Antigone

by Richard Emil Braun

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate the celebrated and timeless tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. The series seeks to recover the entire extant corpus of Greek tragedy, quite as though the ancient tragedians wrote in the English of our own time. Under the editorship of Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro, each of these volumes includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text, full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the plays. This finely-tuned translation of Sophocles' Antigone by Richard Emil Braun, both a distinguished poet and a professional scholar-critic, offers, in lean, sinewy verse and lyrics of unusual intensity, an interpretation informed by exemplary scholarship and critical insight. Braun presents an Antigone not marred by excessive sentimentality or pietistic attitudes. His translation underscores the extraordinary structural symmetry and beauty of Sophocles' design by focusing on the balanced and harmonious view of tragically opposed wills that makes the play so moving. Unlike the traditionally gentle and pious protagonist opposed to a brutal and villainous Creon, Braun's Antigone emerges as a true Sophoclean heroine--with all the harshness and even hubris, as well as pathos and beauty, that Sophoclean heroism requires. Braun also reveals a Creon as stubbornly principled as Antigone, instead of simply the arrogant tyrant of conventional interpretations.

126 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[SheDsntEvenGoHere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this Greek Mythology play!!! If you haven't yet, trust me..... it's worth it! It's a short epic (1535 lines.... yes this number looks long but it goes by so fast) It's also easy to read too!

So go and read this........right now!

- V

[Izzy Constable · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it was required for me to read, I did quite enjoy it. Antigone was a very relatable and an all-around interesting character.

[Adi · Rating 4 out of 5]

best translation ive read

[Jake]

During the Ancient World Era in the City Of Thebes, Antigone disobeyed the law set by Kreon by trying to give her brother a proper burial. This book is fascinating but also hard to follow because it had to be translated from ancient greek to modern English, and the book was written as a play. I liked to learn more about Ancient Greece, and how they lived. I disliked how the book was written as it was hard to understand the content.
I think that Kreon did the right thing at the beginning of the book, but it tore apart his family. At the end of the book, Kreon is sorrowful because everyone he loves has died. For example,
- His son Haimon killed himself after he learned Antigone had died
- His wife Eurydice killed herself after learning that Haimon died
- His brother killed himself before the book starts
- His nephews killed each other before the book starts
- Antigone killed herself when she was taken to a cave trying to bury her brother
(Braun 24-71)

After all these events happen, at the end of the book, Kreon blames himself (Braun 71), “Nobody else; it’s my fault.” This shows that Kreon blames himself for what happened to his family. This is one of my favorite parts when Kreon figures everything out. These events happened because of Kreon's decree that Polyneices should be left unburied. He was unburied because he went and led a different polis to attack his home polis, which makes him a traitor, proving that Kreon was right.
Antigone was made for people looking for a drama book, or those trying to learn more about the history of Ancient Greece. This book showed me what plays were like during Ancient Greece and I will forever remember it.