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H.D. F. KJTTO ONTHE ROLE OFTHE GODS INANTIGONE"h[H. D. F. Kitto (1897-1982) was a professor of Greek atthe Universi ty of Bristol. England. and a well-knownclassical scholar. Among his publications are Form andMeaning in Drama (1956), The Greeks (1957), andGreek Tragedy: A Literary Study (1966). In this extract ,Kitto declar,:s tbat tbe role of the gods is crucial to theunderstanding of Antigone. both In the conflict betweenAntigone and Creon and between Creon and Haemon.]

Mr. F. L. Lucas bas recently declared his opinIon that the finalscenes of the Antigone are weak: the piay flags when Antigoneis removed. Mr. Lucas is by no means the first critic to say this.The cri tic ism proves one thing conclusively, tha t the critic hasnot understood what t he p lay is about . On the 'one level 1\'\r.Lucas has understood the play well enough, that on which theheroic and passionate Antigone defies the tyrant at the cost ofher life. On this l evel the g od s d o indeed com e Into the picture. since Antigone is convinced that she is doing the gods'wiil. But this Is only part of the picture. and if one sees only apart. under the Impression tha t one is seeing the whole, it isnot surprising if one finds the picture ii i-designed, Mr, Lucasand those wh o agree with hIm think tha t the Antigone, likeother Greek plays, Is concerned with exciting or at least interesting people and act ions-as of course It i s -and when themost exciting one disappears from the action he begin;;. tpyawn. What the critic is really yawning about is the gOdS: hedoes no t realize that they are there. and have been from thebeginning. They enter into the structure of this play more thansome of us realize.

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I wili begin with Hae rnon' s exit. He came In to plead withCreon for Antigone's life, and has been so brutally repulsedtbat he has g on e o ut making obscure threats towards hisfather. At this point the chorus performs an ode, a typicalchoral ode, f il l ing a pause in the action with appropriate com- \thONSJrnent. Thinking of the unfllial conduct of Haemon theycsrngabout the power of Love, Eros, which can pervert the mindseven of the upright. They go on to observe that Eros Is a powerthat ranges through the whole universe-man, animals, gods:Aphrodite sits enthroned beside the Great Powers, and wieidsabsolute sway. Whereupon Antigone is led in, and the actioncontinues.

But if this is the way in which we understand the ode-'Herethe Congregation wii l s ing a Hymn-e-we have scarcely begunto understand Sophocles, It is t rue that these ref lect ions on thepower of Love are suggested to the chorus by what Haemonhas said to his father: it is also t rue that time after time in thiSp lay the chorus says things which are true, but are said aboutthe wrong person-as when in the second ode they speak ofthe wicked lawbreaker. and in the thl rd ode about evi l seeminggood to the one whom the go d is minded to des tr oy : in eachcase they are thinking of Creon's adversary, but in each case itis Creon himself whom the words f it. The two stanzas on Lover;Jare no t rel ig ious poetry wr it ten as an interlude by a piousdramatist; they are an important Rart of the real drama'0:reon ( ' ,fOnhas already defied one par t of divine law In refus ing bunal to afellow human being: no w he def ies another of the majesticpowers of the Universe in brutally disregarding Haernons lovefor Antigone.)At this point Sophocles remarks to us: 'Eros,Aphrodite, are gods. They are no t to be played with: they arepretty strong. Just wait and seeJ'-for this is t he way in whichthe ode would be taken by an audience which had not had theadvantage of reading books about Greek Tragedy, and was no tmisled by ideas derived f rom more romant ic kincs of tragicdrama.

Accordingly, when this aud ience heard , later in the p lay,ho w the desperate Haemon turned from his lover's dead bodyupon his father and tried to klli him, and then kil led himself,and thus led s traight to the suicide of the Queen and the totalextinction of Creon's house, it would not say. as we do. 'This is

1J 1.11T' ( \?all vel)' exci ting, no doubt. but. really, ! am much more interested in Antigone than in Creon: It would say 'What an awfulillustration of the folly of a man wh o presumes to anger a god!

-,-H. D. F. Kitto, Sophocles: Dramatist &. Philosopher (London:Oxford University Press. 19581.pp. 35-37