Sophocles Antigone 1

ANTIGONE

O treu verbundnes Schwesterhaupt, Ismene, sprich,

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weifst du, daſs Zeus der Leiden uns von Oedipus

keins unvollendet schon bei unserm Leben läfst?

Denn nichts ist schmerzlich, nichts - des unheilvollen Gräuls

nicht zu gedenken nichts entehrend, schimpflich nichts,

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was ich in deiner Noth und meiner nicht gesehn.

Und welchen Ausspruch, sagt man, hat nun eben erst

der Herrscher allem Volke wieder kund gethan?

Weifst du davon? vernahmst du's? oder blieb dir fremd,

daſs unsern Freunden von den Feinden Übel nahn?

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ISMENE

Mir wurde keine Kunde mehr, Antigone,

von unsern Freunden, frohe nicht noch traurige,

seitdem die beiden Brüder uns entrissen sind,

an Einem Tag gefallen durch zwiefachen Mord.

Und da verschwunden nun auch der Argeier Heer

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in dieser Nacht, ist mir ein Weitres nicht bewuſst,

nicht dafs des Glückes mehr mir oder Leides ward.

ANTIGONE

Wohl wufst' ich's, und ich holte vor des Hauses Thor

defshalb heraus dich, daſs allein du mich vernähmst.

ISMENE

Was ist es? Sicher wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.

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ANTIGONE

Ehrt nicht der Brüder jenen mit des Grabes Gunst

uns Kreon, und verweigert diesem schmählich sie?

ANTIGONE

Eteokles barg er, wie sie sagen, rechtem Recht,

Gesetz und Brauche folgend in der Erde Schofs,

daſs er geehret unten bei den Todten sei;

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doch des Polyneikes elend hingestreckten Leib,

hat er verkündet, sagt man, solle nimmer wer

mit Grabeshülle decken, noch wehklagen ihn,

nein, unbeweint ihn lassen, ohne Grab, ein Mahl

den Vögeln, welche lauern ob des süssen Raubs.

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Desgleichen, sagt man, liefs der gute

Kreon dir

und mir, denn mir auch, mein' ich wohl, verkündigen,

und komme hierher, denen dies noch unbekannt,

es deutlich anzusagen; und es gelte nicht

für nichts die Sach' ihm, sondern wer deſs Eines thut,

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Tod treffe diesen in der Stadt durch Steinigung.

So steht dir dieses; zeigen wirst alsbald du nun,

ob edel du entsprossen, ob von Guten schlecht.

Ismena

A mí, Antigona Antígona, ninguna noticia referente a nuestros amigos, ni agradable ni dolorosa, ha llegado desde que perdimos a nuestros dos hermanos, que en un mismo día se mataron uno a otro. Y desde que el ejército de los argivos se ha marchado en esta misma noche, nada sé que pueda hacerme más feliz o desgraciada.

Antígona

Bien lo sabía; y por eso te he hecho salir fuera de palacio, para que tú sola me escuches.

Ismena

¿Qué hay? Pues manifiestas inquietud por decir algo.

Antígona

¿Pues no ha dispuesto Creonte que, de nuestros dos hermanos, se le hagan a uno las honras fúnebres y se deje al otro insepulto? A Eteocles, según dicen, en cumplimiento de la ley divina y humana, sepultó en tierra para que obtenga todos los honores, allå allá bajo, entre los muertos. Y respecto del cadáver de Polinices, que miserablemente ha muerto, dicen que ha publicado un bando para que ningún ciudadano lo entierre ni lo llore; sino que insepulto y sin los honores del llanto, lo dejen para sabrosa presa de las aves que se abalancen a devorarlo. Ese bando dicen que el bueno de Creonte ha hecho pregonar por ti y por mi mí, quiero decir que por mi mí; y que vendrá aquí para anunciar en alta voz esa orden a los que no la conozcan; y que la cosa se ha de tomar no de cualquier manera, porque quien se atreva a hacer algo de lo que prohíbe, se expone a morir lapidado por el pueblo. Ya sabes lo que hay, y pronto podrás demostrar si eres de sangre noble o una cobarde que desdice de la nobleza de sus padres.

Ismena

Ismene

Ad me quidem, Antigona, haud ullus perlatus est de amicis sermo, nec laetus, nec tristis, ex quo fratribus ambae sumus orbatae duobus, una die peremtis mutua manu : postquam vero Argivorum exercitus hac ipsa nocte in fugam se dedit, nihil novi ulterius, neque fortunata magis, neque damnis auctior.

Antigone

Pulchre id noram: quocirca te foras prodire iussi , ut sola audires.

Ismene

Quid est? Aestuare enim videris , aliquid volvens animo.

Antigone

Nonne enim nobis Creon, decreto fratrum alteri sepulturae honore, alterum eo privat indignis modis? Eteoclem quidem, ut aiunt, iusto patrocinio fas observans, humo condidit, inferis honoratum Manibus: miseri autem mortui Polynicis cadaver civibus fertur edixisse ne quis sepulchro contegat, neque adeo lamentetur; sed sinant indefletum , insepultum , gratum thesaurum alitibus pastus gratia irruentibus. Talia dicunt bonum Creonta tibi mihique (dicere enim fastidivit) praeconatum esse, et huc venire, ut haec ipsa, si qui forte ignorent, clare pronuntiet, hancque rem non deputare esse nihili; sed quicumque horum quid fecerit, decretum esse, ut is a populo lapidibus obruatur. Ita tibi haec se habent: et mox ostendes, an generosa sis, an vero ex bonis ignava.

Ismene

ISMENE

No word of those we love, Antigone,

Painful or glad, hath reached me, since we two

Were utterly deprived of our two brothers,

Cut off with mutual stroke, both in one day.

And since the Argive host this now-past night

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Is vanished, I know nought beside to make me

Nearer to happiness or more in woe.

ANT

I knew it well, and therefore led thee forth

The palace gate, that thou alone mightst hear.

ISM

Speak on! Thy troubled look bodes some dark news.

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ANT

Why, hath not Creon, in the burial-rite,

Of our two brethren honoured one, and wrought

On one foul wrong? Eteocles, they tell,

With lawful consecration he lays out,

And after covers him in earth, adorned

With amplest honours in the world below.

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But Polynices, miserably slain,

They say ’tis publicly proclaimed that none

Must cover in a grave, nor mourn for him;

But leave him tombless and unwept, a store

Of sweet provision for the carrion fowl

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That eye him greedily. Such righteous law

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Good Creon hath pronounced for thy behoof—

Ay, and for mine! I am not left out!—And now

He moves this way to promulgate his will

To such as have not heard, nor lightly holds

The thing he bids, but, whoso disobeys,

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The citizens shall stone him to the death.

This is the matter, and thou wilt quickly show

If thou art noble, or fallen below thy birth.

ISM

Ismene.

Zu mir gelangte keine Kund', Antigone,

Von unsern Lieben, frohe nicht noch traurige,

Seitdem das Paar der Brüder uns entrissen ward,

Die Eines Tages fielen durch zwiefachen Mord.

Und seit in dieser jüngsten Nacht sich Argos' Heer

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Zur Flucht gewendet, wurde mir nichts weiter kund,

Nicht, ob mir mehr des Glückes, ob des Leides ward.

Antigone.

Wohl wußt' ich das, und führte deßhalb dich heraus

Zum Thor des Hofes, dir allein es kundzuthun.

Ismene.

Was hast du? Sichtbar wogt in dir ein schweres Wort.

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Antigone.

Hat Kreon nicht dem Einen Bruder nur gegönnt

Des Grabes Ehre, jenem sie schmachvoll versagt?

Den Eteokles hat er, wie man sagt, gerecht

Gerechter Ordnung huldigend, in der Erde Schooß

Geborgen, daß ihm Ehre sei im Todtenreich; ²

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Doch Polyneikes' jammervoll entseelten Leib

Verbot er, heißt es, allem Volk durch lauten Ruf

Im Grab zu bergen und um ihn zu klagen; nein,

Daliegen soll er unbeweint, grablos, ein Mahl

Den Vögeln, die zum süßen Raube niederschau'n.

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Und solches, sagt man, ließ der edle Kreon dir

Und mir, ich sage mir sogar, verkündigen;

Er komme selbst, es deutlich Allen kundzuthun,

Die nicht davon vernommen, und er achte nicht

Für Nichts die Sache; sondern wer deß Eines thut,

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Den trifft an offner Stätte Tod durch Steinigung.

So ward's von ihm beschlossen, und du zeigst sofort,

Ob edel, ob unedel du von Edlen stammst.

Ismene.

Antigone

1 thought thou wert a stranger to the tidings,

And therefore called thee forth, that here alone

I might impart them to thee.

Ismene

Oh ! what are they ?

For something dreadful labours in thy breast.

Antigone

Know then, from Creon, our indulgent lord,

Our hapless brothers met a different fate :

To honour one, and one to infamy

He hath consigned. With funeral rites he graced

The body of our dear Eteocles,

Whilst Polynices' wretched carcase lies

Unburied, unlamented, left exposed

A feast for hungry vultures on the plain.

No pitying friend will dare to violate

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The tyrant's harsh command, for public death

Awaits th' offender. Creon comes himself

To tell us of it — such is our condition.

, This is the crisis, this the hour, Ismene,

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, That must declare thee worthy of thy birth,

I Or show thee mean, base, and degenerate.

Ismene

ISMENA

Ninguna nueva noticia, Antigona, agradable ni funesta concerniente á nuestros amigos ha llegado hasta mi, después que nuestros dos hermanos perecieron, dándose en un día muerte el uno al otro; el ejército de los argivos ha desaparecido en esta misma noche ¹ . No sé que haya más, ni por fortuna ni por desgracia.

ANTÍGONA

Pues bien, precisamente te he hecho salir de las puertas del vestíbulo, para que tú sola me oigas.

ISMENA

¿Qué ocurre, Antigona? Tus palabras revelan una gran agitación.

ANTÍGONA

¡Pues qué! ¿No acaba Creonte de conceder preferentemente á uno de nuestros dos hermanos el honor de la sepultura, privando de él al otro indignamente? — A Eteocles, por un decreto equitativo y justo, le ha hecho sepultar, dicen, con los honores debidos á los manes: — y, por lo que hace al cadáver del desgraciado Polynice, se ha pregonado una orden, prohibiendo á los ciudadanos que le sepulten ni le lloren, para que, abandonado, sin honras fúnebres, ni duelo, sirva de preciado pasto á las aves carniceras ² . Ya sabes, hermana, lo que el generoso Creonte ha querido ordenarte á tí y á mí; ¡sí, á mi, á mi también! — y le verás venir aquí á proclamar muy clara su voluntad á todos cuantos pudieran ignorarla: — y para que esta prescripción sea severamente cumplida, conmina al que intente desobedecer su mandato, con la pena de morir en la ciudad apedreado á manos del pueblo. — Ya sabes lo que ansiaba comunicarte... ahora tú demostrarás si eres mujer ilustre ó una vil que desmiente su noble sangre.

ANTIGONAE

Gemeinsamschwesterliches! o Ismenes Haupt!

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Weisst du etwas, das nicht der Erde Vater

Erfuhr, mit uns, die wir bis hieher leben,

Ein Nennbares, seit Oedipus gehascht ward?

Nicht eine traur’ge Arbeit, auch kein Irrsaal,

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Und schändlich ist, und ehrlos nirgend eines,

Das ich in deinem, meinem Unglück nicht gesehn.

Jetzt aber, ahnest du das, was der Feldherr

Uns kundgethan, in offner Stadt, so eben?

Hast du gehört es? oder weist du nicht,

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Wie auf die Lieben kommet Feindesübel?

ISMENE

Nicht kam ein Wort zu mir, Antigonä, vonLieben,

Kein liebliches und auch kein trauriges, seitdem

Die beyden Brüder beyde wir verloren;

Die starben, Einen Tag, von zweyen Händen;

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Scıt aber fort das Heer von Argos ist,

Vergangne Nacht, weiss ich nichts weiter mehr,

Und bin nicht glücklicher und nicht betrübter.

ANTIGONAE

Das dacht’ ich wohl und rief aus dem Hofthor

Darum, dass du’s besonders hören könntest.

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ISMENE

Was ist’s, du scheinst ein rothes Wort zu färben ?

ANTIGONAE

Hat mit der lezten Ehre denn nicht unsre Brüder

Kreon gekränzt, beschimpfet, wechselsweise ?

Eteokles zwar, sagt man, behandelt er

Mit rechtem Recht, gesezgemäls, und birgt

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Ihn in der Erd’, ehrsam den Todten drunten.

Vom andern aber, der gestorben ist armseelig,

Von Polynikes Leibe sagen sie, man hab’

Es in der Stadt verkündet, dass man ihn

Mit keinem Grabe berg’ und nicht betraure.

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Man soll ihn lassen unbeweint und grablos,,

Süfs Mahl den Vögeln, die auf Fralses Lust sehn.

So etwas, sagt man, hat der gute Kreon dir

Und mir, denn mich auch mein’ ich, kund gethan,

Und hierher kommt er, difs Unwissenden

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Deutlich zu melden. Und die Sache sei

Nicht, wie für nichts. Wer etwas thut dabei,

Dem wird der Tod des Steinigens im Orte.

So steht esdir. Und gleich wirst du beweisen,

Ob gutgeboren, ob die Böse du der Guten?

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Ismene

No word of friends, Antigone, gladsome or painful, hath come to me, since we two sisters were bereft of brothers twain, killed in one day by a twofold blow; and since in this last night the Argive host hath fled, I know no more, whether my fortune be brighter, or more grievous.

Antigone

I knew it well, and therefore sought to bring thee beyond the gates of the court, that thou mightest hear alone.

Ismene

20 What is it? ’Tis plain that thou art brooding on some dark tidings.

Antigone

What, hath not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honoured burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he hath laid in the earth, for his honour among the dead below. But the hapless corpse of Polyneices— as rumour saith, it hath been published to the town that none shall entomb him or mourn, but leave unwept, unsepulchred, 30 a welcome store for the birds, as they espy him, to feast on at will. Such, ’tis said, is the edict that the good Creon hath set forth for thee and for me,—yes, for me,—and is coming hither to proclaim it clearly to those who know it not; nor counts the matter light, but, whoso disobeys in aught, his doom is death by stoning before all the folk. Thou knowest it now; and thou wilt soon show whether thou art nobly bred, or the base daughter of.a noble line.

Ismene

Antigone

Ismene, my sister, true child of my own mother, do you know any evil out of all the evils bequeathed by Oedipus that Zeus will not fulfil for the two of us in our lifetime? There is nothing—no pain, no ruin,

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no shame, nor dishonor—that I have not seen in your sufferings and mine. And now what is this new edict that they say the general has just decreed to all the city? Do you know anything? Have you heard? Or does it escape you that

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evils from our enemies are on the march against our friends?

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Ismene

To me no word of our friends, Antigone, either bringing joy or bringing pain has come since we two were robbed of our two brothers who died in one day by a double blow.

And since the Argive army has fled during this night, I have learned nothing further, whether better fortune is mine, or further ruin.

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Antigone

I knew it well, so I was trying to bring you outside the courtyard gates to this end, that you alone might hear.

Ismene

Hear what? It is clear that you are brooding on some dark news.

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Antigone

Why not? Has not Creon destined our brothers, the one to honored burial, the other to unburied shame? Eteocles, they say, with due observance of right and custom, he has laid in the earth

for his honor among the dead below. As for the poor corpse of Polyneices, however, they say that an edict has been published to the townsmen that no one shall bury him or mourn him, but instead leave him unwept, unentombed, for the birds a pleasing store

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as they look to satisfy their hunger. Such, it is said, is the edict that the good Creon has laid down for you and for me—yes, for me—and it is said that he is coming here to proclaim it for the certain knowledge of those who do not already know. They say that he does not conduct this business lightly,

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but whoever performs any of these rites, for him the fate appointed is death by public stoning among the entire city. This is how things stand for you, and so you will soon show your nature, whether you are noble-minded, or the corrupt daughter of a noble line.

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Ismene

Poor sister, if things have come to this, what would I

profit by loosening or tightening this knot?

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Antigone

Consider whether you will share the toil and the task.

Ismene

What are you hazarding? What do you intend?

Antigone

Will you join your hand to mine in order to lift his corpse?

Ismene

You plan to bury him—when it is forbidden to the city?

Antigone

Yes, he is my brother, and yours too, even if you wish it otherwise. I will never be convicted of betraying him.

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Ismene

Hard girl! Even when Creon has forbidden it?

Antigone

No, he has no right to keep me from my own.

Ismene

Ah, no! Think, sister, how our father

perished in hatred and infamy, when, because of the crimes that he himself detected, he smashed both his eyes with self-blinding hand; then his mother-wife, two names in one, with a twisted noose destroyed her life;

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lastly, our two brothers in a single day, both unhappy murderers of their own flesh and blood, worked with mutual hands their common doom. And now we, in turn—we two who have been left all alone—consider how much more miserably we will be destroyed, if in defiance of the law

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we transgress against an autocrat’s decree or his powers. No, we must remember, first, that ours is a woman’s nature, and accordingly not suited to battles against men; and next, that we are ruled by the more powerful, so that we must obey in these things and in things even more stinging.

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I, therefore, will ask those below for pardon, since I am forced to this, and will obey those who have come to authority. It is foolish to do what is fruitless.

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Antigone

I would not encourage you—no, nor, even if you were willing later,

would I welcome you as my partner in this action. No, be the sort that pleases you. I will bury him—it would honor me to die while doing that. I shall rest with him, loved one with loved one, a pious criminal. For the time is greater

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that I must serve the dead than the living, since in that world I will rest forever. But if you so choose, continue to dishonor what the gods in honor have established.

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Ismene

I do them no dishonor. But to act in violation of the citizens’ will—of that I am by nature incapable.

Antigone

You can make that your pretext! Regardless, I will go now to heap a tomb over the brother I love.

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Ismene

Oh no, unhappy sister! I fear for you!

Antigone

Do not tremble for me. Straighten out your own destiny.

Ismene

Then at least disclose the deed to no one before you do it.

Conceal it, instead, in secrecy—and so, too, will I.

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Antigone

Go on! Denounce it! You will be far more hated for your silence, if you fail to proclaim these things to everyone.

Ismene

You have a hot heart for chilling deeds.

Antigone

I know that I please those whom I am most bound to please.

Ismene

Yes, if you will also have the power. But you crave the impossible.

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Antigone

Why then, when my strength fails, I will have finished.

Ismene

An impossible hunt should not be tried in the first place.

Antigone

If you mean that, you will have my hatred, and you will be subject to punishment as the enemy of the dead.

But leave me and the foolish plan I have authored to suffer this terrible thing, for I will not suffer anything so terrible that my death will lack honor.

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Ismene

Go, then, if you so decide. And of this be sure: though your path is foolish, to your loved ones your love is straight and true. Exit Antigone on the spectators’ left. Ismene exits into the palace.