Fragments
by kthai
Forgive me, I took a break to read the Bacchae* and just missed midnight!
Our master was in despair.
We obeyed him and looked inside.
We saw her down at the tomb’s end,
hanged by the neck,
a noose made from her linen robe;
and him, his arms around her waist;
bewept his bride and their lost love,
and his father who has caused this.
I keep revisiting this, imagining the scene as a painting in the style of Caravaggio.
Such an awfully sad and beautiful image.
The state rides steady once again
I remembered that this ship metaphor was used by Plato to describe the state. Though to him, the navigator would obviously be a philosopher king rather than a regular old king like Kreon.
Nomos vs. Physis
What should one act upon? Laws of the state have their obvious repercussions but how can we face ourselves if we abandon our morals to yield to the state? Antigone chose to transcend the state and buries her brother Polyneices. Her story ends with her death, but she becomes a martyr of sorts, as a person who would not allow laws of the state to force her to go against her conscience, while Kreon is left with a dead wife and son. What is Sophocles’ position here?
More things to consider as I skim through a second time = more ideas generated.
*some nice overlap happening with arts one and my other courses, though, understanding Dionysus is just extra fun — I doubt that knowledge would be handy for the essay
Good question about what is Sophocles’ position! I liked the conclusion in the lecture about this–Sophocles raises problems but does not solve them in this text. That may be the best way to think about it, though I want to look at the text a bit more carefully and see if I think there may be a leaning more towards one side than the other. I’m curious to hear what others think too!
and it’s okay to be past midnight once or maybe twice…just generally try to stick to the deadline so there’s enough time for people to read the blog posts before seminar!