Antigone

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Summary: Antigone Gone By
Review: Antigone is a well composed play with a deep and twisted plot. This reading was very enlightening with respects to the ancient Grecian culture in the time of Sophocles. It gave a clear insight into the way women were treated, how the government was guided in correlation to their gods and their people, and how important it is to take advice when it is given. Proverbs 11:14 says, "For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure." In Sophocles' drama, Antigone, the king, Creon, had many wise counselors and advisors, but chose to act on his own will which led to utter despair in his life. This translation into English is a little difficult to understand, but provides a more precise view of the way life would have been conducted in 440 B.C.
Dramas were written not only for entertainment, but also to teach moral lessons from good and evil. Sophocles posed, in this drama, a complex situation in which uncle turns against niece, because of apparent disobedience to his sound laws. Creon had ordered that the carcass of her brother be placed on display for his act of treason to his country. Antigone then risked everything to save the family name, only to be condemned to die a slow death of starvation in a cave. This blood that was being shed, was of course innocent and in no way deserving of death. Creon, knowing his way was best, sent her away anyhow to live out her last days friendless and starving. A series of terrible acts occur where his son and wife kill themselves out of grief and he is left with a heavy, dying heart. Creon mourns,

"Alas, I faint for dread!
Is there none will deal
A thrust that shall lay me dead
With the two-edged steel?"
~page 50~

Sophocles' play defines two morals that intertwine all of life then and life now. This is: if you teach wisdom and discretion, pride will not overcome you. "Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." (Proverbs 18:12) The virtuous characters in Antigone die because of the lack of discretion displayed by an arrogant king and his disdainful young niece. Sophocles also produces a feeling of charity towards Creon in the very end when he discovers the error of his ways. He wails,

"O sins of a mind
That is minded to stray!
Mighty to bind
And Almighty to slay...
Ah yes, I have learnt,
I know my wretchedness!"
~page 48~

Knowing that he had caused death to come upon those he cherished, Creon, the King of Thebes, felt as though he would rather die than live on with unbearable guilt. Once something has been done, no one has the power to recant it. In the ancient Greek culture, it was very important to learn from your mistakes, as is obvious when Sophocles writes,

"Wisdom first for man's well-being
Maketh, of all things, Heaven's insistence
Nothing allows of man's irreverence;
And great blows speeches avenging,
Death on a boalster
Teach men wisdom in age, at last."
~page 52~

I am personally impressed with the way the ancient Greek's composed their tragedy and comedy acts, especially in Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Many lessons may be learned from their twisted plots and compelling emotion. I have learned three main morals from this dramatic play, Antigone. These are: 1) submit to God and His Will for your life, 2) love your family enough to want to risk everything to save them from harm and 3) when advice is given by those who fear God, apply it and do not ignore it. God certainly inspired Sophocles to know the precise words and perfect plot to animate the Biblical principles of "Pride cometh before a fall" and "love your neighbor as yourself".
In conclusion, I would highly recommend this dramatic play to everyone! If you like Shakespeare, you'll love this! It draws you into its plots and entangles you in a web of anticipation and confusion. Though the family line of characters is a bit mangled, it is still easy to follow and understand.

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Summary: Irreconcilable moral imperatives
Review: Antigone is perhaps the first tragedy to elaborate directly on the subjects of personal, family moral imperatives, against the collective moral imperatives of the State. Although from a sentimental point of view it is easy to root for Antigone, we have to understand Creon's position: Polyninces has been a traitor to the State and deserves to be punished.

The plot: After Oedipus's death, his twin sons fight in different factions. Etheocles defends Thebes while Polynices attacks it at the siege. Eventually they kill each other simultaneously. After the battle is over, Thebes's king Creon orders that Polynices must remain unsepulted (as was the custom in Greece) and that whoever tries to bury him must also die. This is a terrible order for Antigone, the younger sister of the clashing twins, who feels that it is her duty as a sister to bury both of her brothers and not just one. The personal, family morality requires her to do her duty; political responsibility requires Creon to impose an exemplary punishment on the one who betrayed his city (for whatever reason). Although the plot is very well known, I'll conclude by saying that the dramatic tension is extreme, and that the ending is terribly violent. This play's subtitle could be "Political order vs. human dignity", or even better "Sometimes, moral dilemmas just can't be resolved". Of course, it is one great source for Western literature and philosophy and it is a Classic all around.

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Summary: My favorite Greek Tragedy
Review: Antigone takes place right after sophocles, Oedipus at Colonos. The play takes off right after a war in thebes where the two princes Eteokles and Poloneices have fought and killed each other over a war for the throne. For those who dont know any backround for this war, Poloneicies and Eteokles had struck up a deal that every year they would trade off the throne, one ruling than the other, but Eteokles dod not want to give up the throne agter his one year so Poloneices, gathered up an army and attacked to gain, what was actually rightfully his. To move on, Antigone is saddened from the fact that her uncle Kreon, refuses to bury Ploneices, which is an act against the gods; her agrument being that even the opposing forces of an emeny's armyies are giving burial rights, but not her brother. Antigone, the tragic hero in this play buried polonieces against the orders of Kreon an is caught. Never backing down that what she did was right, Antigone carries with her the respect of the people and her fiance Haimon, whom is Kreon's son. Not wanting a conflict between the people and him, kreon secretly has antigone sealed away in a tome, buried alive so to say. But after finally listenine to the prophet Teiresias' words, Kreon makes his final mistake by burying Polonieces first, then going to safe antigone whom had all ready hanged herslef and was only just in time to see his own son, Haimon, out of grief, stab himself.

Antigone is one of the best greek tragdedian plays i have ever read. I bought this edition to read in a college class and found it to be one of the best translations i have ever come across. It is very easy to read and understand plus there are notes in the back to help you better understand what is going on in the pkay if you ever get confused. If you like antigone or have a hard time understanding it, buy this edition. I gaurantee you will not have any trouble understanding it.

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Summary: Antigone: Worth the paper or not
Review: Antigone
Matthew Newkirk
10-15-03
Drama, Mr. Paden
Antigone is good story if you want a story that has a good plot but is semi-difficult to understand. It was a bad story because it was hard to follow because it was written in the play format. For someone that has not so good reading comprehension it will take a little bit more time for them to get the meaning of the story, and the message the author (Sophocles) was trying to get across.
I believe that Sophocles' purpose in writing this play can be summarized into three main points. I believed that the first purpose was to shock the audience because for a woman to be the lead character in a play was truly controversial for that time period. The reason I know this is because if you look at any other play of his time period the main character was most often a man.
Another reason for him writing this was to give women of the day a ray of hope that maybe these people will eventually admit that women can have good ideas. I know this because Antigone's belief that you should obey the gods also lines up with some world-views of today. For example Christians believe that you should not do anything that does not line up with God's word despite what the government says.
The third and final reason I believe Sophocles wrote this was to relay to the audience that too much pride can kill a man. It may not kill him physically but it can kill him mentally and physically too. For example at the end of the play the gods would not let Creon (king of Thebes) die because that was their way of retribution for wrongs that people have committed.
This play also has some very good life lessons that everyone can apply to their lives personally. The first life lesson that I personally could apply is not to let pride and fame and fortune get in the way of what really matters, like family and friends. Another lesson is to not be afraid to admit your mistakes and to take advice in the council of others. These are two life lessons I got out of this story.
I would recommend this play because it is a good tool to use if you are trying to learn what will happen if you do not seek the council of others.

Rating:
Summary: Braun's Translation is good, but not as literal as others
Review: Braun's translation does a good job of capturing the dramatic intensity of Sophocles' play, but his translation isn't as close to the original language as other translations available

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Summary: The question of loyalty to family verus duty to the state
Review: Following the ending of "Oedipus the King," Oedipus was exiled from Thebes, blind and a beggar. We learn from "Oedipus at Colonus" that his sons, Eteocles and Polyneices engaged in a civil war for the throne of Thebes (covered in "Seven Against Thebes" by Aeschylus). The two brothers kill each other and Creon (Manos Katrakis), brother of Jocasta, becomes king. He orders that Eteocles, who nobly defended his city, shall receive an honorable burial, but that Polyneices, for leading the Argive invaders, shall be left unburied. This leads Antigone (Pappas), sister to both of the slain brothers, to have to choose between obeying the rule of the state, the dictates of familial binds, and the will of the gods. This, of course, is the matter at the heart of this classic tragedy by Sophocles.

It is too easy to see the issues of this play, first performed in the 5th century B.C., as being reflected in a host of more contemporary concerns, where the conscience of the individual conflicts with the dictates of the state. However, it seems to me that the conflict in "Antigone" is not so clear-cut as we would suppose. After all, Creon has the right to punish a traitor and to expect loyal citizens to obey. Ismene (Maro Kodou), Antigone's sister, chooses to obey, but Antigone takes a different path. The fact that the "burial" of her brother consists of the token gesture of throwing dirt upon his face, only serves to underscore the ambiguity of the situation Sophocles is developing. Even though the playwright strips Creon of his son, Haemon (Nikos Kazis) and wife, Eurydice (Ilia Livykou) by the end of the drama, it is not a fatal verdict rendered against the king's judgment, but rather the playing out of the tragedy to its grim conclusion.

Note: I have always enjoyed Jean Anouilh's "modern" version of the play, produced in 1944 and loaded with overtones regarding the Nazi occupation of France. The two plays offer a fascinating analog and students are usually quick to appreciate how Anouilh revitalizes the ancient myth with the political situation in which he lived.

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Summary: The Virtue of Wisdom
Review: For someone to learn and become wiser they must either learn from their mistakes, or others mistakes. By reading Antigone, I was able to learn from her mistakes without having to make them myself. That is why Antigone has a positive effect on the readers. As our class began to first read Antigone I didn't think that I would be able to relate to the characters at all, but as we read on I began to see the similarities between Antigone and myself. Antigone in a way is like me, and many of my peers, a teenager, who's lost loved ones, is looked down upon and judged because of her youth, is trying to find a place in the world and so she rebel's against her authorities.
Antigone had no one to help guide her or share wisdom with her as she grew up; this gave her a sense of aloneness that invokes the reader's pity. Antigone's act of disobedience towards Creon through burying her brother was an act of desperation. Even though she was scared her since of loyalty to Polynices prompted her to do this rash and unwise act. Sophocles thought many lessons throughout Antigone but one of the major ideas that I'm going to focus on is wisdom.
Wisdom is defined, as an understanding of what is true or right, having common sense and good judgment. Sophocles presents the question, who is right, Antigone or Creon? They both believed they were right according to their standards, Antigone's actions were directed by her beliefs that she was responding to a higher authority, that of the Gods. Even though, she understood that Creon was in authority she thought she was right in obeying the Gods over him. Creon on the other hand refused to acknowledge any authority other than his own and the law of the land. Pride and stubbornness clouded his judgment from listening to wise council from his son. Proverbs19: 20 says Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Creon was unwise because he did not listen to Haemon merely because Creon believed that wisdom came with age. He tells this to Haemon when his decision on the fate of Antigone was challenged. The last line of the play, Teach men wisdom in age, at last shows Sophocles beliefs that wisdom is a virtue that is earned through experiences and personal maturity not thorough age alone.
The play shows me personally that age and wisdom are not always synonymous. Spiritual maturity comes from God and I am directed to set an example not only for my peers but also for those older than me. Many adults think teenagers today are all the same, disrespectful, disobedient kids, who are young and hopeless without wisdom, morals or values. This is a bleak stereotype that we need to break away from. Paul writes to Timothy in 1Timothy 4:12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, In love, in faith, and in purity. It's easy for teens to use the world's misguided stereotype to lower their standards and conform to the expectations of today. As a believer God holds us accountable to his standards not the worlds, at any age. Proverbs 20: 11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
I would recommend this play because it was interesting with a strong storyline. The characters were well developed and the reader becomes emotionally involved. The conflicts that arise are ambiguous and challenge your thinking and encourage personal introspection. The negative aspect of the play is it is difficult to understand. The prose used by Sopholes is unfamiliar and the format of the chorus is hard to follow. The play is best read in discussion groups or led by a teacher who is experience in this style of writing.

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Summary: Great stuff
Review: Great drama. I'm not a huge "classics" fan and yet I enjoyed this. If you're into Greek mythology and like flowery language and prose (and lots of melodrama) you will enjoy this. HINT: don't read these plays line-by-line like a poem - I find that it's more difficult to follow them that way. Read this like you would a novel.

Rating:
Summary: Great play; dreadful translation
Review: Having taught "Antigone" for years in various translations, I thought I'd try the Dover Thrift Edition. It's a disaster; it's unteachable. It's a Victorian translation that renders the play into contorted, archaic, unreadable fake Shakespeare. The Dover Thrift Editions have in many ways been a real boon for college students, but don't bother with this one. It makes me suspicious of the rest of Dover's Greek drama translations.

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Summary: Boring Flowery Language is Tiresome
Review: How awful! This book is so boring. I read it a few months ago, and the few themes that I could remember then I can barely recall. Wow, it made such a lasting impression! Don't waste your time with Sophocles, and try reading other works from that time period like THE MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS ARELIUS. I promise that it is much better!