Course Unit 3:

Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone in Ferguson, and Sara

Uribe’s Antígona González

Topics touched on: Classical formalism, moral criticism, Hegel, political criticism, feminist
theory, adaptation, translation, Michael Foucault’s biopolitics, Gloria Anzaldúa’s
borderlands history and theory, Achille Mbembe’s becropolitics,
necropolitics, Cristina Rivera Garza’s
necrowriting.
Unit on Sophocles’ Antigone
We will be watching a filmed reading of Antigone in Ferguson in class rather than reading
the original text of Sophocles’ play. We will follow this with a reading of a contemporary
adaptation, Antígona González by Sara Uribe, translated into English by John Pluecker.

Statue of Sophocles

Historical Background and Writing

by Carissa Villagomez, Court Theatre

Considered to be Sophocles’ most political play in the Oedipus Trilogy, Antigone was actually
written before the other plays, though it takes place last chronologically. First performed around
441 – 442 B.C.E., it still enraptures audiences today with its exploration of pertinent themes like free
will and civil disobedience.

The play follows its titular character, the daughter of Oedipus, after the events of Oedipus
Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone finds herself engaged to her cousin Haemon, and her
father’s former kingdom now ruled by her uncle Creon. Where Creon was ambiguous in Oedipus,
the unexplored sides of his character are brought forth as his tyrannical ways have caused Thebes
to once again fall ill. After Oedipus’ sons, Polynices and Eteocles, kill each other in battle, Creon
dictates that Eteocles will be given a proper hero’s burial but Polynices will not receive similar
treatment. He orders all of Thebes that no one is allowed to perform funeral rites for his nephew, a
ruling that Antigone rebels against. She embarks on a quest not for the sake of rebelling, but to

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honor her beloved brother and stand for her rights rather than mindlessly acquiesce to Creon’s
cruel tyranny.

Questions of leadership, free will, civil disobedience, and the cost of wisdom are all explored in this
last installment of the trilogy, an addition that furthers Sophocles’ legacy as his plays handle
themes that are still relevant today. Creon’s despotic rule is met by Antigone’s steadfast defiance
and her refusal to submit ensures she is a character who endures throughout the ages. As is
expected for a work by this Greek playwright, the play also contains a thoughtful rumination on the
relationship between gods and humans without having any god directly interact with any mortal on
stage. Divine law and judicial law clash as Antigone and Creon look to two diQerent paths and must
contend with the consequences of their decisions.

At the time this play was first performed, Sophocles was one of the state treasurers in Athens and
by then had experience as a general. Such personal life experiences perhaps were factors in his
exploration of public and private duty in Antigone. While the impact of personal occupation on his
works is conjecture, the struggles in his plays remain relevant to audiences of various backgrounds
as they grapple with questions of agency and free will when faced with the pressing influence of
social institutions. As for the historical context, the play was written during a period that was
bookended by turmoil, from wars to revolts. Some consider the character of Creon to be loosely
modeled on Pericles, an Athenian statesman involved in the formation of the Athenian empire.
Sophocles interprets and portrays the world around him through the dynamic lens of theatre.

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The events of the play were well known by the audience in advance (as is the case with
most tragedies). If you would like to wait to know the final events of the play by watching the
reading, then skip the plot summary below and especially the second half of the plot on the
next page.

Mythological Background of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus (from Encyclopedia

Britannica)

Antigone, in Greek legend, the daughter born of the unwittingly incestuous union of Oedipus and
his mother, Jocasta. After her father blinded himself upon discovering that Jocasta was his mother
and that, also unwittingly, he had slain his father, Antigone and her sister Ismene served as
Oedipus’ guides, following him from Thebes into exile until his death near Athens. Returning to
Thebes, they attempted to reconcile their quarreling brothers—Eteocles, who was defending the
city and his crown, and Polyneices, who was attacking Thebes. Both brothers, however, were killed,
and their uncle Creon became king. After performing an elaborate funeral service for Eteocles, he
forbade the removal of the corpse of Polyneices, condemning it to lie unburied, declaring him to
have been a traitor. Antigone, moved by love for her brother and convinced of the injustice of the
command, buried Polyneices secretly.

Plot of Sophocles’ Antigone (courtesy Randolph College)

Scene One: Antigone tries to convince her sister Ismene to join her in burying their brother
Polynices [also spelled Polyneikes or Polyneices in some translations]. Ismene refuses, because
their uncle Creon [Kreon] has decreed that anyone who does will pay the penalty of death.

First Ode: The Chorus of Old Men celebrate Thebes’ victory over Polynices’ army.

Scene Two: Creon oQicially announces to the citizens the prohibition against the burial. A Soldier
comes to report that the body’s been buried.

Second Ode: The Chorus reflect on the wonder of humanity.

Scene Three: The Soldier brings Antigone, who buried the body, to Creon, who condemns her to
death. Creon and Antigone debate the merits of their positions. Ismene joins them and tries to take
Antigone’s side, but Antigone refuses to share her fate or her glory.

Third Ode: The Chorus regret the cursed history of the house of Oedipus. Creon listens.

Scene Four: Creon’s son Haimon tries to change his father’s mind.

SPOILERS FOLLOW ON THE NEXT PAGE

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Scene Five: The First Old Man commiserates with Antigone, and then Antigone and Creon have
their final exchange before she goes to her death.

Fourth Ode: The Chorus sing a song to console Antigone.

Scene Six: The blind seer Teiresias comes to tell Creon that he’s wrong and what will happen if he
doesn’t change his decision.

Fifth Ode: The Chorus pray to Dionysus, the patron of Thebes, for blessing.

Scene Seven: A Messenger comes to report to Eurydice (Creon’s wife) that Antigone and Haimon
are dead. Creon returns with the bodies of Antigone and Haimon, and learns that Eurydice is dead,
too.

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1. The Ancient Quarrel about Form and Aesthetics:
Plato v. Aristotle
A preamble to Sophocles’ Antigone. Graphic guide collated from Introduction to Literary
Criticism and Introduction to Aesthetics (Icon Books).
Also included: Aristotle’s definition of tragedy from The Poetics.
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Socrates and Plato
It is important to bear in mind that, in the classical period, truth was
associated with religious and ethical ideas. Plato’s philosophy was based on
the teachings of his mentor, the itinerant philosopher Socrates (470–399
BC). In common with the rest of Greek society, Socrates held religious
beliefs which were metaphysical in character. Metaphysics is a dualistic
system – the gods exist in a higher transcendent realm and the world down
below, inhabited by humans, is a pale imitation of it.

In addition, Socrates stated that these Forms contained the inherent structures
to be found within all existing objects. However, he differed from the
majority of Greek society by valuing wisdom and virtue in contrast to the

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warrior’s attributes of bravery and strength, which were thought to find
favour with the gods.

Following Socrates, Plato (c. 427–347 BC) argued that philosophers, such
as himself, were uniquely in possession of the correct virtue – namely,
wisdom – for attaining knowledge of the higher Forms of the universe. By
defying currently held views, Socrates and Plato embarked on a power
struggle with the state and religious hierarchy of Athens. As a way of
defining his position, Plato contrasted philosophy with both art and poetry,
which he stated were immoral and untruthful.

On account of their dangerous influence, Plato in The Republic (c. 375 BC)
banned artists and poets from his ideal state.

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The book remains a canonical text in the history of moral and
political philosophy, but it also contains reflections on the place and
function of the mimetic arts, including poetry, which make it a
rewarding text for literary critics to study. It is also, in another sense,
one of the earliest surviving examples of literary criticism.

In a well-known passage in Book 3, it is made clear that poets are

not especially welcome in the ideal republic.

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The Power of Poetry
The idea of poetry’s power to affect the viewer was a loaded issue in Plato’s
time. Poets were believed to have access to the muses, the daughters of
memory who possessed historical knowledge and insight into the gods’
motives. Furthermore, poetry had a high public profile since plays were
written in verse; it was also the custom to read poetry aloud in public
forums.

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In making his negative judgement of poetry, Plato particularly castigated the
work of Homer (c. 800–700 BC), the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Taking as an example Achilles’ sorrowful reaction to the loss of his
comrades in the Iliad, Plato complained that Homer portrayed death as an
evil to be feared rather than as a reminder of the riches to follow in paradise.

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Painting as Imitation
Plato also viewed painting (i.e. wall painting) derogatively, as an imitative
art based on the copying of Nature. He compared painting to a mirror.

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For this reason, Plato argued that painting is “twice removed from the truth”,
The Simulacrum
not even achieving the status of carpenters’ artefacts which, he asserted,
represent the blueprint of the higher Forms at one remove. Although Plato condemned art, he never entirely disassociated art from truth.
Rather, he stated that art is a pale mirror, or poor copy, of the truth. However,
in The Sophist (360 BC), he discussed a category entirely apart from the
truth, which he termed “simulacrum”.

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Subsequent philosophers, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, and postmodern
philosophers influenced by him, for instance Gilles Deleuze and Jacques
Derrida, saw Plato’s arguments about the simulacrum as the Achilles heel in
his philosophy.

Plato derogatively likened the Sophist philosopher to a magician: “a cheat

who imitates reality” (The Sophist). Today, the word sophistry refers to a
specious or deliberately deceptive form of argument.

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Following Nietzsche, as we will see, postmodern philosophers nullified the
opposition between truth and falsity. This in turn led to a re-evaluation of
art’s relation – or non-relation – to truth.

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The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan was particularly fond of this story,
Deception is Truth, Truth Deception and quoted it in his seminars during the 1960s and 70s.

The postmodernist critique of Plato was anticipated in classical times in a

celebrated story told by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) in
his Natural History. Pliny described a competition between the painters
Zeuxis and Parrhasios during the 5th century BC. Zeuxis painted a bunch of
grapes so lifelike that they attracted the birds.

Plato always maintained that truth and falsity are opposed. This idea is
perpetuated in the confusion arising from Zeuxis’ painting. But Parrhassios
contradicts this notion by revealing that deception is the truth, and vice versa.

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Aristotle’s Poetics
The Poetics (c. 335 BC) by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC)
offered the most extensive analysis of art after Plato and served as a riposte
to his condemnation of art. The Poetics laid the foundations for modern
aesthetics.

In addition, the Poetics explored what the relationship of works of art to

reality might entail.

As with Plato, Aristotle’s ideas about art made use of the concept of
mimesis, or imitation.

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Art and the Audience
Aristotle argued that the mimetic structure of art is embedded in the
interaction between the work of art – poetry, drama, painting, sculpture,
music and dance – and the audience. He stressed the fact that works of art
have their own structures and forms which are independent of structures and
forms in reality.

Aristotle rejected Plato’s idea of art as a distorting mirror of reality. Instead

he analysed art in terms of its ability to engender emotion – especially
emotions of pleasure and pain.

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Art and Reality
Although art possesses its own independent structures, Aristotle proposed
that it is understood, evaluated and, ultimately, appreciated by the audience
through a range of concepts derived from experience and life.

Since art has its own internal sense of structure and organization, Aristotle
argued that it has a fictional status, rather than a false status as Plato had
done.

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Aristotle argued that the audience bring to bear these issues upon the work of
art and, in turn, are affected by its expression of them.

Aristotle maintained that the fictional status of art makes it possible to

appreciate and enjoy things which are, in reality, unattractive or painful.

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The experience of a work of art is different from reality, but its emotional
Catharsis
effect is dependent upon its relationship to reality. Similarly, the material
form of works of art – colours, shapes, words, rhythms, choreographic Using his ideas about the fictional status of art, Aristotle made a particular
patterns – are also rooted in reality. study of the emotions aroused by tragic drama. This formed the basis for his
theory of “catharsis”. Aristotle perceived how tragic drama draws on the
audience’s feelings of pity and fear – it was common for Athenian spectators
to weep openly at stage performances.

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Catharsis is the feeling of sympathy aroused in the audience for Oedipus in
this tragic moment of reversal. Aristotle argued that the fictional status of the
play creates a sense of distance between the spectator and the tragic hero,
and that because of this it is possible to enjoy tragedy and take aesthetic
pleasure in it.

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The Theory of Forms
The decision to exclude poets from the republic is based on Plato’s
suspicion of mimesis, or imitation, which is regarded as an artificial,
or untruthful, deviation from the true essence of things. This is based
on Plato’s theory of forms. A poet, unlike a maker of tables, for
example, creates only second-hand representations. The poet’s
imitation of, say, a table is, for Plato, an imitation of an imitation,
insofar as the table-maker’s table is itself only an imitation of the
essential, or divine, form of the table.

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Plato also worried about the extent to which poets create inaccurate
(and blasphemous) representations of the Greek gods, citing
examples from Homer (ca. 8th century BC) and others, which might
disrupt the smooth functioning of the ideal state. Similarly, because
poetry stirs and excites the passions of those who hear it, poets
might weaken the resolve and self-control of the city’s soldiers and
guardians. Plato’s views about the function of poetry were thus very
restrictive.

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Plato wanted a strictly useful poetry, subordinating the demands of
artistic autonomy and independence to the greater good of the polis,
or city-state. To many readers, his comments have often seemed like
an argument for censorship. They can also be interpreted as part of
a more playful and long-standing rivalry between the relative claims
of poetry and philosophy as a route to truth.

By contrast, Aristotle (384–322 BC), in his treatise on Poetics,

defended the mimetic arts – particularly epic, tragedy, comedy and
dithyrambic*, and most music for the flute and lyre.

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Aristotle’s treatise delineates the rules, derived from nature,
governing the mimetic arts, including sections on the construction of
plots in tragic drama and how to go about answering criticisms of
Homer. Aristotle defended mimesis because it is a cause of
pleasure, against Plato’s stricter focus on usefulness, linking the
pleasure-giving aspects of mimesis to its teaching function.
Aristotle’s views of mimesis, particularly tragedy and epic, had
widespread influence during the European Renaissance in the 16th
century and beyond.

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The Three Unities
Aristotle’s theory of the unities of action, time and place,
reconstructed from the Poetics, had particular influence in
Renaissance Italy and France. In his discussion of plot, Aristotle
emphasizes the importance of wholeness in order to achieve the
requisite degree of order, amplitude and unity.

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The extent to which Aristotle intended these remarks as descriptive
observations or prescriptive rules is open to dispute, although he
does offer more explicit guidance to practising playwrights.

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Catharsis
Another important concept introduced in Aristotle’s Poetics is
catharsis, relating particularly to tragic drama. Unlike comedy, which
Aristotle defines in relation to “low”, or “ugly”, characters, tragedy
concerns “high” actions represented in dramatic form, rather than
narrative form (which belongs to epic).

His usage of the term has provoked much debate. There is no exact
definition, but it is generally taken to refer to an almost therapeutic,
or purgative, process by which audience members learn to
comprehend human suffering without experiencing it to the same
degree of intensity as is represented on stage.

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Catharsis can extend one’s imaginative sympathy and, as such,
guide one’s behaviour. Tragic drama, then, has social meaning.

In the 1930s, the German Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898–

1956) took up a polemical, or controversial, stance against Aristotle’s
concept of catharsis, as part of his theorization of a politicized non-
Aristotelian theatre. Brecht objected to the concept of catharsis
because it presumes an audience of separate individuals, rather
than seeing the audience as a political collective, capable of thinking
and reasoning in response to the action presented on stage.

The audience’s identification with the “inexorable fate” of the tragic

hero obscures the reality of human agency in socio-economic
processes.

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ARISTOTLE The Poetics 54
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ARISTOTLE The Poetics 55
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ARISTOTLE The Ethics 56
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