71 pages • 2 hours read
SophoclesAntigone
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Scene 4 and 4th Ode
Scene 4 and 4th Ode Summary
As Haimon enters, the Chorus wonders aloud if he has come to rage at his father for sentencing his future wife to death. In fact, Haimon easily accepts his father’s will. Pleased, Kreon makes a speech about the value of obedience, both in sons to their fathers and in subjects to their king. Kreon notes “there is no greater evil than lack of rule” (728), which destroys families and cities and sows sedition in the ranks of armies. Haimon agrees but makes a counterargument to Kreon’s sentencing. Haimon has heard among the people of Thebes a general dissatisfaction with this sentence, since it is widely understood that Antigone did nothing but honor her fallen brother. He urges Kreon to change his mind, reminding him there is no shame in such an action and that he only wishes to keep Kreon safe.
Though the Chorus acknowledges Haimon speaks well, his statement angers Kreon. The two argue, Kreon unwilling to yield either that Haimon is on his side or that he should have to change his decision when he is the ruler of the city. Kreon calls Haimon cowardly and unmanly. Haimon in turn calls Kreon arrogant and childish.
Infuriated, Kreon orders his guards to deliver Antigone so that she may be killed in front of Haimon. Haimon immediately leaves, angrily declaring Kreon will never see him again. Kreon decides he will spare Ismene and, instead of executing Antigone, he will seal her in a cave with just enough food to survive, if the gods will it.
The Chorus sings a song to Eros, the god of romantic love, who “pull[s] / The reins of just / Minds toward injustice, disfiguring / Men's lives” (853-56). The Chorus announces that it weeps for Antigone, going to the bridal chamber of death instead of the bridal chamber of Haimon.
Scene 4 and 4th Ode Analysis
Throughout the last three scenes, Kreon has shown himself as continually more obstinate and spiteful. He continues this trend in this scene. Haimon approaches Kreon respectfully and reasonably, but Kreon is incapable of heeding his advice because Kreon sees himself as absolutely powerful in Thebes. Above all, Kreon is shown to value obedience, and it upsets him that his son does not blindly follow him, whether or not his rule is just. Just as the very act of leaving Polyneikes unburied was a warning to all who stand against Kreon, this emphasis on obedience again signals Kreon’s paranoia of insurrection.
The reader also gets a first glimpse of Haimon’s personality in this scene. Level-headed and respectful, he is a good future ruler, increasing the tragedy of his own coming death due to the circumstances that Kreon has set in motion. After Haimon leaves, we see the conversation has had an effect on Kreon, as he changes his mind regarding the style of Antigone’s death. Kreon chooses to spare Ismene and seal Antigone in a cave with food instead of executing her. This sentence is no more merciful a death but serves Kreon’s anger all the better since Antigone will be subjected to a slow death in which she can realize the error of her actions.
The final announcement of the Chorus that it will cry for Antigone signals the Chorus’s conversion away from the side of Kreon to Antigone’s perspective, one Haimon also holds. This is a final sign that Kreon has gone too far, as even his counselors begin to abandon him. Similarly, the Chorus’s ode to the absolute power of love suggests that Haimon’s ability to reason clearly with his father was heroic and should have been heeded. Kreon’s actions, flying in the face of both the gods and true love, are completely unjust.
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By Sophocles
