No, Antigone. What is it? I’ve heard nothing about them, neither good nor bad. Since that day when we were robbed of both our brothers I’ve heard nothing. In that one day, in that one fatal battle, one brother killed the other. I’ve heard that the Argive enemy has run away last night but other than that, I’ve heard nothing else, nothing that would me make me neither happy nor sad.

I thought so. That’s why I’ve brought you out here, Ismene; to tell you about it, secretly and alone.

Antigone, what is it? I can feel something horrible, something frightening in your words.

The burial of our brothers, Ismene! Creon has decreed that the one may be buried with all honours while the other is not to be buried at all but, instead, he is to be shamed! They say Creon has buried Eteocles with all proper burial rites and ceremonies fully preparing him for the world below, while our other brother, Polyneices, who died a death just as horrible, should be left unburied and unmourned! Left alone, to be the food for the sky’s starving ravens, all those birds of prey that eagerly hunt out their food. These are the laws our Lord Creon has decreed for us two, Ismene! For you, Ismene and for me. Yes, even for me! She looks around her anxiously. They say he’s about to come out of the palace any minute now to make this declaration again, loud and clear, in case there is anyone who hasn’t heard it yet. And he is not taking this declaration lightly, either! Because if someone dares to disobey it, he’ll have death by public stoning to look forward to! So, that’s how things stand at the moment my dear sister, Ismene, and you, now you must show the true worth of your birth: are you worthy of it, Ismene, or will you shame your house, Ismene, the house of Oedipus, our father?

But, Antigone, if things have come this far what can I do? How could I possibly help?

How? And do what exactly? Antigone, what are you up to? What awful, what dangerous thing have you got in mind now?

Extends her right hand to Ismene Ismene, help this hand to lift our brother’s corpse!

Horrified Oh! No! Antigone, are you thinking of burying Polyneices? It is against the will of our country, the will of our King, Antigone!

He is our brother, Ismene! Yours and mine! And if you won’t help me then they won’t be blaming me for having betrayed him!

Ah, you poor, poor woman, Antigone! Are you really going to bury our brother against the King’s wishes?

Creon has no right at all to separate me from my own brother. None whatsoever!

Antigone! Dear sister! Think how hated our father was when he died. How full of shame he was! He had committed such shame and such sins that, after bringing them all to the light, after he confessed to them all, he gouged out both his eyes! Then she, too, Iocasta, who bore the double name of mother and wife, took her own life with a rope. Then, both our poor brothers perished in the one day, each of them killing the other with his own hand. And so, now, here we are, we two are left all alone. Think what awful end we can expect if we go against Creon’s law, Antigone! After all my darling sister, don’t forget, we are mere women, we can’t fight men! The rulers are far stronger than we are and we have to do as they say, not only about this but also about far worse things. So, what I shall do, on my behalf, what is the only thing left for me to do, is, to pray to the dead souls, to forgive our Polyneices and then to do exactly as Creon says. Trying to do deeds beyond your ability, my sister, is madness! Mindless folly, dear!

Angry now Fine then! I will neither beg you nor would I be happy to accept your help, even if you had offered it to me my sister! You can believe what you want but I shall go and bury him. My death will be sweet once I bury him, because I will be lying next him in the underworld, having committed sacred, blessed crime. The time I’ll have to please the dead, sister, is far longer than the time I have to please the living. I will be among the dead for ever. But you, Ismene, you can choose whether or not you want to dishonour those things that are honoured by the gods.

I’m not dishonouring them at all, Antigone but I can’t see how I can go against the city either!

Sure, sure! Make all the excuses you want, Ismene but I’m off to bury my dear brother’s body!

How afraid I am for you, Antigone!

Afraid? Oh, no, don’t be afraid for me Ismene. Look out after your own life!

At least don’t tell anyone else, Antigone and nor will I! Let’s keep this a secret!

God! By all means, Ismene, do tell the whole world! In fact, my sister, I’d hate you all the more if you didn’t!

Cold things are wrapped around your hot heart, my dear sister!

Perhaps but I know whom I should please!

And perhaps you may succeed but you’re asking to do the impossible!

At least I shall be trying for as long as my strength holds out.

But one needs to know from the beginning what things one is capable of doing and not pursue in vain, the impossible.

This sort of talk will reward you with not only my own hatred but also with that of your dead brother when you, too, will die and you will want to be near him; and he’ll be right to hate you then. Both exit through opposite sides Pause Light grows. Enter chorus

Hands raised in prayer to Apollo Oh, Ray of the Sun! The most beautiful light ever shone upon our Thebes , the Thebes of seven gates. Here you are at last, great eye of our golden day.

You have come over the great waters of Dirke and made the enemy tighten his grips on the reins of his horse and hastened his flight. He had come from Argos in full armour, white shields glaring.

Covered in white wings, with full armour and with crests like the manes of horses, on his head, he was guided by the shrill and forked words of Polyneices to our land;

And like an eagle, swooped upon us from above.

The enemy first hovered and weighed his blood-thirsty spears above our seven-gated castle but then he turned sharply and ran well before his face was soaked with our own blood !

Well before the resin of our pine trees gave Hephaestus his fiery garlands!

Such was the war-noise which mighty Ares threw hard against the back of his difficult foe.

This because Zeus hates the arrogant tongue!

So, as soon as he saw them, rushing out like an over charged river, with their insolent golden spears and swords…

And just as they were about to shout out their triumphant cry from the tips of our towers, he, Zeus, threw his searing bolt at them.

And so, our enemy, who came to us with torch in his hand and in the grips of a whirling wild wind wavered and swayed for a while, high above us but then fell heavy upon the ground and there he lay.

Things turned out differently for him then. Ares stood by our side and the Fates destroyed him.

Seven of our generals, against seven of theirs

Equal in number, equal in skill, all gave their lives their full-bronze armour to Zeus.

All but two unlucky men, born of the same father and the same mother.

Double the contest, spear-to-spear, Double the death, each a victim to the other.

But Victory –so great is her name- has come to us, to Thebes !

And so let us forget wars and begin the sacred dances in every temple of every god beginning with Dionysus.

Let us dance all night! The gates of the Palace open and Creon and soldiers enter

Ah! Here is Creon, son of Menoeceus and our new King! The gods gave us this luck along with our new victory. I wonder what disturbs him so much, that he sent a herald calling us, his elders, to an early morning meeting.

Men! The gods have righted again what they have thrown into turbulence before. I’ve gathered you here, you alone, because I know of the respect you had for Laius’ throne and for his person. Even when Oedipus rebuilt the city and he himself died, you stayed loyal to his sons with minds unswayed. So, now that these two both, with each other’s polluted swords, died, a double fate for them both and both on the one day, I, being their nearest next of kin, took over the throne. Yet, it’s impossible to understand the soul, the mind, the wisdom of any man before he’s tested by the great power and laws. And I feel this: that a man is of no use to his city if he’s to govern it not by wisdom, but by a tongue, silenced by some fear. And if a man places anything above his city in friendship, that man I think is worthy of disdain. This I always felt and this I will always feel. Let Zeus who sees all be my witness! I will never hold my tongue if I see that our city is in harm’s way! Nor will I ever make friends with an enemy of Thebes . Because I know one thing absolutely: that our safety relies on us travelling upon a steady ship. Only then can we make friends. It is by these laws that I will hold our city strong. And so! In respect of Oedipus’ sons, I have proclaimed to the city that, Eteocles, who fought and fell for our country, who fought more bravely than anyone in this battle, let him be buried in a grave with all honours due to a most worthy dead. For his brother, though, Polyneices, his own flesh and blood, the man who came back here to burn his country -end-to-end- and her gods, the man who wanted to taste his brother’s blood and to make slaves out of his own kin, it is prohibited for everyone in this land to honour him by building for him a grave or by shedding a tear of grief. Let his corpse be left untouched, unburied! Let the dogs and the birds of prey tear it to pieces, mangle it, make it a ghastly sight for all. These are my thoughts. I shall never give to the dishonourable the same rights that I give to the honourable but he who loves his city will earn the same honours whether alive or dead.

You have the right, son of Menoeceus to do as you please and to decree what laws you want, both, for the dead, as well as for the living.

Then heed well the things I have said to you.

This task is so weighty, my Lord, you should place it upon the shoulders of younger men.

Don’t worry, the men who are watching over the body are already at their post.

Well then, what else is there for us to do?

Just make sure you don’t stand by while this law is broken.

Who’s mad enough to seek out his own death?

And that will be the wages of that error! Death! Yet there are men who the mere hope of winning has killed them. Enter a guard from SL. He is harried and afraid, obviously carrying an uncomfortable report.

My King, I can’t really say that I’ve lost my breath by running my feet to the ground so as to get here as quickly as I could! No, a tarried. God knows I’ve stopped myself often enough, on the way here and I’ve almost turned back many times. My soul, you see, was talking to me all the while and all the while it kept changing its mind: “poor man,” it would say one minute, “Why are you rushing to your suffering?” Or again, “Stupid man,” it would say, “why are you hanging about like this? What if the king hears it from someone else? What a mess you’d get yourself into then!” Stuff like that was spinning about in my head and it made this small road so much longer! Eventually, in spite of all the arguing in my soul, the decision to come here before you, won over. And, even if I have nothing really to tell you, still, I wish to speak because I’ve come holding on to the hope that I’ll suffer nothing more then what’s my due… my king!

So, what is it that’s made you lose your courage so badly?

Hang on… You know, I want to say something about me, first; because you see, my king, I’ve neither done the awful deed nor did I see who did it, so, by rights, I should suffer nothing because of it! I didn’t do the deed, my Lord!

I can hear lots of words but I can also see plenty of walls around them. You obviously have some… important news to tell us!

Walls, yes! Eh… That’s because it’s always painful to utter bad news.

Well then, say what you have to say and be off!

All right, then, here it is: someone, my King, someone… someone –I don’t know who- someone, has buried the body of the dead Polyneices… a little while ago. He just tossed a bit of soil over him, that’s all, some dry dust; performed all the usual sacred things and then quickly ran off!

What? Which man has the audacity to do such a thing?

Impossible to tell, sir. The soil is not disturbed at all; neither dug up by pick nor shoved about by hoe. The ground is as solid as a rock, without the slightest mark or bruise, nor lines made by cart wheels. Not a footprint left by the person who did this, my King. And so, when the first guard of the day calls us all to have a look, we were stunned by this… inexplicable sight. The corpse was fully buried – no, I don’t mean entombed beneath the ground but there was this somewhat high mount put above him, as if done by someone who wanted to save him from dishonour. Yet, we could see no prints anywhere. not even the footprints of some wild beast or some dog which might have come to tear at the corpse. We saw no were at all! Then, we started arguing with harsh words, each guard blaming the other for it and we nearly got down to blows because there was no one there to pull us apart. Because every one of us was thought of as guilty and there was no proof to save anyone. We all screamed that we were not at fault and each of us was ready to walk into fire, holding hot irons and swearing by all the gods, to prove that he neither did it nor knew who did it. Then, when all our arguing came to nothing, one of us came out and spoke words that made our head drop low in horror, because we could neither say “no” nor come out of this without a great deal of trouble. So we listened. He said that we should inform you of this immediately, rather than cover it up. Then we’ve all agreed and then we chose by lot. Unfortunately, my King, the lot fell on poor old me and so, here I am, unwilling and unwanted – I know that because I know that no one ever welcomes a bearer of bad news.

Creon, while this man was talking a thought had crossed my mind. Perhaps it’s some god’s doing!

To the chorus Quiet! By Zeus! You’re getting me angry! It seems that not only you are all old but you’re mindless as well! I cannot tolerate such nonsense! The gods do not care for this corpse. And why should they? To honour a man who’s come here to put fire to their adorned temples, and to the people’s offerings, to turn their land and laws upside down – or do you see the gods honouring evildoers these days? Of course not! No! For a while now there have been some people around here who tolerate my decree only with mutterings and by shaking their treacherous heads! No! They did not want to bend their heads and place it into my yoke, as justice demands it! They did not want to obey me! And, I know this very well, whoever did this, did it because he was paid money by these malcontents. Money! No discovery ever made by man is worse than the silver coin. It’s this silver coin which turns countries upside down. It’s this silver coin which sends the men away from their homes. It’s this silver coin which turns the minds of wise men; makes them wander about, lost to evil deeds, teaches them to commit every sacrilege. But it will not be long before the traitors who have done this, will reap their reward. And all of you know also that so long as Zeus receives my devotion, I swear that if you do not find the man who has committed this atrocious burial and if you do not present him here, before my own eyes, Hades will not suffice for you. Believe me, before the noose tightens your gullet, you will have revealed the doer of this sacrilege. You’ll know then for the next time, from where to steal, and you will also know that no one should not steal from every one and everywhere. Dishonourable profits destroy more people than they save.

My king, do I have your permission to speak or shall I just turn about and leave?

Can you not see that the very sound of your voice disturbs me?

Is it your ears that are disturbed, my king or is it your soul?

What? Are you weighing the disturbance to locate its spot?

Well, you see, my Lord, it is the culprit who disturbs your soul, my Lord, whereas I merely disturb your ears!

What a chatterbox the gods have made out of you!

Chatterbox or not, at least I have not committed this crime, my King!

You did, indeed! You’ve done it by selling your soul for silver!

Oh, my! What a terrible thing it is for one to think, if the thought is the wrong one!

Go! Go and make your logic prettier! Go but if you don’t bring the culprits to me you’ll see what disasters dishonourable gains can bring! Exit Creon into the palace.

Let them be found! Above all else, it’s my wish also! Still, Fate will choose whether they’re caught or not and I shall forget I’ve ever been there and you will never see me again! Phew! What a huge debt I owe to the gods! I neither hoped nor suspected this unwelcomed end. Exit the Guard

Wonders abound in this world yet no wonder is greater than man. None!

Through the wild white of a frenzied sea and through the screaming northerlies beneath him and through all the furious storms around him, through all this, man can pass!

And Gods’ most glorious Earth, the imperishable, untiring Earth, this man works with his horses and ploughs, year in, year out.

And man traps generations of the light-minded birds in his nets

And man catches the nations of wild beasts

And herds of teeming fish, huge harvest of the sea, man catches in his nets made of mighty cord.

So skilful is man! Even the beasts that live in the barren mountains he rules over with his cunning machines

And around the hairy neck of the horse he placed the yoke and he does this around the tireless bull also

And man has learnt speech and thought, swifter than the wind he mastered

And learnt to govern his cities well

And this omniscient being has learnt how to avoid the blasts of the wild open air: the arrows of the freezing night, the dreadful wind driven piercing gale!

He’s prepared for all events bar Death and from Death he can find no escape. Of illness, though and of disease, each man found a cure for the other.

And though his wisdom is great in discovery -wisdom beyond all imaginings! Yet one minute it turns to ill the next again to good.

But whoever honours the laws of his land and his sworn oaths to the gods, he’ll bring glory to his city.

The arrogant man, on the other hand, the man who strays from the righteous path is lost to his city. Let that man never stay under the same roof as me or even be acquainted by me! Enter the Guard dragging behind him Antigone. She has her hands tied with rope.

Indicating Antigone Ha! Is this a ghost?

Yet how can I say “no” when I know her!

Poor daughter of the poor man, Oedipus!

What happened Antigone? Surely you’re not brought here because you’ve disobeyed the king’s edict?