Sophocles: Theogony - book review

A great Greek tragedy by Sophocles, which portrays the tension between Divine Law and Human Law. (or the individual vs the state)

In short: It happens in the city of Thebes. Oedipus's sons, Eteocles and Polynices, had shared the rule jointly until they had a rift between them, and Eteocles expelled his brother. In Sophocles' account, the two brothers agreed to alternate rule each year, but Eteocles decided not to share power with his brother after his tenure expired. Polynices, understandably, was pissed, so he left the kingdom, gathered an army and attacked the city of Thebes. Both brothers were killed in the battle.

King Creon, who ascended to the throne after the war, decided to name Eteocles as a hero of Thebes and give him a proper burial, while forbidding the burial of Polynices, whom he considered a traitor, because he defied the law of the City. Antigone, Polynices' and Eteocle's sister, defies the king's order, arguing that it's her duty to the Gods (Divine Law) to bury her brother, even if the king forbids it (Human Law). She is eventually caught and Creon decides to punish her by planning to leave her in a cave until she starves to death. But before he gets to do that, Haemon—his son, and Antigone's husband—tries to talk some sense into his father, but in vain:

"The man whose cast of mind binds him too tightly so that he thinks that he alone is right and everyone else is always wrong ... he runs a terrible risk. The wise are willing to learn and not to resist correction—like trees in a storm that yield to the winds and the waters and survive, while those that are rigid, no matter how large they be, fall, their branches, trunks, and even their roots overturned [...] Retreat from your anger, father. Young as I am, I have some judgment, I think, and I say wisdom ought to acknowledge its limits. Anyone can make mistakes. What's wise is to know how and when to accept corrections." (p. 32)

Eventually, an old wise man, Tiresias, convinces Creon that he should forgive Antigone; but meanwhile Haemon finds Antigone dead (she hanged herself) and is distraught and screams as the guards hear him and call Creon for help. Haemon sees his father and tries to stab him in anger but misses, then kills himself instead. Creon holds his dead son in his arms and cries to the crowd. Eurydice, Creon's wife, hears the news and leaves and kills herself. Creon finds out and looses his mind. His dead son in his hands, his dead wife laying on the floor:

"I don't know which way to look, at him or at her. Everything I have touched has turned out badly. And my fate breaks on my head and pounds me down." (p. 58)

He admits his faults, but it's too late, the Gods have punished him.

It reads as well now as it probably did thousands of years ago. Also, I should mention that I've read David Slavitt's translation (2007) and he did a really good job—the text kept it's beautiful poetic value while having a nice flow to it.

Rating: 4.5/5