Sophocles
Antigone
442 BC
Translator's Note
This
translation by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC (now
Vancouver Island University), has certain copyright restrictions. For
information please use the following link: Copyright.
For comments or question please contact Ian
Johnston.
This translation is available in the form of a published paperback book from Richer Resources Publications.
This text is available in the form of a Publisher file for those who would like to print it off as a small book. There is no charge for these files. For details, please use the following link: Publisher files.
The translator would like to acknowledge the extremely valuable help provided by Andrew Brown’s edition of Sophocles’ Antigone (Aris & Philips, 1987), especially by his editorial notes.
Note
that in this translation the numbers in square brackets refer to the Greek text,
and the numbers with no brackets refer to this text. The asterisks in the
text are links to explanatory notes at the end.
This
text was last revised in May 2005.
Background Note to the Story
When
Oedipus, King of Thebes, discovered through his own investigations that he had
killed his father and married his mother, Jocasta, he put out his own eyes, and
Jocasta killed herself. Once Oedipus ceased being king of Thebes, his two sons,
Polyneices and Eteocles, agreed to alternate as king. When Eteocles refused to
give up power to Polyneices, the latter collected a foreign army of Argives and
attacked the city. In the ensuing battle, the Thebans triumphed over the
invading forces, and the two brothers killed each other, with Eteocles defending
the city and Polyneices attacking it. The action of the play begins immediately
after the battle. Note that Creon is a brother of Jocasta and thus an uncle of
Antigone, Ismene, Eteocles, and Polyneices.
Sophocles
Antigone
Dramatis Personae
ANTIGONE:
daughter of Oedipus.
ISMENE: daughter of Oedipus, sister of Antigone
CREON: king of Thebes
EURYDICE: wife of Creon
HAEMON: son of Creon and Euridice, engaged to Antigone.
TEIRESIAS: an old blind prophet
BOY: a young lad guiding Teiresias
GUARD: a soldier serving Creon.
MESSENGER
CHORUS: Theban Elders
ATTENDANTS
[In
Thebes, directly in front of the royal palace, which stands in the background,
its main doors facing the audience.
Enter Antigone leading Ismene away from the palace]
ANTIGONE
Now, dear Ismene, my own
blood sister,
do you have any sense of
all the troubles
Zeus keeps bringing on
the two of us,
as long as we’re alive?
All that misery
which stems from Oedipus?
There’s no suffering,
no shame, no ruin—not
one dishonour—
which I have not seen in
all the troubles
you and I go through.
What’s this they’re saying now,
something our general has
had proclaimed
throughout the city? Do
you know of it?
10
Have you heard? Or have
you just missed the news?
Dishonours which better
fit our enemies
are now being piled up on
the ones we love.
[10]
ISMENE
I’ve had no word at
all, Antigone,
nothing good or bad about
our family,
not since we two lost
both our brothers,
killed on the same day by
a double blow.
And since the Argive
army, just last night,
has gone away, I don’t
know any more
if I’ve been lucky or
face total ruin.
20
ANTIGONE
I know that. That’s why
I brought you here,
outside the gates, so
only you can hear.
ISMENE
What is it? The way you
look makes it seem
[20]
you’re thinking of some
dark and gloomy news.
ANTIGONE
Look—what’s Creon
doing with our two brothers?
He’s honouring one with
a full funeral
and treating the other
one disgracefully!
Eteocles, they say, has
had his burial
according to our
customary rites,
to win him honour with
the dead below.
30
But as for Polyneices,
who perished
so miserably, an order
has gone out
throughout the
city—that’s what people say.
He’s to have no funeral
or lament,
but to be left unburied
and unwept,
a sweet treasure for the
birds to look at,
for them to feed on to
their heart’s content.
[30]
That’s what people say
the noble Creon
has announced to you and
me—I mean to me—
and now he’s coming to
proclaim the fact,
40
to state it clearly to
those who have not heard.
For Creon this matter’s
really serious.
Anyone who acts against
the order
will be stoned to death
before the city.
Now you know, and
you’ll quickly demonstrate
whether you are nobly
born, or else
a girl unworthy of her
splendid ancestors.
ISMENE
Oh my poor sister, if
that’s what’s happening,
what can I say that would
be any help
to ease the situation or
resolve it?
50
[40]
ANTIGONE
Think whether you will
work with me in this
and act together.
ISMENE
In what kind of work?
What do you mean?
ANTIGONE
Will you help these hands
take up Polyneices’
corpse and bury it?
ISMENE
What? You’re going to
bury Polyneices,
when that’s been made a
crime for all in Thebes?
ANTIGONE
Yes. I’ll do my duty to
my brother—
and yours as well, if
you’re not prepared to.
I won’t be caught
betraying him.
ISMENE
You’re too rash.
Has Creon not expressly
banned that act?
60
ANTIGONE
Yes. But he’s no right
to keep me from what’s mine.
ISMENE
O dear. Think, Antigone.
Consider
how our father died,
hated and disgraced,
[50]
when those mistakes which
his own search revealed
forced him to turn his
hand against himself
and stab out both his
eyes. Then that woman,
his mother and his
wife—her double role—
destroyed her own life in
a twisted noose.
Then there’s our own
two brothers, both butchered
in a single day—that
ill-fated pair
70
with their own hands
slaughtered one another
and brought about their
common doom.
Now, the two of us are
left here quite alone.
Think how we’ll die far
worse than all the rest,
if we defy the law and
move against
[60]
the king’s decree,
against his royal power.
We must remember that by
birth we’re women,
and, as such, we
shouldn’t fight with men.
Since those who rule are
much more powerful,
we must obey in this and
in events
80
which bring us even
harsher agonies.
So I’ll ask those
underground for pardon—
since I’m being
compelled, I will obey
those in control.
That’s what I’m forced to do.
It makes no sense to try
to do too much.
ANTIGONE
I wouldn’t urge you to.
No. Not even
if you were keen to act.
Doing this with you
would bring me no joy. So
be what you want.
[70]
I’ll still bury him. It
would be fine to die
while doing that. I’ll
lie there with him,
90
with a man I love, pure
and innocent,
for all my crime. My
honours for the dead
must last much longer
than for those up here.
I’ll lie down there
forever. As for you,
well, if you wish, you
can show contempt
for those laws the gods
all hold in honour.
ISMENE
I’m not disrespecting
them. But I can’t act
against the state.
That’s not in my nature.
ANTIGONE
Let that be your excuse.
I’m going now
[80]
to make a burial mound
for my dear brother.
100
ISMENE
Oh poor Antigone, I’m
so afraid for you.
ANTIGONE
Don’t fear for me. Set
your own fate in order.
ISMENE
Make sure you don’t
reveal to anyone
what you intend. Keep it
closely hidden.
I’ll do the same.
ANTIGONE
No, no. Announce the fact—
if you don’t let
everybody know,
I’ll despise your
silence even more.
ISMENE
Your heart is hot to do
cold deeds.
ANTIGONE
But I know
I’ll please the ones
I’m duty bound to please.
ISMENE
Yes, if you can. But
you’re after something
110
[90]
which you’re incapable
of carrying out.
ANTIGONE
Well, when my strength is
gone, then I’ll give up.
ISMENE
A vain attempt should not
be made at all.
ANTIGONE
I’ll hate you if
you’re going to talk that way.
And you’ll rightly earn
the loathing of the dead.
So leave me and my
foolishness alone—
we’ll get through this
fearful thing. I won’t suffer
anything as bad as a
disgraceful death.
ISMENE
All right then, go, if
that’s what you think right.
But remember this—even
though your mission
120
makes no sense, your
friends do truly love you.
[Exit
Antigone away from the palace. Ismene watches her go and then returns slowly
into the palace. Enter the Chorus of Theban elders]
CHORUS
O ray of sunlight,
[100]
most beautiful that ever
shone
on Thebes, city of the
seven gates,
you’ve appeared at
last,
you glowing eye of golden
day,
moving above the streams
of Dirce,*
driving into headlong
flight
the white-shield warrior
from Argos,
who marched here fully
armed,
130
now forced back by your
sharper power.
CHORUS
LEADER
Against our land he
marched,
[110]
sent here by the warring
claims
of Polyneices, with
piercing screams,
an eagle flying above our
land,
covered wings as white as
snow,
and hordes of warriors in
arms,
helmets topped with
horsehair crests.
CHORUS
Standing above our homes,
he ranged around our
seven gates,
140
with threats to swallow
us
and spears thirsting to
kill.
Before his jaws had had
their fill
[120]
and gorged themselves on
Theban blood,
before Hephaistos’
pine-torch flames
had seized our towers,
our fortress crown,*
he went
back, driven in retreat.
Behind him rings the din
of war—
his enemy, the Theban
dragon-snake,
too difficult for him to
overcome.
150
CHORUS
LEADER
Zeus hates an arrogant
boasting tongue.
Seeing them march here in
a mighty stream,
in all their clanging
golden pride,
[130]
he hurled his fire and
struck the man,
up there, on our
battlements, as he began
to scream aloud his
victory.
CHORUS
The man swing down, torch
still in hand,
and smashed into
unyielding earth—
the one who not so long
ago attacked,
who launched his furious,
enraged assault,
160
to blast us, breathing
raging storms.
But things turned out not
as he’d hoped.
Great war god Ares
assisted us—
he smashed them down and
doomed them all
[140]
to a very different fate.
CHORUS
LEADER
Seven captains at seven
gates
matched against seven
equal warriors
paid Zeus their full
bronze tribute,
the god who turns the
battle tide,
all but that pair of
wretched men,
170
born of one father and
one mother, too—
who set their conquering
spears against each other
and then both shared a
common death.
CHORUS
Now victory with her
glorious name
has come, bringing joy to
well-armed Thebes.
The battle’s
done—let’s strive now to forget
[150]
with songs and dancing
all night long,
with Bacchus leading us
to make Thebes shake.
[The
palace doors are thrown open and guards appear at the doors]
CHORUS
LEADER
But here comes Creon, new
king of our land,
son of Menoikeos. Thanks
to the gods,
180
who’ve brought about
our new good fortune.
What plan of action does
he have in mind?
What’s made him hold
this special meeting,
[160]
with elders summoned by a
general call?
[Enter
Creon from the palace. He addresses the assembled elders]
CREON
Men, after much tossing
of our ship of state,
the gods have safely set
things right again.
Of all the citizens
I’ve summoned you,
because I know how well
you showed respect
for the eternal power of
the throne,
first with Laius and
again with Oedipus,
190
once he restored our
city.* When he died,
you stood by his
children, firm in loyalty.
Now his sons have
perished in a single day,
killing each other with
their own two hands,
a double slaughter,
stained with brother’s blood.
[170]
And so I have the throne,
all royal power,
for I’m the one most
closely linked by blood
to those who have been
killed. It’s impossible
to really know a man, to
know his soul,
his mind and will, before
one witnesses
200
his skill in governing
and making laws.
For me, a man who rules
the entire state
and does not take the
best advice there is,
but through fear keeps
his mouth forever shut,
[180]
such a man is the very
worst of men—
and always will be. And a
man who thinks
more highly of a friend
than of his country,
well, he means nothing to
me. Let Zeus know,
the god who always
watches everything,
I would not stay silent
if I saw disaster
210
moving here against the
citizens,
a threat to their
security. For anyone
who acts against the
state, its enemy,
I’d never make my
friend. For I know well
our country is a ship
which keeps us safe,
and only when it sails
its proper course
[190]
do we make friends. These
are the principles
I’ll use in order to
protect our state.
That’s why I’ve
announced to all citizens
my orders for the sons of
Oedipus—
220
Eteocles, who perished in
the fight
to save our city, the
best and bravest
of our spearmen, will
have his burial,
with all those purifying
rituals
which accompany the
noblest corpses,
as they move below. As
for his brother—
that Polyneices, who
returned from exile,
eager to wipe out in
all-consuming fire
[200]
his ancestral city and
its native gods,
keen to seize upon his
family’s blood
230
and lead men into
slavery—for him,
the proclamation in the
state declares
he’ll have no burial
mound, no funeral rites,
and no lament. He’ll be
left unburied,
his body there for birds
and dogs to eat,
a clear reminder of his
shameful fate.
That’s my decision. For
I’ll never act
to respect an evil man
with honours
in preference to a man
who’s acted well.
Anyone who’s well
disposed towards our state,
240
alive or dead, that man I
will respect.
[210]
CHORUS
LEADER
Son of Menoikeos, if
that’s your will
for this city’s friends
and enemies,
it seems to me you now
control all laws
concerning those who’ve
died and us as well—
the ones who are still
living.
CREON
See to it then,
and act as guardians of
what’s been proclaimed.
CHORUS
Give that task to younger
men to deal with.
CREON
There are men assigned to
oversee the corpse.
CHORUS
LEADER
Then what remains that
you would have us do?
250
CREON
Don’t yield to those
who contravene my orders.
CHORUS LEADER: No one is such a fool that he loves death. [220]
CREON
Yes, that will be his
full reward, indeed.
And yet men have often
been destroyed
because they hoped to
profit in some way.
[Enter
a guard, coming towards the palace]
GUARD
My lord, I can’t say
I’ve come out of breath
by running here, making
my feet move fast.
Many times I stopped to
think things over—
and then I’d turn
around, retrace my steps.
My mind was saying many
things to me,
260
"You fool, why go to
where you know for sure
your punishment
awaits?"—"And now, poor man,
why are you hesitating
yet again?
If Creon finds this out
from someone else,
[230]
how will you escape being
hurt?" Such matters
kept my mind preoccupied.
And so I went,
slowly and reluctantly,
and thus made
a short road turn into a
lengthy one.
But then the view that I
should come to you
won out. If what I have
to say is nothing,
270
I’ll say it
nonetheless. For I’ve come here
clinging to the hope that
I’ll not suffer
anything that’s not
part of my destiny.
CREON
What’s happening
that’s made you so upset?
GUARD
I want to tell you first
about myself.
I did not do it. And I
didn’t see
the one who did. So it
would be unjust
if I should come to
grief.
[240]
CREON
You hedge so much.
Clearly you have news of
something ominous.
GUARD
Yes. Strange things that
make me pause a lot.
280
CREON
Why not say it and then
go—just leave.
GUARD
All right, I’ll tell
you. It’s about the corpse.
Someone has buried it and
disappeared,
after spreading thirsty
dust onto the flesh
and undertaking all
appropriate rites.
CREON
What are you saying? What
man would dare this?
GUARD
I don’t know. There was
no sign of digging,
no marks of any pick axe
or a mattock.
[250]
The ground was dry and
hard and very smooth,
without a wheel track.
Whoever did it
290
left no trace. When the
first man on day watch
revealed it to us, we
were all amazed.
The corpse was hidden,
but not in a tomb.
It was lightly covered up
with dirt,
as if someone wanted to
avert a curse.
There was no trace of a
wild animal
or dogs who’d come to
rip the corpse apart.
Then the words flew round
among us all,
with every guard accusing
someone else.
[260]
We were about to fight,
to come to blows—
300
no one was there to put a
stop to it.
Every one of us was
responsible,
but none of us was
clearly in the wrong.
In our defence we pleaded
ignorance.
Then we each stated we
were quite prepared
to pick up red-hot iron,
walk through flames,
or swear by all the gods
that we’d not done it,
we’d no idea how the
act was planned,
or how it had been
carried out. At last,
when all our searching
had proved useless,
310
one man spoke up, and his
words forced us all
to drop our faces to the
ground in fear.
[270]
We couldn’t see things
working out for us,
whether we agreed or
disagreed with him.
He said we must report
this act to you—
we must not hide it. And
his view prevailed.
I was the unlucky man who
won the prize,
the luck of the draw.
That’s why I’m now here,
not of my own free will
or by your choice.
I know that—for no one
likes a messenger
320
who comes bearing
unwelcome news with him.
CHORUS
LEADER
My lord, I’ve been
wondering for some time now—
could this act not be
something from the gods?
CREON
Stop now—before what
you’re about to say
[280]
enrages me completely and
reveals
that you’re not only
old but stupid, too.
No one can tolerate what
you’ve just said,
when you claim gods might
care about this corpse.
Would they pay
extraordinary honours
and bury as a man who’d
served them well
330
someone who came to burn
their offerings,
their pillared temples,
to torch their lands
and scatter all its laws?
Or do you see
gods paying respect to
evil men? No, no.
For quite a while some
people in the town
have secretly been
muttering against me.
[290]
They don’t agree with
what I have decreed.
They shake their heads
and have not kept their necks
under my yoke, as they
are duty bound to do
if they were men who are
content with me.
340
I well know that these
guards were led astray—
such men urged them to
carry out this act
for money. To foster evil
actions,
to make them commonplace
among all men,
nothing is as powerful as
money.
It destroys cities,
driving men from home.
Money trains and twists
the minds in worthy men,
so they then undertake
disgraceful acts.
Money teaches men to live
as scoundrels,
[300]
familiar with every
profane enterprise.
350
But those who carry out
such acts for cash
sooner or later see how
for their crimes
they pay the penalty. For
if great Zeus
still has my respect,
then understand this—
I swear to you on
oath—unless you find
the one whose hands
really buried him,
unless you bring him here
before my eyes,
then death for you will
never be enough.
No, not before you’re
hung up still alive
and you confess to this
gross, violent act.
360
That way you’ll
understand in future days,
[310]
when there’s a profit
to be gained from theft,
you’ll learn that
it’s not good to be in love
with every kind of
monetary gain.
You’ll know more men
are ruined than are saved
when they earn profits
from dishonest schemes.
GUARD
Do I have your permission
to speak now,
or do I just turn around
and go away?
CREON
But I find your voice so
irritating—
don’t you realize that?
GUARD
Where does it hurt?
370
Is it in your ears or in
your mind?
CREON
Why try to question where
I feel my pain?
GUARD
The man who did it—he
upsets your mind.
I offend your ears.
CREON
My,
my, it’s clear to see
it's natural for you to
chatter on.
[320]
GUARD
Perhaps. But I never did
this.
CREON
This and more—
you sold your life for
silver.
GUARD
How strange and sad
when the one who sorts
this out gets it all wrong.
CREON:
Well, enjoy your sophisticated views.
But if you don’t reveal
to me who did this,
380
you’ll just confirm how
much your treasonous gains
have made you suffer.
[Exit
Creon back into the palace. The doors close behind him]
GUARD
Well, I hope he’s found.
That would be best. But
whether caught or not—
and that’s something
sheer chance will bring about—
you won’t see me coming
here again.
This time, against all
hope and expectation,
[330]
I’m still unhurt. I owe
the gods great thanks.
[Exit
the Guard away from the palace]
CHORUS
There are many strange
and wonderful things,
but nothing more
strangely wonderful than man.
He moves across the
white-capped ocean seas
390
blasted by winter storms,
carving his way
under the surging waves
engulfing him.
With his teams of horses
he wears down
the unwearied and
immortal earth,
the oldest of the gods,
harassing her,
as year by year his
ploughs move back and forth.
[340]
He snares the light-winged flocks of birds,
herds of wild beasts,
creatures from deep seas,
trapped in the fine mesh
of his hunting nets.
O resourceful man, whose
skill can overcome
400
ferocious beasts roaming
mountain heights.
[350]
He curbs the rough-haired
horses with his bit
and tames the
inexhaustible mountain bulls,
setting their savage
necks beneath his yoke.
He’s taught himself speech and wind-swift thought,
trained his feelings for
communal civic life,
learning to escape the
icy shafts of frost,
volleys of pelting rain
in winter storms,
the harsh life lived
under the open sky.
That’s man—so
resourceful in all he does.
410
[360]
There’s no event his
skill cannot confront—
other than death—that
alone he cannot shun,
although for many
baffling sicknesses
he has discovered his own
remedies.
The qualities of his inventive skills
bring arts beyond his
dreams and lead him on,
sometimes to evil and
sometimes to good.
If he treats his
country’s laws with due respect
and honours justice by
swearing on the gods,
he wins high honours in
his city.
420
But when he grows bold
and turns to evil,
[370]
then he has no city. A
man like that—
let him not share my home
or know my mind.
[Enter
the Guard, bringing Antigone with him. She is not resisting]
CHORUS
LEADER
What this? I fear some
omen from the gods.
I can’t deny what I see
here so clearly—
that young girl
there—it’s Antigone.
Oh you poor girl,
daughter of Oedipus,
child of a such a father,
so unfortunate,
what’s going on? Surely
they’ve not brought you here
because you’ve
disobeyed the royal laws,
430
because they’ve caught
you acting foolishly?
[380]
GUARD
This here’s the one who
carried out the act.
We caught her as she was
burying the corpse.
Where’s Creon?
[The
palace doors open. Enter Creon with attendants]
CHORUS
LEADER
He’s coming from the house—
and just in time.
CREON
Why have I come "just in time"?
What’s happening? What
is it?
GUARD
My lord,
human beings should never
take an oath
there’s something
they’ll not do—for later thoughts
contradict what they
first meant. I’d have sworn
[390]
I’d not soon venture
here again. Back then,
440
the threats you made
brought me a lot of grief.
But there’s no joy as
great as what we pray for
against all hope. And so
I have come back,
breaking that oath I
swore. I bring this girl,
captured while she was
honouring the grave.
This time we did not draw
lots. No. This time
I was the lucky man, not
someone else.
And now, my lord, take
her for questioning.
Convict her. Do as you
wish. As for me,
by rights I’m free and
clear of all this trouble.
450
[400]
CREON
This girl here—how did
you catch her? And where?
GUARD
She was burying that man.
Now you know
all there is to know.
CREON
Do you understand
just what you’re
saying? Are your words the truth?
GUARD
We saw this girl giving
that dead man’s corpse
full burial rites—an
act you’d made illegal.
Is what I say simple and
clear enough?
CREON
How did you see her,
catch her in the act?
GUARD
It happened this way.
When we got there,
after hearing those awful
threats from you,
460
we swept off all the dust
covering the corpse,
so the damp body was
completely bare.
[410]
Then we sat down on
rising ground up wind,
to escape the body’s
putrid rotting stench.
We traded insults just to
stay awake,
in case someone was
careless on the job.
That’s how we spent the
time right up ’til noon,
when the sun’s bright
circle in the sky
had moved half way and it
was burning hot.
Then suddenly a swirling
windstorm came,
470
whipping clouds of dust
up from the ground,
filling the plain—some
heaven-sent trouble.
In that level place the
dirt storm damaged
all the forest growth,
and the air around [420]
was filled with dust for
miles. We shut our mouths
and just endured this
scourge sent from the gods.
A long time passed. The
storm came to an end.
That’s when we saw the
girl. She was shrieking—
a distressing painful
cry, just like a bird
who’s seen an empty
nest, its fledglings gone.
480
That’s how she was when
she saw the naked corpse.
She screamed out a
lament, and then she swore,
calling evil curses down
upon the ones
who’d done this. Then
right away her hands
threw on the thirsty
dust. She lifted up
a finely made bronze jug
and then three times
[430]
poured out her tributes
to the dead.
When we saw that, we
rushed up right away
and grabbed her. She was
not afraid at all.
We charged her with her
previous offence
490
as well as this one. She
just kept standing there,
denying nothing. That
made me happy—
though it was painful,
too. For it’s a joy
escaping troubles which
affect oneself,
but painful to bring evil
on one’s friends.
But all that is of less
concern to me
than my own safety.
[440]
CREON
You there—you with your face
bent down towards the
ground, what do you say?
Do you deny you did this
or admit it?
ANTIGONE
I admit I did it. I
won’t deny that.
500
CREON [to
the Guard]
You’re dismissed—go
where you want. You’re free—
no serious charges made
against you.
[Exit
the Guard. Creon turns to interrogate Antigone]
Tell me briefly—not in some lengthy speech—
were you aware there was
a proclamation
forbidding what you did?
ANTIGONE
I’d heard of it.
How could I not? It was
public knowledge.
CREON
And yet you dared to
break those very laws?
ANTIGONE
Yes. Zeus did not
announce those laws to me.
[450]
And Justice living with
the gods below
sent no such laws for
men. I did not think
510
anything which you
proclaimed strong enough
to let a mortal override
the gods
and their unwritten and
unchanging laws.
They’re not just for
today or yesterday,
but exist forever, and no
one knows
where they first
appeared. So I did not mean
to let a fear of any
human will
lead to my punishment
among the gods.
I know all too well I’m
going to die—
[460]
how could I not?—it
makes no difference
520
what you decree. And if I
have to die
before my time, well, I
count that a gain.
When someone has to live
the way I do,
surrounded by so many
evil things,
how can she fail to find
a benefit
in death? And so for me
meeting this fate
won’t bring any pain.
But if I’d allowed
my own mother’s dead
son to just lie there,
an unburied corpse, then
I’d feel distress.
What going on here does
not hurt me at all.
530
If you think what I’m
doing now is stupid,
perhaps I’m being
charged with foolishness
[470]
by someone who’s a
fool.
CHORUS
LEADER
It’s clear enough
the spirit in this girl
is passionate—
her father was the same.
She has no sense
of compromise in times of
trouble.
CREON [to
the Chorus Leader]
But you should know the
most obdurate wills
are those most prone to
break. The strongest iron
tempered in the fire to
make it really hard—
that’s the kind you see
most often shatter.
540
I’m well aware the most
tempestuous horses
are tamed by one small
bit. Pride has no place
in anyone who is his
neighbour’s slave.
This girl here was
already very insolent
[480]
in contravening laws we
had proclaimed.
Here she again displays
her proud contempt—
having done the act, she
now boasts of it.
She laughs at what
she’s done. Well, in this case,
if she gets her way and
goes unpunished,
then she’s the man
here, not me. No. She may be
550
my sister’s child,
closer to me by blood
than anyone belonging to
my house
who worships Zeus
Herkeios in my home,*
but she’ll not escape
my harshest punishment—
her sister, too, whom I
accuse as well.
She had an equal part in
all their plans
[490]
to do this burial. Go
summon her here.
I saw her just now inside
the palace,
her mind out of control,
some kind of fit.
[Exit
attendants into the palace to fetch Ismene]
When people hatch their mischief in the dark
560
their minds often convict
them in advance,
betraying their
treachery. How I despise
a person caught
committing evil acts
who then desires to
glorify the crime.
ANTIGONE
Take me and kill
me—what more do you want?
CREON
Me? Nothing. With that I
have everything.
ANTIGONE
Then why delay? There’s
nothing in your words
that I enjoy—may that
always be the case!
[500]
And what I say displeases
you as much.
But where could I gain
greater glory 570
than setting my own
brother in his grave?
All those here would
confirm this pleases them
if their lips weren’t
sealed by fear—being king,
which offers all sorts of
various benefits,
means you can talk and
act just as you wish.
CREON
In all of Thebes,
you’re the only one
who looks at things that
way.
ANTIGONE
They share my views,
but they keep their
mouths shut just for you.
CREON
These views of yours—so
different from the rest—
don’t they bring you
any sense of shame?
580
[510]
ANTIGONE
No—there’s nothing
shameful in honouring
my mother’s children.
CREON
You had a brother
killed fighting for the
other side.
ANTIGONE
Yes—from the same
mother and father, too.
CREON
Why then give tributes
which insult his name?
ANTIGONE
But his dead corpse
won’t back up what you say.
CREON
Yes, he will, if you give
equal honours
to a wicked man.
ANTIGONE
But the one who died
was not some slave—it
was his own brother.
CREON
Who was destroying this
country—the other one
590
went to his death
defending it.
ANTIGONE
That may be,
but Hades still desires
equal rites for both.*
CREON
A good man does not wish
what we give him
[520]
to be the same an evil
man receives.
ANTIGONE
Who knows? In the world
below perhaps
such actions are no
crime.
CREON
An enemy
can never be a friend,
not even in death.
ANTIGONE
But my nature is to love.
I cannot hate.
CREON
Then go down to the dead.
If you must love,
love them. No woman’s
going to govern me—
600
no, no—not while I’m
still alive.
[Enter
two attendants from the house bringing Ismene to Creon]
CHORUS
LEADER
Ismene’s coming.
There—right by the door.
She’s crying. How she
must love her sister!
From her forehead a cloud
casts its shadow
down across her darkly
flushing face—
and drops its rain onto
her lovely cheeks.
[530]
CREON
You there—you snake
lurking in my house,
sucking out my life’s
blood so secretly.
I’d no idea I was
nurturing two pests,
who aimed to rise against
my throne. Come here.
610
Tell me this—do you
admit you played your part
in this burial, or will
you swear an oath
you had no knowledge of
it?
ISMENE
I did it—
I admit it, and she’ll
back me up.
So I bear the guilt as
well.
ANTIGONE
No, no—
justice will not allow
you to say that.
You didn’t want to. I
didn’t work with you.
ISMENE
But now you’re in
trouble, I’m not ashamed
[540]
of suffering, too, as
your companion.
ANTIGONE
Hades and the dead can
say who did it—
620
I don’t love a friend
whose love is only words.
ISMENE
You’re my sister.
Don’t dishonour me.
Let me respect the dead
and die with you.
ANTIGONE
Don’t try to share my
death or make a claim
to actions which you did
not do. I’ll die—
and that will be enough.
ISMENE
But if you’re gone,
what is there in life for
me to love?
ANTIGONE
Ask Creon. He’s the one
you care about.
ISMENE
Why hurt me like this? It
doesn’t help you.
[550]
ANTIGONE
If I am mocking you, it
pains me, too.
630
ISMENE
Even now is there some
way I can help?
ANTIGONE
Save yourself. I won’t
envy your escape.
ISMENE
I feel so wretched
leaving you to die.
ANTIGONE
But you chose life—it
was my choice to die.
ISMENE
But not before I’d said
those words just now.
ANTIGONE
Some people may approve
of how you think—
others will believe my
judgment’s good.
ISMENE
But the mistake’s the
same for both of us.
ANTIGONE
Be brave. You’re alive.
But my spirit died
some time ago so I might
help the dead
640
[560]
CREON
I’d say one of these
girls has just revealed
how mad she is—the
other’s been that way
since she was born.
ISMENE
My lord, whatever good sense
people have by birth no
longer stays with them
once their lives go
wrong—it abandons them.
CREON
In your case, that’s
true, once you made your choice
to act in evil ways with
wicked people.
ISMENE
How could I live alone,
without her here?
CREON
Don’t speak of her
being here. Her life is over.
ISMENE
You’re going to kill
your own son’s bride?
650
CREON
Why not? There are other
fields for him to plough.
ISMENE
No one will make him a
more loving wife
than she will.
CREON
I have no desire my son
should have an evil wife.
ANTIGONE
Dearest Haemon,
how your father wrongs
you.
CREON
I’ve had enough of this—
you and your marriage.
ISMENE
You really want that?
You’re going to take
her from him?
CREON
No, not me.
Hades is the one who’ll
stop the marriage.
CHORUS
LEADER
So she must die—that
seems decided on.
CREON
Yes—for you and me the
matter’s closed.
660
[Creon turns to address his attendants]
No more delay. You slaves, take them inside.
From this point on they
must act like women
and have no liberty to
wander off.
Even bold men run when
they see Hades
[580]
coming close to them to
snatch their lives.
[The
attendants take Antigone and Ismene into the palace, leaving Creon and the
Chorus on stage]
CHORUS
Those who live without
tasting evil
have happy lives—for
when the gods
shake a house to its
foundations,
then inevitable disasters
strike,
falling upon whole
families,
670
just as a surging ocean
swell
running before cruel
Thracian winds
across the dark trench of
the sea
churns up the deep black
sand
[590]
and crashes headlong on
the cliffs,
which scream in pain
against the wind.
I see this house’s age-old sorrows,
the house of Labdakos’
children,*
sorrows falling on the
sorrows of the dead,
one generation bringing
no relief
680
to generations after
it—some god
strikes at them—on and
on without an end.
For now the light which
has been shining
over the last roots of
Oedipus’ house
[600]
is being cut down with a
bloody knife
belonging to the gods
below—
for foolish talk and
frenzy in the soul.
Oh Zeus, what human trespasses
can check your power?
Even Sleep,
who casts his nets on
everything,
690
cannot master that—nor
can the months,
the tireless months the
gods control.
A sovereign who cannot
grow old,
you hold Olympus as your
own,*
in all its glittering
magnificence.
[610]
From now on into all
future time,
as in the past, your law
holds firm.
It never enters lives of
human beings
in its full force without
disaster.
Hope ranging far and wide brings comfort
700
to many men—but then
hope can deceive,
delusions born of
volatile desire.
It comes upon the man
who’s ignorant
until his foot is seared
in burning fire.
Someone’s wisdom has
revealed to us
[620]
this famous
saying—sometimes the gods
lure a man’s mind
forward to disaster,
and he thinks evil’s
something good.
But then he lives only
the briefest time
free of catastrophe.
[The
palace doors open]
CHORUS
LEADER
Here comes Haemon,
710
your only living son. Is
he grieving
the fate of Antigone, his
bride,
bitter that his marriage
hopes are gone?
[630]
CREON
We’ll soon find
out—more accurately
than any prophet here
could indicate.
[Enter
Haemon from the palace]
My
son, have you heard the sentence that’s been passed
upon your bride? And have
you now come here
angry at your father? Or
are you loyal to me,
on my side no matter what
I do?
HAEMON
Father, I’m yours. For
me your judgments
720
and the ways you act on
them are good—
I shall follow them.
I’ll not consider
any marriage a greater
benefit
than your fine
leadership.
CREON
Indeed, my son,
that’s how your heart
should always be resolved,
to stand behind your
father’s judgment
[640]
on every issue. That’s
what men pray for—
obedient children growing
up at home
who will pay back their
father’s enemies,
evil to them for evil
done to him,
730
while honouring his
friends as much as he does.
A man who fathers useless
children—
what can one say of him
except he’s bred
troubles for himself, and
much to laugh at
for those who fight
against him? So, my son,
don’t ever throw good
sense aside for pleasure,
for some woman’s sake.
You understand
how such embraces can
turn freezing cold
[650]
when an evil woman shares
your life at home.
What greater wound is
there than a false friend?
740
So spit this girl
out—she’s your enemy.
Let her marry someone
else in Hades.
Since I caught her
clearly disobeying,
the only culprit in the
entire city,
I won’t perjure myself
before the state.
No—I’ll kill her. And
so let her appeal
to Zeus, the god of blood
relationships.
If I foster any lack of
full respect
in my own family, I
surely do the same
with those who are not
linked to me by blood.
750
[660]
The man who acts well
with his household
will be found a just man
in the city.*
I’d trust such a man to
govern wisely
or to be content with
someone ruling him.
And in the thick of
battle at his post
[670]
he’ll stand firm beside
his fellow soldier,
a loyal, brave man. But
anyone who’s proud
and violates our laws or
thinks he’ll tell
our leaders what to do, a
man like that
wins no praise from me.
No. We must obey
760
whatever man the city
puts in charge,
no matter what the
issue—great or small,
just or unjust. For
there’s no greater evil
than a lack of
leadership. That destroys
whole cities, turns
households into ruins,
and in war makes soldiers
break and run away.
When men succeed, what
keeps their lives secure
in almost every case is
their obedience.
That’s why they must
support those in control,
and never let some woman
beat us down.
770
If we must fall from
power, let that come
at some man’s hand—at
least, we won’t be called
inferior to any woman.
[680]
CHORUS
LEADER
Unless we’re being
deceived by our old age,
what you’ve just said
seems reasonable to us.
HAEMON
Father, the gods instill
good sense in men—
the greatest of all the
things which we possess.
I could not find your
words somehow not right—
I hope that’s something
I never learn to do.
But other words might be
good, as well.
780
Because of who you are,
you can't perceive
all the things men say or
do—or their complaints.
Your gaze makes citizens
afraid—they can’t
[690]
say anything you would
not like to hear.
But in the darkness I can
hear them talk—
the city is upset about
the girl.
They say of all women
here she’s least deserves
the worst of deaths for
her most glorious act.
When in the slaughter her
own brother died,
she did not just leave
him there unburied,
790
to be ripped apart by
carrion dogs or birds.
Surely she deserves some
golden honour?
That’s the dark secret
rumour people speak.
[700]
For me, father, nothing
is more valuable
than your well being. For
any children,
what could be a greater
honour to them
than their father’s
thriving reputation?
A father feels the same
about his sons.
So don’t let your mind
dwell on just one thought,
that what you say is
right and nothing else.
800
A man who thinks that
only he is wise,
that he can speak and
think like no one else,
when such men are
exposed, then all can see
their emptiness inside.
For any man,
[710]
even if he’s wise,
there’s nothing shameful
in learning many things,
staying flexible.
You notice how in winter
floods the trees
which bend before the
storm preserve their twigs.
The ones who stand
against it are destroyed,
root and branch. In the
same way, those sailors
810
who keep their sails
stretched tight, never easing off,
make their ship
capsize—and from that point on
sail with their rowing
benches all submerged.
So end your anger. Permit
yourself to change.
For if I, as a younger
man, may state
my views, I’d say it
would be for the best
[720]
if men by nature
understood all things—
if not, and that is
usually the case,
when men speak well, it
good to learn from them.
CHORUS
LEADER
My lord, if what he’s
said is relevant,
820
it seems appropriate to
learn from him,
and you too, Haemon,
listen to the king.
The things which you both
said were excellent.
CREON
And men my age—are we
then going to school
to learn what’s wise
from men as young as him?
HAEMON
There’s nothing wrong
in that. And if I’m young,
don’t think about my
age—look at what I do.
CREON
And what you do—does
that include this,
[730]
honouring those who act
against our laws?
HAEMON
I would not encourage
anyone
830
to show respect to evil
men.
CREON
And her—
is she not suffering from
the same disease?
HAEMON
The people here in Thebes
all say the same—
they deny she is.
CREON
So the city now
will instruct me how I am
to govern?
HAEMON
Now you’re talking like
someone far too young.
Don’t you see that?
CREON
Am I to rule this land
at someone else’s whim
or by myself?
HAEMON
A city which belongs to
just one man
is no true city.
CREON
According to our laws,
840
does not the ruler own
the city?
HAEMON
By yourself you’d make
an excellent king
but in a desert.
CREON
It seems as if this boy
[740]
is fighting on the
woman’s side.
HAEMON
That’s true—
if you’re the woman.
I’m concerned for you.
CREON
You’re the worst there
is—you set your judgment up
against your father.
HAEMON
No, not when I see
you making a mistake and
being unjust.
CREON
Is it a mistake to honour
my own rule?
HAEMON
You’re not honouring
that by trampling on
850
the gods’ prerogatives.
CREON
You foul creature—
you’re worse than any
woman.
HAEMON
You’ll not catch me
giving way to some
disgrace.
CREON
But your words
all speak on her behalf.
HAEMON
And yours and mine—
and for the gods below.
CREON
You woman’s slave—
don’t try to win me
over.
HAEMON
What do you want—
to speak and never hear
someone reply?*
CREON
You’ll never marry her
while she’s alive.
[750]
HAEMON
Then she’ll die—and
in her death kill someone else.
CREON
Are you so insolent you
threaten me?
860
HAEMON
Where’s the threat in
challenging a bad decree?
CREON
You’ll regret parading
what you think like this—
you—a person with an
empty brain!
HAEMON
If you were not my
father, I might say
you were not thinking
straight.
CREON
Would you, indeed?
Well, then, by Olympus,
I’ll have you know
you’ll be sorry for
demeaning me
with all these insults.
[Creon
turns to his attendants]
Go bring her out—
[760]
that hateful creature, so
she can die right here,
with him present, before
her bridegroom’s eyes.
870
HAEMON
No. Don’t ever hope for
that. She’ll not die
with me just standing
there. And as for you—
your eyes will never see
my face again.
So let your rage charge
on among your friends
who want to stand by you
in this.
[Exit
Haemon, running back into the palace]
CHORUS
LEADER
My lord, Haemon left in
such a hurry.
He’s angry—in a young
man at his age
the mind turns bitter
when he’s feeling hurt.
CREON
Let him dream up or carry
out great deeds
beyond the power of man,
he’ll not save these girls—
880
their fate is sealed.
CHORUS
LEADER
Are you going to kill them both?
[770]
CREON
No—not the one whose
hands are clean. You’re right.
CHORUS
LEADER
How do you plan to kill
Antigone?
CREON
I’ll take her on a path
no people use,
and hide her in a cavern
in the rocks,
while still alive. I’ll
set out provisions,
as much as piety
requires, to make sure
the city is not totally
corrupted.*
Then she can speak her
prayers to Hades,
the only god she
worships, for success
890
avoiding death—or else,
at least, she’ll learn,
although too late, how
it’s a waste of time
to work to honour those
whom Hades holds.
[780]
CHORUS
O Eros, the conqueror in
every fight,*
Eros, who squanders all
men’s wealth,
who sleeps at night on
girls’ soft cheeks,
and roams across the
ocean seas
and through the
shepherd’s hut—
no immortal god escapes
from you,
nor any man, who lives
but for a day.
900
And the one whom you
possess goes mad.
[790]
Even in good men you
twist their minds,
perverting them to their
own ruin.
You provoke these men to
family strife.
The bride’s desire seen
glittering in her eyes—
that conquers everything,
its power
enthroned beside eternal
laws, for there
the goddess Aphrodite
works her will,
[800]
whose ways are
irresistible.*
[Antigone
enters from the palace with attendants who are taking her away to her execution]
CHORAL
LEADER
When I look at her I
forget my place.
910
I lose restraint and
can’t hold back my tears—
Antigone going to her
bridal room
where all are laid to
rest in death.
ANTIGONE
Look at me, my native
citizens,
as I go on my final
journey,
as I gaze upon the
sunlight one last time,
which I’ll never see
again—for Hades,
who brings all people to
their final sleep,
leads me on, while I’m
still living,
[810]
down to the shores of
Acheron.*
920
I’ve not yet had my
bridal chant,
nor has any wedding song
been sung—
for my marriage is to
Acheron.
CHORUS
Surely you carry fame
with you and praise,
as you move to the deep
home of the dead.
You were not stricken by
lethal disease
or paid your wages with a
sword.
[820]
No. You were in charge of
your own fate.
So of all living human
beings, you alone
make your way down to
Hades still alive.
930
ANTIGONE
I’ve heard about a
guest of ours,
daughter of Tantalus,
from Phrygia—
she went to an
excruciating death
in Sipylus, right on the
mountain peak.
The stone there, just
like clinging ivy,
wore her down, and now,
so people say,
the snow and rain never
leave her there,
[830]
as she laments. Below her
weeping eyes
her neck is wet with
tears. God brings me
to a final rest which
most resembles hers.
940
CHORUS
But Niobe was a goddess,
born divine—
and we are human beings,
a race which dies.
But still, it’s a fine
thing for a woman,
once she’s dead, to
have it said she shared,
in life and death, the
fate of demi-gods.*
ANTIGONE
Oh, you are mocking me!
Why me—
by our fathers’
gods—why do you all,
my own city and the
richest men of Thebes,
insult me now right to my
face,
without waiting for my
death?
950
Well at least I have
Dirce’s springs,
the holy grounds of
Thebes,
a city full of splendid
chariots,
to witness how no friends
lament for me
as I move on—you see
the laws
which lead me to my
rock-bound prison,
a tomb made just for me.
Alas!
In my wretchedness I have
no home,
[850]
not with human beings or
corpses,
not with the living or
the dead.
960
CHORUS
You pushed your daring to
the limit, my child,
and tripped against
Justice’s high altar—
perhaps your agonies are
paying back
some compensation for
your father.*
ANTIGONE
Now there you touch on my
most painful thought—
my father’s
destiny—always on my mind,
along with that whole
fate which sticks to us,
[860]
the splendid house of
Labdakos—the curse
arising from a mother’s
marriage bed,
when she had sex with her
own son, my father.
970
From what kind of parents
was I born,
their wretched daughter?
I go to them,
unmarried and accursed,
an outcast.
Alas, too, for my brother
Polyneices,
who made a fatal marriage
and then died—
[870]
and with that death
killed me while still alive.*
CHORUS
To be piously devout
shows reverence,
but powerful men, who in
their persons
incorporate authority,
cannot bear
anyone to break their
rules. Hence, you die
980
because of your own selfish will.
ANTIGONE
Without lament, without a
friend,
and with no marriage
song, I’m being led
in this miserable state,
along my final road.
So wretched that I no
longer have the right
[880]
to look upon the sun,
that sacred eye.
But my fate prompts no
tears, and no friend mourns.
CREON
Don’t you know that no
one faced with death
would ever stop the
singing and the groans,
if that would help? Take
her and shut her up,
990
as I have ordered, in her
tomb’s embrace.
And get it done as
quickly as you can.
Then leave her there
alone, all by herself—
she can sort out whether
she wants suicide
or remains alive, buried
in a place like that.
As far as she’s
concerned, we bear no guilt.
But she’s lost her
place living here with us.*
[890]
ANTIGONE
Oh my tomb and bridal
chamber—
my eternal hollow
dwelling place,
where I go to join my
people. Most of them
1000
have
perished—Persephone has welcomed them
among the dead.*
I’m the last one, dying here
the most evil death by
far, as I move down
before the time allotted
for my life is done.
But I go nourishing the
vital hope
my father will be pleased
to see me come,
and you, too, my mother,
will welcome me,
as well as you, my own
dear brother.
When you died, with my
own hands I washed you.
[900]
I arranged your corpse
and at the grave mound
1010
poured out libations. But
now, Polyneices,
this is my reward for
covering your corpse.*
However, for wise people
I was right
to honour you. I’d
never have done it
for children of my own,
not as their mother,
nor for a dead husband
lying in decay—
no, not in defiance of
the citizens.
What law do I appeal to,
claiming this?
If my husband died,
there’d be another one,
and if I were to lose a
child of mine
1020
I’d have another with
some other man.
[910]
But since my father and
my mother, too,
are hidden away in
Hades’ house,
I’ll never have another
living brother.
That was the law I used
to honour you.
But Creon thought that I
was in the wrong
and acting recklessly for
you, my brother.
Now he seizes me by force
and leads me here—
no wedding and no bridal
song, no share
in married life or
raising children.
1030
Instead I go in sorrow to
my grave,
without my friends, to
die while still alive.
[920]
What holy justice have I
violated?
In my wretchedness, why
should I still look
up to the gods? Which one
can I invoke
to bring me help, when
for my reverence
they charge me with
impiety? Well, then,
if this is something fine
among the gods,
I’ll come to recognize
that I’ve done wrong.
But if these people here
are being unjust
1040
may they endure no
greater punishment
than the injustices
they’re doing to me.
CHORUS
LEADER
The same storm blasts
continue to attack
the mind in this young
girl.
[930]
CREON
Then those escorting her
will be sorry they’re
so slow.
ANTIGONE
Alas, then,
those words mean death is
very near at hand.
CREON
I won’t encourage you
or cheer you up,
by saying the sentence
won’t be carried out.
ANTIGONE
O city of my fathers
in this land of
Thebes—
1050
and my ancestral gods,
I am being led away.
No more delaying for me.
Look on me, you lords of
Thebes,
[940]
the last survivor of your
royal house,
see what I have to
undergo,
the kind of men who do
this to me,
for paying reverence to
true piety.
[Antigone
is led away under escort]
CHORUS
In her brass-bound room
fair Danae as well
endured her separation
from the heaven’s light,
1060
a prisoner hidden in a
chamber like a tomb,
although she, too, came
from a noble line.*
And she, my child, had in
her care
the liquid streaming
golden seed of Zeus.
[950]
But the power of fate is
full of mystery.
There’s no evading it,
no, not with wealth,
or war, or walls, or
black sea-beaten ships.
And the hot-tempered child of Dryas,
king of the Edonians, was
put in prison,
closed up in the rocks by
Dionysus,
1070
for his angry mocking of
the god.*
There the dreadful flower
of his rage
[960]
slowly withered, and he
came to know
the god who in his frenzy
he had mocked
with his own tongue. For
he had tried
to hold in check women in
that frenzy
inspired by the god, the
Bacchanalian fire.
More than that—he’d
made the Muses angry,
challenging the gods who
love the flute.*
Beside the black rocks where the twin seas meet,
1080
by Thracian Salmydessos
at the Bosphorus,*
close to the place where
Ares dwells,
[970]
the war god witnessed the
unholy wounds
which blinded the two
sons of Phineus,
inflicted by his savage
wife—the sightless holes
cried out for someone to
avenge those blows
made with her sharpened
comb in blood-stained hands.*
In their misery they wept, lamenting
their wretched suffering,
sons of a mother
whose marriage had gone
wrong. And yet,
1090
[980]
she was an offspring of
an ancient family,
the race of Erechtheus,
raised far away,
in caves surrounded by
her father’s winds,
Boreas’ child, a girl
who raced with horses
across steep
hills—child of the gods.
But she, too, my child,
suffered much
from the immortal Fates.*
[Enter
Teiresias, led by a young boy]
TEIRESIAS
Lords of Thebes, we two
have walked a common path,
one person’s vision
serving both of us.
The blind require a guide
to find their way.
1100
[990]
CREON
What news do you have,
old Teiresias?
TEIRESIAS
I’ll tell you—and you
obey the prophet.
CREON
I’ve not rejected your
advice before.
TEIRESIAS
That’s the reason why
you’ve steered the city
on its proper course.
CREON
From my experience
I can confirm the help
you give.
TEIRESIAS
Then know this—
your luck is once more on
fate’s razor edge.
CREON
What? What you’ve just
said makes me nervous.
TEIRESIAS
You’ll know—once you
hear the tokens of my art.
As I was sitting in my
ancient place
1110
receiving omens from the
flights of birds
who all come there where
I can hear them,
[1000]
I note among those birds
an unknown cry—
evil, unintelligible,
angry screaming.
I knew that they were
tearing at each other
with murderous claws. The
noisy wings
revealed that all too
well. I was afraid.
So right away up on the
blazing altar
I set up burnt offerings.
But Hephaestus
failed to shine out from
the sacrifice—
1120
dark slime poured out
onto the embers,
oozing from the thighs,
which smoked and spat,
bile was sprayed high up
into the air,
[1010]
and the melting thighs
lost all the fat
which they’d been
wrapped in. The rites had failed—
there was no prophecy
revealed in them.
I learned that from this
boy, who is my guide,
as I guide other men.*
Our state is sick—
your policies have done
this. In the city
our altars and our
hearths have been defiled,
1130
all of them, with rotting
flesh brought there
by birds and dogs from
Oedipus’ son,
who lies there miserably
dead. The gods
no longer will accept our
sacrifice,
our prayers, our thigh
bones burned in fire.
[1020]
No bird will shriek out a
clear sign to us,
for they have gorged
themselves on fat and blood
from a man who’s dead.
Consider this, my son.
All men make
mistakes—that’s not uncommon.
But when they do,
they’re no longer foolish
1140
or subject to bad luck if
they try to fix
the evil into which
they’ve fallen,
once they give up their
intransigence.
Men who put their
stubbornness on show
invite accusations of
stupidity.
Make concessions to the
dead—don’t ever stab
a man who’s just been
killed. What’s the glory
in killing a dead person
one more time?
[1030]
I’ve been concerned for
you. It’s good advice.
Learning can be pleasant
when a man speaks well,
1150
especially when he seeks
your benefit.
CREON
Old man, you’re all
like archers shooting at me—
For you all I’ve now
become your target—
even prophets have been
aiming at me.
I’ve long been bought
and sold as merchandise
among that tribe. Well,
go make your profits.
If it’s what you want,
then trade with Sardis
for their golden-silver
alloy—or for gold
from India, but you’ll
never hide that corpse
in any grave. Even if
Zeus’ eagles
1160
[1040]
should choose to seize
his festering body
and take it up, right to
the throne of Zeus,
not even then would I, in
trembling fear
of some defilement,
permit that corpse
a burial. For I know well
that no man
has the power to pollute
the gods.
But, old Teiresias, among
human beings
the wisest suffer a
disgraceful fall
when, to promote
themselves, they use fine words
to spread around abusive
insults.
1170
TEIRESIAS
Alas, does any man know
or think about . . .
CREON [interrupting]
Think what? What sort of
pithy common thought
are you about to utter?
TEIRESIAS
[ignoring
the interruption]
. . . how good advice
is valuable—worth more
than all possessions.
[1050]
CREON
I think that’s true, as
much as foolishness
is what harms us most.
TEIRESIAS
Yet that’s the sickness
now infecting you.
CREON
I have no desire
to denigrate a prophet
when I speak.
TEIRESIAS
But that’s what you are
doing, when you claim
my oracles are false.
CREON
The tribe of prophets—
1180
all of them—are fond of
money
TEIRESIAS
And kings?
Their tribe loves to
benefit dishonestly.
CREON
You know you’re
speaking of the man who rules you.
TEIRESIAS
I know—thanks to me you
saved the city
and now are in control.*
CREON
You’re a wise prophet,
but you love doing wrong.
TEIRESIAS
You’ll force me
to speak of secrets
locked inside my heart.
[1060]
CREON
Do it—just don’t
speak to benefit yourself.
TEIRESIAS
I don’t think that
I’ll be doing that—
not as far as you’re
concerned.
CREON
You can be sure
1190
you won’t change my
mind to make yourself more rich.
TEIRESIAS
Then understand this
well—you will not see
the sun race through its
cycle many times
before you lose a child
of your own loins,
a corpse in payment for
these corpses.
You’ve thrown down to
those below someone
from up above—in your
arrogance
you’ve moved a living
soul into a grave,
leaving here a body owned
by gods below—
[1070]
unburied, dispossessed,
unsanctified.
1200
That’s no concern of
yours or gods above.
In this you violate the
ones below.
And so destroying
avengers wait for you,
Furies of Hades and the
gods, who’ll see
you caught up in this
very wickedness.
Now see if I speak as
someone who’s been bribed.
It won’t be long before
in your own house
the men and women all cry
out in sorrow,
and cities rise in hate
against you—all those
[1080]
whose mangled soldiers
have had burial rites
1210
from dogs, wild animals,
or flying birds
who carry the unholy
stench back home,
to every city hearth.*
Like an archer,
I shoot these arrows now
into your heart
because you have provoked
me. I’m angry—
so my aim is good.
You’ll not escape their pain.
Boy, lead us home so he
can vent his rage
on younger men and keep a
quieter tongue
and a more temperate mind
than he has now.
[1090]
[Exit Teiresias, led by the young boy]
CHORUS
LEADER
My lord, my lord, such
dreadful prophecies—
1220
and now he’s gone.
Since my hair changed colour
from black to white, I
know here in the city
he’s never uttered a
false prophecy.
CREON
I know that, too—and it
disturbs my mind.
It’s dreadful to give
way, but to resist
and let destruction
hammer down my spirit—
that’s a fearful
option, too.
CHORUS
LEADER
Son of Menoikeos,
you need to listen to
some good advice.
CREON
Tell me what to do. Speak
up. I’ll do it.
CHORUS
LEADER
Go and release the girl
from her rock tomb.
1230
[1100]
Then prepare a grave for
that unburied corpse.
CREON
This is your advice? You
think I should concede?
CHORUS
LEADER
Yes, my lord, as fast as
possible.
Swift footed injuries
sent from the gods
hack down those who act
imprudently.
CREON
Alas—it’s difficult.
But I’ll give up.
I’ll not do what I’d
set my heart upon.
It’s not right to fight
against necessity.
CHORUS
LEADER
Go now and get this done.
Don’t give the work
to other men to do.
CREON
I’ll go just as I am.
1240
Come, you servants, each
and every one of you.
Come on. Bring axes with
you. Go there quickly—
up to the higher ground.
I’ve changed my mind.
[1110]
Since I’m the one who
tied her up, I’ll go
and set her free myself.
Now I’m afraid.
Until one dies the best
thing well may be
to follow our established
laws.
[Creon
and his attendants hurry off stage]
CHORUS
Oh you with many names,
you glory of that Theban
bride,
and child of thundering
Zeus,
1250
you who cherish famous
Italy,
and rule the welcoming
valley lands
of Eleusianian Deo—
O Bacchus—you who dwell
in the bacchants’
mother city Thebes,
beside Ismenus’ flowing
streams,
on land sown with the
teeth
of that fierce dragon.*
Above the double mountain peaks,
the torches flashing
through the murky smoke
1260
have seen you where
Corcyian nymphs
move on as they worship
you
by the Kastalian
stream.
[1130]
And from the ivy-covered
slopes
of Nysa’s hills, from
the green shore
so rich in vines, you
come to us,
visiting our Theban ways,
while deathless voices
all cry out
in honour of your name,
"Evoe."*
You honour Thebes, our city,
1270
above all others, you and
your mother
blasted by that lightning
strike.*
And now when all our
people here
[1140]
are captive to a foul
disease,
on your healing feet you
come
across the moaning strait
or over the Parnassian
hill.
You who lead the dance,
among the fire-breathing
stars,
who guard the voices in
the night,
1280
child born of Zeus, oh my
lord,
[1150]
appear with your
attendant Thyiads,
who dance in frenzy all
night long,
for you their patron,
Iacchus.*
[Enter a Messenger]
MESSENGER
All you here who live
beside the home
of Amphion and Cadmus—in
human life
there’s no set place
which I would praise or blame.*
The lucky and unlucky
rise or fall
by chance day after
day—and how these things
are fixed for men no one
can prophesy.
1290
[1160]
For Creon, in my view,
was once a man
we all looked up to. For
he saved the state,
this land of Cadmus, from
its enemies.
He took control and
reigned as its sole king—
and prospered with the
birth of noble children.
Now all is gone. For when
a man has lost
what gives him pleasure,
I don’t include him
among the living—he’s
a breathing corpse.
Pile up a massive fortune
in your home,
if that’s what you
want—live like a king.
1300
If there’s no pleasure
in it, I’d not give
to any man a vapour’s
shadow for it,
[1170]
not compared to human
joy.
CHORUS
LEADER
Have you come with news
of some fresh trouble
in our house of kings?
MESSENGER
They’re dead—
and those alive bear the
responsibility
for those who’ve died.
CHORUS
LEADER
Who did the killing?
Who’s lying dead? Tell
us.
MESSENGER
Haemon has been killed.
No stranger shed his
blood.
CHORUS
LEADER
At his father’s hand?
Or did he kill himself?
MESSENGER
By his own hand—
angry at his father for
the murder.
1310
CHORUS
LEADER
Teiresias, how your words
have proven true!
MESSENGER
That’s how things
stand. Consider what comes next.
CHORUS
LEADER
I see Creon’s wife,
poor Eurydice—
[1180]
she’s coming from the
house—either by chance,
or else she’s heard
there’s news about her son.
[Enter
Eurydice from the palace with some attendants]
EURYDICE
Citizens of Thebes, I
heard you talking,
as I was walking out,
going off to pray,
to ask for help from
goddess Pallas.
While I was unfastening
the gate,
I heard someone speaking
of bad news
1320
about my family. I was
terrified.
I collapsed, fainting
back into the arms
of my attendants. So tell
the news again—
[1190]
I’ll listen. I’m no
stranger to misfortune.
MESSENGER
Dear lady, I’ll speak
of what I saw,
omitting not one detail
of the truth.
Why should I ease your
mind with a report
which turns out later to
be incorrect?
The truth is always best.
I went to the plain,
accompanying your husband
as his guide.
1330
Polyneices’ corpse,
still unlamented,
was lying there, the
greatest distance off,
torn apart by dogs. We
prayed to Pluto
and to Hecate, goddess of
the road,
for their good will and
to restrain their rage.
[1200]
We gave the corpse a
ritual wash, and burned
what was left of it on
fresh-cut branches.
We piled up a high tomb
of his native earth.
Then we moved to the
young girl’s rocky cave,
the hollow cavern of that
bride of death.
1340
From far away one man
heard a voice
coming from the chamber
where we’d put her
without a funeral—a
piercing cry.
He went to tell our
master Creon,
who, as he approached the
place, heard the sound,
an unintelligible scream
of sorrow.
He groaned and then spoke
out these bitter words,
[1210]
"Has misery made me
a prophet now?
And am I travelling along
a road
that takes me to the
worst of all disasters?
1350
I’ve just heard the
voice of my own son.
You servants, go
ahead—get up there fast.
Remove the stones piled
in the entrance way,
then stand beside the
tomb and look in there
to see if that was
Haemon’s voice I heard,
or if the gods have been
deceiving me."
Following what our
desperate master asked,
we looked. In the
furthest corner of the tomb
[1220]
we saw Antigone hanging
by the neck,
held up in a noose—fine
woven linen.
1360
Haemon had his arms
around her waist—
he was embracing her and
crying out
in sorrow for the loss of
his own bride,
now among the dead, his
father’s work,
and for his horrifying
marriage bed.
Creon saw him, let out a
fearful groan,
then went inside and
called out anxiously,
"You unhappy boy,
what have you done?
What are you thinking?
Have you lost your mind?
Come out, my
child—I’m begging you—please come."
1370
[1230]
But the boy just stared
at him with savage eyes,
spat in his face and,
without saying a word,
drew his two-edged sword.
Creon moved away,
so the boy’s blow
failed to strike his father.
Angry at himself, the
ill-fated lad
right then and there
leaned into his own sword,
driving half the blade
between his ribs.
While still conscious he
embraced the girl
in his weak arms, and, as
he breathed his last,
he coughed up streams of
blood on her fair cheek.
1380
Now he lies there, corpse
on corpse, his marriage
[1240]
has been fulfilled in
chambers of the dead.
The unfortunate boy has
shown all men
how, of all the evils
which afflict mankind,
the most disastrous one
is thoughtlessness.
[Eurydice
turns and slowly returns into the palace]
CHORUS
LEADER
What do you make of that?
The queen’s gone back.
She left without a word,
good or bad.
MESSENGER
I’m surprised myself.
It’s about her son—
she heard that terrible
report. I hope
she’s gone because she
doesn’t think it right
1390
to mourn for him in
public. In the home,
surrounded by her
servants, she’ll arrange
a period of mourning for
the house.
She’s discreet and has
experience—
she won’t make
mistakes.
[1250]
CHORUS
LEADER
I’m not sure of that.
to me her staying silent
was extreme—
it seems to point to
something ominous,
just like a vain excess
of grief.
MESSENGER
I’ll go in.
We’ll find out if
she’s hiding something secret,
deep within her
passionate heart. You’re right—
1400
excessive silence can be
dangerous.
[The
Messenger goes up the stairs into the palace. Enter Creon from the side, with
attendants.
Creon is holding the body of Haemon]
CHORUS
LEADER
Here comes the king in
person—carrying
in his arms, if it’s
right to speak of this,
a clear reminder that
this evil comes
not from some stranger,
but his own mistakes.
[1260]
CREON
Aaiii—mistakes made by
a foolish mind,
cruel mistakes that bring
on death.
You see us here, all in
one family—
the killer and the
killed.
Oh the profanity of what
I planned.
1410
Alas, my son, you died so
young—
a death before your time.
Aaiii . . . aaiii . . .
you’re dead . . . gone—
not your own foolishness
but mine.
CHORUS
LEADER
Alas, it seems you’ve
learned to see what’s right—
but far too late.
[1270]
CREON
Aaiiii . . . I’ve learned it in my pain.
Some god clutching a
great weight struck my head,
then hurled me onto paths
in wilderness,
throwing down and casting
underfoot
what brought me joy.
1420
So sad . . . so sad . . .
the wretched agony of
human life.
[The
Messenger reappears from the palace]
MESSENGER
My lord, you come like
one who stores up evil,
what you hold in your
arms and what you’ll see
before too long inside
the house.
[1280]
CREON
What’s that?
Is there something still
more evil than all this?
MESSENGER
Your wife is dead—blood
mother of that corpse—
slaughtered with a
sword—her wounds are very new,
poor lady.
CREON
Aaiiii . . . . a gathering place for death . . .
no sacrifice can bring
this to an end.
1430
Why are you destroying
me? You there—
you bringer of this
dreadful news, this agony,
what are you saying now?
Aaiii . . .
You kill a man then kill
him once again.
What are you saying, boy?
What news?
A slaughter heaped on
slaughter—
[1290]
my wife, alas . . .
she’s dead?
MESSENGER
[opening the palace doors, revealing the body of Eurydice]
Look here. No longer is
she concealed inside.
CREON
Alas, how miserable I
feel—to look upon
this second horror. What
remains for me,
what’s fate still got
in store? I’ve just held
1440
my own son in my arms,
and now I see
right here in front of me
another corpse.
Alas for this suffering
mother.
[1300]
Alas, my son.
MESSENGER
Stabbed with a sharp
sword at the altar,
she let her darkening
eyesight fail,
once she had cried out in
sorrow
for the glorious fate of
Megareos,
who died some time ago,
and then again
for Haemon, and then,
with her last breath,
1450
she called out evil
things against you,
the killer of your sons.*
CREON
Aaaii . . . My fear now
makes me tremble.
Why won’t someone now
strike out at me,
pierce my heart with a
double bladed sword?
How miserable I am . . .
aaiii . . .
[1310]
how full of misery and
pain . . .
MESSENGER
By this woman who lies
dead you stand charged
with the deaths of both
your sons.
CREON
What about her?
How did she die so
violently?
MESSENGER
She killed herself,
1460
with her own hands she
stabbed her belly,
once she heard her
son’s unhappy fate.
CREON
Alas for me . . . the
guilt for all of this is mine—
it can never be removed
from me or passed
to any other mortal man.
I, and I alone . . .
I murdered you . . . I
speak the truth.
Servants—hurry and lead
me off,
[1320]
get me away from here,
for now
what I am in life is
nothing.
CHORUS
LEADER
What you advise is
good—if good can come
1470
with all these evils.
When we face such things
the less we say the
better.
CREON
Let that day come, oh let
it come,
the fairest of all
destinies for me,
the one which brings on
my last day.
[1330]
Oh, let it come, so that
I never see
another dawn.
CHORUS
LEADER
That’s something for
the times ahead.
Now we need to deal with
what confronts us here.
What’s yet to come is
the concern of those
1480
whose task it is to deal
with it.
CREON
In that prayer
I included everything I
most desire.
CHORUS
Pray for nothing.
There’s no release for
mortal human beings,
not from events which
destiny has set.
CREON
Then take this foolish
man away from here.
I killed you, my son,
without intending to,
[1340]
and you, as well, my
wife. How useless I am now.
I don’t know where to
look or find support.
Everything I touch goes
wrong, and on my head
fate climbs up with its
overwhelming load.
1490
[The Attendants help Creon move up the stairs into the palace, taking Haemon’s body with them]
CHORUS
The most important part
of true success
is wisdom—not to act
impiously
towards the gods, for
boasts of arrogant men
[1350]
bring on great blows of
punishment—
so in old age men can
discover wisdom.
Notes
*Dirce:
one of the rivers beside Thebes. [Back to
Text]
*Hephaistos:
god of fire. [Back
to Text]
*Laius:
king of Thebes and father of Oedipus. Oedipus killed him (not knowing who he
was) and became the next king of Thebes by saving the city from the devastation
of the Sphinx. [Back
to Text]
*Zeus
Herkeios: Zeus of the Courtyard, a patron god of worship within the home. [Back
to Text]
*Hades:
god of the underworld, lord of the dead. [Back to
Text]
*Labdakos:
father of Laius and hence grandfather of Oedipus and great-grandfather of
Antigone and Ismene. [Back
to Text]
*Olympus:
a mountain in northern Greece where, according to tradition, the major gods
live. [Back
to Text]
*Following
common editorial practice, the lines of the Greek have been rearranged here, so
that 663-7 come after 671, hence the apparently odd numbering of the lines. [Back
to Text]
*Following
the suggestion of Andrew Brown and others, I have moved lines 756-7
in the Greek text so that they come right after line 750. [Back
to Text]
*corrupted:
the killing of a family member could bring on divine punishment in the form of a
pollution involving the entire city (as in the case of Oedipus). Creon is, one
assumes, taking refuge in the notion that he will not be executing Antigone
directly. [Back
to Text]
*Eros:
the god of erotic sexual passion. [Back
to Text]
*Aphrodite:
goddess of sexual desire. [Back to Text]
*Acheron:
one of the major rivers of the underworld. [Back
to Text]
*The
last two speeches refer to Niobe, daughter of Tantalus (a son of Zeus). Niobe
had seven sons and daughters and boasted that she had more children than the
goddess Leto. As punishment Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s two children, destroyed
all Niobe’s children. Niobe turned to stone in grief and was reportedly
visible on Mount Sipylus (in Asia Minor). The Chorus’ claim that Niobe was a
goddess or semi-divine is very odd here, since her story is almost always a tale
of human presumption and divine punishment for human arrogance. [Back
to Text]
*father:
The Chorus here is offering the traditional suggestion that present afflictions
can arise from a family curse originating in previous generations. [Back
to Text]
*still
alive: Polyneices married the daughter of Adrastus, an action which enabled
him to acquire the army to attack Thebes. [Back
to Text]
*here
with us: Creon’s logic seems to suggest that because he is not executing
Antigone directly and is leaving her a choice between committing suicide and
slowly starving to death in the cave, he has no moral responsibility for what
happens. [Back
to Text]
*Persephone
is the wife of Hades and thus goddess of the underworld. [Back
to Text]
*In
these lines Antigone seems to be talking about both her brothers, first claiming
she washed and dressed the body of Eteocles and then covered Polyneices.
However, the pronoun references in the Greek are confusing. Lines 904 to 920 in
the Greek text have prompted a great deal of critical debate, since they seem
incompatible with Antigone’s earlier motivation and do not make much sense in
context (in addition most of them appear closely derived from Herodotus 3.119).
Hence, some editors insist that the lines (or most of them) be removed. Brown
provides a useful short summary of the arguments and some editorial options
(199-200). [Back
to Text]
*Danae:
daughter of Acrisus, King of Argos. Because of a prophecy that he would be
killed by a son born to Danae, Acrisus imprisoned her. But Zeus made love to her
in the form of a golden shower, and she gave birth to Perseus, who, once grown,
killed Acrisus accidentally. [Back to Text]
*mocking
of the god: a reference to Lycurgus son of Dryas, a Thracian king. He
attacked the god Dionysus and was punished with blinding or with being torn
apart. [Back
to Text]
*flute:
the anger of the Muses at a Thracian who boasted of his flute playing is not
normally a part of the Lycurgus story but refers to another Thracian, Thamyras. [Back
to Text]
*dark
rocks . . . Bosphorus: the dark rocks were a famous hazard to shipping. They
moved together to smash any ship moving between them. The Bosphorus is the
strait between the Black Sea and the Propontis (near the Hellespont). [Back
to Text]
*blood-stained
hands: this verse and the next refer to the Thracian king Phineas, whose
second wife blinded her two step sons (from Phineas’ first wife Cleopatra) by
stabbing out their eyes. [Back
to Text]
*immortal
Fates: Cleopatra was the grand-daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens.
Boreas, father of Erechtheus, was god of the North Wind. [Back
to Text]
*other
men: Teiresias’ offering failed to catch fire. His interpretation is that
it has been rejected by the gods, a very unfavourable omen. [Back
to Text]
*in
control: This is the second reference to the fact that at some point earlier
Teiresias has given important political help to Creon. It is not at all clear
what this refers to. [Back to Text]
*Teiresias
here is apparently accusing Creon of refusing burial to the dead allied soldiers
Polyneices brought with him from other cities. There is no mention of this
anywhere else in the play, although the detail is present in other versions of
the story. [Back
to Text]
*fierce
dragon: In these lines the Chorus celebrates Dionysus, the god born in
Thebes to Semele, daughter of King Cadmus. The bacchants are those who worship
Dionysus. Eleusis, a region on the coast near Athens, was famous for the its
Eleusinian Mysteries, a secret ritual of worship. Deo is a reference to the
goddess Demeter, who was worshipped at Eleusis. The Theban race sprang up from
dragon’s teeth sown in a field by Cadmus, founder of the city. [Back
to Text]
*Evoe:
a cry of celebration made by worshippers of Bacchus. [Back
to Text]
*lightning
strike: Semele, Dionysus human mother, was destroyed by Zeus lightning bolt,
because of the jealousy of Hera, Zeus’ wife. [Back
to Text]
*Iacchus:
Thyiads are worshippers of Dionysus, Iacchus a divinity associated with
Dionysus. [Back
to Text]
*Amphion:
legendary
king of Thebes, husband of Niobe. [Back to Text]
*Megareos:
Haemon’s brother, who, we are to understand on the basis of this reference,
died nobly some time before the play begins. It is not clear how Creon might
have been responsible for his death. In another version of the story, Creon has
a son Menoeceos, who kills himself in order to save the city. [Back
to Text]
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