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Antigone, written by Sophocles, is written two dimensionally. The basic plot is about a young woman, Antigone, who is trying to bury her dead brother Creon. Her uncle the king, is preventing her from doing so. On a deeper level, using a familiar story, Sophocles sheds light on physics and nomos: the law of the gods against the law of man. In scene II, Haimon, son of Creon, is trying to reason with his stubborn father. Pleading rhetorically with his father to rethink his stubborn laws and trying to persuade him to use reason in his judgments.
Haimon offers metaphors to his father to picture for him what his kingdom is like when viewed from the outside. The passage is very dramatic. Through the use of rhetoric, diction, and repetition in scene III (lines 78 - 118), Sophocles oversees the battle between physi's and nomos. Using these writing devices, Sophocles writes about a clash between a father and a son, most importantly underlying, physi's against nomos. The audience, which Sophocles intends to entertain by the drama Antigone, knew the plot before they paid to watch the story unfold. The choice of words creates suspense, but also intensified the emotion of the passage.
By the use of rhetoric, a well-known story was made immortal. In line 78, Haimon is doing the unthinkable, offering his father advice. As he tries to ease the fear he possesses, he returns to the innocence of a child by stating Father in a way that shows the seriousness and the sincerity of what Haimon is about to reveal. By line 80, Haimon has softened the blow to his father and is about to state his true feelings: I cannot say-. These words are said with such hesitation by Haimon, knowing the defiance in his feelings. Line 82, Haimon finally lifts the weight off his shoulders.
He is quick and to the point with his statement, that you have reasoned badly. Creon is shocked about Haimon's findings. He wasnt aware of the wrong he had placed upon his people. Line 86, everyone is powerfully said because it creates an important point that is brought to Creon's attention. Creon was not aware that Haimon's feelings were mutual among the towns people.
Haimon doesnt carry much trust with his father. Line 96, Haimon is reassuring Creon that You must believe me. With this sentence, Haimon begs for the trust of his father. Line 106, it is not reason never to yield to reason! is isolated from the rest of the speech.
This particular line sums up the entire speech and makes a lasting mark on the audience member. With pauses and line breaks, certain lines can be executed by adding to the drama. Sophocles takes full advantage of the dramatic effect by turning words into emotions. By the use of diction, Sophocles paints a vivid picture in our minds. To put emphasis on the statement, he uses an imaginative language, in Line 89, by the use of dark and light. Muttering and whispering in the dark about this girl.
By choosing the word dark, he gives the literal and underlying meaning. In the literal sense, the citizens physically are muttering and whispering in the dark and the underlying meaning creates irony. The citizens do not mutter and whisper in the dark by choice. Creon's feelings towards his citizens are well put by Melchinger, The greatest of evils is anarchy: the citizens foremost duty is obedience to the ruler. The people hide in fear of their king. Creon is oblivious to the feelings of his people.
Instead of voicing their opinions, the citizens take a safe route by keeping their silence. Line 110, the word sailing is used to represent Creon's kingdom. Creon is the captain of the ship and is the lawmaker for the shipmates. The metaphor represents how Creon runs his kingdom.
As captain, Creon runs his ship too tight and now faces the repercussions of a sinking ship. Creon's rules were fair but too strict. Even though his decisions were for the good of the people, in the end his stubbornness towards Antigone will sink him. Lines 107 to 109 once again compare Creon's laws to nature. Creon is represented by a tree. Creon is stubborn so his roots and limbs wont bend with the wind thus causing them to break.
If Creon were to bend the rules, then they would bend with the wind. Haimon is in the process of making Creon change his mind. To prove that Creon is being unreasonable, Haimon dramatizes the situation. She covered her brothers body.
Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? Using the words dogs and vultures creates sympathy towards Antigone. Even though she committed a crime, she had good reasoning.
It makes Creon look heartless and close minded. Sophocles is a painter of his time. Using words as his paints and pencils as his brush, Sophocles paints a vivid imaginative story. The recurrent technique throughout the passage is repetition. Haimon is trying to convince his father that reason is needed by using physi's line 79, Reason is Gods crowning gift to man, Haimon uses the gods in making a point as to why Creon needs reason. Creon bases all decisions on the laws of the gods, so Haimon explains how his decisions fares against the gods.
LL 106 sums up Haimon's entire point. It is not reason never to yield to reason. By using reason twice in the same sentence, proves Haimon's point firmly. The sentence is isolated to create a powerful statement.
The repetition of reason relays the point across that Creon omitted reason and stood firmly with his laws, but he only dug himself a deeper grave. Line 104, To reason correctly. The gift to speak, the soul Haimon tells Creon the gods did not bless him with the gift of reason and that stubbornness could effect his future. The metaphors about the tree and the ship are relating to Creon's kingdom. By not using reason, he will either sink his ship or snap his branches. Haimon's repetition of reason is emphasizing the importance of Creon's utilizing reason.
By repeating reason, Haimon is making sure his father is not just hearing him speak, but is also really listening. Sophocles use of technical devices spice up a relatively known story. His utilization of rhetoric, diction, and repetition added character to his writing. Using rhetoric you could feel the tension among the characters. The pain of Haimon can be felt through his words. Diction played an important role in the play.
Sophocles was able to bring his audience in scenes that were not physically shown. So beautifully put Sophocles, like Aeschylus and Euripides, made a virtue of the necessity of this convention of the ancient theater by writing elaborate messenger speeches which provide a vivid word picture of the offstage action. During most of the play the actions were never acted out in front of the audience but retold by a character in the story. One the most important technical devices used in scene III lines 78 - 118 was the use of repetition.
The word reason was repeated to stress the importance of Haimon's speech. Even though his father was obdurate minded about Anitgones punishment Haimon made sure that his father knew his lack of reason. Sophocles subtly gets his point across: physi's against nomos. Hidden through out the play, masked by technical devices, are references of physi's against nomos.
Sophocles cleverly with words told a story and demonstrated that the law of the gods always come before the law of man. Sources: Antigone. Classic Technology Center. 1998 - 2002. Online.
Available web Melchinger, Siegfried. Sophocles. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing co. , 1974.
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