Shakespeare

In thinking about Antigone, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet comes to mind in the way that it deals with similar themes, and some of the events resemble those from Antigone. In both plays a girlfriend/wife commits suicide and then the grieving lover commits suicide as well. In Sophocles' play, Antigone is shut inside a cave and takes her own life. When Haemon, her lover, discovers that she has died, he is so taken with grief that he commits suicide. In Shakespeare, Juliet finds that Romeo has died and commits suicide as well. The role of Antigone can be found in both Romeo and Juliet in the love they share that is forbidden by authority--each of their parents. Creon is represented by the unrelenting force that is held by both the Capulets and the Montagues in their war against each other. This war is unreasonable, but will not stop until it is too late, as Creon's decision to free Antigone comes too late. In both plays it is the old pitted against the young. The young have the freedom to see through these rules and conflicts and they choose what they feel is right, despite the impending consequences. In both plays, it is only after tragedy that the authority figures realize the mistake that they have made. Creon loses his son and his wife, and the Capulets and Montagues lose many lives on both sides.

Homeric Hymns

Homeric Hymns - To Demeter

This hymn describes how Hades stole Persephone and how Demeter grieved, punishing the earth, eventually making Zeus send Hermes to retrieve Persephone--but not before Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds. Now Persephone must spend four months in the underworld every year.

This story seems fundamentally similar to the Christian/Jewish account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In this story, Eve (like Persephone) is tricked by the devil (Hades) into eating a fruit (like the pomegranate) and this action comes with horrible consequences. However, the pomegranate is seen in a positive light from a Jewish perspective: "Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness, because it is said to have 613 seeds which corresponds with the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate#Pomegranates_and_symbolism).

On the surface, this myth seems to be a simple way of explaining why there are seasons, why winters are so harsh, and could even explain the reason for a famine (Demeter is angry). This myth has deeper levels that correspond with Antigone. Demeter is cheated by Zeus (a man and someone with more power) but she does not accept this fate. Like Antigone, she fights for what she wants, for what she thinks is right. It is clearly a man vs. woman conflict and could even be a individual vs. society--Zeus representing society because of the great amount of power he wields. It could also be living vs. dead because it is Demeter, who has power over living things like crops, against Hades, who is king of the underworld.

With this story, the pomegranate turns into a symbol of the cunning of man, the power of man, which woman could not stop. It represents that even though Demeter won, she did not win completely and will forever have to submit to Hades for a time each year. The pomegranate ultimately becomes woman's inherint frailty and man's brutish force in taking advantage of it.

Notes From January 22 and From 1st Week

Most important lines of Antigone are from 441 through 581

The professor pointed out that on the cover is a portrait of Simone Weil.
She interestingly learned ancient Greek at the age of only 12. She was a philosopher, a mystic, and also was very active in politics, in later life joining the French Resistance. She was passionate and has obvious similarities to Antigone in the way she dedicated her life fighting for what is right instead of submitting to authority.

Agon - a contest, an adversarial relationship

The passage in Antigone (441-581) illustrates several different types of conflict:
1. man vs. woman
2. old vs. young
3. society vs. individual
4. dead vs. living
5. men vs. gods

On a side note, I was noticing how similar the Greek culture was to our present day society. I skimmed through some of the other texts and found a few interesting things. The Greeks had a high regard for religion as we do, but most notably they had an affinity for drinking and sexual intercourse. The play Lysistrata is comprised of almost nothing except crude sex jokes. Also in the beginning of the Symposium, the conversation is about how "hungover" they all are and deciding how much to drink that evening. Their discussion is interrupted by a group of drunk men, one of whom admits that he is "smashed." I thought it was interesting how similar some of the things the ancient Greeks did to those we continue to do today.