Antigone by Sophocles - HTML preview

ANTIGONE and ISMENE before the Palace Gates

 

 

ANTIGONE

Ismene, sister of my blood and heart,

See'st thou how Zeus would in our lives fulfill

The weird of Oedipus, a world of woes!

For what of pain, affliction, outrage, shame,

 Is lacking in our fortunes, thine and mine?

And now this proclamation of today

Made by our Captain-General to the State,

What can its purport be? Didst hear and heed,

Or art thou deaf when friends are banned as foes?

 

ISMENE

To me, Antigone, no word of friends

Has come, or glad or grievous, since we twain

Were reft of our two brethren in one day

By double fratricide; and since i' the night

Our Argive leaguers fled, no later news

Has reached me, to inspirit or deject.

 

ANTIGONE

I know 'twas so, and therefore summoned thee

Beyond the gates to breathe it in thine ear.

 

ISMENE

What is it? Some dark secret stirs thy breast.

 

ANTIGONE

What but the thought of our two brothers dead,

The one by Creon graced with funeral rites,

The other disappointed? Eteocles

He hath consigned to earth (as fame reports)

With obsequies that use and wont ordain,

So gracing him among the dead below.

But Polyneices, a dishonored corse,

(So by report the royal edict runs)

No man may bury him or make lament--

Must leave him tombless and unwept, a feast

For kites to scent afar and swoop upon.

Such is the edict (if report speak true)

Of Creon, our most noble Creon, aimed

At thee and me, aye me too; and anon

He will be here to promulgate, for such

As have not heard, his mandate; 'tis in sooth

No passing humor, for the edict says

Whoe'er transgresses shall be stoned to death.

So stands it with us; now 'tis thine to show

If thou art worthy of thy blood or base.

 

ISMENE

But how, my rash, fond sister, in such case

Can I do anything to make or mar?

 

ANTIGONE

Say, wilt thou aid me and abet? Decide.

 

ISMENE

In what bold venture? What is in thy thought?

 

ANTIGONE

Lend me a hand to bear the corpse away.

 

ISMENE

What, bury him despite the interdict?

 

ANTIGONE

My brother, and, though thou deny him, thine

No man shall say that I betrayed a brother.

 

ISMENE

Wilt thou persist, though Creon has forbid?

 

ANTIGONE

What right has he to keep me from my own?

 

ISMENE

Bethink thee, sister, of our father's fate,

Abhorred, dishonored, self-convinced of sin,

Blinded, himself his executioner.

Think of his mother-wife (ill sorted names)

Done by a noose herself had twined to death

And last, our hapless brethren in one day,

Both in a mutual destiny involved,

Self-slaughtered, both the slayer and the slain.

Bethink thee, sister, we are left alone;

Shall we not perish wretchedest of all,

If in defiance of the law we cross

A monarch's will?--weak women, think of that,

Not framed by nature to contend with men.

Remember this too that the stronger rules;

We must obey his orders, these or worse.

Therefore I plead compulsion and entreat

The dead to pardon. I perforce obey

The powers that be. 'Tis foolishness, I ween,

To overstep in aught the golden mean.

 

ANTIGONE

I urge no more; nay, wert thou willing still,

I would not welcome such a fellowship.

Go thine own way; myself will bury him.

How sweet to die in such employ, to rest,-–

Sister and brother linked in love's embrace-–

A sinless sinner, banned awhile on earth,

But by the dead commended; and with them

I shall abide for ever. As for thee,

Scorn, if thou wilt, the eternal laws of Heaven.

 

ISMENE

I scorn them not, but to defy the State

Or break her ordinance I have no skill.

 

ANTIGONE

A specious pretext. I will go alone

To lap my dearest brother in the grave.

 

ISMENE

My poor, fond sister, how I fear for thee!

 

ANTIGONE

o waste no fears on me; look to thyself.

 

ISMENE

At least let no man know of thine intent,

But keep it close and secret, as will I.

 

ANTIGONE

o tell it, sister; I shall hate thee more

If thou proclaim it not to all the town.

 

ISMENE

Thou hast a fiery soul for numbing work.

 

ANTIGONE

I pleasure those whom I would liefest please.

 

ISMENE

If thou succeed; but thou art doomed to fail.

 

ANTIGONE

When strength shall fail me, yes, but not before.

 

ISMENE

But, if the venture's hopeless, why essay?

 

ANTIGONE

Sister, forbear, or I shall hate thee soon,

And the dead man will hate thee too, with cause.

Say I am mad and give my madness rein

To wreck itself; the worst that can befall

Is but to die an honorable death.

 

ISMENE

Have thine own way then; 'tis a mad endeavor,

Yet to thy lovers thou art dear as ever.

[Exeunt]

 

CHORUS

(Str. 1)

Sunbeam, of all that ever dawn upon

our seven-gated Thebes the brightest ray,

o eye of golden day,

How fair thy light o'er Dirce's fountain shone,

Speeding upon their headlong homeward course,

Far quicker than they came, the Argive force;

Putting to flight

The argent shields, the host with scutcheons white.

Against our land the proud invader came

To vindicate fell Polyneices' claim.

Like to an eagle swooping low,

on pinions white as new fall'n snow.

With clanging scream, a horsetail plume his crest,

The aspiring lord of Argos onward pressed.

 

(Ant. 1)

Hovering around our city walls he waits,

His spearmen raven at our seven gates.

But ere a torch our crown of towers could burn,

Ere they had tasted of our blood, they turn

Forced by the Dragon; in their rear

The din of Ares panic-struck they hear.

For Zeus who hates the braggart's boast

Beheld that gold-bespangled host;

As at the goal the paean they upraise,

He struck them with his forked lightning blaze.

 

(Str. 2)

To earthy from earth rebounding, down he crashed;

The fire-brand from his impious hand was dashed,

As like a Bacchic reveler on he came,

Outbreathing hate and flame,

And tottered. Elsewhere in the field,

Here, there, great Area like a war-horse wheeled;

Beneath his car down thrust

Our foemen bit the dust.

 

Seven captains at our seven gates

Thundered; for each a champion waits,

Each left behind his armor bright,

Trophy for Zeus who turns the fight;

Save two alone, that ill-starred pair

one mother to one father bare,

Who lance in rest, one 'gainst the other

Drave, and both perished, brother slain by brother.

 

(Ant. 2)

Now Victory to Thebes returns again

And smiles upon her chariot-circled plain.

Now let feast and festal should

Memories of war blot out.

Let us to the temples throng,

Dance and sing the live night long.

God of Thebes, lead thou the round.

Bacchus, shaker of the ground!

Let us end our revels here;

Lo! Creon our new lord draws near,

Crowned by this strange chance, our king.

What, I marvel, pondering?

Why this summons? Wherefore call

Us, his elders, one and all, Bidding us with him debate,

on some grave concern of State?

[Enter CREoN]

 

CREON

Elders, the gods have righted one again

our storm-tossed ship of state, now safe in port.

But you by special summons I convened

As my most trusted councilors; first, because

I knew you loyal to Laius of old;

Again, when oedipus restored our State,

Both while he ruled and when his rule was o'er,

Ye still were constant to the royal line.

Now that his two sons perished in one day,

Brother by brother murderously slain,

By right of kinship to the Princes dead,

I claim and hold the throne and sovereignty.

Yet 'tis no easy matter to discern

The temper of a man, his mind and will,

Till he be proved by exercise of power;

And in my case, if one who reigns supreme

Swerve from the highest policy, tongue-tied

By fear of consequence, that man I hold,

And ever held, the basest of the base.

And I contemn the man who sets his friend

Before his country. For myself, I call

To witness Zeus, whose eyes are everywhere,

If I perceive some mischievous design

To sap the State, I will not hold my tongue;

Nor would I reckon as my private friend

A public foe, well knowing that the State

Is the good ship that holds our fortunes all:

Farewell to friendship, if she suffers wreck.

Such is the policy by which I seek

To serve the Commons and conformably

I have proclaimed an edict as concerns

The sons of oedipus; Eteocles

Who in his country's battle fought and fell,

The foremost champion--duly bury him

With all observances and ceremonies

That are the guerdon of the heroic dead.

But for the miscreant exile who returned

Minded in flames and ashes to blot out

His father's city and his father's gods,

And glut his vengeance with his kinsmen's blood,

or drag them captive at his chariot wheels--

For Polyneices 'tis ordained that none

Shall give him burial or make mourn for him,

But leave his corpse unburied, to be meat

For dogs and carrion crows, a ghastly sight.

So am I purposed; never by my will

Shall miscreants take precedence of true men,

But all good patriots, alive or dead,

Shall be by me preferred and honored.

 

CHORUS

Son of Menoeceus, thus thou will'st to deal

With him who loathed and him who loved our State.

Thy word is law; thou canst dispose of us

The living, as thou will'st, as of the dead.

 

CREON

See then ye execute what I ordain.

 

CHORUS

on younger shoulders lay this grievous charge.

 

CREON

Fear not, I've posted guards to watch the corpse.

 

CHORUS

What further duty would'st thou lay on us?

 

CREON

Not to connive at disobedience.

 

CHORUS

No man is mad enough to court his death.

 

CREON

The penalty is death: yet hope of gain

Hath lured men to their ruin oftentimes.

[Enter GUARD]

 

GUARD

My lord, I will not make pretense to pant

And puff as some light-footed messenger.

In sooth my soul beneath its pack of thought

Made many a halt and turned and turned again;

For conscience plied her spur and curb by turns.

"Why hurry headlong to thy fate, poor fool?"

She whispered. Then again, "If Creon learn

This from another, thou wilt rue it worse."

Thus leisurely I hastened on my road;

Much thought extends a furlong to a league.

But in the end the forward voice prevailed,

To face thee. I will speak though I say nothing.

For plucking courage from despair methought,

'Let the worst hap, thou canst but meet thy fate.'

 

CREON

What is thy news? Why this despondency?

 

GUARD

Let me premise a word about myself?

I neither did the deed nor saw it done,

Nor were it just that I should come to harm.

 

CREON

Thou art good at parry, and canst fence about

Some matter of grave import, as is plain.

 

GUARD

The bearer of dread tidings needs must quake.

 

CREON

Then, sirrah, shoot thy bolt and get thee gone.

 

GUARD

Well, it must out; the corpse is buried; someone

E'en now besprinkled it with thirsty dust,

Performed the proper ritual--and was gone.

 

CREON

What say'st thou? Who hath dared to do this thing?

 

GUARD

I cannot tell, for there was ne'er a trace

of pick or mattock--hard unbroken ground,

Without a scratch or rut of chariot wheels,

No sign that human hands had been at work.

When the first sentry of the morning watch

Gave the alarm, we all were terror-stricken.

The corpse had vanished, not interred in earth,

But strewn with dust, as if by one who sought

To avert the curse that haunts the unburied dead:

of hound or ravening jackal, not a sign.

Thereat arose an angry war of words;

Guard railed at guard and blows were like to end it,

For none was there to part us, each in turn

Suspected, but the guilt brought home to none,

From lack of evidence. We challenged each

The ordeal, or to handle red-hot iron,

or pass through fire, affirming on our oath

our innocence--we neither did the deed

ourselves, nor know who did or compassed it.

our quest was at a standstill, when one spake

And bowed us all to earth like quivering reeds,

For there was no gainsaying him nor way

To escape perdition: Ye are bound to tell

The King, ye cannot hide it; so he spake.

And he convinced us all; so lots were cast,

And I, unlucky scapegoat, drew the prize.

So here I am unwilling and withal

Unwelcome; no man cares to hear ill news.

 

CHORUS

I had misgivings from the first, my liege,

of something more than natural at work.

 

CREON

o cease, you vex me with your babblement;

I am like to think you dote in your old age.

Is it not arrant folly to pretend

That gods would have a thought for this dead man?

 Did they forsooth award him special grace,

And as some benefactor bury him,

Who came to fire their hallowed sanctuaries,

To sack their shrines, to desolate their land,

And scout their ordinances? or perchance T

he gods bestow their favors on the bad.

No! no! I have long noted malcontents

Who wagged their heads, and kicked against the yoke,

Misliking these my orders, and my rule.

'Tis they, I warrant, who suborned my guards

By bribes. of evils current upon earth

The worst is money. Money 'tis that sacks

Cities, and drives men forth from hearth and home;

Warps and seduces native innocence,

And breeds a habit of dishonesty.

But they who sold themselves shall find their greed

out-shot the mark, and rue it soon or late.

Yea, as I still revere the dread of Zeus,

By Zeus I swear, except ye find and bring

Before my presence here the very man

Who carried out this lawless burial,

Death for your punishment shall not suffice.

Hanged on a cross, alive ye first shall make

Confession of this outrage. This will teach you

What practices are like to serve your turn.

There are some villainies that bring no gain.

For by dishonesty the few may thrive,

The many come to ruin and disgrace.

 

GUARD

May I not speak, or must I turn and go

Without a word?–

 

CREON

Begone! canst thou not see

That e'en this question irks me?

 

GUARD

Where, my lord?

Is it thy ears that suffer, or thy heart?

 

CREON

Why seek to probe and find the seat of pain?

 

GUARD

I gall thine ears--this miscreant thy mind.

 

CREON

What an inveterate babbler! get thee gone!

 

GUARD

Babbler perchance, but innocent of the crime.

 

CREON

Twice guilty, having sold thy soul for gain.

 

GUARD

Alas! how sad when reasoners reason wrong.

 

CREON

Go, quibble with thy reason.  If thou fail'st

To find these malefactors, thou shalt own

The wages of ill-gotten gains is death.

[Exit CREoN]

 

GUARD

I pray he may be found. But caught or not

(And fortune must determine that) thou never

Shalt see me here returning; that is sure.

For past all hope or thought I have escaped,

And for my safety owe the gods much thanks.

 

CHORUS

(Str. 1)

Many wonders there be, but naught more wondrous than man;

over the surging sea, with a whitening south wind wan,

Through the foam of the firth, man makes his perilous way;

And the eldest of deities Earth that knows not toil nor decay

Ever he furrows and scores, as his team, year in year out,

With breed of the yoked horse, the ploughshare turneth about.

 

(Ant. 1)

The light-witted birds of the air, the beasts of the weald and the wood

He traps with his woven snare, and the brood of the briny flood.

Master of cunning he: the savage bull, and the hart

Who roams the mountain free, are tamed by his infinite art;

And the shaggy rough-maned steed is broken to bear the bit.

 

(Str. 2)

Speech and the wind-swift speed of counsel and civic wit,

He hath learnt for himself all these; and the arrowy rain to fly

And the nipping airs that freeze, 'neath the open winter sky.

He hath provision for all: fell plague he hath learnt to endure;

Safe whate'er may befall: yet for death he hath found no cure.

 

(Ant. 2)

Passing the wildest flight thought are the cunning and skill,

That guide man now to the light, but now to counsels of ill.

If he honors the laws of the land, and reveres the Gods of the State

Proudly his city shall stand; but a cityless outcast I rate

Whoso bold in his pride from the path of right doth depart;

Ne'er may I sit by his side, or share the thoughts of his heart.

 

What strange vision meets my eyes,

Fills me with a wild surprise?

Sure I know her, sure 'tis she,

The maid Antigone.

Hapless child of hapless sire,

Didst thou recklessly conspire,

Madly brave the King's decree?

Therefore are they haling thee?

[Enter GUARD bringing ANTIGoNE]

 

GUARD

Here is the culprit taken in the act

of giving burial. But where's the King?

 

CHORUS

There from the palace he returns in time.

[Enter CREoN]

 

CREON

Why is my presence timely? What has chanced?

 

GUARD

No man, my lord, should make a vow, for if

He ever swears he will not do a thing,

His afterthoughts belie his first resolve.

When from the hail-storm of thy threats I fled

I sware thou wouldst not see me here again;

But the wild rapture of a glad surprise

Intoxicates, and so I'm here forsworn.

And here's my prisoner, caught in the very act,

Decking the grave. No lottery this time;

This prize is mine by right of treasure-trove.

So take her, judge her, rack her, if thou wilt.

She's thine, my liege; but I may rightly claim

Hence to depart well quit of all these ills.

 

CREON

Say, how didst thou arrest the maid, and where?

 

GUARD

Burying the man. There's nothing more to tell.

 

CREON

Hast thou thy wits? or know'st thou what thou say'st?

 

GUARD

I saw this woman burying the corpse

Against thy orders. Is that clear and plain?

 

CREON

But how was she surprised and caught in the act?

 

GUARD

It happened thus. No sooner had we come,

Driven from thy presence by those awful threats,

Than straight we swept away all trace of dust,

And bared the clammy body. Then we sat

High on the ridge to windward of the stench,

While each man kept he fellow alert and rated

Roundly the sluggard if he chanced to nap.

So all night long we watched, until the sun

Stood high in heaven, and his blazing beams

Smote us. A sudden whirlwind then upraised

A cloud of dust that blotted out the sky,

And swept the plain, and stripped the woodlands bare,

And shook the firmament. We closed our eyes

And waited till the heaven-sent plague should pass.

At last it ceased, and lo! there stood this maid.

A piercing cry she uttered, sad and shrill,

As when the mother bird beholds her nest

Robbed of its nestlings; even so the maid

Wailed as she saw the body stripped and bare,

And cursed the ruffians who had done this deed.

Anon she gathered handfuls of dry dust,

Then, holding high a well-wrought brazen urn,

Thrice on the dead she poured a lustral stream.

We at the sight swooped down on her and seized

Our quarry. Undismayed she stood, and when

We taxed her with the former crime and this,

She disowned nothing. I was glad--and grieved;

For 'tis most sweet to 'scape oneself scot-free,

And yet to bring disaster to a friend

Is grievous. Take it all in all, I deem

A man's first duty is to serve himself.

 

CREON

Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes,

Does thou plead guilty or deny the deed?

 

ANTIGONE

Guilty. I did it, I deny it not.

 

CREON (to GUARD)

Sirrah, begone whither thou wilt, and thank

Thy luck that thou hast 'scaped a heavy charge.

(To ANTIGoNE)

Now answer this plain question, yes or no,

Wast thou acquainted with the interdict?

 

ANTIGONE

I knew, all knew; how should I fail to know?

 

CREON

And yet wert bold enough to break the law?

 

ANTIGONE

Yea, for these laws were not ordained of Zeus,

And she who sits enthroned with gods below,

Justice, enacted not these human laws.

Nor did I deem that thou, a mortal man,

Gould'st by a breath annul and override

The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven.

They were not born today nor yesterday;

They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang.

I was not like, who feared no mortal's frown,

To disobey these laws and so provoke

The wrath of Heaven. I knew that I must die,