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If Race is Not Welcome, Are Blacks?
Everybody considers Obama through the self-reflective prism of his blackness while pretending to ignore the fact that Obama is black. White Democratic primary voters made all manner of unsupported assumptions about Obama based largely on his skin. There was absolutely no indication that he was a progressive true believer.
In fact, in May, 2007, <em>The New Yorker</em> ran an <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/07/070507fa_fact_macfarquhar">in-depth Obama profile</a> entitled "The Conciliator." His background and actions suggested a highly pragmatic, malleable politician. Voting for him, primary supporters made a statement about themselves (see <em>Salon</em> magazine's <a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/02/26/obama/">"It's okay to vote for Obama because he's black"</a>), and made assumptions based on the "black saint/black radical" historical narrative, assuming that this decidedly centrist politician was going to somehow "heal the divisions" in America (for the first time in its history) and/or usher in a radically progressive renaissance.
Blacks, seeing his skin and appreciating his adoption of black culture, ignored his actual distance from it. A white mother and an African father means he formatively absorbed none of the cultural heritage of American descendants of African slaves. But overwhelmed by the historical first, and being ourselves largely blind to our own cultural distinction, we rallied behind a candidate choice George Will properly identified as "eccentric."
Neither blacks nor whites can overtly mention his race save to highlight his "first" status. Blacks can't because doing so would "raise the topic" and if it's a topic, he loses. Raising it is tantamount to a race crime. White conservatives can't mention it because their entire modern association with race has been to exploit suspicion and hatred for electoral success. White progressives can't mention it outside a very narrow perimeter because if they do, they're accused of racism, as Bill Clinton was for comparing Obama's vote totals to those of another black candidate in a state with a large black voting bloc.
We must all pretend to believe that race isn't there. <em>The Washington Post</em> quoted John McCain as saying "He brought up the issue of race; I responded to it. I don't want that issue to be part of this campaign. I'm ready to move on. And I think we should move on."
He retreats behind the playground retort, "I didn't start it. He did!" But McCain's statement acknowledges that the issue exists. He refers to it as "that issue." He just doesn't want to be seen addressing it directly. However, he is more than willing to address it indirectly by insisting that his opponent has addressed it by simply acknowledging his own blackness. Very clever.
Race is an issue in this campaign. Whether or not Americans are willing to see a black man--even a half-white one with no inherent ties to America's racist crimes--occupy the highest office in the land is the issue that dare not speak its name: What do some Americans fear about a black man in the Oval Office? Do they fear he will seek revenge for historical crimes against blacks? Do they fear he will be too strong an advocate for black Americans?
Do they feel he will give short shrift to white Americans? Do they fear that he will simply remind them of the bulk of this nation's history that they'd rather forget? Are racist impulses still strong enough that many simply fear or hate the idea of a black man with power over them? These are the unasked questions. To ask them would unleash America's demons, the snarling beasts we've locked in a cage in the basement, whose diminished, yet still menacing growls we pretend not to hear.
If race, its place in American history and the American present are all unwelcome topics, it only stands to reason that the people at whom the word "race" is most often focused--Afro-Americans--are equally objectionable. We are, after all, the reason that the caged beast exists. Our very skin is the source of all of that discomfort.
On Tuesday, July 29, the House of Representatives quietly passed a non-binding resolution apologizing to African Americans for the crimes of slavery and the Jim Crow laws that stood until 1965. It was the first time the Federal government had apologized for those crimes of the distant and recent past. Oddly, it was not big news; no front page status. Stories that appeared highlighted fears that an apology would bolster calls for reparations, that most discomfiting topic.
<em>The New York Times</em> recently reported that even doctors, the stalwarts of the "deny and defend" strategy, are learning that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/us/18apology.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin">earnest apologies dilute the anger that fuels expensive lawsuits</a>. The most maddening thing to the injured is the insistence that they were not wronged, when the facts state otherwise. When they know in their hearts and souls--when they hear in the voices of their parents and grandparents--the pain and humiliation, the results we all still live with, such denials gall. To deny the injury is to deny the wronged--to deny their rights, their value, their very humanity. It's a re-perpetration of the original crime in schematic.
Until Americans realize that if we take pride in America's greatness, we must also take responsibility for her crimes, we will continue to lie to each other and to ourselves about what we see in black skin. We will continue to inwardly cringe at its associations and wish that it, and therefore its wearers, would simply fade away. We will continue our vain attempts to emotionally disappear 12% of our population and the vast majority of our history. And we will do so with all the grace and dignity of John McCain's Britney/Paris TV spot.
Comments (21)
Powerful. Devastating actually. Rec'd.
August 4, 2008 12:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Since the site administrators are allowing Obamabots to spam any criticism of Obama, I copied and pasted some of the Obamabot urban's recent spam so pro-Obama posters can enjoy it too:
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
m
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
m
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
m
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
m
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
t
Antigone
By Sophocles
Written 442 B.C.E
Translated by R. C. Jebb
Dramatis Personae
daughters of Oedipus:
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON, King of Thebes
EURYDICE, his wife
HAEMON, his son
TEIRESIAS, the blind prophet
GUARD, set to watch the corpse of Polyneices
FIRST MESSENGER
SECOND MESSENGER, from the house
CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS
Scene
The same as in Oedipus the King, an open space before the royal palace, once that of Oedipus, at Thebes. The backscene represents the front of the palace, with three doors, of which the central and largest is the principal entrance into the house. The time is at daybreak on the morning after the fall of the two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, and the flight of the defeated Argives. ANTIGONE calls ISMENE forth from the palace, in order to speak to her alone.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, sister, mine own dear sister, knowest thou what ill there is, of all bequeathed by Oedipus, that Zeus fulfils not for us twain while we live? Nothing painful is there, nothing fraught with ruin, no shame, no dishonour, that I have not seen in thy woes and mine.
And now what new edict is this of which they tell, that our Captain hath just published to all Thebes? Knowest thou aught? Hast thou heard? Or is it hidden from thee that our friends are threatened with the doom of our foes?
ISMENE
No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.
ANTIGONE
I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.
ISMENE
What is it? 'Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.
ANTIGONE
What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices-as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will.
Such, 'tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,-yes, for me,-and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of a noble line.
ISMENE
Poor sister,-and if things stand thus, what could I help to do or undo?
ANTIGONE
Consider if thou wilt share the toil and the deed.
ISMENE
In what venture? What can be thy meaning?
ANTIGONE
Wilt thou aid this hand to lift the dead?
ISMENE
Thou wouldst bury him,-when 'tis forbidden to Thebes?
ANTIGONE
I will do my part,-and thine, if thou wilt not,-to a brother. False to him will I never be found.
ISMENE
Ah, over-bold! when Creon hath forbidden?
ANTIGONE
Nay, he hath no right to keep me from mine own.
ISMENE
Ah me! think, sister, how our father perished, amid hate and scorn, when sins bared by his own search had moved him to strike both eyes with self-blinding hand; then the mother wife, two names in one, with twisted noose did despite unto her life; and last, our two brothers in one day,-each shedding, hapless one, a kinsman's blood,-wrought out with mutual hands their common doom. And now we in turn-we two left all alone think how we shall perish, more miserably than all the rest, if, in defiance of the law, we brave a king's decree or his powers. Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women, as who should not strive with men; next, that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things yet sorer. I, therefore, asking the Spirits Infernal to pardon, seeing that force is put on me herein, will hearken to our rulers. for 'tis witless to be over busy.
ANTIGONE
I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.
ISMENE
I do them no dishonour; but to defy the State,-I have no strength for that.
ANTIGONE
Such be thy plea:-I, then, will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love.
ISMENE
Alas, unhappy one! How I fear for thee!
ANTIGONE
Fear not for me: guide thine own fate aright.
ISMENE:
At least, then, disclose this plan to none, but hide it closely,-and so, too, will I.
ANTIGONE
Oh, denounce it! Thou wilt be far more hateful for thy silence, if thou proclaim not these things to all.
ISMENE
Thou hast a hot heart for chilling deeds.
ANTIGONE
I know that I please where I am most bound to please.
ISMENE
Aye, if thou canst; but thou wouldst what thou canst not.
ANTIGONE
Why, then, when my strength fails, I shall have done.
ISMENE
A hopeless quest should not be made at all.
ANTIGONE
If thus thou speakest, thou wilt have hatred from me, and will justly be subject to the lasting hatred of the dead. But leave me, and the folly that is mine alone, to suffer this dread thing; for I shall not suffer aught so dreadful as an ignoble death.
ISMENE
Go, then, if thou must; and of this be sure,-that though thine errand is foolish, to thy dear ones thou art truly dear.
Exit ANTIGONE on the spectators' left. ISMENE retires into the palace by one of the two side-doors. When they have departed, the CHORUS OF THEBAN ELDERS enters.
CHORUS singing
strophe 1
Beam of the sun, fairest light that ever dawned on Thebe of the seven gates, thou hast shone forth at last, eye of golden day, arisen above Dirce's streams! The warrior of the white shield, who came from Argos in his panoply, hath been stirred by thee to headlong flight, in swifter career;
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
systema 1
who set forth against our land by reason of the vexed claims of Polyneices; and, like shrill-screaming eagle, he flew over into our land, in snow-white pinion sheathed, with an armed throng, and with plumage of helms.
CHORUS
antistrophe 1
He paused above our dwellings; he ravened around our sevenfold portals with spears athirst for blood; but he went hence, or ever his jaws were glutted with our gore, or the Fire-god's pine-fed flame had seized our crown of towers. So fierce was the noise of battle raised behind him, a thing too hard for him to conquer, as he wrestled with his dragon foe.
LEADER
systema 2
For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue; and when he beheld them coming on in a great stream, in the haughty pride of clanging gold, he smote with brandished fire one who was now hasting to shout victory at his goal upon our ramparts.
CHORUS
strophe 2
Swung down, he fell on the earth with a crash, torch in hand, he who so lately, in the frenzy of the mad onset, was raging against us with the blasts of his tempestuous hate. But those threats fared not as he hoped; and to other foes the mighty War-god dispensed their several dooms, dealing havoc around, a mighty helper at our need.
LEADER
systema 3
For seven captains at seven gates, matched against seven, left the tribute of their panoplies to Zeus who turns the battle; save those two of cruel fate, who, born of one sire and one mother, set against each other their twain conquering spears, and are sharers in a common death.
CHORUS
antistrophe 2
But since Victory of glorious name hath come to us, with joy responsive to the joy of Thebe whose chariots are many, let us enjoy forgetfulness after the late wars, and visit all the temples of the gods with night-long dance and song; and may Bacchus be our leader, whose dancing shakes the land of Thebe.
LEADER
systema 4
But lo, the king of the land comes yonder, Creon, son of Menoeceus, our new ruler by the new fortunes that the gods have given; what counsel is he pondering, that he hath proposed this special conference of elders, summoned by his general mandate?
Enter CREON, from the central doors of the palace, in the garb of king, with two attendants.
CREON
Sirs, the vessel of our State, after being tossed on wild waves, hath once more been safely steadied by the gods: and ye, out of all the folk, have been called apart by my summons, because I knew, first of all, how true and constant was your reverence for the royal power of Laius; how, again, when Oedipus was ruler of our land, and when he had perished, your steadfast loyalty still upheld their children. Since, then, his sons have fallen in one day by a twofold doom,-each smitten by the other, each stained with a brother's blood,-I now possess the throne and all its powers, by nearness of kinship to the dead.
No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.
Such are the rules by which I guard this city's greatness. And in accord with them is the edict which I have now published to the folk touching the sons of Oedipus;-that Eteocles, who hath fallen fighting for our city, in all renown of arms, shall be entombed, and crowned with every rite that follows the noblest dead
August 4, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Until Americans realize that if we take pride in America's greatness, we must also take responsibility for her crimes, we will continue to lie to each other and to ourselves about what we see in black skin.
Word! Crimes against her own citizens.
Rec'd!
August 4, 2008 12:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
August 4, 2008 3:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think you Mr. Glad has found a foil.
August 4, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me no speak much well today....Sorry!
What I mean of course, is that I just read through this thread,
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/does-obama-need-an-excuse.php
And I think you make some great points. I am so sick of this debate about who played the "race card" (a term which to me sounds like fingernails on a blackboard, and must be abandoned, along with "under the bus" and "meme").
August 4, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
We must all pretend to believe that race isn't there? Must we also pretend that John McCain knows what the hell he is talking about? Minorities don't want their color swept under the rug, they want it recognized and appreciated!
August 4, 2008 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Catholics and Irish could openly celebrate Kennedy. Mormons could celebrate Romney. Women could be in the forefront for Clinton. African-Americans must suppress their emotion. Welcome to American life.
The bottom line will be the final decision the country makes during the debates seeing a vibrant, hopeful middle-aged Black-skinned man with contrasted with an angry old guy with White skin ho has fabricated data and reversed multiple positions.
Will Obama come off as too elite and aloof? Will McCain win the beer drinking contest? The polling before the debates is probably of little value.
August 4, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just to keep the record straight, Clinton made the first apology in 1998.
August 4, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
hmm, excellent post! you guys are so smart!! again, someone who has articulated what i have been trying to say forever!
other minorities need to take note and pay very close attention the underlying message that is being sent in most covert fashion.....
August 4, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've had the most curious argument from time to time, with fellow liberals. The gist of it is that "race doesn't exist" according to some liberals. I think it's absurd - of course race exists. Race is not the problem - the problem is Racism. And trying to pretend, desperately, in some instances, that one does not see differences in people, is a tad weird.
The differences, as far as I'm concerned, are wonderful! If we were all the same I'd fucking die of boredom. I love diversity - it makes life interesting and beautiful.
Essentially - race does not exist - so in that sense some of the people I've disagreed with were right. Because we all - every single one of us - came from the same mitochondrial Eve. We all originated in Africa. Some of us just stuck around longer than others. We are the same damn species - human beings - we just adapted to our different environments and then started genetic pools.
I had my DNA analyzed for recent ancestry, last spring. Turned out to be one of the most fascinating things I ever did - this White Protestant (raised) American is actually, genetically, a Jew. I'm about 98% Ashkenazi from Poland, but I'm so Jewish that I have two separate Sephardi strains.
'
I'm also part African - I have over 2000 genetic markers for various parts of West Africa - which tells me that whoever she was, she was either a slave or descended from them. I have no idea - there was nothing in my mother's family history to account for it.
We all, as a species, started out the same and ended up with a lot of diversity. It seems to me rather schizophrenic to deny that we don't all look alike. It's just that people believe that a difference in looks means more than it does - all it means is we look different because we genetically evolved to our environments. But even people who look the same have wildly different cultural backgrounds - diversity isn't just race, it's all kinds of things. And diversity of culture really defines our differences much better than our biology does, in my opinion.
I love our diversity - I love our differences, because that's where we find out that we aren't different, really - it just sometimes has seemed that way.
August 4, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beautifully said.
August 4, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Until Americans realize that if we take pride in America's greatness, we must also take responsibility for her crimes, we will continue to lie to each other and to ourselves about what we see in black skin.
True.
August 4, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought you began well. You write well. But the ending sucks. Why should whites apologize for enslaving blacks when blacks enslaved each other? You went apologies? Everyone owes everyone else an apology. People are cruel and selfish. That's it. As Clint Eastwood famously said in "The Unforgiven".."We all got it coming".
Given your insistance that whites apologize for crimes their ancestors committed while blacks not apologize for anything, you can forget racial peace. It's not going to happen.
August 4, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad you understood even part of it. I found it all to be gobbledegook. I liked what I thook to the the apirit of the post, but the actual sentences lacked intelligibility, let alone intelligence.
August 4, 2008 10:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
And don't blame conservatives for the politically correct bullshit that forces us to pretend that race isn't a reality - politically, socially, economically, genetically. That idiocy is strictly the creation of "progressives".
August 4, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was never "taught" racism.
I grew up in a very white neighborhood, but in a very diverse household, with people from different cultures, races and geographic origins being part of the "normal" landscape of my life. I owe a lot of my own ability to love others to the love I was given by our Black and Hispanic friends. My family was nonpracticing Jewish, yet we held the local Christmas pinata parties and Easter Egg hunts for the neighborhood. As I grew older, I came to understand the significance of that, but at the time it never occurred to me that there was a disconnect.
I learned a little about prejudice as a hippy, but I could always cut my hair and shave my beard to appear like the majority. And there was no history of oppression of hippies. We chose to become a minority and I would say that we reveled in the hatred we inspired in the establishment types.
I experienced some racial prejudice living in Hawaii, where white people - haolis - do experience some lightweight prejudice, but it's only a taste of the real thing. We are, after all, still the "masters" and the oppressors, even if statistically in the minority. Still, it was instructive and a reminder not to judge others without walking a mile in their shoes.
I want to acknowledge what Leonce has said, and to remember how, once, I didn't understand prejudice. I want to state my wholehearted agreement with the statement that we cannot hide our darkness, our shame or our failures behind denial or hatred.
I also learned a lot as a mediator in small claims court and with couples and groups. What Leonce has said about acknowledgment is 110% true. None of us alive today was a slave owner. For many of us, our ancestors may not have even come to American shores before the Civil War had ended.
But it's not about our individual histories, but the denial of a collective guilt that festers in the national psyche. It's about standing up and saying officially, for all the world to see and witness, "We are a nation that preaches equality of all and we have failed in our history to live up to that, denying equality to people of different color or gender. We are still attempting to live up to our own standards. We have been wrong and we commit to ending intolerance in our nation and embracing the true meaning of equality."
I will never completely understand racial prejudice - any prejudice. I will like and dislike people, admire or revile them for their behavior, perhaps, but never for the group they came from. Right now, I have disdain for the Republican Party as a political entity, but not for all Republicans. I am furious with Exxon for their policies and their record profiteering, but not with every member of the company or every stockholder on a personal basis.
My feelings for Bush and Cheney, for instance, have nothing to do with their being white, but there is still a deep anger toward them within me for what they have done. Likewise, my feelings for Martin Luther King, Gandhi or John Lennon are not influenced by race, but are deeply in my heart for how they have inspired me through their words and deeds.
As HusseinTinaX said, we really do share the same DNA, and we of every race on earth are human beings first, with the ability to be each others' brothers and sisters.
And at some point, we the oppressors on any side of any issue need to acknowledge their oppression - past or present - and then go beyond the act of contrition and rise above it to open our hearts and minds and accept the universal truths of our Founding Fathers and of our shared humanity.
I will cheer myself silly when Obama is elected President of the United States - not because he is black, though that will be transcendental, but because he is a great man whom I respect deeply and who I think the world needs desperately.
This was not an easy post for me to write.
August 4, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Raider, It may not have been easy for you to write, but you wrote well and it was sweet to read. "Here's sweet music" as they used to say in the South.
We have to remember fear drives out love. What we don't know well, or have heard lots of bad things about, makes us fearful and that drives out love.
But love drives out fear. And we can all get to know each other as human beings, that takes away the unknown, and with familiarity, the fear goes away and love has a chance to return to our hearts. The Dalai Lama said:
"Out of my experience I tell my friends wherever I go about the importance of love and compassion. Deep down we must have real affection for each other, a clear recognition or realization of our shared human status."
Human nature has got a lot of hating in it. Even homogenous groups can pick out aspects and demonize a member. But our nature has a lot of affection in it also, and that's the side we need to open the door for.
August 4, 2008 10:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you.
August 4, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Raider,
It's 8:51 and I notice there has not been a post since yours @ 3:22. I only have two things to say... yours is the true spirit of the future of America if we have the courage to trust in each other...
Second, offensivetoyou could not have provided you a better contrast for your post.
Thank you
August 4, 2008 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you.
August 4, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
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