The Antigone Syndrome

How all is lost in a whim of fate.

Theater Musings

by

Gary Beck

garycbeck@yahoo.com

www.garycbeck.com

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© 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.