TERM 1
SEPT 20: GREEKS AND GENDER : TRAGEDY
Sophacloes - Antigone
-
antigone
picks up in the same (uber-dismal) place that
Oedipus at
Colonus
leaves off. Oedipus has just passed away in Colonus, and
Antigone and her sister decide to return to Thebes with the intention of
helping their brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, avoid a prophecy that
predicts they will kill each other in a battle for the throne of Thebes.
-
But upon her arrival in Thebes, Antigone learns that both of her brothers
are dead. Eteocles has been given a proper burial, but Creon, Antigone's
uncle who has inherited the throne, has issued a royal edict banning the
burial of Polyneices, who he believes was a traitor. Antigone defies the
law, buries her brother, and is caught. When Creon locks her away in
prison, she kills herself.
-
Meanwhile, not realizing Antigone has taken her own life, the blind
prophet Teiresias, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé Haemon, and the
Chorus plead with Creon to release her. Creon finally relents, but in an
instance of too-late-timing, finds her dead in her jail cell. Out of despair,
Haemon and Creon’s wife have by now also killed themselves, and Creon
is left in distress and sorrow.
-
Antigone
explores a contrast between the behavior expected of women
and the reality of their role in society. Creon expects men to be the
primary actors in society and women to take a secondary and
subservient role. Opinionated Antigone challenges these notions as she
takes center stage and presents formidable challenges to the men
around her.
Euripides - trojan women
-
The play begins with two gods,
Athena
and
Poseidon
, descending from
the heavens to discuss the aftermath of the war between the invading
Greek armies and the people of the city of Troy. Poseidon has supported
the Trojans, whereas Athena has supported the Greeks. However, she
has now turned against them. The Greek warrior,
Ajax
, raped the Trojan
princess
Cassandra
in Athena’s temple, which the goddess sees as an act
of great disrespect. As a result, she has called on Poseidon, as well as
Zeus
, to work with her to create stormy seas to punish the Greeks on
their journey home.
-
The gods exit, and the mortal plot unfolds. The stage shows a ruined
wall, and in front of it a tent containing the recently enslaved women of
Troy.
Hecuba
, the former queen of Troy, laments the destruction of her
city, and the horrible treatment her family has endured. The Chorus,
made up of her former handmaidens and other noble Trojan women,
joins her, and together they sing, wondering what will become of them
and which Greeks will be their masters.
-
Talthybius
, a Greek guard, enters and tries to inform Hecuba of the death
of her daughter, Polyxena. He uses euphemistic language, and Hecuba
does not initially understand what he is trying to say. He also announces
to the women that they will all be taken as slaves by different Greek
men, and so will have to leave their homeland essentially alone.
