Thursday, October 12, 2017

Antigone: Scene 5 and Exodos - "The End"

Summary of Scene 5:

  • Teiresias, a blind prophet, comes to see Creon. 
  • Teiresias warns Creon that he has received two bad omens - two bad signs - of things to come. This is foreshadowing!
  • Creon is dismissive of Teiresias' warnings. Creon accuses him of taking bribes.
  • Teiresias leaves, still warning Creon that he needs to change his ways. He says that Creon needs to get Antigone (who is alive) out of her grave, and bury Polyneices (who is dead). He points out that Creon has disrupted the natural order of things; he has buried someone who is alive, and not buried someone who is dead.
  • After Teiresias leaves, Creon finally changes his mind. 
  • He leaves to go recover Antigone and bury Polyneices.
The blind prophet.

Summary of Exodos:
  • A messenger appears and tells Eurydice, Creon's wife and the mother of Haemon, what has happened.
  • The messenger says that they buried Polyneices, whose body had been shredded into pieces by wild dogs.
  • They went to go free Antigone from her grave, and Creon finds that Haemon is already there. 
  • Haemon found Antigone dead when he got there.
  • She hung herself with a piece of her clothing.
  • Haemon blames his father for her death, spitting at him and drawing his sword.
  • In his grief, Haemon swings his sword, accidentally stabbing himself. 
  • Mortally wounded, Haemon stumbles over to Antigone, hugging her as she hangs dead from the ceiling.
  • Eurydice leaves the stage and kills herself, cursing Creon with her last breath.
  • Creon begs for death once he sees his own wife dead, but that would be too kind. He must live with the consequences of his choices.
As he died, he gathered Antigone close in his arms again, choking, his blood bright red on her white cheek. And now he lies dead with the dead, and she is his at last, his bride in the houses of the dead. (Exo. 72-76)

Haemon draws his sword on his father, Creon.
He just found Antigone dead.

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