The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles' Antigone
By Sophocles and Seamus Heaney
4.5/5
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About this ebook
Sophocles' play, first staged in the fifth century B.C., stands as a timely exploration of the conflict between those who affirm the individual's human rights and those who must protect the state's security. During the War of the Seven Against Thebes, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, learns that her brothers have killed each other, having been forced onto opposing sides of the battle. When Creon, king of Thebes, grants burial of one but not the "treacherous" other, Antigone defies his order, believing it her duty to bury all of her close kin. Enraged, Creon condemns her to death, and his soldiers wall her up in a tomb. While Creon eventually agrees to Antigone's release, it is too late: She takes her own life, initiating a tragic repetition of events in her family's history.
In this outstanding new translation, commissioned by Ireland's renowned Abbey Theatre to commemorate its centenary, Seamus Heaney exposes the darkness and the humanity in Sophocles' masterpiece, and inks it with his own modern and masterly touch.
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.
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Reviews for The Burial at Thebes
6 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Studied for a course, but surprisingly enjoyable. Thought-provoking and an easy version to read. It makes me want to re-read Kamila Shamsie's "Home Fire" now I am more familiar with the story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Seamus Heaney's translation is outstanding! - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Aargh.Seamus Heaney is a great poet and a great translator - I love his Beowulf - and this is a well done and moving translation of the Sophocles original. Except for one thing; Heaney goes overboard in making sure his readers understand that Creon is supposed to be George W. Bush, and Antigone a war protester. Just in case you don't get it from the play's text, he explains it in his introduction.In one of those interesting examples of connectivity among various books with seemingly unrelated topics, The Blank Slank mentions Antigone as the one work of literature that discusses every possible area of human conflict - young versus old, men versus women, lovers versus kin, humans versus the divine, state versus family, and living versus dead.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I recently read the Fagles' translation of Sophocles' Antigone and had thought that this would make a nice companion piece. I had thought based on the title that this was an adaptation of the play but it turned out to be a fairly straight-forward translation. Heaney brings his own poetic gifts to the translation and I would recommend this 'version' to anyone interested in reading this play.Here is an example of Heaney's translation, in a passage at the beginning of the play (Antigone is talking to her sister Ismene):This is law and orderIn the land of good King Creon.This is his edict for youAnd for me, Ismene, for me!And he's coming to announce it."I'll flush 'em out," he says."Whoever isn't for usIs against us in this case.Whoever breaks this law,I'll have them stoned to death."In the afterword, Heaney discusses his doubts about creating a new translation and how, in 2003, he saw the Bush administration reenacting much of the play's situation in its tactics & arguments for the war on Iraq. In these days of Donald Trump's unexpectedly (at least to me) successful candidacy, rereading this play might be a good idea for many Americans!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an enjoyable translation of the Greek tragedy, *Antigone*. King Creon learns of the deaths of two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of Oedipus. Both died in the battle that ended with the salvation of Thebes, but Polyneices is deemed a traitor and, unlike the hero Eteocles, he is denied a proper burial. Further, Creon decrees that any who undertake to bury Polyneices shall be in violation of his law and subject to grave punishment. Antigone cannot fathom allowing one of her brothers to lie exposed to the elements and wild animals; she determines to bury Polyneices despite King Creon's dictate. This she does and is locked in a cave in the hills to suffer a slow death. This being Greek tragedy, Creon's own son, who happens to be Antigone's fiancé, rushes to her rescue. Too late, for Antigone has taken her own life. Overwhelmed with grief, Haemon follows suit, leaving Creon desolate and depraved. There is more but suffice it to say that this is modernized Greek tragedy at its best. Heaney retains the tone, the rhythm, and the structure of the original while rendering the story accessible for the 21st century reader.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I've always been interested in Sophocles' works -- which is good, since I studied Oedipus for both GCSE and A Level Classics; I more or less had to like it -- and I was intrigued when I saw that Seamus Heaney had done a 'translation'. This is less of a translation and more of a version: I wouldn't use it for scholarly study of the play itself, though it would be interesting in studying modern rewritings and retellings of ancient myths. He keeps the play format, and some of it is really, really good poetry, though it threw me off that as usual with Heaney, there was a lot of colloquial language. I'm used to the play in a quite formal, conservative translation, which doesn't help.
It'd be a bit of a shock to an unsuspecting Classics student, I'm sure, but it's also a very lively and interesting read. I'm not sure what I think about this trend of 'updating' the classics to make them more readable for a modern audience, but Heaney does it well.
Book preview
The Burial at Thebes - Sophocles
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.
TO MARIANNE McDONALD
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Characters
Begin Reading
A Note on the Burial at Thebes
Also by Seamus Heaney
About the Author
Copyright
THE BURIAL AT THEBES was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on April 5, 2004. The cast, in order of appearance:
ANTIGONE
Ruth Negga
ISMENE
Kelly Campbell
CHORUS
Barry McGovern
Garrett Keogh
CREON
Lorcan Cranitch
GUARDS
Aidan Kelly
Mark D’Aughton
HAEMON
Owen McDonnell
TIRESIAS
Stephen Brennan
TIRESIAS’S BOY
Alan McMahon
William O’Sullivan
MESSENGERS OF THE PALACE
Aaron Monaghan
Mark D’Aughton
EURYDICE
Cathy Belton
DIRECTOR
Lorraine Pintal
DESIGNER
Carl Fillion
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Paul Keogan
COSTUME DESIGNER
Joan O’Clery
CHARACTERS
ANTIGONE
ISMENE
CREON
HAEMON
TIRESIAS
EURYDICE
CHORUS
GUARD
MESSENGER
The scene is Thebes, in front of CREON’s palace, just as the dawn is breaking. ANTIGONE and ISMENE enter hastily.
ANTIGONE
Ismene, quick, come here!
What’s to become of us?
Why are we always the ones?
There’s nothing, sister, nothing
Zeus hasn’t put us through
Just because we are who we are—
The daughters of Oedipus.
And because we are his daughters
We took what came, Ismene,
In public and in private,
Hurt and humiliation—
But this I cannot take.
No, wait.
Here’s what has happened.
There’s a general order issued
And again it hits us hardest.
The ones we love, it says,
Are enemies of the state.
To be considered traitors—
ISMENE
How so? What do you mean?
ANTIGONE
I mean—have you not heard?
ISMENE
What I heard was enough.
Our two brothers are dead,
The Argos troops withdrawn
And the pair of us left to cope.
But what’s next, I don’t know.
ANTIGONE
That’s why I came outside.
The walls in there have ears.
This is for your ears only.
ISMENE
What is it? You have me scared.
ANTIGONE
And right you are to be scared.
Creon has made a law.
Eteocles has been buried
As a soldier, with full honours,
So he’s gone home to the dead.
But not Polyneices.
Polyneices is denied
Any burial at all.
Word has come down from Creon.
There’s to be no laying to rest,
No mourning, and the corpse
Is to be publicly dishonoured.
His body’s to be dumped,
Disposed of like a carcass,
Left out for the birds to feed on.
If you so much as throw him
The common handful of clay
You’ll have committed a crime.
This is law and order
In the land of good King Creon.
This is his edict for you
And for me, Ismene, for me!
And he’s coming to announce it.
I’ll flush ‘em out,
he says.
"Whoever isn’t for us
Is against us in this case.
Whoever breaks this law,
I’ll have them stoned to death."
I say,
He has put it to us.
I say,
It’s a test you’re facing,
Whether you are who you are,
True to your seed and breed
And generation, or whether—
ISMENE
Antigone