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Chorus
She shows herself the wild offspring of a wild father, and does not know how to bend before troubles.
She shows herself the wild offspring of a wild father, and does not know how to bend before troubles.
Creon
Yet remember that over-hard spirits most often collapse. It is the stiffest iron, baked to
utter hardness in the fire, that you most often see snapped and shivered. And I have witnessed horses with great spirit disciplined by a small bit. For there is no place for pride, when one is his neighbors’ slave.
475
This girl was already practiced in outrage when she overstepped the published laws. And, that done, this now is a second outrage, that she glories in it and exults in her deed. In truth, then, I am no man, but she is,
480
if this victory rests with her and brings no penalty. No! Whether she is my sister’s child, or nearer to me in blood than any of my kin that worship Zeus at the altar of our house, she and her sister will not escape a doom most harsh. For in truth
485
I charge that other with an equal share in the plotting of this burial. Call her out! I saw her inside just now, raving, and not in control of her wits. Before the deed, the mind frequently is convicted of stealthy crimes when conspirators are plotting depravity in the dark.
490
But, truly, I detest it, too, when one who has been caught in treachery then seeks to make the crime a glory.
495
Yet remember that over-hard spirits most often collapse. It is the stiffest iron, baked to
utter hardness in the fire, that you most often see snapped and shivered. And I have witnessed horses with great spirit disciplined by a small bit. For there is no place for pride, when one is his neighbors’ slave.
475
This girl was already practiced in outrage when she overstepped the published laws. And, that done, this now is a second outrage, that she glories in it and exults in her deed. In truth, then, I am no man, but she is,
480
if this victory rests with her and brings no penalty. No! Whether she is my sister’s child, or nearer to me in blood than any of my kin that worship Zeus at the altar of our house, she and her sister will not escape a doom most harsh. For in truth
485
I charge that other with an equal share in the plotting of this burial. Call her out! I saw her inside just now, raving, and not in control of her wits. Before the deed, the mind frequently is convicted of stealthy crimes when conspirators are plotting depravity in the dark.
490
But, truly, I detest it, too, when one who has been caught in treachery then seeks to make the crime a glory.
495
Antigone
What more do you want than to capture and kill me?
What more do you want than to capture and kill me?
Creon
I want nothing else. Having that, I have everything.
I want nothing else. Having that, I have everything.
Antigone. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1891.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.