Unwritten Laws: the Key Elements of Drama in Sophocles' Antigone

35 min

Let's begin

A novel is complete on the page; a play is not. Its script is a set of instructions for actors, directors and designers, and much of its meaning lives in what we see and hear: a pause, an entrance, a body standing between two people. This lesson names the key elements of drama and studies them in one of the oldest plays still performed: Sophocles' Antigone, a play about what happens when a ruler's law collides with a citizen's conscience.

The play and its situation

Sophocles wrote Antigone for the theatre of Athens around 441 BCE. Before the play begins, Antigone's two brothers have killed each other in a civil war over the throne of Thebes. Their uncle Creon, now king, decrees that Eteocles, who defended the city, will be buried with honour, but that Polyneices, who attacked it, must lie unburied, and that anyone who buries him will die. Antigone buries her brother. A guard catches her and brings her before Creon.

Extract (translated by F. Storr, 1912)

CREON. Speak, girl, with head bent low and downcast eyes,
Does thou plead guilty or deny the deed?

ANTIGONE. Guilty. I did it, I deny it not.

CREON (to GUARD) Sirrah, begone whither thou wilt, and thank
Thy luck that thou hast 'scaped a heavy charge.
(To ANTIGONE)
Now answer this plain question, yes or no,
Wast thou acquainted with the interdict?

ANTIGONE. I knew, all knew; how should I fail to know?

CREON. And yet wert bold enough to break the law?

ANTIGONE. Yea, for these laws were not ordained of Zeus,
And she who sits enthroned with gods below,
Justice, enacted not these human laws.
Nor did I deem that thou, a mortal man,
Could'st by a breath annul and override
The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven.
They were not born today nor yesterday;
They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang.
…

CHORUS. A stubborn daughter of a stubborn sire,
This ill-starred maiden kicks against the pricks.

Glosses: Sirrah = a rough form of address to a servant; interdict = an official ban; ordained of Zeus = commanded by Zeus, king of the gods; annul = cancel; immutable = unchangeable; whence they sprang = where they came from; sire = father (Oedipus); kicks against the pricks = hurts herself by resisting a greater power, like an ox kicking against a goad.

Definition

Key terms

conflict (n): the struggle that drives a play: between characters, between a character and society, within a character, or between a character and fate.
dialogue (n): the words the characters speak to each other. Stichomythia is rapid dialogue in alternating single lines, used for argument.
stage directions (n): the instructions in a script, usually in italics or brackets, that tell actors how to move or speak: (to GUARD).
chorus (n): in Greek drama, a group that sings and speaks together, commenting on the action and voicing the community's view.
soliloquy (n): a speech in which a character alone on stage speaks their thoughts aloud. An aside is a short remark heard by the audience but not by the other characters.
dramatic irony (n): when the audience knows something that a character does not.

The key elements of drama

Element	What to look for	In the extract
Plot and structure	How events are arranged: exposition, rising action, climax, resolution; in Greek tragedy, episodes divided by choral odes	This is the turning point: the crime is now known, and Creon must act.
Character	What characters say, do, and how others respond to them	Antigone admits everything at once ("Guilty. I did it"); Creon demands submission ("head bent low").
Conflict	Who or what opposes whom	Person against person (niece and king) and law against law (the state's decree against "unwritten laws of Heaven").
Dialogue	Length of speeches, rhythm, who controls the talk	Stichomythia, then Antigone seizes the floor with a long speech.
Stage directions	Movement, address, tone	"(to GUARD)", "(To ANTIGONE)": Creon dismisses one person and turns on another.
Chorus	The community's voice	The Chorus judges her "stubborn", like her father: the city's elders side with order.
Theme	The ideas the conflict raises	Is an unjust law still law? What does a citizen owe the state, and what does she owe her family and her conscience?
Spectacle	What the audience sees: setting, costume, grouping, light	A young woman, under guard, facing a king before the palace.

Where the actors stand

Directors describe the stage in nine areas. Upstage is the back (old stages sloped upwards away from the audience); downstage is the front. Stage right and stage left are the actor's right and left when facing the audience, so stage right appears on the audience's left.

A director might place Creon upstage centre, raised and powerful, and bring Antigone downstage right, close to the audience, so that her long speech is addressed past the king to us.

Worked example

Analysing the dialogue: how power shifts

Creon controls the questions. He orders her posture ("head bent low and downcast eyes") and narrows her answer ("yes or no").
Antigone refuses to play the role he gives her. Instead of denying or pleading, she confesses at once, which takes away his power to catch her out.
Stichomythia speeds up the duel: question, one-line answer, question. Each of her lines is short and certain.
Then the rhythm breaks. Asked a yes-or-no question ("And yet wert bold enough …?"), she answers with a speech about divine law. The change from single lines to a long speech shows on stage who now holds the argument.
The Chorus has the last word here, and it calls her "stubborn", reminding us that the community does not yet agree with her. The audience must decide.

Worked example

Two readings of the conflict

Many readers side with Antigone: she obeys a higher law at the cost of her life. The philosopher G. W. F. Hegel read the play differently, as a collision between two rights: Creon defends the order of the state, Antigone the duties of family and religion, and each is destroyed by holding one right absolutely. In an essay, a balanced answer presents the stronger reading, gives the other its due, and decides with reasons.

Warning

Stage left is the actor's left, not the audience's.
Do not discuss a play as if it were a novel. Refer to what an audience would see and hear: movement, silence, grouping, tone.
Put play titles in italics (Antigone) and character names in plain type (Antigone).
When quoting verse, mark line breaks with a slash: "these laws were not ordained of Zeus, / And she who sits enthroned …".

The Greek tragedy of Oedipus' daughter, a TED-Ed lesson by Stephen Esposito (about 5 minutes). An animated retelling of the whole story of Antigone, including how it ends. Note what happens to Creon and decide whether the play is his tragedy or hers.

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Practice

Define and give an example from the extract of: stage direction, stichomythia, chorus.
Identify two kinds of conflict in the extract and explain each.
What does Antigone mean by "the immutable unwritten laws of Heaven"? Why might she say they "were not born today nor yesterday"?
Draw the nine stage areas. Mark where you would place Creon, Antigone, the Guard and the Chorus at the moment of her long speech, and justify each choice.
Rewrite four lines of the dialogue as modern stage dialogue, with your own stage directions, keeping the conflict.
"Creon is right: a city cannot survive if citizens obey only the laws they like." Discuss in about 250 words, referring to the extract and to Lesson 1's discussion of rules and freedom.

Show answersHide answers

Stage direction: (to GUARD), an instruction in the script. Stichomythia: the quick exchange "Wast thou acquainted with the interdict?" / "I knew, all knew …". Chorus: "A stubborn daughter of a stubborn sire …", the group voice commenting on the action.
Person against person: Antigone against Creon. Law against law (or individual against the state): the king's decree against divine and family duty. A strong answer may add conflict within Creon's city, voiced by the Chorus.
Laws that no ruler wrote and no ruler can change, here the duty to bury the dead. Saying they are ancient and eternal contrasts them with Creon's decree, made yesterday by a "mortal man".
Answers will vary. Strong answers link position to power and focus, for example Creon upstage centre, Antigone downstage facing the audience, the Guard at the edge, the Chorus grouped to one side as onlookers.
Answers will vary. Check that the stage directions are in italics or brackets and add meaning.
Answers will vary. A balanced answer may use Hegel's "two rights", the commons from Lesson 1, and Mill's harm principle.

1The play and its situation

2The key elements of drama

3Where the actors stand

The play and its situation

The key elements of drama

Where the actors stand