Notes
The action has now moved to catastrophe. One learns about Antigone’s and Haemon’s deaths only by means of reportage, as the Greek playwrights of Sophocles’ time did not believe in depicting scenes of violence on the stage.
Once again, Sophocles attempts to create suspense by making the messenger ramble on for some time before he comes to the crux of the matter. From Antigone’s tragedy, the play now begins to become the tragedy of Creon’s family. Of course, Creon is no hero or man of nobility. However, his suffering is great enough in the end to make him appear as a tragic personage. The messenger himself is overcome with grief as he reports the scene to Eurydice.
In a single sentence, the messenger damns Creon, laying the entire blame for the deaths on him: “They are dead, and they that live/ Are guilty of the death