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This is how I feel about Antigone:
Translation Notes
I have read four versions of the Antigone, three versions of Oedipus Rex, and two versions of Oedipus at Colonus, over five years. I don't know why I'm like this either. (Comment your favorite Antigone translations and I'll read them.)
Oxford edition, trans. unk (2015): In ninth grade, I read the Theban plays in my English class. I liked them. Antigone, specifically, made a very very large impression on me. I promptly forgot every single thing I thought about them. [I have a terrible memory.] So when audible offered a free audio of the plays with a full-cast narration… I went for it. And of course loved it again. Will need to reread these translations to fully retranslate.
Audio edition, trans. unk (2018): This audio stars the excellent Jamie Glover as Oedipus and the always-talented Hayley Atwell as Antigone, but casting such as Samantha Bond as Jocasta, Michael Melone as Creon, and Lydia Leonard as Ismene stand out as well. This is the reading upon which I decided perhaps Oedipus the King was very good.
Antigonick trans. Anne Carson (2019): More an adaption than a translation, and certainly not my favorite, if only because I love Antigone's original words so much. Worth reading, but after reading Antigone proper. Reviewed here.
The Greek Plays edition trans. Frank Nisetich (2020): I loved the biting stychomythia of this translation.
Play Reviews for Everything
n →Oedipus the King←n★★★★★
Oedipus means swollen foot, in reference to his broken feet as a child, but holds a double meaning: Oida means I know, and Eidon means I saw, so the term could also be 'seeing foot'. If only he could see where his feet were going. Seeing, indeed, is the primary tension of the play. One eyewitness has two key details to give: the story of exposing the baby for Laius, and the story of watching a stranger kill Laius on a dark road.
What I like about this play is that it is a tragedy where no character has purposefully fucked things up. Every single character — from the later-unsympathetic Creon to the excellently written Jocasta — is sympathetic. It is so upsetting to see it unfold, see these characters have their lives so completely ruined. Around halfway through the play, Jocasta figures it out, and begs Oedipus to stop the process; knowing, but thinking to take it to her grave: he does not take it. Oedipus receives the opportunity to blame it all on Creon and keep his leadership: he does not take it. He is finding the truth for altruism, and will take it to the end.
For Oedipus, his recognition and reversal are a nightmare come true, a dream he never thought could occur. I was near tears during Oedipus’ final speech.
n →Oedipus at Colonus←n★★★★☆
I actually, in hindsight, am not sure I read this in ninth grade. [We were only actually required to read Antigone.] This is the Family Feelings play, as in… the relationship between Antigone and Ismene and Oedipus is upsetting and I don’t like it. Almost all the action of this one is offstage, which makes it far harder to follow; honestly, this feels like a joiner between Oedipus the King and Antigone. I did enjoy the sense of tragedy and the character development.
n →Antigone←n★★★★★
What I like about Antigone is Antigone. No, that's not quite right. What I like about Antigone is its focus on very different characters as they try to undermine Creon in three very different ways. Acting from honor, from logic, from empathy, the three youth of the royal family protest his decisions: Antigone representing the god’s honor and the woman’s honor; Ismene representing the woman’s honor; Haemon representing the youth’s honor and the city’s honor. The actions of Antigone, Haemon, and Ismene break the heirarchy down, and though by the end of the play, two lie dead, they have taught Creon his lesson. When the tyrant does not listen to those around him, he has nothing, and leaves the dead in his wake.
Antigone loves her honor before the gods, and will break any heirarchy, woman or not, to get to it; yet the city is on her side, following her lead. Ismene and Antigone have a fascinating sisterly relationship. The stychomythia (certain kind of meter used for conversation) between Haemon and Creon is one of my favorite scenes in any play I’ve read ever.
The 'guard' witnesses two very key events in Antigone's life: he is almost more 'casual', and oddly comedic. He introduces two burials, one scattering of earth, one seemingly divine and done by Antigone. This is not notable on the first readthrough. On the second, the question of who actually does the first burial hits.
Notable in the sense of tragic convention is that the chorus is all-male; in this genre, the chorus is generally the same gender as the protagonists, generally of a lower social position, but sympathetic. Though the chorus here is at times kind to Antigone, they are never fully on her side. By the time she gives her death speech, about to walk into her tomb, we know she is truly alone. Antigone is a spectacle to the chorus, as Oedipus once was.
Notable Lines (Frank Nisetich translation):
ANTIGONE: No dread of what some man might think would ever make me… be guilty before the gods. (457-459)
ANTIGONE: And I can’t join in hate, but only in love. (528)
ANTIGONE: Your thoughts appealed to some, mine to others.
ISMENE: And yet we’re both found guilty, both alike. (558-559)
CREON: Rulers own their cities--isn’t that the saying?
HAEMON: A fine ruler you’d make, alone, in a desert.
CREON: This fellow, it seems, is on the woman’s side.
HAEMON: If you’re a woman: it’s you I care for. (738-741)
HAEMON: Do you want to talk and talk and never listen? (755)
These plays are an excellent look at the nature of humanity, the hypocrisy of us and the fact that we all have our good sides and our bad. I know I will not be ending my love affair with Antigone anytime soon.
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Translation Notes
I have read four versions of the Antigone, three versions of Oedipus Rex, and two versions of Oedipus at Colonus, over five years. I don't know why I'm like this either. (Comment your favorite Antigone translations and I'll read them.)
Oxford edition, trans. unk (2015): In ninth grade, I read the Theban plays in my English class. I liked them. Antigone, specifically, made a very very large impression on me. I promptly forgot every single thing I thought about them. [I have a terrible memory.] So when audible offered a free audio of the plays with a full-cast narration… I went for it. And of course loved it again. Will need to reread these translations to fully retranslate.
Audio edition, trans. unk (2018): This audio stars the excellent Jamie Glover as Oedipus and the always-talented Hayley Atwell as Antigone, but casting such as Samantha Bond as Jocasta, Michael Melone as Creon, and Lydia Leonard as Ismene stand out as well. This is the reading upon which I decided perhaps Oedipus the King was very good.
Antigonick trans. Anne Carson (2019): More an adaption than a translation, and certainly not my favorite, if only because I love Antigone's original words so much. Worth reading, but after reading Antigone proper. Reviewed here.
The Greek Plays edition trans. Frank Nisetich (2020): I loved the biting stychomythia of this translation.
Play Reviews for Everything
n →Oedipus the King←n★★★★★
Oedipus means swollen foot, in reference to his broken feet as a child, but holds a double meaning: Oida means I know, and Eidon means I saw, so the term could also be 'seeing foot'. If only he could see where his feet were going. Seeing, indeed, is the primary tension of the play. One eyewitness has two key details to give: the story of exposing the baby for Laius, and the story of watching a stranger kill Laius on a dark road.
What I like about this play is that it is a tragedy where no character has purposefully fucked things up. Every single character — from the later-unsympathetic Creon to the excellently written Jocasta — is sympathetic. It is so upsetting to see it unfold, see these characters have their lives so completely ruined. Around halfway through the play, Jocasta figures it out, and begs Oedipus to stop the process; knowing, but thinking to take it to her grave: he does not take it. Oedipus receives the opportunity to blame it all on Creon and keep his leadership: he does not take it. He is finding the truth for altruism, and will take it to the end.
For Oedipus, his recognition and reversal are a nightmare come true, a dream he never thought could occur. I was near tears during Oedipus’ final speech.
n →Oedipus at Colonus←n★★★★☆
I actually, in hindsight, am not sure I read this in ninth grade. [We were only actually required to read Antigone.] This is the Family Feelings play, as in… the relationship between Antigone and Ismene and Oedipus is upsetting and I don’t like it. Almost all the action of this one is offstage, which makes it far harder to follow; honestly, this feels like a joiner between Oedipus the King and Antigone. I did enjoy the sense of tragedy and the character development.
n →Antigone←n★★★★★
What I like about Antigone is Antigone. No, that's not quite right. What I like about Antigone is its focus on very different characters as they try to undermine Creon in three very different ways. Acting from honor, from logic, from empathy, the three youth of the royal family protest his decisions: Antigone representing the god’s honor and the woman’s honor; Ismene representing the woman’s honor; Haemon representing the youth’s honor and the city’s honor. The actions of Antigone, Haemon, and Ismene break the heirarchy down, and though by the end of the play, two lie dead, they have taught Creon his lesson. When the tyrant does not listen to those around him, he has nothing, and leaves the dead in his wake.
Antigone loves her honor before the gods, and will break any heirarchy, woman or not, to get to it; yet the city is on her side, following her lead. Ismene and Antigone have a fascinating sisterly relationship. The stychomythia (certain kind of meter used for conversation) between Haemon and Creon is one of my favorite scenes in any play I’ve read ever.
The 'guard' witnesses two very key events in Antigone's life: he is almost more 'casual', and oddly comedic. He introduces two burials, one scattering of earth, one seemingly divine and done by Antigone. This is not notable on the first readthrough. On the second, the question of who actually does the first burial hits.
Notable in the sense of tragic convention is that the chorus is all-male; in this genre, the chorus is generally the same gender as the protagonists, generally of a lower social position, but sympathetic. Though the chorus here is at times kind to Antigone, they are never fully on her side. By the time she gives her death speech, about to walk into her tomb, we know she is truly alone. Antigone is a spectacle to the chorus, as Oedipus once was.
Notable Lines (Frank Nisetich translation):
ANTIGONE: No dread of what some man might think would ever make me… be guilty before the gods. (457-459)
ANTIGONE: And I can’t join in hate, but only in love. (528)
ANTIGONE: Your thoughts appealed to some, mine to others.
ISMENE: And yet we’re both found guilty, both alike. (558-559)
CREON: Rulers own their cities--isn’t that the saying?
HAEMON: A fine ruler you’d make, alone, in a desert.
CREON: This fellow, it seems, is on the woman’s side.
HAEMON: If you’re a woman: it’s you I care for. (738-741)
HAEMON: Do you want to talk and talk and never listen? (755)
These plays are an excellent look at the nature of humanity, the hypocrisy of us and the fact that we all have our good sides and our bad. I know I will not be ending my love affair with Antigone anytime soon.
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