Antigone

Antigone is a strong and determined female character in Greek mythology and has been the subject of many plays, most notably in the third Theban play by Sophocles, written in 442BCE. Another notable play from around the same time was that of Euripides, though his version has been mostly lost to time.

 

It is difficult to tell the tale of Antigone without recounting that of her father, Oedipus.

You may have heard of the tale of Oedipus Rex, or of the Oedipus Complex, but I will offer here the shortest version possible of this rather long tale, in case you don't know it, purely to offer context to Antigone's own story.

 

The story of Oedipus started with his father, King Laius of Thebes, prior to Oedipus' birth, being informed of a prophecy that his son would murder him and marry his own mother, ultimately leading to the destruction of Thebes and his whole family. When Oedipus was born, the King sent him to be killed, but Oedipus was silently saved by a shepherd and sent to be raised as the son of King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Oedipus learned of the prophecy and left Corinth, so as not to kill King Polybus and marry Queen Merope, the people he believed to be his true parents. On his way to Thebes, he met the elderly King Laius and slew him during a quarrel, not knowing who he truly was. He then had to face the Sphinx who was terrorising Thebes, and after defeating the creature, he won the throne of Thebes and the hand in marriage of Queen Jocasta, his mother.

Oedipus had four children with Jocasta, Eteocles, Polyneices, Ismene and Antigone.

Years later, Oedipus went in search of the man who had slain the late King Laius, only to discover that it was himself. This twist of fate led Jocasta to the realisation that she had married her own son and the prophecy had come true, so she hanged herself. Oedipus, in shame of what he had done, took pins from his wife/mother's dress and blinded himself with them, leaving the Kingdom of Thebes to his sons, to rule as joint rulers, and going into exile.

 

And so begins the tale of Antigone, which is just as much of a traditional Greek tragedy as that of her father.

 

Antigone and her sister, Ismene, went into exile with their father, serve as his faithful guides; when he died, near Athens, the sisters decided to return to Thebes. However, Thebes was not quite the place they remembered.

The throne of Thebes had been left to Antigone's two brothers, to rule simultaneously as joint Kings, however there was much quarrelling between the two men about their situation. After much mediation, it was finally agreed that they would rule individually, on alternating years, with Eteocles, as the eldest, ruling first. After a year, however, when it was Polyneices turn to rule as King, Eteocles refused to step down and thus a brutal civil war began, with Eteocles defending his right to rule Thebes alone against Polyneices, and his allies of six foreign Princes, who attempted to claim a throne he saw as rightfully his.

It was during this civil war that Antigone and Ismene returned to Thebes and attempted to reconcile their brothers.

Unfortunately, the brothers did not listen to their sisters, and ended up killing each other in a duel, leaving their uncle, the late Queen Jocasta's brother, Creon, as King of Thebes.

 

Creon's first act as King was to honour Eteocles with a full and honourable burial, while at the same time leaving Polyneices body to rot where he had been slain. He decreed that no one was to bury or mourn for the traitor who had attacked Thebes and this act angered the fiery Antigone.

Neither of Antigone's brothers were particularly honourable men and by all accounts both were as bad as each other and Antigone would not stand for the injustice of Polyneices' lack of burial, while Eteocles was buried with honours.

Despite the punishment of death by stoning that hung over the heads of any who attempted to mourn or bury for Polyneices, Antigone demanded a proper urial for him. She, at first, tried to ask for the help of her sister, Ismene, in this act, but Ismene refused, terrified of the consequences. But this did not deter Antigone.

 

Antigone, ever brave and bold, went to bury her brother, in broad daylight. She was caught by the King's guards, quietly arrested and taken before the King, her uncle. She defied what she saw as King Creon's cruelty with courage, passion, and determination.

 

Antigone was betrothed to King Creon's son, Hæmon, and Creon knew that this marriage was worth more to him than the execution of his niece, so he at first tried to reason with her. Antigone, however, was too much like her father, it seemed, and saw her death as the "natural climax" of her life, clearly stating to her uncle that if he let her go, she would only try again to give her brother a proper burial. Creon confessed to Antigone that he knew his rule made him seem vile and that he did not have a choice but to uphold the law; her brother, Polyneices, had attacked Thebes and for that he must be deemed a traitor. Antigone retorted that he always has a choice and she would refuse to commit any act she believed to be vile, no matter the cost. She claimed that in doing she, she may be ruined, but she would be a true Queen. Creon, however, held firm in his ruling and begged Antigone to take pity on his duty to the law, and she may live. Never one to surrender her principals, Antigone said no, telling her uncle that she knowingly broke his law over the burial of her brother, claiming the superiority of divine over those made by humans.

It was at this point that Ismene came in and begged her sister's forgiveness, telling Antigone that she should have helped her when she had asked and then she wouldn't be in trouble. Antigone rejected Ismene's apology, telling her that she should not have to die for Antigone's crimes. She then turned to Creon and told him that he had better execute her soon, as the idea of burying Polyneices was spreading.

 

Seeing that Antigone would be undeterred, King Creon saw no other choice but to sentence her to death, despite the protests of her beloved Prince Hæmon. She was not sentenced to be stoned, however. Instead, Antigone was immured in a cave, with food enough for a single day.

The gods disapproved of Creon's ruling and sent to him blind prophet Tiresias, who managed to convince the King to rescind the sentence and bury Polyneices.

 

At the time of the burial, however, Antigone hanged herself in the cave, unaware of Creon's change of heart. When Creon had the cave opened, he and Hæmon found the lifeless body of Antigone. A burial was arranged for her, but at her tomb, Hæmon threatened to kill Creon over the loss of his beloved Antigone, but ended up committing suicide instead. The loss of Hæmon, when relayed to Creon's wife, Queen Eurydice, caused her to kill herself out of grief. All of this caused King Creon to go mad and thus the prophecy of Oedipus was complete.

 

There are different variations of the ending in different sources.

For example, in the small snippets we still have of Euripides play, the tragic ending is averted by the god Dionysus, who interceded on the young lover's behalf. Euripides version ends with the marriage of Antigone and Hæmon.

In Hyginus' version, instead of being immured in a cave, Creon gave Antigone to Hæmon to be killed. Unable to kill her, Hæmon instead whisked her away secretly and kept her safe in a shepherd's hut, where they were married. Antigone then had a son, named Maeon. Many years later, Maeon travelled to Thebes to compete in an athletic contest. However, King Creon recognised him as Antigone's son, due to a dragon mark on his body, and sentenced the boy to death. This made Creon realise that Antigone must have still been alive and that his son, Hæmon, had betrayed him. The demi-god Heracles is the one who interceded on their behalf in this version, but unlike in Euripides more happy tale, this version ended in true Greek tragedy. On hearing of the death of their son, Hæmon killed Antigone and then himself. It has also been suggested in other translations, however, that Hæmon and Antigone both killed themselves.

 

Whichever version of this tragic tale you read, it generally ends with Antigone's death and the prophecy of Oedipus being realised. In Sophocles' version, arguably the most famous telling of Antigone's tale, it was stated at the end that the ruin of her entire family was due to Antigone and that if she had have submitted to the will of the King and not tried to bury her beloved brother, all of Thebes would have been at peace. Considering Antigone was the third generation of a prophecy that started with her grandfather, I find this blame laid at her feet to be typical of the misogyny that is weaved throughout the stories of times gone by. It is also rather strange that Antigone was, arguably, bound by the same fate as her father and grandfather, and yet she is the one who is seen as the cause of the destruction of her family. I would say this is basic propaganda, aimed at enforcing the idea of women submitting to man's rule, but in Ancient Athens, when Sophocles' play was produced, women were not even allowed to attend the theatre, so perhaps it is merely Sophocles own misogyny showing through his works.

 

Either way, here ends the story of Antigone. She is one of my favourite women in Greek mythology because, though her story is short and mostly revolves around the men around her, she is clearly depicted as a loyal sister and a fierce, determined young woman, who knew her own mind and would do anything to ensure the path of justice was taken. Had she have been real and lived in the 19/20th centuries, Antigone certainly would have made a truly fierce suffragette!