Lines 381- 444
The Second Episode:
The Watchman, Antigone and Creon
Summary
The watchman enters, bringing along with him Antigone, his prisoner. He announces that it is Antigone who has committed the crime by burying her dead brother and now demands to meet the king.
Creon enters and inquires into the matter. The watchman tells him that the first judgment is often proved wrong by subsequent reflection. He had thought that after the threats he received from Creon the first time, he would never again wish to come to the palace. But now he has come willingly, bearing Antigone as his prisoner. She has been: “Caught in the act of caring for the dead.”
This time there was no need to cast lots, and the watchman came voluntarily to bring the news to Creon. He asks Creon to examine and judge Antigone. The watchman wishes to be free and to get away from “ the bad business” that he has become a part of because of his duty as a guard.