Someone help me, I can’t stop thinking about Antigone and Antigone’s Claim. I can’t seem to put everything on one post because once I publish something, another thing pops up.

Damn you, Sophocles. Damn you.

Right now I’m thinking about Sophocles’s intention when writing the play, because I think if I figure that out (or make some sense of it), I’ll understand the play as a whole. But here’s the thing: philosophers are cheeky bastards.

Right now I think I’m focusing too much on Antigone and not Sophocles’s intent when writing Antigone. I wish I knew his intentions. Sure, you can say that she acts upon family responsibility but something about it makes me think that she doesn’t really belong to a family any more. She and Ismene are orphans, and even so they are more separated when Antigone disowns Ismene. Perhaps Antigone is acting to retrieve back her family? I think it was mentioned in seminar last week how Antigone wishes to die so she can go back to her family.

And I keep thinking as to why Antigone died. I want to think that she died because she’s just crazy, but the strings that are attached to her makes me think that there has to be more. I’m starting to think that because of the ambiguity that has differentiated her also was the reason she chose death.  Antigone didn’t have anything that would define her as human or made her feel human. I believe that humans have to attach themselves to something to make them feel alive. From Camus,

“Then came human beings; they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to…”

And now if that is the case, that Antigone killed herself because her surroundings did not make any sense, what is it that Sophocles is saying? As humans, do we need to attach ourselves in order to be human and to feel like we are alive? If that is the case, is that why we go to school, make friends, attach meaning to events, go to work, and fall in love? Is it something we choose to do or must we do it to be defined as human?

I think it was also mentioned in lecture that in order to have kinship, it must be active. Events have no meaning unless we place meaning there. Otherwise, we disassociate ourselves from it. It no longer matters.

And now back to the thought about Sophocles’s philosophy which focus more on the individual than society…. If humans individually desire meaning through kinship and events and actively pursue it, than how does that play in society? Does the individual seek their own meaning or do humans merely reflect the wants and desire of society? (does that question make sense?)

DAMN YOU DEAD PHILOSOPHERS, ARISE FROM THE ASHES AND PROCLAIM YOURSELF. ANSWER MY QUESTIONS AND MAKE SENSE OF YOUR CHILDISH FOLLIES. “I DO NOT DENY MY DEED”, LIKE REALLY? REALLY? OK, I am so done. So done right now.