The Antigone Syndrome
How all is lost in a
whim of fate.
Theater Musings
by
Gary Beck
garycbeck@yahoo.com
www.garycbeck.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorGaryBeck
© 2018
A
princess of the great house of Laius, that rules Thebes, has everything her world provides.
Her parents, Oedipus and Jocasta, rule wisely and well. She is betrothed to
Haemon, son of Creon, brother of Jocasta, the foremost lord in the land, after
the king and princes, Eteocles and Polyneices.
Antigone
has wealth, luxury, position and love, until plague strikes Thebes. Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind
prophet, who reluctantly reveals the plague is punishment for Oedipus'
patricide and incest. Jocasta hangs herself in shame. Oedipus blinds himself
and renounces the throne.
Eteocles
and Polyneices, one of whom will be
king, do not seem to be overly
distressed at the revelation that their father is their brother and their
mother is their sister. They are powerful lords, to be feared if provoked by public comment.
They agree to alternate rulership and Eteocles rules first.
Antigone
and her fragile sister, Ismene, must live with the shame and humiliation of
being offspring of incestuous parents. When they venture out of the palace,
they feel the oppression of judgment by the people of the city, who do not dare
confront them openly. The shame is unbearable, yet they must persevere,
determined by their class and position. But Thebes is a small kingdom and
everyone knows their dreadful story and awaits further disaster, which they
believe will inevitably strike this cursed House.
At
the end of Eteocles agreed term of rulership, he refuses to vacate the throne.
He banishes Polyneices, who returns with an army and besieges Thebes. The long
suffering Thebans had endured the Sphinx killing anyone who entered or left the
city, who couldn't answer the riddle: what walks on four legs in the morning,
two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening? Oedipus' answer, man, vanquished
the Sphinx and freed the city. Then Thebes was ravaged by plague. Now war was
devouring their children and loved ones in the struggle between two brothers
for rulership.
Antigone
and Ismene were surely blamed for the woes inflicting the people, for it was
the curse on their House that brought these horrors to Thebes.
When
Eteocles and Polyneices fought in single combat and killed each other, Creon,
brother of Jocasta, became king. He proclaimed honorable burial rites for
Eteocles, who defended his city, but exposure to the wild beasts for
Polyneices, who attacked his city.
Antigone
went to Creon, surely a demeaning action for a former great princess to beg of
her uncle, and asked permission to give burial rites to her brother, according to
law and custom. Creon refused. She insisted it was her duty to give her brother
burial rights, desperate to overcome her shame by performing the honorable
ritual.
Creon
issued a proclamation: 'Anyone giving
burial rites to Polyneices would be killed'.
Antigone left defiantly, asserting it was her duty to the gods to give
her brother burial rites. Creon's son, Haemon, knowing how stubborn they both
were, tried to intervene to save his betrothed, but Creon wouldn't listen.
Antigone,
driven to near madness by shame, gave Polyneices burial rites, perhaps seeking
redemption in the hallowed ritual. Creon found out and had her buried alive.
Haemon killed himself and Ismene went mad, thus tragically ending the rule of
the House of Laius.
Antigone,
a woman of intelligence, beauty. breeding, had everything, then lost everything
to cruel fate, which destroyed her for the sins of her father’s father. She was
an innocent victim, who might have become a great queen, but became a tragic
figure, a creature to be pitied, possibly admired by a few, for her death with
honor. Yet it is reasonable to assume that Antigone could not live with the
burden fate had placed on her and chose to die, rather then live with shame.
The
actress must create a complex role, but perform it simply, so the audience
feels her anguish and pities her for her loss and suffering. Yet this is not a
dramatic reenactment, nor the scholarly retelling of a myth. This is a
passionate, soaring character, tormented by the horrible discovery of her parents
relationship and her brothers’ death. She is noble, dignified, arrogant,
righteous, tortured and prefers death to a life of shame. The actress must make
the audience feel her character’s suffering, in order to sustain the intensity
of the play.
