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A review by missai
The Burial at Thebes by Sophocles
4.0
"Our destiny, which is mortality, reminds us to respect the rights of the dead." Heney's translation of Sophocles's Antigone places a difference emphasis, and thus begs us to consider new perspectives on, this classic Greek tragedy. The Burial at Thebes asks us to consider the rights of the dead and the will of the people.
The rights of the dead is a touchy subject. The biggest question is: Do the dead have rights? This leads into: What does it mean to be human? For, we must first determine what it is that makes us human before we can decide whether or not you lose this thing at death. Assuming that the dead do have rights, how should we respect these rights? Are burials and funerals more for the living or the dead? What lengths are you willing to go to in order to respect the rights of the dead? For example, if it was not a brother but a stranger that was being denied burial rights, would you still go out of your way to protect him?
Moreover, who gets to determine the rights of the dead? Is it the ruling body? What if he is wrong. In The Burial at Thebes, we certainly see a tyrannical ruler emerging under duress. King Creon of Thebes believes that he is in the right, that he gets to decide what justice is. But if he truly rules "for the people," should he not listen to them? What is the will of his over theirs? How can he be a good ruler if he does not respect Thebes' peoples' wishes? And suppose that he is in the wrong. To what extent do we have the right to express our dissent? What if we protested every time we felt that the governing body was doing something wrong? Where would the social order go?
Heaney's translation retains the powerful messages of family and feminism as the original Antigone, but adds an extra layer to generate more political and ethical discussions. The Burial at Thebes is a wonderful translation of the original Greek tragedy, and it will certainly keep you thinking for many days afterwards.
Favourite Quotes:
Antigone
What are Creon's rights
When it comes to me and mine?
---
Antigone
The land of the living, sister
Is neither here nor there.
We enter it and we leave it.
The dead in the land of the dead
Are the ones you’ll be with longest.
---
Antigone
The proclamation had your force behind it
But it was mortal force, and I, also a mortal,
I chose to disregard it. I abide
By statues utter and immutable —
Unwritten, original, god-given laws.
---
Antigone
The dead aren’g going to begrudge the dead.
Creon
So wrongdoers and the ones wronged fare the same?
---
Antigone
I don’t allow this. Justice won’t allow it.
You wouldn’t help.
We cut all ties.
It’s over.
Ismene
But now I’m with you. I want to throw myself
Like a lifeline to you in year sea of troubles.
Antigone
Too late, my sister. You chose a safe line first.
The dead and Hades know who did this deed.
Ismene
Antigone, don’t rob me of all honour.
Let me die with you and act right by the dead.
Antigone
You can’t just pluck your honour off a bush
You didn’t plant. You forfeited your right.
---
Antigone
You made a choice, you bear the consequence.
Ismene
I was against your choice and made it clear.
Antigone
One world stood by you, one stood by me.
Ismene
Different worlds, both equally offended.
---
Haemon
The use of reason, father… The gods
Have given us the use of reason.
But do we use it right? Do I? Do you?
It’s hard to know, but this much I can tell you:
When you hear things you’d rather not be hearing
You get worked up. So therefore people shield you.
But not me, father. […]
---
Haemon
Nobody can be sure they’re always right.
The ones who are fullest of themselves that way
Are the emptiest vessels. There’s no shame
In taking good advice.
It’s a sign of wisdom.
If a river floods
The trees on the bank that bend to it survive.
If a skipper doesn’t slacken sail in storm
His whole crew ends up clinging to the keel.
So. Swallow pride and anger. Allow yourself
To change.
---
Chorus
You should take good note, Creon, of Haemon’s words
And he of yours. Both of you say sound things.
Creon
So a man of my age, you are telling me,
Must take instruction from a man of his?
Haemon
Only if it is the right instruction.
The rightness is what matters, not the age.
Creon
Rightness? What rightness? Aren’t you against the law?
Haemon
I am not, and I don’t want you to be.
Creon
But isn’t that why Antigone’s a danger?
Haemon
People here in Thebes don’t seem to think so.
Creon
Do my orders come from Thebes and from the people?
Haemon
Can you hear yourself? What age do you sound now?
Creon
Who’s to take charge? The ruler or the ruled?
Haemon
There’s no city that belongs in single hands.
Creon
Rulers, I thought, were meant to be in charge.
Haemon
Where you should be in charge is in a desert.
Creon
Listen to him. He’s on the woman’s side.
Haemon
Are you a woman? I’m on your side, father.
Creon
On my side, but always going against me?
Haemon
Not against you. Against your going wrong.
Creon
Am I wrong to wield the powers vested in me?
Haemon
Do they give you rights to disregard the gods?
---
Antigone
Stone of my wedding chamber, stone of my tomb,
Stone of my prison roof and prison floor,
Behind you and beyond you stand the dead.
---
Antigone
Not for a husband, not even for a son
Would I have broken the law.
Another husband I could always find
And have other sons by him if one were lost.
But with my father gone, and my mother gone,
Where can I find another brother, ever?
---
Antigone
Do the gods have no regard for what I did?
Where can I turn if they have turned away?
The right observance put me in the wrong:
And if that is the gods’ verdict, so be it.
I’ll have transgressed and will suffer gladly.
But if the wrong was laid upon me wrongly
By these unjust ones, then let their penalty
Be no less than the one they’ve doomed me to.
---
Tiresias
Consider well, my son. All men make mistakes.
But mistakes don’t have to be forever,
They can be admitted and atoned for.
It’s the overbearing man who is to blame.
Pull back. Yield to the dead. Don’t stab a ghost.
---
Creon
The hammer-blow of justice
Has caught me and brought me low.
I am under the wheels of the world.
Smashed to bits by a god.
---
Chorus
Wise conduct is the key to happiness.
Always rule by the gods and reverence them.
Those who overbear will be brought to grief.
Fate will flail them on its winnowing floor
And in due season teach them to be wise.
The rights of the dead is a touchy subject. The biggest question is: Do the dead have rights? This leads into: What does it mean to be human? For, we must first determine what it is that makes us human before we can decide whether or not you lose this thing at death. Assuming that the dead do have rights, how should we respect these rights? Are burials and funerals more for the living or the dead? What lengths are you willing to go to in order to respect the rights of the dead? For example, if it was not a brother but a stranger that was being denied burial rights, would you still go out of your way to protect him?
Moreover, who gets to determine the rights of the dead? Is it the ruling body? What if he is wrong. In The Burial at Thebes, we certainly see a tyrannical ruler emerging under duress. King Creon of Thebes believes that he is in the right, that he gets to decide what justice is. But if he truly rules "for the people," should he not listen to them? What is the will of his over theirs? How can he be a good ruler if he does not respect Thebes' peoples' wishes? And suppose that he is in the wrong. To what extent do we have the right to express our dissent? What if we protested every time we felt that the governing body was doing something wrong? Where would the social order go?
Heaney's translation retains the powerful messages of family and feminism as the original Antigone, but adds an extra layer to generate more political and ethical discussions. The Burial at Thebes is a wonderful translation of the original Greek tragedy, and it will certainly keep you thinking for many days afterwards.
Favourite Quotes:
Antigone
What are Creon's rights
When it comes to me and mine?
---
Antigone
The land of the living, sister
Is neither here nor there.
We enter it and we leave it.
The dead in the land of the dead
Are the ones you’ll be with longest.
---
Antigone
The proclamation had your force behind it
But it was mortal force, and I, also a mortal,
I chose to disregard it. I abide
By statues utter and immutable —
Unwritten, original, god-given laws.
---
Antigone
The dead aren’g going to begrudge the dead.
Creon
So wrongdoers and the ones wronged fare the same?
---
Antigone
I don’t allow this. Justice won’t allow it.
You wouldn’t help.
We cut all ties.
It’s over.
Ismene
But now I’m with you. I want to throw myself
Like a lifeline to you in year sea of troubles.
Antigone
Too late, my sister. You chose a safe line first.
The dead and Hades know who did this deed.
Ismene
Antigone, don’t rob me of all honour.
Let me die with you and act right by the dead.
Antigone
You can’t just pluck your honour off a bush
You didn’t plant. You forfeited your right.
---
Antigone
You made a choice, you bear the consequence.
Ismene
I was against your choice and made it clear.
Antigone
One world stood by you, one stood by me.
Ismene
Different worlds, both equally offended.
---
Haemon
The use of reason, father… The gods
Have given us the use of reason.
But do we use it right? Do I? Do you?
It’s hard to know, but this much I can tell you:
When you hear things you’d rather not be hearing
You get worked up. So therefore people shield you.
But not me, father. […]
---
Haemon
Nobody can be sure they’re always right.
The ones who are fullest of themselves that way
Are the emptiest vessels. There’s no shame
In taking good advice.
It’s a sign of wisdom.
If a river floods
The trees on the bank that bend to it survive.
If a skipper doesn’t slacken sail in storm
His whole crew ends up clinging to the keel.
So. Swallow pride and anger. Allow yourself
To change.
---
Chorus
You should take good note, Creon, of Haemon’s words
And he of yours. Both of you say sound things.
Creon
So a man of my age, you are telling me,
Must take instruction from a man of his?
Haemon
Only if it is the right instruction.
The rightness is what matters, not the age.
Creon
Rightness? What rightness? Aren’t you against the law?
Haemon
I am not, and I don’t want you to be.
Creon
But isn’t that why Antigone’s a danger?
Haemon
People here in Thebes don’t seem to think so.
Creon
Do my orders come from Thebes and from the people?
Haemon
Can you hear yourself? What age do you sound now?
Creon
Who’s to take charge? The ruler or the ruled?
Haemon
There’s no city that belongs in single hands.
Creon
Rulers, I thought, were meant to be in charge.
Haemon
Where you should be in charge is in a desert.
Creon
Listen to him. He’s on the woman’s side.
Haemon
Are you a woman? I’m on your side, father.
Creon
On my side, but always going against me?
Haemon
Not against you. Against your going wrong.
Creon
Am I wrong to wield the powers vested in me?
Haemon
Do they give you rights to disregard the gods?
---
Antigone
Stone of my wedding chamber, stone of my tomb,
Stone of my prison roof and prison floor,
Behind you and beyond you stand the dead.
---
Antigone
Not for a husband, not even for a son
Would I have broken the law.
Another husband I could always find
And have other sons by him if one were lost.
But with my father gone, and my mother gone,
Where can I find another brother, ever?
---
Antigone
Do the gods have no regard for what I did?
Where can I turn if they have turned away?
The right observance put me in the wrong:
And if that is the gods’ verdict, so be it.
I’ll have transgressed and will suffer gladly.
But if the wrong was laid upon me wrongly
By these unjust ones, then let their penalty
Be no less than the one they’ve doomed me to.
---
Tiresias
Consider well, my son. All men make mistakes.
But mistakes don’t have to be forever,
They can be admitted and atoned for.
It’s the overbearing man who is to blame.
Pull back. Yield to the dead. Don’t stab a ghost.
---
Creon
The hammer-blow of justice
Has caught me and brought me low.
I am under the wheels of the world.
Smashed to bits by a god.
---
Chorus
Wise conduct is the key to happiness.
Always rule by the gods and reverence them.
Those who overbear will be brought to grief.
Fate will flail them on its winnowing floor
And in due season teach them to be wise.