Why does haimon attack his father with a sword when they meet in the cavern?

Antigone

CHARACTERS

ANTIGONE, daughter of Oedipus

Kreon’s Men (silent)

ISMENE, daughter of Oedipus

HAIMON, son of Kreon

CHORUS of Theban Elders

TIRESIAS, prophet of Thebes

LEADER (of the Chorus)

Lad (silent)

KREON, King of Thebes, uncle of Antigone and Ismene

MESSENGER EURYDIKE, wife of Kreon

GUARD

SCENE: Dawn in front of Kreon’s palace in Thebes, the day after the battle in which the Theban defenders repelled an attack on the city by an Argive coalition that included the rebel Polyneikes, elder son of Oedipus. Polyneikes and his younger brother Eteokles, who has remained loyal to Thebes, have killed each other simultaneously in face-to-face combat at one of Thebes’ seven gates. Kreon has suddenly seized the throne. * * * Antigone and Ismene enter through the central doors.

ANTIGONE Ismene, love! My own kind! Born

                         like me from that same womb!

                         Can you think of one evil—

                         of all those Oedipus started—

5 that Zeus hasn’t used our own lives

                         to finish? There’s nothing—no pain

                         no shame, no terror, no humiliation!—

                         you and I haven’t seen and shared.

                         Now there’s this new command

10 our commander in chief

                         imposes on the whole city—

                         do you know about it?

                         Have you heard? You don’t know,

                         do you? It threatens our loved ones

15 as if they were our enemies!

ISMENE No word of our family has reached me,

                         Antigone, welcome or painful,

                         not since we sisters lost our brothers

                         in one day, when their hands struck

20 the double blow that killed them both.

                         And since the Argive army fled last night

                         I’ve heard nothing that could improve our luck—

                         or make it any worse.

ANTIGONE That’s what I thought.

                         That’s why I’ve brought you out past the gates—

                         where no one but you can hear what I say.

25ISMENE What’s wrong?

                         It’s plain something you’ve heard makes you livid.

ANTIGONE It’s Kreon. The way he’s treated our brothers.

                         Hasn’t he buried one with honor?

                         But he’s shamed the other. Disgraced him!

30 Eteokles, they say, was laid to rest

                         according to law and custom.

                         The dead will respect him in Hades.

                         But Polyneikes’ sorry body can’t be touched.

                         The city is forbidden to mourn him or bury him

35 —no tomb, no tears. Convenient forage

                         for cruising birds to feast their fill.

                         That’s the clear order our good general

                         gives you and me—yes, I said me!

                         They say he’s coming here to proclaim it

40 in person to those who haven’t heard it.

                         This is not something he takes lightly.

                         Violate any provision—the sentence is

                         you’re stoned to death in your own city.

                         Now you know.

                                                     And soon you’ll prove

45 how nobly born you really are.

                         Or did our family breed a coward?

ISMENE If that’s the bind we’re in, you poor thing,

                         what good can I do by yanking the knot

                         tighter—or by trying to pry it loose?

50ANTIGONE Make up your mind. Will you join me?

                         Share the burden?

ISMENE At what risk? What are you asking?

ANTIGONE (Raising up her hands.)

                         Will you help these hands lift his body?

ISMENE You want to bury him? Break the law?

ANTIGONE I’m going to bury my brother—your brother!—

55 with or without your help. I won’t betray him.

ISMENE You scare me, sister. Kreon’s forbidden this.

ANTIGONE He’s got no right to keep me from what’s mine!

ISMENE He’s mine too!

                                                    Just think what our father’s

                         destruction meant for us both.

60 Because of those horrible deeds—

                         all self-inflicted, all self-detected

                         he died hated and notorious,

                         his eyes battered into blindness

                         by his

own hands. And then

65 his wife and mother—two roles

                         for one woman—disposed

                         of her life with a noose

                         of twisted rope. And now

                         our poor brothers die the same day

70 in a mutual act of kin murder!

                         Think how much worse

                         our own deaths will be—abandoned

                         as we are—if we defy the king’s

                         proclamation and his power.

75 Remember, we’re women. How

                         can we fight men. They’re stronger.

                         We must accept these things—and worse to come.

                         I want the Spirits of the Dead

                         to understand this: I’m not free.

80 I must obey whoever’s in charge.

                         It’s crazy to attempt the impossible!

ANTIGONE Then I’ll stop asking you! And if you change

                         your mind, I won’t accept your help.

                         Go be the person you’ve chosen to be.

85 I’ll bury Polyneikes myself. I’ll do

                         what’s honorable, and then I’ll die.

                         I who love him will lie down

                         next to him who loves me—

                         my criminal conduct blameless!—

90 for I owe more to the dead, with whom

                         I will spend a much longer time,

                         than I will ever owe to the living.

                         Go ahead, please yourself—defy

                         laws the gods expect us to honor.

95ISMENE I’m not insulting them! But how can I

                         defy the city? I don’t have the strength.

ANTIGONE Then make that your excuse. I’ll heal

                         with earth the body of the brother I love.

ISMENE I feel so sorry for you. And afraid.

100ANTIGONE Don’t waste your fear. Straighten out your own life.

ISMENE At least tell nobody what you’re planning!

                         Say nothing about it. And neither will I.

ANTIGONE No! Go on, tell them all!

                         I will hate you much more for your silence—

105 if you don’t shout it everywhere.

ISMENE You’re burning to do what should stop you cold.

ANTIGONE One thing I do know: I’ll please those who matter.

ISMENE As if you could! You love fights you can’t win.

ANTIGONE When my strength is exhausted, I’ll quit.

110ISMENE Hopeless passion is wrong from the start.

ANTIGONE Say that again and I’ll despise you.

                         So will the dead—and they’ll hate you

                         far longer. But go! Let me and my

                         recklessness deal with this alone.

115 No matter what I suffer

                         I won’t die dishonored.

(Exit ANTIGONE toward open country; ISMENE calls out her next lines as her sister leaves, then she enters the palace through the great central doors.)

ISMENE If you’re determined, go ahead.

                         And know this much: you are a fool

                         to attempt this, but you’re loved all

120 the more by the family you love.

(CHORUS of Theban Elders enters singing.)

CHORUS Morning sunlight, loveliest ever

                         to shine on seven-gated Thebes!

                         Day’s golden eye, risen at last

                         over Dirke’s glittering waters!

 You stampede the Argive!

                         Invading in full battle gear,

                         his white shield flashing, he’s wrenched

                         by your sharp piercing bit

                         into headlong retreat!

130 This attacker who championed

                         quarrelsome Polyneikes

                         skimmed through our farmland—

                         a white-feathered Eagle

                         screeching, horse-hair

135 flaring from the helmets

                         of well-armed troops.

                         He had circled our houses, threatening

                         all seven gates, his spearpoints

                         out for blood, but he was thrown back

140 before his jaws could swell

                         with our gore, before the Firegod’s

                         incendiary pinetar

                         engulfed the towers ringing our walls.

                         He cannot withstand the harsh blare

145 of battle that roars up

                         around him—and our Dragon

                         wrestles him down.

                         How Zeus hates a proud tongue!

                         And when this river of men

150 surged forward, with arrogance

                         loud as its flash of gold,

                         he struck—with his own lightning—

                         that firebrand shouting in triumph

                         from the battlements!

155 Free-falling from the mad

                         fury of his charge, torch

                         still in his hand,

                         he crashed to earth, the man

                         who’d turned on us the raving

160 blast of his loathsome words.

                         But threats stuck in his throat:

                         To each enemy soldier

                         Ares the brute wargod,

                         our surging wheelhorse,

165 assigned a separate doom,

                         shattering every attack.

                         Now seven captains facing seven gates,

                         our captains matching theirs,

                         throw down their arms as trophies

170 for Zeus—all but the doomed pair

                         born to one father, one mother—

                         who share even their death

                         when their twin spears drive home.

                         Victory is now ours!

175 Her name is pure glory,

                         her joy resounds

                         through Thebes’ own joy—Thebes

                         swarming with chariots!

                         Let us now banish

180 this war from our minds

                         and visit each god’s temple,

                         singing all night long! May

                         Bakkhos, the god whose dancing

                         rocks Thebes, be there to lead us!

(Enter KREON.)

185LEADER Enter our new king,

                         Kreon, the son of Menoikeus,

                         who came to power

                         abruptly, when the gods changed our luck.

                         What plans does he turn over

190 in his mind—what will he ponder

                         with the Council of Elders

                         summoned in his new role?

KREON Men, we have just survived some rough weather.

                         Monstrous waves have battered our city,

195 but now the gods have steadied the waters.

                         I sent my servants to gather you here

                         because, of all my people, I know

                         your veneration for Laios’ royal

                         power has never wavered. When Oedipus

200 ruled our city, and then was struck down, you

                         stood by his sons. Now both of them fall

                         together, killed in one lethal exchange.

                         Because each struck the other’s deathblow, each

                         was defiled by his own brother’s blood.

205 As nearest kin to the men killed,

                         I’ve taken power and assumed the throne.

You cannot measure a man’s character,

                         policies, or his common sense—until

                         you see him in action, enforcing old laws

210 and making new ones. To me, there’s nothing

                         worse than a man, while he’s running a city,

                         who fails to act on sound advice—but fears

                         something so much his mouth clamps shut.

                         Nor have I any use for a man whose friend

215 means more to him than his country.

                         Believe me, Zeus, for you miss nothing,

                         I’ll always speak out when I see Thebes choosing

                         destruction rather than deliverance.

                         I’ll never think our country’s enemy

220 can be my friend. Keep this in mind:

                         Our country is the ship that must keep us safe.

                         It’s only on board her, among the men

                         who sail her upright, that we make true friends.

                         Such are the principles I will follow

225 to preserve Thebes’ greatness. Akin to these

                         are my explicit orders concerning

                         Oedipus’ sons: Eteokles, who died

                         fighting for our city, and who excelled

                         in combat, will be given the rituals

230 and burial proper to the noble dead.

                         But his brother—I mean Polyneikes, who

                         returned from exile utterly determined

                         to burn down his own city, incinerate

                         the gods we worship, revel in kinsmen’s blood,

235 enslave everyone left alive—

                         as for him, it is now a crime for Thebans

                         to bury him or mourn him. Dogs and birds

                         will savage and outrage his corpse—

                         an ugly and a visible disgrace.

240 That is my thinking. And I will never

                         tolerate giving a bad man more respect

                         than a good one. Only those faithful to Thebes

                         will I honor—in this life and after death.

LEADER That is your pleasure, Kreon: Punish Thebes’

245 betrayers and reward her defenders.

                         You have all the authority you need

                         to discipline the living and the dead.

KREON Are you willing to help enforce this law?

LEADER Ask someone younger to shoulder that burden.

250KREON But I’ve already posted men at the corpse.

LEADER Then what instructions do you have for me?

KREON Don’t join the cause of those who break this law.

LEADER Who but a fool would want to die?

KREON Exactly. He’d be killed. But easy money

255 frequently kills those it deludes.

(Enter GUARD. He tends to mime the actions he describes.)

GUARD I didn’t run here at such a breakneck

                         pace, King, that I’m winded. Pausing to think

                         stopped me, wheeled me around, headed me back

                         more than once. My mind kept yelling at me:

260 “Reckless fool—why go where you’ll be punished?”

                         Then: “Lazy clod! Dawdling, are you? What if

                         Kreon hears this news from somebody else?—

                         you’ll pay for it.”

                                                       I made myself dizzy,

                         hurrying slowly, stretching out a short road.

265 I finally realized I had to come.

                         If I’m talking annihilation here,

                         I’ll still say it, since I’m of the opinion

                         nothing but my own fate can cause me harm.

KREON What’s making you so agitated?

270GUARD I’ve got to explain my role in this matter.

                         I didn’t do it, I didn’t see who did.

So it wouldn’t be right to punish me.

KREON You’re obsessed with protecting yourself.

                         That’s a nice fortified wall you’ve thrown up

275 around your news—which must be odd indeed.

GUARD You bet. And bad news must be broken slowly.

KREON Why not just tell it? Then you can vanish.

GUARD But I am telling you! That corpse—someone’s

                         buried it and run off. They sprinkled thirsty

280 dust on it. Then did all the rituals.

KREON What are you saying? What man would dare do this?

GUARD I’ve no idea. No marks from a pickaxe,

                         no dirt thrown up by a shovel. The ground’s

                         all hard and dry, unbroken—no wheel ruts.

285 Whoever did this left no trace.

                         When the man on dawn-watch showed it to us,

                         we all got a nasty surprise. The dead man

                         had dropped out of sight. He wasn’t entombed,

                         but dusted over, as though someone had tried

290 to stave off defilement. There was no sign

                         dogs or wild animals had chewed the corpse.

                         Then we all started yelling rough words, threats,

                         blaming each other, every guard ready

                         to throw punches—nobody to stop us.

295 Every man under suspicion—but none

                         of us convicted. We all denied it—

                         swearing to god we’d handle red-hot iron

                         or walk through fire to back up our oaths.

                         After interrogation got us nowhere,

300 one man spoke up and made us hang our heads

                         toward the ground in terror. We couldn’t do

                         what he said—or avoid trouble if we did.

                         He advised us to tell you what happened,

                         not try to hide it. That seemed our best move.

305 So we drew lots to choose the messenger.

                         I lost—I’m no happier to be here

                         than you are to see me. Don’t I know that.

                         Nobody loves the man who brings bad news.

LEADER King, something has been bothering me: Suppose

310 this business was inspired by the gods?

KREON Stop! Before your words fill me with rage.

                         Now, besides sounding old, you sound senile.

                         How could anyone possibly believe

                         the gods protect this corpse? Did they cover

315 his nakedness to reward him for loyal

                         service—this man who came here to burn

                         their colonnaded temples and treasuries,

                         to wipe out their country and tear up its laws?

                         Do you think that the gods honor rebels?

320 They don’t. But for a good while now

                         men who despise me have been muttering

                         under their breaths—my edict bruised their necks.

                         They were rebelling against a just yoke—

                         unlike you good citizens who support me.

325 I’m sure these malcontents bribed my sentries

                         to do what they did.

                                                            Mankind’s most deadly

                         invention is money—it plunders cities,

                         encourages men to abandon their homes,

                         tempts honest people to do shameful things.

330 It instructs them in criminal practice,

drives them to act on every godless impulse.

                         By doing this for silver, these men have

                         guaranteed that, sooner or later,

                         they’ll pay the price.

                                                            But you who worship Zeus—

335 since Zeus enforces his own will through mine—

                         be sure of this, it is my solemn oath:

                         If you don’t find the man who carried out

                         this burial and drag him before me,

                         a quick trip to Hades won’t be your fate.

340 You will all be strung up—and you’ll hang

                         for a while, your insolence on display.

                         From then on, you may calculate exactly

                         how much profit to expect from your crimes.

                         More men are destroyed by ill-gotten wealth

345 than such “wealth” ever saved from destruction.

GUARD May I speak further? Or shall I just leave?

KREON Don’t you realize that your words pain me?

GUARD Do your ears ache, or does the pain go deeper?

KREON Why does the source of my pain interest you?

350GUARD I just sting your ears. The man

                         who did this stabs your gut.

KREON You’ve run off at the mouth since you were born.

GUARD Maybe so. But I had no part in this crime.

KREON I think you did. Sold your life for some silver.

355GUARD It’s a sad thing when a judge gets it wrong.

KREON You’ll soon be on the wrong end of a judgment yourself.

                                             If you don’t find the guilty one,

                         you’ll find your greed buys you nothing but grief.

GUARD I hope he’s caught, but Fate will decide that.

360 And you’ll never see me coming back here.

                         Now that I have been spared—when everything

                         seemed so desperate—all I can think about

                         is how much gratitude I owe the gods.

(Exit GUARD to open country; KREON enters his palace.)

ELDERS Wonders abound, but none

365 more astounding than man!

                         He crosses to the far side

                         of white seas, blown

                         by winter gales, sailing

                         below huge waves;

370 he wears Earth down—

                         our primal, eternal,

                         inexhaustible god—

                         his stallion-sired mules

 plowing her soil

375 back and forth

                         year after year.

                         All breeds of carefree

                         bird, savage beast

                         and deep-sea creature,

380 ingenious man

                         snares in his woven nets;

                         he drives the mountain herds

                         from wild lairs down to his folds;

                         he coaxes rough-maned horses

385 to thrust their necks through his yoke;

                         he tames the tireless mountain bull.

                         He has taught himself speech,

                         wind-quick thought,

                         and all the talents

390 that govern a city;

                         how to take shelter

                         from cold skies or pelting rain;

                         never baffled,

                         always resourceful,

395 he accepts every challenge;

                         but from Hades alone

                         has he found no way out—

                         though from hopeless disease

                         he has found a defense.

400 Exceeding all expectation,

                         his robust power to create

                         sometimes brings evil,

                         at other times, excellence.

                         When he follows the laws

405 Earth teaches him—

                         and Justice, which he’s sworn

                         the gods he will enforce—

                         he soars with his city.

                         But reckless and corrupt,

410 a man will be driven

                         from his nation disgraced.

                         Let no man guilty of such things

                         share my hearth or invade my thoughts.

(Enter GUARD, from countryside, leading ANTIGONE.)

LEADER I’m stunned—what’s this? A warning from the gods?

415 I know this girl. She is Antigone.

                         Don’t we all recognize her?

                         Unlucky Oedipus was her father,

                         now her own luck runs out.

                         What’s happening? You—under guard?

420 Are you a prisoner? Did you break

                         the king’s law? Commit some thoughtless act?

GUARD There’s your perpetrator. We caught her

                         burying the corpse. Where’s Kreon?

(Enter KREON.)

LEADER Here he comes. Just in time.

425KREON What makes my arrival so timely?

GUARD Sir, never promise something won’t happen;

                         second thoughts can make your first one a lie.

                         I vowed I’d never come back here,

                         after you tongue-lashed me with those threats.

430 Then came a pleasure like no other,

                         because it’s a total surprise, something

                         we hope for but can’t believe will happen.

                         So I came back—though I swore I wouldn’t—

                         to bring you the girl we caught sprinkling dust

435 on the dead body. No need to throw dice—

                         this time the good fortune was all mine.

                         Now she’s all yours. Question and convict her—

                         do as you see fit. But I have the right

                         to go free of trouble once and for all.

440KREON Your prisoner—where was she when captured?

GUARD Covering up the dead body. There you have it.

KREON Do you know what you just said? No mistake?

GUARD I saw her bury the man you said no one

                         could bury. How can I say it plainer?

445KREON How did you see her? Was she caught in the act?

GUARD Here’s what happened. We went back there

                         after those ugly threats of yours, to brush

                         the dirt off the body and strip it down

                         to its rotting flesh. Afterwards, we hunkered

450 upwind under some hills to spare us any stench

                         the body might have sent our way. Each man

                         kept alert, and kept his neighbor alert,

                         by raking him with outbursts of abuse

                         if he seemed to neglect his watch.

455 We kept at it until the round sun had climbed

                         the heavens and baked us in the noon heat.

                         Then, rising from the earth, a whirlwind

                         whipped up the dust, and terror filled the sky,

                         choking the grasslands, tearing leaves off trees,

                         churning up grit all around us.

460 Our eyes squeezed shut,

                         we waited out this god-sent pestilence.

                         After a bit the dust cleared, and we saw her

                         cry out in anguish, a piercing scream

                         like a bird homing to find her nest robbed.

465 When she saw the body stripped naked,

                         she wailed one more time, then yelled a string

                         of curses at those who’d done it. She scooped up

                         powdery dust and, from a graceful bronze

                         urn, poured out three cool swallows for the dead.

470 Soon as we saw this, we moved into stop her.

                         She wasn’t a bit shocked, when we charged her

                         with the earlier crime, and now this one—

                         didn’t deny a thing. That pleased,

                         but also troubled me. Escaping blame

475 oneself is always a relief; still, it hurts

                         to cause your own people grief. But all that

                         matters much less to me than my own safety.

KREON (To ANTIGONE.)

                         You! Don’t stand there nodding your head.

                         Out with it! Admit this or deny it.

480ANTIGONE I swear I did. And I don’t deny it.

KREON (To GUARD.)

                         You are excused from this grim business.

                         You’re now free to go anywhere you please.

(Exit GUARD. To ANTIGONE.)

                         Explain something to me without elaborating.

                         Were you aware of my decree forbidding this?

485ANTIGONE Of course I knew. We all knew.

KREON And still you dared to violate the law?

ANTIGONE I did. It wasn’t Zeus who issued me

                         this order. And Justice—who lives below—

                         was not involved. They’d never condone it!

490 I deny that your edicts—sin