by Sophocles
Maybe so. But I had no part in this crime.
KREON
I think you did. Sold your life for some coins.
GUARD
It’s a sad thing when a judge gets it wrong.
KREON
You’ll soon be on the wrong end of a judgment
yourself.
If you don’t find the guilty one,
you’ll find your greed buys you nothing but grief.
GUARD
I hope he’s caught, but Fate will decide that.
And you’ll never see me coming back here. 360
Now that I have been spared—when everything
seemed so desperate—all I can think about
is how much gratitude I owe the gods.
Exit GUARD to open country; KREON enters his palace.
ELDERS
Wonders abound, but none
more astounding than man!
He crosses to the far side
of white seas, blown
by winter gales, sailing
below huge waves.
He wears Earth down— 370
our primal, eternal,
inexhaustible god,
his stallion-sired mules
plowing her soil
back and forth
year after year.
All breeds of carefree
bird, savage beast,
and deep-sea creature,
ingenious man 380
snares in his woven nets.
He drives the mountain herds
from wild lairs down to his folds.
He coaxes rough-maned horses
to thrust their necks through his yoke.
He tames the tireless mountain bull.
He has taught himself speech,
wind-quick thought,
and all the talents
that govern a city— 390
how to take shelter
from cold skies or pelting rain.
Never baffled,
always resourceful,
he accepts every challenge.
But from Hades alone
has he found no way out—
though from hopeless disease
he has found a defense.
Exceeding all expectation, 400
his robust power to create
sometimes brings evil,
at other times, excellence.
When he follows the laws
Earth teaches him—
and Justice, which he’s sworn
the gods he will enforce—
he soars with his city.
But reckless and corrupt,
a man will be driven 410
from his nation disgraced.
Let no man guilty of such things
share my hearth or invade my thoughts.
Enter GUARD, from countryside, leading ANTIGONE.
LEADER
I’m stunned—what’s this? A warning from the gods?
I know this girl. She is Antigone.
Don’t we all recognize her?
Unlucky Oedipus was her father.
And now her own luck runs out.
What’s happening? You—under guard?
Are you a prisoner? Did you break 420
the king’s law? Commit some thoughtless act?
GUARD
There’s your perpetrator. We caught her
burying the corpse. Where’s Kreon?
Enter KREON.
LEADER
Here he comes. Just in time.
KREON
What makes my arrival so timely?
GUARD
Sir, never promise something won’t happen.
Second thoughts can make your first one a lie.
I vowed I’d never come back here,
after you tongue-lashed me with those threats.
Then came a pleasure like no other, 430
because it’s a total surprise, something
we hope for but can’t believe will happen.
So I came back—though I swore I wouldn’t—
to bring you the girl we caught sprinkling dust
on the dead body. No need to throw dice.
This time the good fortune was all mine.
Now she’s all yours. Question and convict her.
Do as you see fit. But I have the right
to go free of trouble once and for all.
KREON
Your prisoner—where was she when captured? 440
GUARD
Covering up the dead body. There you have it.
KREON
Do you know what you just said? No mistake?
GUARD
I saw her bury the man you said no one
could bury. How can I say it plainer?
KREON
How did you see her? Was she caught in the act?
GUARD
Here’s what happened. We went back there
after those ugly threats of yours, to brush
the dirt off the body and strip it down
to its rotting flesh. Afterwards, we hunkered
upwind under some hills to spare us any stench 450
the body might have sent our way. Each man
kept alert, and kept his neighbor alert,
by raking him with outbursts of abuse
if he seemed to neglect his watch.
We kept at it until the round sun had climbed
the heavens and baked us in the noon heat.
Then, rising from the earth, a whirlwind
whipped up the dust, and terror filled the sky,
choking the grasslands, tearing leaves off trees,
churning up grit all around us.
Our eyes squeezed shut, 460
we waited out this god-sent pestilence.
After a bit the dust cleared, and we saw her
cry out in anguish, a piercing scream
like a bird homing to find her nest robbed.
When she saw the body stripped naked,
she wailed one more time, then yelled a string
of curses at those who’d done it. She scooped up
powdery dust and, from a graceful bronze
urn, poured out three cool swallows for the dead.
Soon as we saw this, we moved in to stop her. 470
She wasn’t a bit shocked when we charged her
with the earlier crime, and now this one.
Didn’t deny a thing. That pleased,
but also troubled me. Escaping blame
oneself is always a relief. Still, it hurts
to cause your own people grief. But all that
matters much less to me than my own safety.
KREON
(to ANTIGONE)
You! Don’t stand there nodding your head.
Out with it! Admit this or deny it.
ANTIGONE
I swear I did. And I don’t deny it. 480
KREON
(to GUARD)
You are excused from this grim business.
You’re now free to go anywhere you please.
Exit GUARD. KREON turns to ANTIGONE.
Explain something to me without elaborating.
Were you aware of my decree forbidding this?
ANTIGONE
Of course I knew. We all knew.
KREON
And still you dared to violate the law?
ANTIGONE
I did. It wasn’t Zeus who issued me
this order. And Justice—who lives below—
was not involved. They’d never condone it!
I deny that your edicts—since you, a mere man, 490
imposed them—have the force to trample on
the gods’ unwritten and infallible laws.
Their laws are not ephemeral—they weren’t
made yesterday. They will rule forever.
No man knows how far back in time they go.
I’d never let any man’s arrogance
bully me into breaking the gods’ laws.
I’ll die someday—how could I not know that?
I knew it without your proclamation.
If I do die young, that’s an advantage, 500
for doesn’t a person like me, who lives
besieged by trouble, escape by dying?
My own death isn’t going to bother me,
but I would be devastated to see
my mother’s son die and rot unburied.
I’ve no regrets for what I’ve done. And if you
consider my acts foolhardy, I say:
look at the fool charging me with folly.
LEADER
It’s apparent this girl’s nature is savage
like her father’s. She hasn’t got the sense 510
to back off when she gets into trouble.
KREON
Stubborn spirits are the first to crack.
It’s always the iron tool hardened by fire
that snaps and shatters. And headstrong horses
can be tamed by a little iron bit.
There’s no excuse for a slave
to preen when her master’s home.
This girl learned insolence long before
she broke this law. What’s more, she keeps on
insulting us, and then gloats about it. 520
There is no doubt that if she emerges
victorious, and is never punished,
I am no man. She will be the man here.
I don’t care if she is my sister’s child,
a blood relative, closer than all those
who worship Zeus in my household,
she—and her sister—still must die.
I charge her sister too with conspiring
to bury Polyneikes. Bring her out.
I observed her inside just now, 530
screaming, hysterical, deranged.
Someone who intends to commit a crime
can lose control of a guilty conscience.
Her furtive treason gives itself away.
Two of Kreon’s Men enter the palace. KREON turns back to ANTIGONE.
But I also hate it when someone caught
red-handed tries to glorify her crime.
ANTIGONE
Take me and kill me—is that your whole plan?
KREON
That’s it. When that’s done I’ll be satisfied.
ANTIGONE
Then what stops you? Are you waiting for me
to accept what you’ve said? I never will. 540
And nothing I say will ever please you.
Yet, since you did mention glory, how
could I do anything more glorious
than build my own brother a tomb?
These men here would approve my actions—
if fear didn’t seal their lips.
Tyranny
is fortunate in many ways: it can,
for instance, say and do anything it wants.
KREON
These Thebans don’t see it your way.
ANTIGONE
But they do. To please you they bite their tongues. 550
KREON
Aren’t you ashamed not to follow their lead?
ANTIGONE
Since when is it shameful to honor a brother?
KREON
You had another brother who died fighting him?
ANTIGONE
That’s right. Born to the same mother and father.
KREON
Then why do you honor Polyneikes
when doing so desecrates Eteokles?
ANTIGONE
Eteokles wouldn’t agree with you.
KREON
Oh, but he would. Because you’ve honored
treason as though it were patriotism.
ANTIGONE
It was his brother who died, not his slave! 560
KREON
That brother died ravaging our country!
Eteokles fell fighting to protect it.
ANTIGONE
Hades will still expect his rituals!
KREON
The brave deserve better than the vile.
ANTIGONE
Who knows what matters to the dead?
KREON
Not even death reconciles enemies.
ANTIGONE
I made no enemies by being born!
I made my lifelong friends at birth.
KREON
Then go down to them! Love your dead brothers!
While I’m alive, no woman governs me. 570
Enter ISMENE, led in by Kreon’s Men.
LEADER
Ismene’s coming from the palace.
She cries the loving tears of a sister.
Her eyes fill up, her flushed face darkens.
Tears pour down her cheeks.
KREON
Now you—a viper
who slithered through my house, quietly
drinking my blood! I never knew
I nurtured two insurrections,
both attacking my throne.
Go ahead,
confess your role in this burial
party. Or do you claim ignorance? 580
ISMENE
I confess it—if she’ll let me.
I accept my full share of the blame.
ANTIGONE
Justice won’t let you make that claim, Sister!
You refused to help me. You took no part.
ISMENE
You’re leaving on a grim voyage. I’m not
ashamed to suffer with you the whole way.
ANTIGONE
The dead in Hades know who buried him.
I don’t want love that just shows up in words.
ISMENE
You’ll disgrace me, Sister! Don’t keep me
from honoring our dead! Take me with you! 590
ANTIGONE
Don’t try to share my death! Don’t try to claim
you helped me bury him! My death’s enough.
ISMENE
With you dead, why would I want to live?
ANTIGONE
Ask Kreon that! You sprang to his defense.
ISMENE
Why do you wound me? It does you no good.
ANTIGONE
I’m sorry if my scorn for him hurts you.
ISMENE
I can still help you. Tell me what to do.
ANTIGONE
Go on living. I’d rather you survived.
ISMENE
Then you want to exclude me from your fate?
ANTIGONE
You made the choice to live. I chose to die. 600
ISMENE
And I’ve told you how much I hate that choice.
ANTIGONE
Some think you’re right. Others will think I am.
ISMENE
Then aren’t we both equally wrong?
ANTIGONE
Gather your strength. Your life goes on. Long ago
I dedicated my own to the dead.
KREON
One woman only now shows her madness—
the other’s been out of her mind since birth.
ISMENE
King, when you are shattered by grief
your native wit vanishes. It just goes.
KREON
You surely lost your wits when you teamed up 610
with a criminal engaged in a crime.
ISMENE
What would my life be like without her?
KREON
You’re living that life now. Hers is over.
ISMENE
Then you’re willing to kill your own son’s bride?
KREON
Oh yes. He’ll find other fields to plow.
ISMENE
No other woman would suit him so well.
KREON
I want no pernicious wives for my son.
ISMENE
Dearest Haimon! How your father hates you!
KREON
Enough! No more talk about this marriage.
ISMENE
; You’re going to rob your son of his bride? 620
KREON
Hades will cancel their marriage for me.
ISMENE
Then you’ve made up your mind she will die?
KREON
Both my mind and your mind. No more delay,
men, take them in. Make sure they behave
like women. Don’t let either slip away.
Even the brave will try to run
when they see death coming at them.
Kreon’s Men take ANTIGONE and ISMENE inside.
ELDERS
Lucky are those
whose lives
never taste evil! 630
For once the gods
attack a family,
their curse never relents.
It sickens life after life,
rising like a deep
sea swell, a darkness
boiling from below, driven
by the wild stormwinds
of Thrace that churn up
black sand from the seafloor— 640
the battered headlands
moan as the storm pounds in.
I see sorrows that struck
the dead Labdakids long ago
break over their children,
wave on wave of sorrows!
Each generation fails
to protect its own youth—
because a god always hacks
at their roots, draining 650
strength that could set them free.
Now the hope that brightened
over the last rootstock
alive in the house
of Oedipus, in its turn
is struck down—
by the blood-drenched dust
the death gods demand,
by reckless talk,
by Furies in the mind. 660
O Zeus,
what human arrogance
can rival your power?
Neither Sleep,
who beguiles us all,
nor the tireless, god-driven months
overcome it.
O Monarch
whom time cannot age—
you live in the magical
sunrays of Olympos! 670
One law of yours rules
our own and future time,
just as it ruled the past:
nothing momentous man
achieves will go unpunished.
For Hope is a wanderer
who profits multitudes
but tempts just as many
with light-headed longings—
and a man’s failure 680