Seamus Heaney & Historical

Events
Maia Nix & Annika Damstedt
Hunger Strike - Personal involvement
● Francis Hughes was a terrorist from the IRA (Irish Republican Army)
● He died in prison from a hunger strike, protesting British control over Ireland
● His funeral was held in Toomebridge, where his family performed his rites
● However, since he died in prison, his body was state property
● His body was escorted to his funeral by the state
● This angered protesters and people who had come to attend his funeral
● Offended Irish beliefs towards family that were similar to Antigone’s
● Seamus Heaney knew the family of the deceased
● Heaney was also personally invested in the Irish freedom movement,
considering he was Irish
March for free Northern Ireland
● October 5, 1968, Derry
● Protests started as explicitly non-violent
○ Modeled off of the American Civil Rights movement
● Civil rights march that had been banned was attacked by police
● At one march in Belfast, Heaney participated with students
● Stopped by police
● Counter protest organized by Reverend Ian Paisley
● Had to restrain some of his students
● Compared one student to a modern day Antigone (Bernadette Devlin)
● Heaney had been rereading Antigone during this time
Antigone related to the Irish movement
● The reason for fighting had religious bases
○ Between Protestants (unionists) and Catholics (nationalists)
● Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland claimed that they were being discriminated against by the
protestant government
○ Claimed unfair treatment from police forces, the housing market, and employment
practices
● Heaney compares Antigone to the young catholic minorities in Northern Ireland and Creon to
the oppressiveness of the British government.
○ Claims to have seen Antigone in the rebelliousness of his young students and compares the
unbending attitude of Creon to that of Margaret Thatcher (prime Minister at the time)
● Antigone is fighting for the rights of her brother over the laws set forth by Creon.
● Irish Catholics are fighting for their civil liberties instead of following the British government
War in Iraq
● Around the time Seamus Heaney was considering translating Antigone, the war
on Iraq was occurring
● In the back of Burial at Thebes, he compares Creon’s and the Bush
administration’s policies
○ They both posed an ultimatum: if you think what Polynices/Iraq did was wrong, you have to
support the state, or you’re a traitor
● In the Herald Sun, the war on Iraq is also compared to a version of Antigone
being put on by Lydia Koniordou
● Current events, such as the war on Iraq, influenced Heaney’s translation of
Antigone
Heaney's Beliefs
● He was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland to a catholic family
○ Went to a catholic boarding school
● Historic themes and Catholic literary traditions are a known part of Heaney’s
work.
○ Often sought to bring historical perspectives towards the violence during The Troubles
● He is known to ask about the responsibility of poetry.
● As a professor he marched with his students to free Northern Ireland
● Was an outspoken nationalist.
○ "Be advised, my passport's green / No glass of ours was ever raised / To toast the Queen,"
(Heaney)
● Was hesitant to write another version of Antigone because of all of the political
implications that follow the play
Works Cited
Barclay, Alison. “Antigone Lives On.” Herald Sun (Melbourne). EBSCOhost,
ebsco.ap.uen.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=
200303191049113916&site=ehost-live. Accessed 30 Jan. 2022.
Heaney, Seamus. The Burial at Thebes. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.
The Jayne Lecture: Title Deeds: Translating a Classic on JSTOR.
www.jstor.org/stable/1558136?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A4bf2bae5da0b50164e439b7
538440547&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents. Accessed 24 Jan. 2022.
Seamus Heaney – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Sun. 30 Jan 2022.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1995/heaney/biographical/
Roos, Dave. “How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12
Nov. 2021, https://www.history.com/news/the-troubles-northern-ireland.
“Obituary: Seamus Heaney.” BBC News,
https://www.scrible.com/view/source/UMIQ1401J0GOGJ703447SAOH0S4864A3:740341441/.