Pre-AP Theatre: "Antigone," Excerpt 4, Pre-AP Theater

Those who live without tasting evil
have happy lives—for when the gods
shake a house to its foundations,
then inevitable disasters strike,
falling upon whole families

...just as a surging ocean swell
running before cruel Thracian winds
across the dark trench of the sea
churns up the deep black sand
and crashes headlong on the cliffs,
which scream in pain against the wind.

...just as a surging ocean swell
running before cruel Thracian winds
across the dark trench of the sea
churns up the deep black sand
and crashes headlong on the cliffs,
which scream in pain against the wind.

...just as a surging ocean swell
running before cruel Thracian winds
across the dark trench of the sea
churns up the deep black sand
and crashes headlong on the cliffs,
which scream in pain against the wind.

For now the light which has been shining
over the last roots of Oedipus’ house
is being cut down with a bloody knife
belonging to the gods below—
for foolish talk and frenzy in the soul.

Even Sleep,
who casts his nets on everything,
cannot master that—nor can the months,
the tireless months the gods control.

A sovereign who cannot grow old,
you hold Olympus as your own,
in all its glittering magnificence.

Hope ranging far and wide brings comfort
to many men—but then hope can deceive,
delusions born of volatile desire.

Hope ranging far and wide brings comfort
to many men—but then hope can deceive,
delusions born of volatile desire.

Hope ranging far and wide brings comfort
to many men—but then hope can deceive,
delusions born of volatile desire.

It comes upon the man who’s ignorant
until his foot is seared in burning fire.

We’ll soon find out—more accurately
than any prophet here could indicate.

Since I caught her clearly disobeying,
the only culprit in the entire city,
I won’t perjure myself before the state.

Since I caught her clearly disobeying,
the only culprit in the entire city,
I won’t perjure myself before the state.

And so let her appeal
to Zeus, the god of blood relationships.

If we must fall from power, let that come
at some man’s hand—at least, we won’t be called
inferior to any woman.

Father, the gods instill good sense in men—
the greatest of all the things which we possess.

When in the slaughter her own brother died,
she did not just leave him there unburied,
to be ripped apart by carrion dogs or birds.

For any children,
what could be a greater honour to them
than their father’s thriving reputation?

So don’t let your mind dwell on just one thought,
that what you say is right and nothing else.

In the same way, those sailors
who keep their sails stretched tight, never easing off,
make their ship capsize—and from that point on
sail with their rowing benches all submerged.

Am I to rule this land
at someone else’s whim or by myself?

You’re not honouring that by trampling on
the gods’ prerogatives.

Well, then, by Olympus, I’ll have you know
you’ll be sorry for demeaning me
with all these insults.

I’ll set out provisions,
as much as piety requires, to make sure
the city is not totally corrupted.

I’ll set out provisions,
as much as piety requires, to make sure
the city is not totally corrupted.

I’ll set out provisions,
as much as piety requires, to make sure
the city is not totally corrupted.

O Eros, the conqueror in every fight,
Eros, who squanders all men’s wealth,
who sleeps at night on girls’ soft cheeks,
and roams across the ocean seas
and through the shepherd’s hut—
no immortal god escapes from you,
nor any man, who lives but for a day.

Even in good men you twist their minds,
perverting them to their own ruin.
You provoke these men to family strife.

Even in good men you twist their minds,
perverting them to their own ruin.
You provoke these men to family strife.