ANTIGONE. The subject of the 'Antig one' of Sophocles is that immortal Heroine "who dares To eelf-selected good Prefer obedience to the primal law Which consecrates the ties of blood." Though written in 441 B.c., many years before the at Colonus,' the play treats of a later chapter in the story. It seems to have been suggested by the last scene in the 'Seven Against Thebes' of fEschylus. At early dawn Antigone comes forth from the palace with her sister, Ismene, to talk with her alone about the edict of the king: will her sister join in her venture? °But Creon forbids!' He has no right to bar me.)) Thus the situation is un folded at the very beginning - the conflict of wills between sovereign and subject. Ismene tries to dissuade her sister from the rash under taking, but in vain. The chorus of elders enter to celebrate the day of deliverance that dawns on Thebes. Creon comes forth and addresses the nobles whom he has convened: "Eteocles shall be buried, but the corpse of Polyneices shall be left on the field, a prey for carrion kites to feed upon and for dogs to tear. Ally your selves not with the rebellious?' The heroic devotion of Antigone, burying her brother, Polyneices, and put to death for her pious dis obedience of the tyrant's edict - that is the subject of the drama; and nothing could show more clearly the great originality of the poet's genius than his power to feel and to make others feel the grandeur of that subject. The superior
beauty of the play is due primarily to the de velopment of the character of Antigone. In the scene in which she and her sister, Ismene, appear together before Creon we find a happy example of the simultaneous employment of three actors. The role of Ismene reveals an in novation in dramatic art; in a manner truly Sophoclean the weaker sister is set over against the firmer Antigone. 'By reason of the skillful way in which the action is managed Sophocles has succeeded in extracting dramatic reversals of situation from a very simple subject ; admira tion, fear, sympathy, pity, indignation follow one another from scene to scene, even after the exit of the heroine. • The language of the tragedy is especially beautiful; and the martyrdom of the girl, who does not realize herself how noble her deed is, has commanded universal admiration. Antigone is a noble young woman, who feels that her act is right although she cannot advance arguments to justify that act. That she is truly feminine is seen in many a subtle touch. The character of Creon, the harsh tyrant, is also finely portrayed.