ANTIGONE by Sophocles

Greek pottery -- a sentry bringing Antigone before Creon

This is the second piece we'll be reading. Our discussion date is February 11, 2010.

I'm posting this early in case some of you wish to begin a discussion. We have a video of the play available at the library for checkout. Even if you like reading plays, I would strongly suggest you also watch the video since this is a text that wasn't written to be read but to be performed.

This is one of three plays by Sophocles called The Theban Plays. They focus on Oedipus and his family. You'll often find them arranged in this order: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. In once sense, that may be the best order in which to read them because that follows the action chronologically. In actuality, Sophocles first wrote Antigone, then Oedipus the King, and finally Oedipus at Colonus to tell the story connecting the first two. Our text places them in the order in which they were written.

I ask that everybody first read pp. 27-30 of the text. These pages give a summary of the story, all three plays. Then read Antigone. If you enjoyed Antigone and you feel the desire, read Oedipus the King, but that isn't required. Don't feel you must read Oedipus at Colonus unless you really want to. It does connect the two major plays very well, but it's not as dramatic as either of the others.

If you've read the summary on pp. 27-30, you'll know enough to put Antigone into context. So -- begin the discussion here anytime you wish.

As you read and discuss, consider this. Two quotations were said to be inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:

γνῶθι σεαυτόν -- Know Thyself (gnōthi seauton in Latin alphabet)

Μηδέν άγαν -- Everything in Moderation (Medèn ágan in Latin alphabet)

What do these expressions mean you? Do you think they mean the same to the Greeks? What might they tell us about how the Greeks would have answered the question: "What does it mean to be a human being?"