Prologue
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The key to the words
If we accept that the etymology of the name Antigone means "against" – and not "in place of" –
the descent, Antigone, being both daughter and sister of Oedipus, is the fruit of a union against
nature, since Oedipus committed a double crime: he killed his father and married his mother whom
he fathered Antigone and her three brothers and sister.
The treasure of words
The prologue, as its name suggests, is situated at the beginning of a play, and sometimes before the
start of the actual action. In Sophocles' play, the prologue stages
Antigone and Ismene; in Anouilh's version, the Prologue is a character who presents the
characters and the story.
Lecture
Firstly, you easily identified the characters on stage,
Antigone and Ismene. The beginning of the text specifies the family ties: they are sisters ('You are
my blood, my sister) and Oedipus' relatives – they are both his daughters and his half-sisters
since Jocasta is both his wife and his mother – ; they are therefore struck by the
curse of the Labdacides, as expressed in the phrase "the misfortunes that Oedipus has bequeathed"
to his own people." The play begins after the retreat of the Argives and the victory of Thebes, "this success
. But the coordination “and” highlights the noun “disaster” that concludes the sentence and
characterizes the event mentioned just before: "we lost our two brothers, who died in one
only day under a double blow": the framing of the time complement "in a single day"
by evoking the two deaths ('our two brothers [...] double blow') highlights
the importance of loss. We learn about the death of Polynices and Eteocles, the two brothers
of Antigone and Ismene. However, in the first reply, Antigone alluded to a
"defense," a prohibition proclaimed by Creon, whom she calls "the Chief," and which is therefore
the king of Thebes. The expression she uses, "misfortune is on the way", suggests that
this defense is inaugural of the tragic and tragedy. This expression is found in
the title of the play by Jean Cocteau, The Infernal Machine, which evokes the tragic mechanism
in which Oedipus is trapped.
2. a. The balancing games - 'one […] the other', 'For Eteocles […] for the other' -
associated in the second case with the conjunction 'But' highlight the opposition of treatment
between the two brothers. This opposition is also expressed in the vocabulary: "honor of a
tomb", " affront of a refusal". "Equity and the rite" promised to Eteocles have as a counterpart
the mention of the absence of a tomb and of lamentations, which leaves the corpse of Polyneices
without rites and without burial.
b. The reason why Creon acts this way towards Polynices is not clear.
expressed here; it is certainly about punishing the betrayal of Polyneices, who allied himself with the city
enemy of Argos to try to seize power: Creon positions himself here on the level of the
morale of men and of the political order, therefore of the city. This answer is the one that one
can wait for students. But in doing so, Creon does not respect the divine order, perpetuating
thus the curse.
3. As soon as Polynices is mentioned, the use of the adjective 'poor' ('that poor dead one') has
let appear the pity that Antigone has for her brother. In the face of the prohibition proclaimed by
Creon, his indignation is noticeable in the use of exclamatory sentences and the emphasis on
pronoun of the first person: "to you as to me – I do mean, to me!" The terms "
"to mourn and to act," in the last reply, suggest that Antigone will bury her brother despite
the announced punishments - 'death, stoning' - thus being in line with its
family (the "blood", the "braves"). Antigone's reaction can be explained by pity.
that she has for her brother. More likely, it is for her to respect the divine order,
an ancient order.
Oral
1. and 2. The beginning of the passage is explanatory but not devoid of a feeling of compassion.
Antigone's part, which lingers more on the fate reserved for Polynices than on the honors.
promised to Eteocles. The rest of the passage is dominated by indignation and anger, as
they express exclamations. At the end of the passage, Antigone tries to persuade Ismène.
One could imagine a spatial arrangement of this passage, of which we have an example in the
photograph to comment on.
History of the arts
The question of the manual, very open, allows for various interpretations. The first difficulty
may involve identifying the characters; the choice of contemporary costumes
It may confuse. Ismène is to the left; she is attentive, but in a defensive position:
physically, she has her legs tucked under her and remains still. Moreover, her
belted raincoat evokes both a closure and a conformist garment. Opposite her,
Antigone is standing and appears more mobile; the forward-leaning position, the mouth open and
the gaze that seeks to convince reflects its emotion; his tracksuit at
Hood can be a mark of a form of non-conformism.