The Antigone of Sophocles

by Sophocles

A battle of two rights. Kreon, a man, a ruler, champion of the law of man. Antigone, a woman, responsible for the souls of her dead brothers, champion of the law of god. Two harsh, determined, unyielding spirits; a drama 2500 years old and yet fresh. This adaptation brings the clarity of Sophocles' moral vision vividly to life for today. Watching this play is watching two loved ones fight; both sides are painful. For all his harsh judgement and rash pride, Kreon knows this: society does depend on a central authority for all that law brings that is of benefit. This city is fresh from a fight for their lives. This is easy to forget, making Kreon a parading villain. But if law is a good, Kreon sincerely believes in and eloquently speaks for something that is good. The tragedy of the play is that he cannot see, until it is too late, that he is not in fact serving that good. For all her courage, determination, fearlessness and clarity of moral vision, Antigone is as harshly uncompromising as Kreon, as willing to take law into her own hands--but the law she takes up is divine law, eternal justice. In the name of that which is holy, she is as fearlessly, yet arrogantly as is full of hubris as Kreon. The foundation of Sophocles' play is simple, direct, completely focused clarity. There is not a word out of place, not a trace of bombast, fustian or turgidity. Sophocles is not "mythic"; he is beautifully clear in language; he rises to the mythic in meaning. A modern audience is not likely to be familiar with Greek myth. Sophocles makes many references to stories well known to his own audience, stories that had intense emotional resonance for them, stories virtually unknown to modern audiences. This text communicates the emotional essence of those stories without bogging down in unknown names and irrelevant details. There is an important philosophical dimension, expressed poetically, not intellectually. The chorus bears that burden. This text provides them with vivid imagery that recreates Sophocles' poetic message.