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Part I
Part I
Dramatis Personae
Creon, King of Thebes
Heamon, son of Creon
Teiresias, a seer
Guard
First Messenger
Second Messenger
Eurydice, wife of Creon
Antigone)
Ismen) daughters of Oedipus
Chorus of Theban Elders
Scene - Thebes, in front of the Palace.
Enter Antigone and Ismene
Antigone
Ismene, mine own sister, dearest one;
Is there, of all the ills of Oedipus,
One left that Zeus will fail to bring on us,
While still we live? for nothing is there sad
Or full of woe, or base, or fraught with shame,
But I have seen it in thy woes and mine.
And now, what new decree is this they tell,
Our ruler has enjoined on all the state?
Know`st thou? hast heard? or is it hid from thee,
The doom of foes that comes upon thy friends?
Ism. No tidings of our friends, Antigone,
Painful or pleasant since that hour have come
When we, two sisters, lost our brothers twain,
In one day dying by each other`s hand.
And since in this last night the Argive host
Has left the field, I nothing further know,
Nor brightening fortune, nor increasing gloom.
Antig. That knew I well, and therefore sent for thee
Beyond the gates, that thou mayst hear alone.
Ism. What meanest thou? It is but all to clear
Thou broodest darkly o`er some tale of woe.
Antig. And does not Creon treat our brothers twain
One with the rites of burial, one with shame?
Eteocles, so say they, he interred
Fitly, with wonted rites, as one held meet
To pass with honour to the gloom below.
But for the corpse of Polynices, slain
So piteously, they say, he has proclaimed
To all the citizens, that none should give
His body burial, or bewail his fate,
But leave it still unsepulchred, unwept,
A prize full rich for birds that scent afar
Their sweet repast. So Creon bids, they say,
Creon the good, commanding thee and me,
Yes, me, I say, and now is coming here,
To make it clear to those who knew it not,
And counts the matter not a trivial thing;
But whoso does the things that he forbids,
For him, there waits within the city`s walls
The death of stoning. Thus, then, stands thy case;
And quickly thou wilt show, if thou art born
Of noble nature, or degenerate liv`st,
Base child of honoured parents.
Ism. How could I,
O daring in thy mood, in this our plight,
Or doing or undoing, aught avail?
Antig. Wilt thou with me share risk and toil? Look to it.
Ism. What risk is this? What purpose fills thy mind?
Antig. Wilt thou with me go forth to help the dead?
Ism. And dost thou mean to give him sepulture,
When all have been forbidden?
Antig. He is still
My brother; yes, and thine, though thou, it seems,
Wouldst fain he were not. I desert him not.
Ism. O daring one, when Creon bids thee not!
Antig. What right has he to keep me from mine own?
Ism. Ah me! remember, sister, how our sire
Perished, with hate o`erwhelmed and infamy,
From evils that he brought upon himself,
And with his own hand robbed himself of sight,
And how his wife and mother, both in one,
With twist and cordage, cast away her life;
And thirdly, how our brothers in one day
In suicidal conflict wrought the doom,
Each of the other. And we twain are left;
And think, how much more wretchedly than all
We twain shall perish, if, against the law,
We brave our sovereign`s edict and his power.
For this we need remember, we were born
Women; as such, not made to strive with men.
And next, that they who reign surpass in strength,
And we must bow to this, and worse than this.
I, then, entreating those that dwell below,
To judge me leniently, as forced to yield,
Will hearken to our rulers. Overzeal
In act or word but little wisdom shows.
Antig. I would not ask thee. No! if thou shouldst wish
To do it, and wouldst gladly join with me.
Do what thou wilt, I go to bury him;
And good it were, this having done, to die.
Loved I shall be with him whom I have loved,
Guilty of holiest crime. More time have I
In which to win the favour of the dead,
Than that of those who live; for I shall rest
For ever there. But thou, if thus thou please,
Count as dishonoured what the Gods approve.
Ism. I do them no dishonour, but I find
Myself too weak to war against the state.
Antig. Make what excuse thou wilt, I go to rear
A grave above the brother whom I love.
Ism. Ah, wretched me! how much I fear for thee.
Antig. Fear not for me. Thine own fate guide aright.
Ism. At any rate, disclose this deed to none:
Keep it close hidden. I will hide it too.
Antig. Speak out! I bid thee. Silent, thou wilt be
More hateful to me than if thou shouldst tell
My deed to all men.
Ism. Fiery is thy mood,
Although thy deeds might chill the very blood.
Antig. I know I please the souls I seek to please.
Ism. If thou canst do it; but thy passion craves
For things impossible.
Antig. I`ll cease to strive
When strength shall fail me.
Ism. Even from the first,
It is not meet to seek what may not be.
Antig. If thou speak thus, my hatred wilt thou gain,
And rightly wilt be hated of the dead.
Leave me and my ill counsel to endure
This dreadful doom. I shall not suffer aught
So evil as a death dishonourable.
Ism. Go, then, if so thou wilt. Of this be sure,
Wild as thou art, thy friends must love thee still.
[Exeunt.
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