Spring 2008, Week One
Antigone Lecture One
Gail Hart
MHK 424 x4223
Office Hours Tu 10:30-12 and by appointment
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
(http://www.malaspina.com/jpg/goethe.jpg
Faust ( http://www.phillipjohnston.com/faust.jpg
In the Beginning was the
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Introduction:
Sophocles 496-406/5 B.C.E.
(https://eee.uci.edu/programs/humcore/images/Antigone/sophocles.jpg
123 plays;
only 7 survive
Greek Theater and variations
on the legends (Euripides’
Antigone)
Antigone: What is she doing?
Antigones: What are they doing?
THE FAMILY-STATE OPPOSITION
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
(http://www.wpclipart.com/famous/philosophy/Georg_Hegel.png
Hegel’s is the most
influential reading of Sophocles’ Antigone
Family Values in
ANTIGONE’S FAMILY:
Sisterhood is powerful
MINI-THESIS: As relations are blurred within her immediate family, Antigone who is daughter-sister, daughter-granddaughter, sister-niece, and sister-aunt, assumes the role of SISTER to Polynices and finds a stable footing, based in blood, as she defends her brother’s right of burial. More on this later
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ANTIGONE’S STATE:
--Antigone
is a legend;
--It is a well-established state that can identify heroes and traitors.
--the state commands loyalty and its laws must be obeyed.
But that’s not all…..
Two temporalities:
Sophocles is writing about
the Past in his Present
Time and civic pride influence the way that the play
is pitched to its immediate audience
So this is a monarchy that is
being made intelligible to citizens of a democracy and it may resonate with
some of their concerns.
And it is also a Theban play
being presented to a group that considers itself more civilized.
For example, When
Creon says (p.96): “Am I to rule this land for others
or for myself?”
How would the audience react?
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Back to What is she doing?
Antigone takes individual action
She rejects the model of
compliance presented by Ismene:
She is an icon of:
1. prioritization
of family over state
2. defiance
of unjust laws
Archetype or Icon vs. the Figure in Sophocles’ Play
(http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/10/zidane4_wideweb__470x340,0.jpg
What is he doing?
Polis vs. oikos