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BY
PHILIP HOLT
I. Introduction
1) The following works are cited by author's name (and short title where
essary) only: Giovanni Cerri, Ugislazione orale e tragedia greca (Naples 1979) (a sli
abridged version of the first chapter?the most important for our purpo
more readily available as Ideologia funeraria ?^//'Antigone di Sofocle, in: Ghe
Gnoli, Jean-Pierre Vernant (ed.), La mort, les morts dans les soci?t?s anciennes [Camb
1982], 121-31); Helene Foley, Tragedy and Democratic Ideology: The Case of Soph
Antigone, in: Barbara Goff (ed.), History, Tragedy, Theory: Diabgues on Athenian Dr
(Austin 1995), 131-50; Simon Goldhill, Reading Greek Tragedy (Cambridge 1
Bernard M.W. Knox, The Heroic Temper: Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy (Berkeley
Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, Assumptions and the Creation of Meaning: Reading Sop
Antigone, JHS 109 (1989), 134-48 and (with substantial overlap) Sophocles' An
as a 'Bad Woman', in: F. Dieteren, E. Kloek (ed.), Writing Women into Hi
(Amsterdam 1990), 11-38; and the commentaries of Brown (Warminster 1
Campbell2 (Oxford 1879), Jebb2 (Cambridge 1891), Kamerbeek (Leiden 1978),
M?ller (Heidelberg 1967). I have used the text of Lloyd Jones and Wilson (O
1990).
2) Hester's extensive review of scholarship on the play found this view to be
far more popular than what he called the 'Hegelian' view, which sees Antigone
and Kreon as being more evenly matched with flaws on both sides: D.A. Hester,
Sophocles the UnphilosophicaL? A Study in the Antigone, Mnemosyne 24 (1971), 11-59.
For a similar tilt in Germany (Schlegel over Hegel), see Erich Eberlein, ?ber die
verschiedenen Deutungen des tragischen Konflikts in der Trag?die 'Antigone' des Sophokles,
Gymnasium 68 (1961), 16-34 at 16-9.
3) The play is usually dated to the late 440s, but there is a strong case for
see R.G. Lewis, An Alternative Date for Sophocles' Antigone, GRBS 29 (1988),
4) Most recently Sourvinou-Inwood, to which this essay is principally addr
also important are William M. Calder III, Sophokles' Political Tragedy, Antig
GRBS 9 (1968), 389-407; Vittorio Citti, Strutture e tensioni sociali nell'Antig
Sofocle, AIV 134 (1975-76), 477-501 (a Marxist analysis); Foley (distinctly 'Heg
Knox; T.C.W. ?udemans and A.P.M.H. Lardinois, Tragic Ambiguity: Anthrop
Philosophy and Sophocles' Antigone (Leiden 1987) (an anthropological analysis). Histo
and strongly pro-Antigone are Nicolas P. Gross, Antigone and Archaic Thoug
Reading of the Antigone, Selecta 3 (1982), 17-25; Wm. Blake Tyrrell and Lar
Bennett, Recapturing Sophocles' Antigone (Lanham, Md. 1998). My discussio
read the history differently, and I must disagree with both. Gross sees An
as the exponent of an 'archaic world-view', a concept which needs to be
clearly defined and applied. Briefly, Tyrrell and Bennett draw heavily for thei
tory on Athenian funerary discourse (I think misapplied; see below, n. 31), w
supposed resentment against state control of funerals (undocumented), a
Athenian stereotype of nasty Thebans (pertinent, but of doubtful use in jud
conflict between two Thebans, and too heavily imposed upon the text of the
II. Polis
Let us begin with a sketch of Athenian ideas on the state and cit-
izenship, ca. 440 B.C., and a more detailed discussion of some per-
tinent funerary matters. 'The state' meant the polis, the city-state, a
much smaller, more cohesive community than the sprawling mod-
ern nation-state. The citizen was an important part of it (especially
since Athens was a democracy), far less likely than citizens today
to feel neglected by, or alienated from, the ruling power. He was
also less likely to feel oppressed by it. Its police powers over him
were less developed, and he was more likely to share his neighbors'
oudook and values than we are in our diverse, and fragmented,
modern world. Athens was a community 'characterized by consen-
sus rather than coercion, participation rather than delegation'.8)
Hence the city-state was far less likely than the nation-state to be
30) Pin. 01. 6.15-7; Nem. 9.22-4. Tydeus was buried at Thebes according t
14.114, and Paus. 9.18.2 f. reports his tomb at Thebes along with that of Et
and Polyneikes. On the tradition, see further Thomas K. Hubbard, Remaking
and Rewriting History: Cult Tradition in ?ndar's Ninth Nemean, HSCPh 94 (
77-111 at 92-100; M?ller, 21-4; Hubert Petersmann, Mythos und Gestaltung in Sop
Antigone, WS 12 (1978), 67-96.
31) This distinction is sometimes blurred. Larry J. Bennett and Wm. B
Tyrrell, Sophocles' Antigone and Funeral Oratory, AJPh 111 (1990), 441-56,
Antigone, burier of Polyneikes, to the Athenians, buriers of the Argive dea
their argument, since elaborated in their book on the play (n. 4), is received
some criticism and much agreement by Foley, 140-2. But this ignores two c
differences, that between the Argive dead generally and the Theban traitor Poly
and that between the patriotic Athenian version of the myth and the very dif
situation presented in the Antigone. Antigone is no representative of Athenian
values. Draheim's general category of Landesfeind (?. 24), which includes wa
as well as traitors, also ignores the distinction. The distinction is better obs
in Cerri, Ugishzione orale, 87 f.; Rosivach (?. 21), 207 f.
32) If that: the lines have troubled textual critics (see M?ller and the ap
tus of Lloyd-Jones and Wilson) and have been taken as a reference to Polyn
corpse alone (J.H. Kells, Problems of Interpretation in the Antigone, BICS 10 [1
47-64 at 63, n. 21), I think wrongly; Campbell and Jebb follow the more na
meaning of the words.
36) Ant. 21 f., 45 f., 80 f., 466-8, 502-4, 511, 517; see also 696-8 (spok
Haimon), 10, 73, 89 (philos and related expressions). Kreon's valuation of ki
ties is considerably lower (486-9, 658 f.). Antigone's notorious declaration th
would not have broken Kreon's edict to bury anyone but her brother (9
however odd critics find it, is consistent with her motives as repeatedly state
where. Antigone's loyalty to Polyneikes may not be simply a matter of blo
Patricia J. Johnson, Woman's Third Face: A Psycho/Social Reconsideration of So
Antigone, Arethusa 30 (1997), 369-98 raises the issue, with a highly spec
answer.
nel tempo di una tensione tra opposti principi etici, religiosi e giurid
un conflitto assai aspro a livello di pensiero politico e, consegue
mente, di ideologia funeraria, del tutto analogo a quello scenegg
?^'Antigone."39)
39) Cerri, L?gislazione orale, 20 = Ideologia funeraria, 123; see also Brown, 6
40) See inter alia Neuburg (?. 33); P. Roussel, Les fian?ailles d'Haimon et d'Ant
REG 35 (1922), 63-81.
41) Most prominently by Hans Joachim Mette, Die Antigone des Sophokles, H
84 (1956), 129-34. See also Fuscagni, Condanna (?. 20), 180; Vischer (?. 18),
42) A.S. McDevitt, Sophocles' Praise of Man in the Antigone, Ramus 1 (1972), 152-
64 at 159 f. and Sourvinou-Inwood, Assumptions, 135 f. both raise some powerful
objections to such backward reading.
43) Sourvinou-Inwood waits for Teiresias; Calder (?. 4), 401 f. holds out even
after that.
44) The thoughts and feelings of a people long dead are ultimately unrecover-
able, and there is no reason to believe that all 16,000 spectators in the Theatre
of Dionysos would react in the same way: Brown, 9 f.; Goldhill, 89 f. Still, we
can estimate tendencies and argue that the text is especially apt to encourage cer-
tain responses in rather a lot of the audience. This is basically what attempting
to read the play through Greek eyes means.
'to proclaim it clearly to those who do not know it' (Ant. 31-4).4
cusp of time gives Antigone a chance to respond to the ed
advance, after it is formulated but before any other charac
the audience hears it. Sophokles uses this bit of timing to l
launch a pre-emptive strike upon it to win the audience's sym
Her strike is an impressive one. The terms of the edict are re
only after a dramatic buildup. The house of Oidipous has su
everything imaginable, she says, Tor there is nothing pain
destructive0 or shameful or dishonorable which I have no
among your sufferings and mine' (Ant. 4-6). And now (?a? ?
on top of it all, this terrible proclamation, by which 'the evils in
on enemies are coming against our friends' (p??? t??? f????? st
t?? ?????? ?a??, ??).46) We have not yet heard what the pr
mation says, but by the time Ismene asks t? d' est?; (20), t
lines into this scene, we are primed to hear something terribl
Terrible indeed?so terrible that 'Antigone still cannot giv
news straightforwardly, without an indignant rhetorical questi
?? ?a? t?f?? ?f? t? ?as????t? ????? / t?? ??? p??t?sa?, t?? d*
sa? ??e?; (Ant. 21 f.). Eteokles' burial is described simply and ap
ingly (23-5), but the other brother and his treatment are desc
more fully, in more emotional terms:
45) Aorists and perfects stress that the edict has already been proclaimed (?
?e??a?, 8; ???e??????a?, 27; ?????a?t* e?e??, 32) and in part carried out
??? p??t?sa?, t?? d' ?t???sa? ??e?, 22; ?????e, 25). On the timing, see Br
31-4.
46) On the meaning of this line, I follow Jebb and Kells (n. 32), 47-52
Kamerbeek and M?ller. This passage introduces early on the nub of he
tion to the edict, for she regards Polyneikes as a philos, a family membe
her own people, rather than an echthros, a public enemy.
47) Brown, ad loc.; on the force of ?? ?a?, implying that the answer o
be perfectly obvious, see J.D. Denniston, The Greek Particles2 (Oxford 1934
53) On the Chorus' lukewarm attitude, see Bengt Alexanderson, Die Stellung
des Chors in der Antigone, ?ranos 64 (1966), 85-105 at 87 f.; Christoph Eucken,
Das Drama zwischen Kreon und dem Chor in der 'Antigone', WJA 18 (1992), 77-87 at
78 f.; McDevitt (n. 42), 159 f.; Winnington-Ingram (n. 52), 123 ('studiously non-
committal').
54) Sourvinou-Inwood, Assumptions, 142; on the uses of comedy in the scene,
see Gary S. Meltzer, Subversive Comedy in the Antigones of Sophocles and Anouilh, CML
12 (1992), 343-59.
suggestion (278 f.) that the gods are somehow behind the 'first b
ial': 'Stop, before your talk fills me with anger!' (280). We wil
more of the same later, in his reactions to well-intentioned,
unwelcome, advice from Haimon and Teiresias. Antigone's ass
tion that the Chorus is afraid to oppose Kreon (504 f.) may be pa
tisan special pleading, but Kreon's conduct makes the idea q
plausible.
Kreon's error needs a fuller discussion, which will take us
the next scene, in which he confronts Antigone.55) Basically, Kr
jumps to conclusions which are reasonable enough given what
knows, but which are also dead wrong. This deed is the wor
malcontents and traitors, he says; some people in the city have b
murmuring against him for a long time, and now they have bri
the guards into conniving at their dirty work (Ant. 289-314,
326; cf. 221 f.). The conspiracy involves several people, all m
for he speaks of them sometimes as plural and regularly as m
culine.56)
Picture his surprise, then, when the Guard re-enters, not with a
gang of political plotters under arrest, but with a lone girl, Antigone,
announced in emphatically feminine terms?six feminine forms in
a line and a half: ?d' est' e?e??? t?????? ? '?e???as???? ? /t???' e????e?
??pt??sa? (Ant. 384 f.). 'He spoke of political opponents, of rebels,
of bribed criminals; it never for a moment occurred to him that he
would have to face as his opponent and victim, as now he does,
his own sister's child, a princess of the royal house'.57) So this is
the sinister conspiracy, not masculine plural after all but feminine
55) Foley, 137 and Walter Jens, Antigone-Interpretationen, in: Satura: Fruchte aus der
antiken Welt Otto Weinrich... dargebracht (Baden-Baden 1952), 43-58 (reprinted in:
Hans Diller [ed.], Sophokles [Wege der Forschung, 95; Darmstadt 1967], 295-310),
45 f. are helpful, although I wish to stress that Kreon's fears of conspiracy are
fairly reasonable.
56) Kreon uses both the singular (Ant. 248, 306) and the plural (290-4, 302 f.,
325) in speaking of the perpetrator(s); the Guard regularly uses the singular (239,
245-7, 252, 266 f., 319, 327 f.). Kreon also speaks of men, ??d?e? (248, 290), and
both he and the Guard regularly use masculine forms. M?ller and Kamerbeek
suggest (neither seems convinced) that t?? a?d??? in 248 simply means 'welcher
Mensch', 'who on earth', but the masculine form suggests something more definite,
natural, and erroneous. See in particular Jebb, ad loc; Citti (n. 4), 484 f.
57) Knox, 69; see also Jens (n. 55), 50, who notes the emphatic feminine forms.
58) Jebb,
59) p??t' ?p?stasa? suggests the end of a messenger-speech (Jebb, M?ller);
putting it on the end of such a brief declaration makes the declaration sound espe-
cially conclusive.
60) ????? should be taken in its simplest sense, 'correctly'. There are more
strained interpretations: 'Do your words express what you really mean to say?'
(Jebb), 'Have you your wits when you say this?' (Campbell, Kamerbeek). But these
are not necessary if we appreciate Kreon's surprise, his slowness to believe that
Antigone, of all people, has broken his edict.
61) ?d??, emphatic, stressing that the Guard is an eyewitness. The Guard's clos-
ing words are 'said triumphantly' (Jebb; so also M?ller, who compares Aisch. Ag.
269); we could translate, 'Got it?'
62) The Guard's opening reflections about how life often turns out contrary to
expectation (388-91) reinforce this idea. They refer immediately to the Guard's cer-
tainty that he would not come back to Kreon again, but they can be applied more
generally to the unexpectedness of finding that Antigone was the perpetrator.
63) See especially George Miller Calhoun, Athenian Clubs in Politics and L
(Austin 1913); W. Robert Connor, The New Politicians of Fifth-Century Athens (P
1971), 22-32, 66-75.
64) Calhoun (n. 63), 141 (fuller discussion at 140-7). Philip of Maced?n
ited with saying that he could take any fort if he could reach it with
loaded with gold: Cic. Att. 1.16.12; cf. Diod. 16.54.3 f., Plut. Mor. 178a-
67) This deserves fuller discussion, for which I must refer the reader to Bongie
(n. 33) and Knox, inter alia. Bongie, 252 goes so far as to call the speech on the
unwritten laws "a rationalization of the more compelling personal motives".
68) See inter alia Eberlein (?. 2), passim; Else (n. 33), 42; Hester (n. 2), 40;
Knox, 102-16.
70) Citt? (?. 4), 487-92 and (?. 51), passim; Sourvinou-Inwood, Assumptions, 13
144 f.
71) Sourvinou-Inwood, Bad Woman, 17 notes the shift from portraying Antigone
as a threatening rebellious woman earlier in the play to showing her as a pitiable
bride of Hades here.
72) The Chorus says that they are 'carried outside the thesmor (?es???/e??
f????a?, 801 f.) upon seeing Antigone and are unable to restrain their tears. I
take it that the thesmoi here are Kreon's (Jebb, Kamerbeek), whether his sentence
against Antigone or his royal authority generally.
75) Foley, 143 righdy complains that historic readings tend to be too one-sided,
and we may add that except for Knox they often fall into one-sidedness by scant-
ing literary and dramatic values.
76) For the school, see inter alia Goldhill; Jean-Pierre Vernant, Tensions and
Ambiguities in Greek Tragedy, in: Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Tragedy
and Myth in Ancient Greece, English trans. (Brighton 1981), 6-27. Richard Seaford,
Historicizing Tragic Ambivalence: The Vote of Athena, in: Goff (ed.) (?. 1), 202-21 offers
a bracing note of protest.
between the two positions, for like Bennett and Tyrrell, Foley un
estimates how much Sophokles slanted the myth to give Kre
case (see above, n. 31, and the accompanying text). The prem
of the Antigone is skewed almost as heavily in Kreon's favor as
conclusion is skewed in Antigone's. Tragedy is indeed, like a l
other things, ambivalent and multivocal, but in this case the voi
of the polis is rather more on Kreon's side. The voices against
come rather more from elsewhere, and we can make some progr
in distinguishing them, identifying where they come from, and obser
ing how they converse.
IV. Tragedy
77) Quotes from Goldhill, Great Dionysia (n. 12), 126 and 127, a basic study for
delineating the paradox of anticivic discourse in a highly ordered civic setting. For
the discussion more generally, a good starter bibliography would include the col-
lections edited by Goff (n. 1), Pelling (n. 24), and Winkler and Zeitlin (n. 12). My
sketch of these matters will be in broad strokes, without marking particular areas
of agreement or disagreement.
78) See Jean Claude Carri?re, L? carnaval et la politique (Paris 1979). On carni-
val elements in comedy in other periods, see C.L. Barber, Shakespeare's Festive Comedy:
A Study of Dramatic Form and its Relation to Social Custom (Princeton 1959); Erich Segal,
Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus2 (Oxford 1987).