Sophocles's Antigone

Hello,

I'm reading Sophocles's Antigone and was struck by how often Creon suspects others, including Tiresias, of being bribed. Does anyone have any insights into this? Were there scandals in Athens at the time Sophocles wrote the play, around 442BC?

Thank you,
Roberta

Roberta, I don't have a lot of specifics but I gather that bribery was fairly common in the ancient poleis in general. That bribery was common in the Athenian radical democracy of the classical age is discussed in The Honey and the Hemlock: Democracy and Paranoia in Ancient Athens and Modern America , by Eli Sagan, a close study of Athenian political life -- which by the way is an excellent followup to Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens by James Davidson, which focuses on the social life of the Athenians.

It is interesting because I just recently read this myself. The way I see it, Creon is so stubborn, headstrong and self-righteous it does not even occur to him that he might be wrong; so anyone who attempts to address his decree in any way, other than to proclaim absolute support, is suspected of being bribed. After all he is the King and the King is always right - try telling that to Oedipus.

There is an old production from the 80's, BBC I assume, with Juliet Stephenson as Antigone and John Shrapnel as Creon. The sort of totalitarian aspect #3 discusses is really played up (grey pseudo-military outfits, giant picture of Creon a la Chairman Mao or Stalin). A very good production, as I recall, but I don't know how well its dated.

To the original question, I don't recall any particular scandals involving bribery, which as #2 notes, was a fact of life. Creon's suspiciousness seems to be that of any tyrant looking to keep hold of authority and power.

Thanks for your replies. Some people have speculated that Sophocles was reflecting on Pericles when he wrote about Creon, so I was curious about what else was going on at the time.

I think the Anouilh play also focuses on Creon as a totalitarian, with obvious parallels to the French resistance and the Nazi occupation.

makifat -- I saw a similar Antigone back in the day with Geneviève Bujold -- perhaps on PBS? It was very well done, if I recall. That Geneviève Bujold -- always getting put to death ...