Antigone. Illustrated E-Book

Sophocles

• Herausgeber: Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 53

Beschreibung

"Antigone" by Sophocles, in this illustrated edition, is a classic Greek tragedy that unfolds against the backdrop of Thebes. The play delves into the profound ethical and moral dilemmas faced by its characters, with Antigone at the center of a conflict between personal convictions and civic duty. The narrative begins with the aftermath of a brutal war, where two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, have fallen on opposing sides. Antigone, their sister, defies the king's decree and buries Polynices, setting the stage for a clash between divine law and human authority. As the drama unfolds, Sophocles weaves a tragic tale of pride, power, and the consequences of challenging established norms.  This edition, enhanced with illustrations, brings an additional layer of visual richness to the ancient text, complementing the intensity of Sophocles' language. The visuals offer readers a deeper connection to the characters and events, providing a vivid portrayal of the timeless themes explored in "Antigone."  Sophocles' exploration of morality, justice, and the clash between individual conscience and the state's authority remains relevant, making this illustrated edition a compelling and accessible introduction to a classic work of Greek literature.

Leseprobe

Sophocles

ANTIGONE

Illustrated

"Antigone" by Sophocles, in this illustrated edition, is a classic Greek tragedy that unfolds against the backdrop of Thebes. The play delves into the profound ethical and moral dilemmas faced by its characters, with Antigone at the center of a conflict between personal convictions and civic duty.

The narrative begins with the aftermath of a brutal war, where two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, have fallen on opposing sides. Antigone, their sister, defies the king's decree and buries Polynices, setting the stage for a clash between divine law and human authority. As the drama unfolds, Sophocles weaves a tragic tale of pride, power, and the consequences of challenging established norms.

 This edition, enhanced with illustrations, brings an additional layer of visual richness to the ancient text, complementing the intensity of Sophocles' language. The visuals offer readers a deeper connection to the characters and events, providing a vivid portrayal of the timeless themes explored in "Antigone."

 Sophocles' exploration of morality, justice, and the clash between individual conscience and the state's authority remains relevant, making this illustrated edition a compelling and accessible introduction to a classic work of Greek literature.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ANTIGONE

ARGUMENT

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Translation by F. Storr, BA

Formerly Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge

From the Loeb Library Edition

Originally published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and William Heinemann Ltd, London

First published in 1912

ARGUMENT

Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, the late king of Thebes, in defiance of Creon who rules in his stead, resolves to bury her brother Polyneices, slain in his attack on Thebes. She is caught in the act by Creon's watchmen and brought before the king. She justifies her action, asserting that she was bound to obey the eternal laws of right and wrong in spite of any human ordinance. Creon, unrelenting, condemns her to be immured in a rock-hewn chamber. His son Haemon, to whom Antigone is betrothed, pleads in vain for her life and threatens to die with her. Warned by the seer Teiresias Creon repents him and hurries to release Antigone from her rocky prison. But he is too late: he finds lying side by side Antigone who had hanged herself and Haemon who also has perished by his own hand. Returning to the palace he sees within the dead body of his queen who on learning of her son's death has stabbed herself to the heart.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ANTIGONE and ISMENE - daughters of Oedipus and sisters of Polyneices and Eteocles. 

CREON, King of Thebes. 

HAEMON, Son of Creon, betrothed to Antigone.

EURYDICE, wife of Creon.

TEIRESIAS, the prophet.

CHORUS, of Theban elders.

A WATCHMAN

A MESSENGER

A SECOND MESSENGER

ANTIGONE and ISMENE before the Palace gates.

ANTIGONE

Ismene, sister of my blood and heart,

See'st thou how Zeus would in our lives fulfill

The weird of Oedipus, a world of woes!

For what of pain, affliction, outrage, shame,

Is lacking in our fortunes, thine and mine?

And now this proclamation of today

Made by our Captain-General to the State,

What can its purport be? Didst hear and heed,

Or art thou deaf when friends are banned as foes?

ISMENE

To me, Antigone, no word of friends

Has come, or glad or grievous, since we twain

Were reft of our two brethren in one day

By double fratricide; and since i' the night

Our Argive leaguers fled, no later news

Has reached me, to inspirit or deject.

ANTIGONE

I know 'twas so, and therefore summoned thee

Beyond the gates to breathe it in thine ear.

ISMENE

What is it? Some dark secret stirs thy breast.

ANTIGONE

What but the thought of our two brothers dead,

The one by Creon graced with funeral rites,

The other disappointed? Eteocles

He hath consigned to earth (as fame reports)

With obsequies that use and wont ordain,

So gracing him among the dead below.

But Polyneices, a dishonored corse,

(So by report the royal edict runs)

No man may bury him or make lament-

Must leave him tombless and unwept, a feast

For kites to scent afar and swoop upon.

Such is the edict (if report speak true)

Of Creon, our most noble Creon, aimed

At thee and me, aye me too; and anon

He will be here to promulgate, for such

As have not heard, his mandate; 'tis in sooth

No passing humor, for the edict says

Whoe'er transgresses shall be stoned to death.

So stands it with us; now 'tis thine to show

If thou art worthy of thy blood or base.

ISMENE

But how, my rash, fond sister, in such case

Can I do anything to make or mar?

ANTIGONE

Say, wilt thou aid me and abet? Decide.

ISMENE

In what bold venture? What is in thy thought?

ANTIGONE

Lend me a hand to bear the corpse away.

ISMENE

What, bury him despite the interdict?

ANTIGONE

My brother, and, though thou deny him, thine

No man shall say that I betrayed a brother.

ISMENE

Wilt thou persist, though Creon has forbid?

ANTIGONE

What right has he to keep me from my own?

ISMENE

Bethink thee, sister, of our father's fate,

Abhorred, dishonored, self-convinced of sin,

Blinded, himself his executioner.

Think of his mother-wife (ill sorted names)

Done by a noose herself had twined to death

And last, our hapless brethren in one day,

Both in a mutual destiny involved,

Self-slaughtered, both the slayer and the slain.

Bethink thee, sister, we are left alone;

Shall we not perish wretchedest of all,

If in defiance of the law we cross

A monarch's will?-weak women, think of that,

Not framed by nature to contend with men.

Remember this too that the stronger rules;

We must obey his orders, these or worse.

Therefore I plead compulsion and entreat

The dead to pardon. I perforce obey

The powers that be. 'Tis foolishness, I ween,

To overstep in aught the golden mean.

ANTIGONE

I urge no more; nay, wert thou willing still,

I would not welcome such a fellowship.

Go thine own way; myself will bury him.

How sweet to die in such employ, to rest,-

Sister and brother linked in love's embrace-

A sinless sinner, banned awhile on earth,

But by the dead commended; and with them

I shall abide for ever. As for thee,

Scorn, if thou wilt, the eternal laws of Heaven.

ISMENE

I scorn them not, but to defy the State

Or break her ordinance I have no skill.

ANTIGONE