family and the dilemma that one will face when the state passes a law of which you do not approve. The question that is raised is: do you dishonour the state by breaking the law and honouring your family, or do you dishonour your family by upholding the law even when the law is unjust. In a way, there was nothing wrong with Creon's law, since Polyneices was a traitor, and treachery is seen as one of the worst crimes to commit (even today, though the definition of treason has become very ambiguous in the globalised, interconnected world). However, he was still family, and not only that, Etocles' ascension to the throne was dubious at best. The entire war was not so much about a deposed monarch seeking reinstatement, but rather a family quarrel between two brothers.
We still face these dilemmas today, though not to the same extent. The question of whether the drug laws are just is one of them (and I do believe that they are, even though they can be considered to be an outworking of the Nanny State). While it is true that people should be left to make their own decisions, we demonstrate time and time again that we are actually not capable of doing so, therefore the state actually does need to step in to protect us from ourselves. Then there is the war that the state embarks on that many members of the state disapprove of, and as a loyal soldier to the state, do you obey the state by embarking on a quasi-legal adventure, or do you uphold your morals by refusing, and face punishment or even gaol.
Creon mentions a number of times that he, as the king, is the state, and thus his laws are to be obeyed. However, ironically enough, the Chorus objects to this. Now the Chorus does play an important role in Greek tragedy, and usually represents what the Greeks call the 'Oklos', or the crowd. Crowd is actually a rather bad translation as my understanding of the Oklos is that it is a crowd that acts as a single entity and has a single mindset. Now, this is not always the case in Greek tragedy as at times the Chorus will split and then argue with itself, in a way representing division amongst the people. It is a shame that we do not actually see Choruses in plays any more (or not playing a major role as they did in Greek drama).
Now Creon, having become king, has pretty much become corrupted by power. Yet I am not entirely convinced that it is corruption at such an early stage of his reign. In a way, he is the new king, and he wants to stamp his authority on the city, or, as the Greeks called it, the Polis (I won't go into details of the meaning of this word as I have already spent too much time translating Oklos). For him to be disobeyed will suggest that he does not actually have the character to be a king. A king that is not obeyed and not respected is not actually a king because he has no authority. As such Creon wants to make sure that his authority sticks so when this law is broken he is forced to act. However, he is not caught in a dilemma deciding whether it is right to punish Antigone or not - he has already made up his mind, set the path that he wants to travel, and travels down it. However, it ends very, very badly for him, and this is emphasised at the conclusion when the prophet Tiresieus arrives and passes on the message from the gods. He has acted against the proper way and is now to be punished and there is no way to escape from it.
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LibraryThing member AliceAnna
I tried to put myself in a state of zeitgeist while reading this. In that vein, this is a very good play with a strong story and moral. By today's standards, it is stiff and formal, but the story is still timeless.
LibraryThing member hannahj26
I really enjoyed this. It was short but interesting. Though it was written long ago, the characters are easily related to in today's world.
LibraryThing member chrisjb
Antigone is different than anything i normally read. It is a play, and seems to parallel the ideas and concepts of other successful plays like romeo and juliet for example. Like any play, Antigone is a tragedy with sad and happy moments. It has your typical tragic hero with flaws and strengths.
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Like all plays the hero prevails and the antagonist is exposed and suffers a death. Show Less
LibraryThing member trilliams
If you thought keeping up with the Kardashians was tough, you should get a load of this family.
LibraryThing member bartt95
Surprisingly interesting and not as dusty as I expected. A fast paced story along with a clear message about the dangers of pride. Even though most of the ways of thinking are now considered non-sensical and ignorant, the message remains. The best thing about this play was the dialogue, especially
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the retorts against Creon by Antigone, Haemon and Teiresias. Show Less
LibraryThing member Calavari
Love this!! I read it for college and I love the way she stands up for herself and her beliefs. I had no idea that I could find a strong female characters this far back in classical writing.
LibraryThing member thebookmagpie
Read for my Law, Justice, and Morality class.
LibraryThing member SashaM
What a pointless story.... And we inflict this on school children and wonder why they think English sucks....
LibraryThing member jonfaith
Owen Bennett Jones recently wrote on the Islamic State in the LRB. "Every time a Jihadi movement has won power it has lost popularity by failing to give the people what they want: peace, security and jobs." When I read that I thought about poor King Creon. I have always felt disturbed by the vice
Rather, it is between two different types of religious feeling; one is a family religion, purely private and confined to the small circle of close relatives, the philoi, centered around the domestic hearth and the cult of the dead; the other is a public religion in which the tutelary gods of the city eventually become confused with the supreme values of the State.
Who would have guessed that a few hundred years after the Enlightenment such rituals and disputation would remain foregrounded? My views on progress and positivism have been eroded greatly over the course of my adult life. A chill remains in the air and yet a glimmer of hope persists, even now. I hope to always harbor such impossibilities
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of fate in this play which steadily traps and crushes. It was Creon's hubris which caught my attention this time. Doesn't he have a mandate? I imagine him simply incredulous. Why this dissent? Subsequently I read a number of secondary pieces, though as I feared Creon is a symbol, whereas Antigone remains human, though her plight is class-conscious according to some, whereas others view matters as a collision of opposed ideas. Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet explored such in their Myth and Tragedy in Ancient Greece.Rather, it is between two different types of religious feeling; one is a family religion, purely private and confined to the small circle of close relatives, the philoi, centered around the domestic hearth and the cult of the dead; the other is a public religion in which the tutelary gods of the city eventually become confused with the supreme values of the State.
Who would have guessed that a few hundred years after the Enlightenment such rituals and disputation would remain foregrounded? My views on progress and positivism have been eroded greatly over the course of my adult life. A chill remains in the air and yet a glimmer of hope persists, even now. I hope to always harbor such impossibilities
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LibraryThing member steller0707
Ancient and yet so relevant to today. Antigone wants only to do what is right, to respect her slain brother by giving him a proper burial. But in this simple task, she is thwarted by laws of the State; because he attacked Thebes, her brother must be left for carrion. Antigone argues that there is a
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moral law higher than that of the State. She loses, with tragic results for everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member DrFuriosa
A compelling play that cuts against gender roles and women's limitations. I would hesitate to teach the play because of the rash of suicides that occur. I was making mental connections with 13 Reasons Why, and I'm not sure my particular demographic of college students needs to read this at our
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particular moment in history. It's a good play and well worth reading, but TW if you need it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Adrianmb
Maybe I misunderstood its meaning or I over read it. I thought it was a political allegory of the need to balance the natural impulses of man (the Chtonian as Paglia would put) represented by Antigone with the rational part (the Promethean).
LibraryThing member wanderlustlover
Late Fall 2018: Fall 2018, Teacher Read:
My Seniors are doing Oedipus, and my Sophomores are doing Antigone, and it seemed fitting that I should read the whole Theban Trilogy again since my daily life is half-immersed within it currently. I, honestly, couldn't remember if I had to read this one in
I still feel about the way I did in the last review. This is where we come full circle and the whole of Oedipus' house is dead, and Creon's house as well, pretty much-leaving everyone on the stage as corpses and the tale a tragedy of woe from beginning to end, for all those touched by the scourge.
Fall 2014:
Next piece read with my class. I don't really have a vast attachment to this play the way I do to some of the other Greek pieces. I do see the point behind it, and it has been great for getting my kids to think about some broad concepts, but this one sort of sailed over my head without much coming to rest because of it.
My Seniors are doing Oedipus, and my Sophomores are doing Antigone, and it seemed fitting that I should read the whole Theban Trilogy again since my daily life is half-immersed within it currently. I, honestly, couldn't remember if I had to read this one in
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college or not. I still feel about the way I did in the last review. This is where we come full circle and the whole of Oedipus' house is dead, and Creon's house as well, pretty much-leaving everyone on the stage as corpses and the tale a tragedy of woe from beginning to end, for all those touched by the scourge.
Fall 2014:
Next piece read with my class. I don't really have a vast attachment to this play the way I do to some of the other Greek pieces. I do see the point behind it, and it has been great for getting my kids to think about some broad concepts, but this one sort of sailed over my head without much coming to rest because of it.
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Subjects
Genres
Series
Publication
Prestwick House, Inc. (2005), Edition: 2005, 80 pages
Original publication date
5th century BCE
Pages
80
ISBN
1580493882 / 9781580493888
Language
Original language
English