Antigone, or the tragedy that calls us to live

Le Regard Libre N° 5 - SOΦIAMICA

This simple excerpt from the tragedy of Antigone is representative of Anouilh's philosophical masterpiece. Published in 1944, this play, inspired by Sophocles, takes up the Greek myth of Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, faced with the dilemma of whether to en- ter her brother against the king's edict, and die as a result, or live and leave him without the funeral rites, wandering forever without finding rest.

Let's summarize the plot: when Oedipus dies, he curses his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, for not taking good care of their father before his death. Leaving the throne of Thebes vacant, the two brothers kill each other in their quest for power, which ultimately falls to Antigone's uncle Creon. To set an example and denounce the disorder caused by the two fratricides, he decides that Eteocles, chosen as the «good brother», will be honored, while Polynices, the «bad brother», will be left to the scavengers without a grave. He proclaims by royal edict that anyone daring to cover the body will be punished by death, which Antigone brazenly decides to do, despite the threats. She dies, taking with her her fiancé Hémon and her aunt Eurydice, who commits suicide on learning of her son's death.

In Sophocles' case, the main issue is the struggle between Creon's politics, symbolizing the human laws he believes to be infallible, and the divine laws - such as the right to last respects - that Antigone defends. The story is also a plea against excess or hybrisThis is because human beings, through their brazenness and pride, disrupt the order of the world, create chaos and find themselves punished by the gods. The proof is in this family, where three generations (Laïos, Œdipe, Antigone) will trigger and suffer divine wrath.

Twenty-five centuries later, Anouilh «dusts off» the tragedy to give it new meanings, depending on the context in which the reader places it. Published during the Occupation, Antigone seemed to denounce the Germans, while at the Liberation, she was seen as an anarchist who chose the easy way out by committing suicide. Today, she could represent the struggle for the status of women, or, by the addition - perhaps too extreme - feminism. This field is just one example of the subjects that could be linked to this play; today, it would be perfectly legitimate to use Antigone to address political issues, such as the qualities that every governor should possess, or societal issues, such as suicide, whether considered or not.