Page (1 of 3) Quotes:
1 2 3
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Francis Storr's translation found on
Project Gutenberg.
| Quote #1 ISMENE To me, Antigone, no word of friends Has come, or glad or grievous, since we twain Were reft of our two brethren in one day By double fratricide; and since i' the night Our Argive leaguers fled, no later news Has reached me, to inspirit or deject. (11-17) |
Just as Oedipus’s family was the cause of his self-injury, so his sons are the cause of each other’s death.
| Quote #2 I would not welcome such a fellowship. Go thine own way; myself will bury him. How sweet to die in such employ, to rest,-- Sister and brother linked in love's embrace-- A sinless sinner, banned awhile on earth, But by the dead commended; and with them I shall abide for ever. As for thee, Scorn, if thou wilt, the eternal laws of Heaven. (69-76) |
Antigone welcomes, and even loves, the idea of death. She is the only character to do so.
| Quote #3 ANTIGONE Sister, forbear, or I shall hate thee soon, And the dead man will hate thee too, with cause. Say I am mad and give my madness rein To wreck itself; the worst that can befall Is but to die an honorable death. (92-96) |
Because Antigone approaches death without regret, her demise takes on a tone other than the tragic feel of Jocasta’s suicide.