نمايشنامه هاي انگليسي Antigone

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Lines 1243 - 1353
Creon: the Final scene/Exodus
Summary
The Chorus wonders at Queen Eurydice’s silent departure. The messenger is filled with hesitation. The Chorus believes that Eurydice’s inability to grieve openly at Haemon’s death is a sign that she is actually deeply distressed. It is preferred that she grieve openly, for suppression of the emotions is bad for the mourner: “There is a danger, even in too much silence.”
The Chorus now notes the return of Creon, who is carrying the body of Haemon. The Chorus openly blames Creon for Haemon’s death

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Creon enters carrying his heavy burden. He blames himself for being too stubborn and repents having passed the decree regarding Polynices’ burial. He curses himself for being so foolish and rash in his actions. The Chorus laments that Creon has learned to follow the right path too late. Creon believes that some god has set him on the road to despair. He cries out as if he has been mortally wounded.
A second messenger enters and tells Creon that he (Creon) is master of sorrows. He reveals to Creon that Eurydice has stabbed herself. Creon is inconsolable. The messenger draws open a curtain, behind which lies the body of Eurydice. He recounts how Eurydice had just mourned at the bed of her dead son, Megareus (who died defending Thebes), and then at Haemon’s bed, before killing herself with a “keen knife.” Before dying, she had cursed Creon and blamed him for the death of her sons

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Creon is filled with terror at this news. He asks whether anyone would put him out of his misery by giving him a mortal blow. He falls into deep distress and begs his followers to take him away. He sees himself as responsible for Eurydice’s death and claims that he has nothing left in the world. He laments that he does not wish to live another day. The Chorus advises Creon that time will determine whether or not he will survive this catastrophe. The Chorus tells Creon that prayer is useless, as everything is predestined. Creon cannot bear to remain with the bodies of his wife and child. He feels that the hand of Fate has fallen heavily upon him. He is taken away by his followers as the Chorus sings the Exodus, or final song.
The Chorus asserts that those who act wisely will live happily, as long as they also follow Heaven’s laws. Proud men who boast about themselves will soon be punished for their pride. They will be forced to suffer immense sorrows. Men will learn to act wisely, explains the Chorus, only when they are old and experienced

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Notes
The conclusion of the play reveals a sobered Creon. He has lost his will to live, due to the deaths of his wife and son. He claims to have learned his lesson although it is too late to remedy the present tragedy. Tiresias’ prophecy has come true. Creon comes to a realization (what Aristotle would define as “Anagnorisis”) at the play’s end. He realizes his mistake in passing an unjust proclamation and accepts responsibility for all that has happened. He had already taken the first step towards repentance when he personally saw to it that the body of Polynices received a funeral (and burial). However, he was too late to rescue Antigone.
Once again, fate has played its part. Antigone seems destined to die. She herself shows an awareness of her destiny throughout the play. Due to chance or misfortune, Creon arrives too late to save her. Had he come to the vault before burying Polynices’ body, Antigone and Haemon might have been saved. But the wheels of fate, once set into motion, cannot be stopped. Antigone must die, and Creon must suffer; only then can there be tragedy

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Eurydice mourns not only for Haemon’s death, but also for the death of her elder son, Megareus, who was killed in the battle against the Argive army.
The Chorus plays a significant part at the play’s end. When Creon is miserable and does not wish to live, they remind him that his duty as a king requires that he should live: “We must attend to present needs.”
The Chorus also reiterates the theme of destiny as an all-powerful force. Their Exodus is moral in tone and assesses Creon’s behavior throughout the play. Creon began by acting foolishly and boasting arrogantly. He refused to pay heed to the warnings of Tiresias and did not believe that the gods were angry with him. Now, through a painful experience, Creon has learned his lesson. As the Chorus says: “High boastings of the proud/ Bring sorrow to the height to punish pride

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KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS
SETTING
This tragedy is set against the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon.
The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of Athens. Although the play itself was written in 441 B.C., the legend goes back to the foundations of Hellenic culture, many centuries before Sophocles’ time

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All the scenes take place in front of the royal palace at Thebes. Thus Sophocles conforms to the principle of the unity of place. The events unfold in little more than twenty four hours. The play begins on the night when Antigone attempts to bury her brother for the first time. Her second attempt at burial occurs at noon the following day, when Antigone is apprehended. She is convicted and kept overnight in a cell. The next morning she is taken to a cave, her place of entombment.
On Thebes: Thebes was the most important city of Boeotia, on mainland Greece. It was one of the chief city-states of ancient Greece, after Athens and Sparta. Sophocles described it as “the only city where mortal women are the mothers of gods.” According to Greek legends, the city was founded by Cadmus and was destroyed by the Epigonoi in the time before the Trojan War. In the sixth century B.C., Thebes recovered its glory to some extent, and in Sophocles’ time it was still a powerful state

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LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major
Antigone
The daughter of Oedipus, the former King of Thebes. Her mother, Jocasta, was Creon’s sister. She is willing to risk her life in order to bury Polynices, her dead brother, thereby defying King Creon’s edict. She is sentenced to death, but commits suicide by hanging herself.
Creon
The brother of Jocasta, who was the wife and mother of Oedipus. Creon becomes ruler of Thebes after the deaths of Oedipus’ two sons in the recent civil war. He orders a state funeral for Eteocles, but denies the rites of burial to Polynices. He is compelled to sentence Antigone to death when she defies his law. In the end, he accepts that he has acted wrongly and repents.
The Chorus
The voice of the elders of the city of Thebes. They are the main victims of the recently fought civil war and hence long for peace and stability. They comment on the major events that occur in the play and provide the audience with the public reaction to the private struggles of the ruling family of Thebes

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Minor
Haemon
The only surviving son of Creon. He is in love with Antigone, to whom he is engaged. He pleads in vain with his father for her life. He commits suicide in Antigone’s tomb after he discovers that Antigone has taken her own life.
Ismene
The elder sister of Antigone, who initially has reservations about helping Antigone to bury the body of their brother, Polynices. She later claims a share in Antigone’s guilt and punishment; Creon refuses to punish her as he considers her temporarily insane.
Tiresias (or Teiresias)
The blind prophet of Thebes, who also appears in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. He comes to warn Creon that dire consequences will follow if he stands by his decision to leave Polynices’ body unburied.
Eurydice
The wife of Creon. She appears only once in the play, when she hears the news of her son’s (Haemon’s) death. She commits suicide at the end of the play

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The watchman
Comes to inform Creon that someone has attempted to bury Polynices during the night. Threatened with severe punishment for what Creon feels is neglect of duty, the watchman returns to his watch and succeeds in arresting Antigone. He hands her over to Creon for sentencing.
The first Messenger
Comes to inform Eurydice about the death of Haemon. He accompanies Creon to the tomb and later gives a first- hand account of the deaths of Antigone and Haemon.
The Second Messenger
Comes to inform Creon about the death of Eurydice.
The leader of the Chorus
Occasionally speaks a few lines addressed mainly to the audience. He is given the final lines of the play, in which he draws a moral from the sequence of tragic events the audience has just witnessed