Antigone

ANTÍGONA Pois não distinguiu Creonte, na sepultura, um dos nosso irmãos, e desonrou o outro? A Etéocles, segundo se diz, tratando-o de acordo com a justiça e a lei, ocultou-o sob a terra, de uma maneira honrosa aos olhos dos mortos do além. Quanto ao cadáver de Polinices, perecido miseravelmente, diz-se que foi proclamado aos cidadãos que ninguém o recolhesse num sepulcro, nem o lamentasse, mas sim que o deixasse sem gemidos, por enterrar, tesouro bem-vindo para as aves de rapina, quando lá do alto espreitam, em busca da alegria de um repasto. Assim se conta que o bom de Creonte mandou anunciar a ti e a mim - sim, a mim, digo eu - e que há-de vir aqui proclamar estas decisões claramente aos que as não conhecerem, e a prática desse acto não a terá por coisa de pouca monta, mas quem quer que o cometa incorre em crime de lapidação pública nesta cidade.

Assim começa (ou antes, continua) a tragédia do ciclo tebano protagonizada por Antígona que, após a luta fraticida dos dois irmãos, mortos às portas de Tebas, é proibida de prestar cerimónias fúnebres para aquele dos dois que ousou estar do lado errado dos exércitos e atacar a cidade. Herdeira do miasma (leia-se maldição) de Édipo, que por sua vez a herdou dos seus antepassados, a jamais dividida entre o sentido de fidelidade à polis ou o sentido de fidelidade à família, Antígona, ousa desrespeitar a lei, representando a transgressora nata das instituições e políticas dos homens...

ANTÍGONA (...)onde podia eu granjear fama mais ilustre do que dando sepultura ao meu próprio irmão? Todos os que aqui estão diriam também como aprovam este acto, se o medo lhes não travasse a língua. Mas é que a realeza, entre muitos outros privilégios, goza o de fazer e dizer o que lhe apraz.

CREONTE Dos filhos de Cadmo, és a única a encarar os factos dessa maneira.

ANTIGONA Estes também, mas refreiam a boca na tua presença.

Assim Antígona se expõe à prepotência do poder político:

CREONTE Esta soube bem ser insolente, quando tripudiou sobre as leis estabelecidas. E depois de feito isso, comete nova insolência, vangloriando-se da sua acção e rindo de a ter praticado. Porém é ela que será um homem e não eu, se lhe deixo esta vitória impunemente.

Claro que, aproveitando este diálogo, não resisto ao desafio de encontrar e reconhecer uma bravata muito moderna na justaposição de Antígona, jovem mulher solteira, perante Creonte um governante plenipotenciário. Mais do que providenciar a censura das grandes obras ou o cancelamento das personalidades que fizeram a cultura da qual somos descendentes diretos, defendo sempre uma leitura contemporânea - mesmo que ela não constasse dos planos do autor, e Antígona (como outras peças da época áurea, Lisístrata, por exemplo) presta-se muitíssimo bem a isso. Veja-se:

ANTIGONA Não nasci para odiar, mas sim para amar.

CREONTE Agora que vais lá para baixo, ama-os, se amar se devem; mas, enquanto eu viver, não será uma mulher quem dá ordens.

Ou:

ISMENA (...)é preciso lembrarmo-nos de que nascemos para ser mulheres, e não para combater com os homens; e, em seguida, que somos governadas pelos mais poderosos, de modo que nos submetemos a isso, e a coisas ainda mais dolorosas. Por isso eu rogo aos que estão debaixo da terra que tenham mercê, visto que sou constrangida, e obedeço aos que caminham na senda do poder.

Ou ainda:

CREONTE (...)àqueles que seguem caminho direito, é a obediência que salva a vida a maior parte das vezes. Deste modo se devem conservar as determinações, e de forma alguma deixá-las aniquilar por uma mulher. Mais vale, quando é preciso, ser derrubado por um homem, do que sermos apodados de mais fracos que mulheres.

No entanto, e que fique claro que nas veias destes homens não correria ponta de feminismo que permitisse, à data da sua criação, uma leitura deste género para estas obras, mesmo que não nos afastemos da Atenas de século V a.C., Antígona tem para oferecer temas pertinentes e para todos os gostos, desde o questionamento da ordem social e dos impositores da lei...

HÉMON (...)quem julga que é o único que pensa bem, ou que tem uma língua ou um espírito como mais ninguém, esse, quando posto a nu, vê-se que é oco.

___

HÉMON Não há Estado algum que seja pertença de um só homem.

CREONTE Acaso não se deve entender que o Estado é de quem manda?

HÉMON Mandarias muito bem sozinho numa terra que fosse deserta.

...à oposição entre a vida familiar e a polis (vida pública), que vimos protagonizada pelos heróis trágicos - não sem discussão se disserta sobre a primazia de Antígona ou Creonte...

ANTIGONA Não foi um escravo que morreu; foi um irmão.

CREONTE Que ia assaltar esta terra; o outro tomou armas por ela.

...à discussão sobre a natureza divina ou humana da lei...

CORO Muitos prodígios há; porém nenhum maior do que o homem.
(...)
Da sua arte o engenho subtil p'ra além do que se espera, ora o leva ao bem, ora ao mal; se da terra preza as leis e dos deuses na justiça faz fé, grande é a cidade; mas logo a perde quem por audácia incorre no erro.

E, claro, jamais se esgotam nestas palavras que aqui deixo, o verdadeiro valor e poder que estas obras tiveram na construção da cultura europeia ocidental. Quem não lembra, nestas passagens, o jugo religioso que ainda se impõe para muitos...:

CORO (...)aos mortais não é dado libertar-se do destino que lhes incumbe.

...ou os ecos deterministas que ainda são o conceito filosófico por excelência de uma sociedade que continuamente põe em causa o livre arbítrio...:

MENSAGEIRO (...)a fortuna dirige e a fortuna faz balançar sempre a felicidade e a infelicidade. E ninguém pode ser profeta sobre a humana condição.

Tudo isto compete para fazer de Antígona, em minha opinião, uma das peças, entre as obras deste período (sem excluir a épica, talvez apenas Ésquilo tenha o mesmo privilégio), que melhor envelheceu pois continua, até aos nossos dias, a permitir múltiplas leituras, interpretações, encenações, não esgotando as possibilidades de recriação e aproveitamento por cada época que se sucede, e isso é fruto de um talento estrondoso.

Depois desta leitura, ocorreu-me que aqui há uns dias me apanhei numa mentira involuntária: digo inúmeras vezes que as minhas releituras nunca correm bem, o que é claramente falacioso já que leio e releio peças de teatro a torto e a direito e, de cada vez que o faço, elas apenas melhoram. E se já li Ésquilo dúzias de vezes, Sófocles não lhe fica muito atrás.
Há, porém, uma cedência a fazer - é forçoso reconhecer que esta edição, pela mão de Maria Helena da Rocha Pereira, não tem igual e isso só veio a acrescentar à experiência.

The first time I encountered Antigone, it was through Theater of War's Antigone in Ferguson, which they front loaded with We Are Not Princesses, a documentary about four Beruit refugee mothers performing the play as a way to process their grief. But the Theater of War version stuck out to us immediately because my bride grew up in Ferguson.

Antigone in Ferguson is a groundbreaking project, developed by Theater of War Productions, which fuses dramatic readings by acclaimed actors of Sophocles’ Antigone with live choral music performed by a diverse choir, including activists, youth, teachers, police officers, and concerned citizens from St. Louis, Missouri and New York City, culminating in powerful, healing discussions about race and social justice. Antigone in Ferguson was conceived in the wake of Michael Brown’s death in 2014, through a collaboration between Theater of War Productions and community members from Ferguson, MO, and premiered at Normandy High School, Michael Brown’s alma mater, in September of 2016.

So... I had a bit of frontloading before reading this one. My encounter with Sophocles prior to this read through pretty much began and ended with Oedipus (and his progeny in Star Wars... not that progeny). But Antigone in the context of Oedipus paints an even starker contrast on the need for virtue in the midst of our broken families, broken communities, and acts of tyranny.

ANTIGONE is about as relevant for BLM as The Suppliant Maidens was for #MeToo — to die in burying is to live, according to Antigone. Against the backdrop of "let the dead bury the dead, you follow me," it sort of smarts. But in the context Jesus uttered, ANTIGONE'S advocacy for burial rites in the teeth of one who desecrates the corpse of her brother — she does follow. She answers, "Let the dead draw and quarter the corpse of my brother, you follow me in the corporeal work of mercy in burying the dead. Even your enemy."

It's mercy she's after. And she's after it in the teeth of Creon, who in the prior volumes throws Oedipus's unknowing patricide and incest to the crows. It seems, in the conclusion, that Creon's knowing cruelty trumps Oedipus's unknowing failings. The old Book of Common Prayer, as Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art reminded us, confessed those things we have left undone or did unknowingly (a la Oedipus) and those things we actively did wrong, knowingly (a la Creon). The unburied shame of Antigone's brothe father, thougher is more a parallel metaphor for both the unburied shame of her father (who cannot live down the great evil he did accidentally) and the unburied — exposed — shame of Creon (who does his evil in broad daylight). Sins of the father, though visited on later generations, yet wane in time if we let them.

Antigone is told she has a "hot heart for chilling deeds" by sister Ismene — perhaps chilling as in harrowing, perhaps chilling literally (as in a cold dead corpse herself). But perhaps it's more to cool off the wrath of Creon unwittingly turned upon her murdered brother and the "spears athirst for blood" in the myth of redemptive violence, revenge killings, recidivism, and fatal encounters with the guard of the citadel. The phrase that no man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and lawgiving may not hold true. But it's certainly one way to hold a magnifying glass up to a man's soul.

Indeed "dread news makes one pause long." But in a dread world of dread news, a world without pauses, how do we learn to pause again? Do we merely continue to blame shift?

Then evil words flew fast and loud among us, guard accusing guard; and it would e'en have come to blows at last, nor was there any to hinder. Every man was the culprit, and no one was convicted, but all disclaimed knowledge of the deed. And we were ready to take red-hot iron in our hands — to walk through fire; to make oath by the gods that we had not done the deed — that we were not privy to the planning or the doing.

"I was just following orders" said some guards of Auschwitz. Others merely turned a blind eye and shifted blame. It's interesting because, in context, the guards are talking about who buried the body (Antigone did it), to Creon. But it applies just as much to their carrying out of his orders. And, hilariously, Creon compliments the integrity of said guards for refusing to accept bribery.

Mea culpa does not allow for this.

But against heavens laws — the corporal work of mercy in burying the dead — he stands condemned because he's trying to rewrite what Zeus wrote. And Zeus's eagle even shows up.

Later he says:

Disobedience is the worst of evils. This it is that ruins cities; that makes home desolate; by this, the ranks of allies are broken into headlong rout; but, of the lives whose course is fair, the greater part owes safety to obedience. Therefore we must support the cause of order, and in no wise suffer a woman to worst us. Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man's hand; then we should not be called weaker than a woman.

But here he says:

Now verily I am no man, she is the man, if this victory shall rest with her, and bring no penalty.

He's worried about her outmanning her. As with Oedipus at ColonusOedipus at Colonus — in which the women, his daughters, are called "men, not women, in true service" and the sons are called "aliens, not sons of mine." — it's yet another instance in antiquity of the word "man" being genderless and of "woman" being specific. Mankind is always a diverse and inclusive term, womankind is always a restrictive term. And therefore daughters can rise to the virtue of manfulness, men can fall short of manfulness, but womankind never works as a synonym for "humanity." Because manfulness is a virtue and manliness is an aesthetic. This is repeated over and over again. And recalls the line from Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art:

Nor do I want to be stuck in the vague androidism which has resulted from the attempts to avoid the masculine pronoun. We are in a state of intense sexual confusion, both in life and language, but the social manipulation is not working. Language is a living thing; it does not stay the same; it is hard for me to read the language of Piers Plowman, for instance, so radical have the changes been. But language is its own creature. It evolves on its own. It follows the language of its great artists, such as Chaucer. It does not do well when suffering from arbitrary control. Our attempts to change the words which have long been part of a society dominated by males have not been successful; instead of making language less sexist they have made it more so. Indeed, we are in a bind. For thousands of years we have lived in a paternalistic society, where women have allowed men to make God over in their own masculine image. But that's anthropomorphism. To think of God in terms of sex at all is a dead end. To substitute person for man has ruined what used to be a good theological word, calling up the glory of God's image within us. Now, at best, it's a joke. There's something humiliating and embarrassing about being a chairperson. Or a chair. A group of earnest women have put together a volume of desexed hymns, and one of my old favourites now begins: “Dear Mother-Father of personkind.” No. It won't do. This is not equality. Perhaps we should drop the word woman altogether and use man, recognizing that we need both male and female to be whole. And perhaps if we ever have real equality with all our glorious differences, the language itself will make the appropriate changes. For language, like a story or a painting, is alive. Ultimately it will be the artists who will change the language (as Chaucer did, as Dante did, as Joyce did), not the committees. For an artist is not a consumer, as our commercials urge us to be. An artist is a nourisher and a creator who knows that during the act of creation there is collaboration. We do not create alone."

Reminds me of St. Catherine of Siena:

"What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly, the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her; by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good."

In this case, Antigone actually trumps Creon in the virtue of manfulness: she asserts her death _over_ his life for the sake of her brother's body. She puts her body on the line for her brother who did the same. Sound familiar?

She then goes on a long moral parsing about why he deserves burial. And after the argument is laid bare, we find that Creon did what he knew was evil simply because he chose wrong when a proper dilemma presented itself. "For with wisdom hath some one given forth the famous saying, that evil seems good, soon or late, to him whose mind the god draws to mischief; and but for the briefest space doth he fare free of woe." Said in another way, "The time will come, Harry, when you will have to choose between what is right and what is easy."

Specifically Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's cousin, says he hears the guards's:

"murmurs in the dark, these moanings of the city for this maiden; 'no woman' they say, 'ever merited her doom ess — none ever, was to die so shamefully for deeds so glorious as hers; who, when her own brother had fallen in bloody strife, would not leave him unburied, to be devoured by carrion dogs, or by any bird: deserves not she the meed of golden honor?' ....think not that thy word, and thine alone, must be right. For if any man thinks that he alone is wise — that in speech, or in mind, he hath no peer — such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty."

That last bit would do well to circulate widely these days.

But Antigone is winning. Why? Virtue wins. Theodore Parker said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. And it does here. Unjust laws aren't just and they don't stand, over the long haul. She's worried she's atoning for the sins of her father's patricide and incest. But godly sorrow brings repentance that leaves no regret and changes things for generation. She's the daughter of the wise, elder Oedipus, not the younger, bloodthirsty one.

Fundamentally, the whole thing comes down to Teiresias's — the blind prophet's — line:

Self-will, we know, incurs the charge of folly. Nay, allow the claim of the dead; stab not the fallen; what prowess is it to slay the slain anew? I have sought thy [Creon's] good and for thy good I speak: and never is it sweeter to learn from a good counsellor than when he counsels for thine own gain.

Creon yields, ultimately, because good counsel is more precious than wealth and it's better to keep the established laws even at life's end.

As a play about the bodies of our slain enemies, we would do well to note that willing the good of the other always plays out well over the long haul.

"Fortune raises and Fortune humbles the lucky or unlucky from day to day, and no one can prophesy to men concerning those things which are established. For Creon was blest once, as I count bliss; he had saved this land of Cadmus from its foes; he was clothed with sole dominion in the land; he reigned, the glorious sire of princely children. And now all hath been lost. For when a man hath forfeited his pleasures, I count him not as living — I hold him but a breathing corpse. Heap up riches in thy house, if thou wilt; live in kingly state; yet if there be no gladness therewith, I would not give the shadow of vapour for all the rest compared with joy."

This joy is a longing — a Seinsucht — for Goodness. For Truth. For Beauty.

For the distilled, unoccluded brightness of Being.

Antigone manifests Him. Creon does not.

Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness; and reverence towards the gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to be wise

Seek wisdom, not wealth or power or fame.

WORDS LEARNED:

• lucre
• mattock
• pelf
• opprobrius

This is one of my favourite among the ancient Greek plays. Sophocles' play captures the story of Antigone so beautifully. Her bold character really shines through in this play. The play itself continues after the story of Oedipus Rex (Antigone is the cursed daughter of the cursed king, you might say). King Creon demands that nobody should mourn the death of Polynices (one of Antigone's brothers- both brothers were killed in a battle) as Polynices is deemed a traitor. In trying to secure a respectable burial for her brother Polynices, Antigone defies the law and order, becoming a rebel in the face of the king. The King Creon won't have any of that and demands Antigone be brought before him. Antigone goes on to insist that the law of the gods must come before law of the king.

If I remember correctly this play was mandatory reading in the last year of elementary school and then again in High school, so I read it three times, once as a kid, once as an adolescent and then again as an adult. This is one of the works that impressed me as a kid. If I remember well, I wasn't the only one who payed attention during class when we studied this play. There is something in rebellious spirits of Antigone that appeals to young readers as well. Indeed if I recall well, we all (as students) could relate to this play and enjoy it. Do you know what? This play still feels very relevant to me, after all this time. That is the mark of best works of literature.

Naturally, when you're mature, this tragedy speaks to you in more then one way and direction. Still, I think I prefer to take simple over fancy interpretation (I'm not saying that the fancy ones are not correct) and see Antigone's actions as acts of love (or respect) towards her brother. There is probably more to it, yet I like that very human emotion in such a prideful character. Antigone is one strong women. The tragedy is not only about her, but how she shines in her part! There are many good reviews about this play, so I I'll keep this one short. I'll just say that this is a tragedy I would enjoy to see and read any day of the week. It is a timeless and beautiful work of art.

به قدری تجربه خواندن افسانه‌های تبای فوق العاده بود که بدون وقفه با یک ترجمه دیگر، یکی از اعضای این سه‌گانه فوق‌العاده را مجدد خواندم.
در مروری که بر افسانه‌های تبای نوشتم؛ بیشتر راجع به نمایشنامه اول و ادیپوس صحبت کردم. اما راجع به آنتیگونه... روایت آنتیگونه روایتی است که همه چی دارد. تراژدی دارد. عشق دارد. دوئل حق و ناحق دارد. داستان‌ دیکتاتوری ها را دارد و... بسیاری از کارشناسان حتی آنتیگونه را در پله ای بالاتر از ادیپوس شهریار قرار می‌دهند.
روایت سوفوکلس از قدرت‌نمایی کرئون، و شاهکار دیالوگ‌هایی که بین او و پسرش رد و بدل میشه نمی‌دونم لحظاتی است که در چه جایی برای من تکرار خواهد شد.
در پایان می‌خوام بین ترجمه آقای مسکوب و آقای دریابندری مقایسه ای کنم. در ترجمه آقای مسکوب تلاش شده بود که لحن حماسی و اسطوره وار متن در ترجمه فارسی هم نمود داشته باشد که برای من جذاب بود. اما آقای دریابندری چنین تلاشی را نکرده بود. او در پایان مقدمه حتی می‌نویسد:
"... تراژدی یونانی، به عنوان یک هنر بدوی، در نهایت سادگی و اقتصار کلام نوشته می شده است. طبیعی است که در ترجمه آن هم این سادگی و اقتصار باید رعایت شود. تلاش برای رسیدن به نوعی زبان فاخر یا فخیم برای ترجمه چنین متنی که گاهی دیده می شود- به نظر من تلاش بیهوده ایست و نتیجه آن دور شدن از روح متن اصلی خواهد بود. به همین دلیل در ترجمه من از متن آنتیگونه بنا بر سادگی و پیراستگی بوده است.کسانی که در ترجمه آثار کهن و کلاسیک در پی زبان فاخر می گردند در این ترجمه چنین چیزی نخواهند دید."
البته در مقدمه چاپ 55 ایشان به توجه شان به ترجمه آقای مسکوب اشاره می کند و از ایشان به نیکی یاد می کند.
باید ادامه بدهم که به جز مقدمه دریابندری بر آنتیگونه دو ضمیمه دیگر هم پیش از نمایشنامه وجود دارد؛ یکی متن هایدگر که از مقدمه کتاب مقدمه ای بر متافیزیک آورده شده و ناظر به سرود دوم یا سرود انسان است که در متن هست. ضمیمه دیگر هم متنی است برگرفته از کتاب تعبیر رویای فروید.

"All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride."

Polynices and his brother died in their battle to become the sole ruler of Thebes. Creon, the new King, decreed that Polynice, the invader, should be denied proper burial rites and his body left to rot and be eaten by carrion and dogs. According to Greek religion, this punishment would prevent his soul from entering the underworld. Creon added that anyone who ignored his edict and tried to bury Polynices would be sentenced to death. Creon's edit becomes Antigone, Polynice's sister's central dilemma. She must determine where her primary loyalty lies to her family or the state. Antigone chooses to bury her brother.

Sophocles uses Antigone's decision to examine the nature of power, arbitrary rules, and their effects on the family and social order. As Antigone was engaged to Creon's son, he must also choose between family and state.

Although written in the 5th century BC, Antigone remains relevant today. It presents debates that are nuanced and multifaceted. The writing is full and rich, and finely constructed lines often jump out at you. I read the play and listened to an excellent, full-cast, audible podcast production.
Highly recommend.

I'm sticking with my original rating on this one. I enjoyed reading it again. Unfortunately, my students didn't seem to connect to it. The translation I remember reading as a student was much better--the one in our anthology is very complex and takes away from the simplicity of the Greek language. The ideas become lost in "thees" and "thous." I don't know why the translator felt the need to mimic Shakespeare. However, my students wrote very interesting and (some) nuanced responses to my questions about Anitgone, Ismene, Creon, and Haemon. Maybe they're getting more out of it than they think or want to :)
My appreciation for this play lies in an interest in Ancient Greek literature and culture but also in the play's language and ideas. I love the conflict between Antigone and Creon, the conflict of "heaven's laws" versus the state. Being a woman of faith myself, I can appreciate Antigone's desire to bury her brother according to the gods' rituals even though it means disobeying her uncle, King Creon, who imposes the law that anyone who buries Polyneices will die. Antigone chooses a noble and honorable death doing something she believes in over life in subservience to a king that she can't fully respect. I also appreciate the topics of fate and wisdom--the end theme as I understand it is that only by wisdom (acceptance, in this case) can we be comfortable with Fate, who does what she wants without regard to person. If we constantly fight against Fate, against the gods, we will always struggle. If we accept their ways and allow what happens to happen, we are wise and will find happiness and peace. It's an interesting concept to convey through this "ill-starred" family (Antigone is, of course, the famed Oedipus' daughter, which means that her mother is also her grandmother, and that all her siblings are also her cousins; my students liked this part...).
I highly recommend this play, but it makes the most sense in context, so read Oedipus Rex first and Oedipus at Colonus next, if you can, before you read this one.

خیلی زیبا بود و مسکوب هم واقعا خوب از پس ترجمه‌ش براومده بود. تراژدی‌ای درباب مرگ.
توصیه می‌کنم حتما بخونید

تنها چیزی که این مدت تونستم بخونم که اونم به لطف دانشگاه بود آنتیگونیه
بازم شکر!