DOCSLIB.ORG

Thebaid 2: Oedipus

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Thebaid 2: Oedipus Sophocles The Theban Plays Cadmus = Harmonia Aristeus =Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion Nycteis = Polydorus Pentheus Labdacus Menoecius Laius = Iocaste Creon Oedipus Laius • Laius and Iocaste • Childless, asked Delphi for advice: • “Lord of Thebes famous for horses, do not sow a furrow of children against the will of the gods; for if you beget a son, that child will kill you, [20] and all your house shall wade through blood.” (Euripides Phoenissae) • Accidentally, they had a son anyway. Oedipus • Laius and Iocaste expose the baby • Found by Polybus, King of Corinth • Raised as prince of Corinth • His parentage challenged: • Oedipus went to Delphi for confirmation • “You will kill your father and through incest with your mother you will have children” Oedipus and Laius • Oedipus resolves never to go home • Believing that Polybus and Merope were his real parents • On the road he meets an old man in a chariot • “stranger, make way for a king” but Oedipus “because he was proud” • Oedipus kills Laius and his charioteer Problems… • Delphic oracles are (almost) always ‘if A then B’ formulae • If Laius has a son, then his son will kill him • Theodore Buttrey: • “if you kill your father, then you will commit incest with your mother and produce children” • 52 English translations… all wrong? Biggest Problem • If divine pronouncements do not include choice and or interpretation, then what is left of free will? • Is life tolerable if fate is predetermined? • Is ‘god’s plan’ written and are we just going through the motions like actors on a stage? Cadmus = Harmonia Aristeus =Autonoe Ino Semele Agave = Echion Antiope = Polydorus Pentheus Labdacus Menoecius Laius = Iocaste Creon Oedipus Creon • King (Regent?) on the death of Laius • Brother of Iocaste • When the sphinx came, Creon’s son Haemon was one of those killed • Creon offered his throne, and his sister, to anyone who could solve the riddle The Riddle • Version One: • What is a being with four feet, two feet, three feet and once voice and is weakest when it has the most feet? • Version Two: • What has four feet in the morning, two feet in the afternoon, and three feet in the evening? Oedipus and the Sphinx • Gustave Moreau • 1864 • ‘Oedipus and the Sphinx’ A man… • Who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two feet as a man, and uses a cane in his old age Oedipus and Iocaste • Oedipus becomes king of Thebes • Marries the queen (his mother), Iocaste • A plague descends on Thebes • The city is polluted with the miasma of murder and incest. • Oedipus seeks divine guidance • The murder of Laius must be avenged! • Oedipus consults Teiresias The Accursed Children Oedipus = Iocaste Polynices Eteocles Ismene Antigone Aftermath • Iocaste hanged herself • Oedipus gouged out his own eyes • Polynices and Eteocles banished Oedipus • Antigone took her father to Attica • Received by Theseus • Died at Colonus Oedipe et Antigone Charles Francois Jalabert 1842 Battle for Thebes • Polynices and Eteocles agree to share the throne alternatively • Etoecles first year • But refused to step down • Polynices • Gains the aid of Adrastus of Argos Seven Against Thebes • Adrastus of Corinth • Polynices of Thebes • Tydeus of Calydonia in Aetolia • Amphiaraus of Argos • Capaneus of Argos • Hippomedon of Argos • Parthenopaeus of Arcadia Seven Against Thebes Seven Gated Thebes • Each champion stormed one of the seven gates of Thebes • Suicide of Creon’s son, Meneoceus • All of the seven but Adrastus were killed • Etoecles and Polynices killed each other • Creon of Thebes, victorious, forbade the burial of the bodies Antigone • Daughter of Oedipus and Iocaste • The ‘noble maiden’ • Escorted Oedipus to Colonus • After he died she returned to Thebes • Edict of Creon • Antigone buried the body of Polynices • She was buried alive as punishment Antigone and Polynices Nikoforos Lytras (1832 – 1904) Sophocles • Sophocles • 496 – 405 BC • 120 productions… only 7 extant. • Won the Dionysia 18 times. • Oedipus Rex (Tyrannus, The King) (429) • Oedipus at Colonus (401 posthumous) • Antigone (441) Theatre as Politics • 480/ 79 • Greek coalition defeats a Persian invasion force • Battles of Thermopylae, Salamis , Plataea and Mycale • 479 – 432 • The Pentecontaetia: Athenian hegemony • Brutal suppression of Delian League member states. • 431 – 404 • The Peloponnesian War: A war for Greek freedom from Athens. The Peloponnesian War Antigone • Sohocles, Antigone • ca. 442 BC • A question for the age of heroes? • A question for the age of democracy? • Good of the individual vs. good of the state • Courage in the face of Tyranny • See Thucydides, ‘The Melian Dialogue’ Creon and Antigone Creon and Antigone? .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Hellenic Saga Gaia (Earth)
    The Hellenic Saga Gaia (Earth) Uranus (Heaven) Oceanus = Tethys Iapetus (Titan) = Clymene Themis Atlas Menoetius Prometheus Epimetheus = Pandora Prometheus • “Prometheus made humans out of earth and water, and he also gave them fire…” (Apollodorus Library 1.7.1) • … “and scatter-brained Epimetheus from the first was a mischief to men who eat bread; for it was he who first took of Zeus the woman, the maiden whom he had formed” (Hesiod Theogony ca. 509) Prometheus and Zeus • Zeus concealed the secret of life • Trick of the meat and fat • Zeus concealed fire • Prometheus stole it and gave it to man • Freidrich H. Fuger, 1751 - 1818 • Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora • Zeus chained Prometheus to a mountain • The accounts here are many and confused Maxfield Parish Prometheus 1919 Prometheus Chained Dirck van Baburen 1594 - 1624 Prometheus Nicolas-Sébastien Adam 1705 - 1778 Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus • Novel by Mary Shelly • First published in 1818. • The first true Science Fiction novel • Victor Frankenstein is Prometheus • As with the story of Prometheus, the novel asks about cause and effect, and about responsibility. • Is man accountable for his creations? • Is God? • Are there moral, ethical constraints on man’s creative urges? Mary Shelly • “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world” (Introduction to the 1831 edition) Did I request thee, from my clay To mould me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? John Milton, Paradise Lost 10.
    [Show full text]
  • Getting Acquainted with the Myths Search the GML Advanced
    Document belonging to the Greek Mythology Link, a web site created by Carlos Parada, author of Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology Characters • Places • Topics • Images • Bibliography • PDF Editions About • Copyright © 1997 Carlos Parada and Maicar Förlag. Getting acquainted with the myths Search the GML advanced Sections in this Page I. Getting acquainted with the myths II. Four "gateways" of mythology III. A strategy for reading the myths I. Getting acquainted with the myths What "getting acquainted" may mean We'll first try to clarify the meaning that the expression "getting acquainted" may have in this context: In a practical sense, I mean by "acquaintance" a general knowledge of the tales of mythology, including how they relate to each other. This concept includes neither analysis nor interpretation of the myths nor plunging too deep into one tale or another. In another sense, the expression "getting acquainted" has further implications that deserve elucidation: First of all, let us remember that we naturally investigate what we ignore, and not what we already know; accordingly, we set out to study the myths not because we feel we know them but because we feel we know nothing or very little about them. I mention this obvious circumstance because I believe that we should bear in mind that, in this respect, we are not in the same position as our remote ancestors, who may be assumed to have made their acquaintance with the myths more or less in the same way one learns one's mother tongue, and consequently did not have to study them in any way.
    [Show full text]
  • Surviving Antigone: Anouilh, Adaptation, and the Archive
    SURVIVING ANTIGONE: ANOUILH, ADAPTATION AND THE ARCHIVE Katelyn J. Buis A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2014 Committee: Cynthia Baron, Advisor Jonathan Chambers ii ABSTRACT Dr. Cynthia Baron, Advisor The myth of Antigone has been established as a preeminent one in political and philosophical debate. One incarnation of the myth is of particular interest here. Jean Anouilh’s Antigone opened in Paris, 1944. A political and then philosophical debate immediately arose in response to the show. Anouilh’s Antigone remains a well-known play, yet few people know about its controversial history or the significance of its translation into English immediately after the war. It is this history and adaptation of Anouilh’s contested Antigone that defines my inquiry. I intend to reopen interpretive discourse about this play by exploring its origins, its journey, and the archival limitations and motivations controlling its legacy and reception to this day. By creating a space in which multiple readings of this play can exist, I consider adaptation studies and archival theory and practice in the form of theatre history, with a view to dismantle some of the misconceptions this play has experienced for over sixty years. This is an investigation into the survival of Anouilh’s Antigone since its premiere in 1944. I begin with a brief overview of the original performance of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone and the significant political controversy it caused. The second chapter centers on the changing reception of Anouilh’s Antigone beginning with the liberation of Paris to its premiere on the Broadway stage the following year.
    [Show full text]
  • Llt 121 Classical Mythology Lecture 32 Good Morning
    LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY LECTURE 32 GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO LLT 121 CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY IN WHICH WE RESUME OUR ADVENTURES IN THE CITY OF THEBES. THE CITY THAT THE GODS SEEM TO LOVE TO HATE. THE ORIGINAL FOUNDER TURNS INTO A SNAKE. WE'VE GOT THAT AT THEBES. A YOUNG MAN IS TURNED INTO A STAG FOR SEEING ARTEMIS BATHING IN THE NUDE. YES, WE HAVE THAT AT THEBES. THE SON KILLS THE FATHER. WE HAVE GOT THAT. WE DO THAT AT THEBES. THE SON MARRIES MOTHER. WE DO THAT TOO. BROTHER KILLS BROTHER, YEP. IF IT'S BAD AND IT HAPPENED IN ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY YOU CAN BET IT HAPPENED AT ANCIENT THEBES. I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU WHY THAT IS. IT HAPPENS TO BE RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO ATHENS. WHERE I WANT TO START TODAY IS WITH ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CHARACTERS IN ALL WESTERN CIVILIZATION, ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX PEOPLE YOU'LL EVER WANT TO MEET. THIS GUY IS BY THE NAME OF OEDIPUS. OEDIPUS STARTS OFF AS A LITTLE BABY. HE IS A CUTE LITTLE BABY. HE USED TO BE A LITTLE BOY. THEN HE WINDS UP AS THIS SAD, MULING, PUKING, UNHAPPY MAN WHO HAS POKED HIS OWN EYES OUT WITH A BROOCH. THIS IS THE GORE DRIPPING OUT OF HIS EYES AND ALL OF THAT BECAUSE HE SUFFERS FROM CLASSICAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY'S WORST DOCUMENTED CASE OF ARTIMONTHONO. NOW I GET IT. I PAUSE FOR YOUR QUESTIONS UP TO THIS POINT. WHEN LAST WE LEFT OFF LAIUS HAD BECOME KING AFTER A LONG WAIT WITH SOME INTERESTING MATHEMATICS BEHIND IT IF YOU'LL RECALL.
    [Show full text]
  • Oedipus and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex: a Comparative Study مسرحية توفيق الحكيم الملك أوديب ومسرحية سوفكليس أوديب ملكا: دراسة مقارنة
    I Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s King Oedipus and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex: A Comparative Study مسرحية توفيق الحكيم الملك أوديب ومسرحية سوفكليس أوديب ملكا: دراسة مقارنة Prepared by: Israa Jamil Mohammed Supervised by: Professor Tawfiq Yousef A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature Faculty of Arts and Science Department of English Language and Literature Middle East University August 2015 II III IV Acknowledgment My deepest thanks and gratitude are to Allah, the Greatest, who gave me the patience and strength to do this research. My special appreciation and thanks are to my supervisor Professor Tawfiq Yousef who has been a tremendous mentor for me. I would like to thank him for supervising my research and for allowing me to grow as a researcher. His comments, guidance, and advice on my research have been very helpful. Special thanks also are given to my parents. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my father and my mother for all of the sacrifices that have made on my behalf. Their prayers and their support for me were what sustained me thus far. Finally, I would like to thank my brothers and sisters who stood by my side during the period of preparing the thesis. V Dedication I would like to dedicate this research to my parents, who were my strongest supporters throughout this whole experience. I also would like to dedicate it to my brothers and sisters who also supported me. Finally, I dedicate it to my uncles, aunts and friends.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Greek Myth and Drama in Greek Cinema (1930–2012): an Overall Approach
    Konstantinos KyriaKos ANCIENT GREEK MYTH AND DRAMA IN GREEK CINEMA (1930–2012): AN OVERALL APPROACH Ι. Introduction he purpose of the present article is to outline the relationship between TGreek cinema and themes from Ancient Greek mythology, in a period stretching from 1930 to 2012. This discourse is initiated by examining mov- ies dated before WW II (Prometheus Bound, 1930, Dimitris Meravidis)1 till recent important ones such as Strella. A Woman’s Way (2009, Panos Ch. Koutras).2 Moreover, movies involving ancient drama adaptations are co-ex- amined with the ones referring to ancient mythology in general. This is due to a particularity of the perception of ancient drama by script writers and di- rectors of Greek cinema: in ancient tragedy and comedy film adaptations,3 ancient drama was typically employed as a source for myth. * I wish to express my gratitude to S. Tsitsiridis, A. Marinis and G. Sakallieros for their succinct remarks upon this article. 1. The ideologically interesting endeavours — expressed through filming the Delphic Cel- ebrations Prometheus Bound by Eva Palmer-Sikelianos and Angelos Sikelianos (1930, Dimitris Meravidis) and the Longus romance in Daphnis and Chloë (1931, Orestis Laskos) — belong to the origins of Greek cinema. What the viewers behold, in the first fiction film of the Greek Cinema (The Adventures of Villar, 1924, Joseph Hepp), is a wedding reception at the hill of Acropolis. Then, during the interwar period, film pro- duction comprises of documentaries depicting the “Celebrations of the Third Greek Civilisation”, romances from late antiquity (where the beauty of the lovers refers to An- cient Greek statues), and, finally, the first filmings of a theatrical performance, Del- phic Celebrations.
    [Show full text]
  • Seven Tragedies of Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus
    Seven Tragedies of Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus Translated in verse by Robin Bond (2014) University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand Seven Tragedies of Sophocles : Oedipus at Colonus by Robin Bond (Trans) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10505 Oedipus at Colonus (Dramatis Personae) Oedipus Antigone Xenos Chorus of Attic Elders Ismene Theseus Creon Polyneices Messenger Seven Tragedies of Sophocles : Oedipus at Colonus Page 2 Oedipus Antigone, my child, since I am blind and old, what is this place that we have reached, to whom belongs the city here and who will entertain the vagrant Oedipus today with meagre gifts? My wants are small and what I win is often less, but that small gain is yet sufficient to content me; for my experience combines with length of life and thirdly with nobility, teaching patience to a man. If, though, my child, you see some resting place beside the common way or by some precinct of the gods, 10 then place me there and set me down, that we may learn our whereabouts; our state is such we must ask that of the natives here and what our next step is. Antigone Long suffering, father Oedipus, as best as my eyes can judge, the walls that gird the town are far away. It is plain to see this place is holy ground, luxuriant with laurel, olives trees and vines, while throngs of sweet voiced nightingales give tongue within. So rest your limbs here upon this piece of unhewn stone; your journey has been long for a man as old as you.
    [Show full text]
  • Studies in Early Mediterranean Poetics and Cosmology
    The Ruins of Paradise: Studies in Early Mediterranean Poetics and Cosmology by Matthew M. Newman A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Classical Studies) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Richard Janko, Chair Professor Sara L. Ahbel-Rappe Professor Gary M. Beckman Associate Professor Benjamin W. Fortson Professor Ruth S. Scodel Bind us in time, O Seasons clear, and awe. O minstrel galleons of Carib fire, Bequeath us to no earthly shore until Is answered in the vortex of our grave The seal’s wide spindrift gaze toward paradise. (from Hart Crane’s Voyages, II) For Mom and Dad ii Acknowledgments I fear that what follows this preface will appear quite like one of the disorderly monsters it investigates. But should you find anything in this work compelling on account of its being lucid, know that I am not responsible. Not long ago, you see, I was brought up on charges of obscurantisme, although the only “terroristic” aspects of it were self- directed—“Vous avez mal compris; vous êtes idiot.”1 But I’ve been rehabilitated, or perhaps, like Aphrodite in Iliad 5 (if you buy my reading), habilitated for the first time, to the joys of clearer prose. My committee is responsible for this, especially my chair Richard Janko and he who first intervened, Benjamin Fortson. I thank them. If something in here should appear refined, again this is likely owing to the good taste of my committee. And if something should appear peculiarly sensitive, empathic even, then it was the humanity of my committee that enabled, or at least amplified, this, too.
    [Show full text]
  • Late Sophocles: the Hero's Evolution in Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus
    0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE Late Sophocles Late Sophocles The Hero’s Evolution in Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus Thomas Van Nortwick University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Copyright © Thomas Van Nortwick 2015 All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and ex- cept by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2018 2017 2016 2015 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Van Nortwick, Thomas, 1946– . Late Sophocles : the hero’s evolution in Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus / Thomas Van Nortwick. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 11956- 1 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12108- 3 (ebook) 1. Sophocles— Criticism and interpretation. 2. Sophocles. Electra. 3. Sophocles. Oedipus at Colonus. 4. Sophocles. Philoctetes. I. Title. PA4417.V36 2015 882'.01— dc23 2014049364 For Nathan Greenberg colleague, mentor, and friend Preface Oh children, follow me. I am your new leader, as once you were for me. (Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1542– 431) Sophocles’s Oedipus at Colonus ends with his most famous character walking serenely through the central doors of the stage building (skēnē) in the Theater of Dionysus and into the grove of the Eumenides.
    [Show full text]
  • Jocasta and the Sin of Thebes Bernadette Waterman Ward
    Jocasta and the Sin of Thebes Bernadette Waterman Ward ABSTRACT: The tragic victim of Oedipus the King is not Oedipus, who after his sufferings shall be raised to divinity; it is his mother Jocasta. She attempted the death by her torture of her own son. When she discovers that he has survived and is her husband, she seeks even to continue her mother-son incest so as to conceal her misdeeds. Cowardly silence among the citizens of doomed Thebes seals their collusion in evil. An examina- tion of the culture of the fatal city can bring the play more vitally into the world that our students actually inhabit, and serve as a warning against the moral collapse that encourages the killing of children. EDIPUS THE KING, the most famous drama of Sophocles, invites many approaches in the classroom. One can delve into such Oquestions as the proper limits of human knowledge, the relation of fate and freewill, responsibility for inadvertent crime, the proper understanding of piety and the power of the gods, and the relation of kingship and self-sacrifice. One can address hubris – pride, overreaching – and hamartia – the mistake or tragic flaw. One can trace dramatic irony in the images of vision and deliberate blindness, or perhaps, with Freud leering in the background, contemplate sexual taboos. Many scholars investigate the guilt of Oedipus, but rarely does the focus shift from the polluted scapegoat to the deep corruption in the scapegoating city of Thebes. The Thebans cast out Oedipus as impure, but in fact they cause their own destruction. By considering the fate of the city, rather than that of Oedipus, our students can make this play vital in the world that we actually inhabit.
    [Show full text]
  • Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece
    Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ancient Greek Philosophy but didn’t Know Who to Ask Edited by Patricia F. O’Grady MEET THE PHILOSOPHERS OF ANCIENT GREECE Dedicated to the memory of Panagiotis, a humble man, who found pleasure when reading about the philosophers of Ancient Greece Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece Everything you always wanted to know about Ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask Edited by PATRICIA F. O’GRADY Flinders University of South Australia © Patricia F. O’Grady 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Patricia F. O’Grady has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identi.ed as the editor of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405 England USA Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Meet the philosophers of ancient Greece: everything you always wanted to know about ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask 1. Philosophy, Ancient 2. Philosophers – Greece 3. Greece – Intellectual life – To 146 B.C. I. O’Grady, Patricia F. 180 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meet the philosophers of ancient Greece: everything you always wanted to know about ancient Greek philosophy but didn’t know who to ask / Patricia F.
    [Show full text]
  • Antigone's Line
    Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française Volume 14, Number 2, Fall 2005 Antigone’s Line Mary Beth Mader “Leader: What is your lineage, stranger? Tell us—who was your father? Oedipus: God help me! Dear girl, what must I suffer now? Antigone: Say it. You’re driven right to the edge.”1 Sophocles’ Antigone has solicited many superlatives. Hölderlin considered the play to be the most difficult, the most enigmatic and the most essentially Greek of plays. This paper treats a matter of enigma in the play, one that is crucial to understanding the central stakes of the drama. Its main purpose is to propose a novel account of this enigma and briefly to contrast this account with two other readings of the play. One passage in particular has prompted the view that the play is extremely enigmatic; it is a passage that has been read with astonishment by many commentators and taken to demand explanation. This is Antigone’s defense speech at lines 905-914. Here, she famously provides what appear to her to be reasons for her burying her brother Polynices against the explicit command of her king and uncle, Creon. Her claim is that she would not have deliberately violated Creon’s command, would not have ANTIGONE’S LINE intentionally broken his law or edict, had this edict barred her from burying a child or a husband of hers. She states that if her husband or child had died “there might have been another.” But since both her mother and father are dead, she reasons, “no brother could ever spring to light again.”2 Reasoning of this sort has a precedent in a tale found in Herodotus’ Histories, and Aristotle cites it in Rhetoric as an example of giving an explanation for something that one’s auditors may at first find incredible.3 To Aristotle, then, Antigone’s defense speech appears to have been “rhetorically satisfactory,” as Bernard Knox says.4 However, such a reception is rare among commentators.5 1.
    [Show full text]