Seven Against Thebes

Aeschylus

Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.

  1. of burying my own brother. Nor am I ashamed to act in defiant opposition to the rulers of the city. A thing to be held in awe is the common womb from which we were born, of a wretched mother and unfortunate father. Therefore, my soul, willingly share his evils, even though they are unwilling,
  2. and live in kindred spirit with the dead. No hollow-bellied wolves will tear his flesh—let no one decree that! Even though I am a woman, I will myself find the means to give him burial and a grave,
  3. carrying the earth in the fold of my linen robe. With my own hands I will cover him over—let no one decree it otherwise. Take heart, I will have the means to do it.
Herald
  1. I forbid you to act thus in violation of the city.
Antigone
  1. I forbid you to make useless proclamations to me.
Herald
  1. And yet a citizenry that has escaped evil can be harsh.
Antigone
  1. Let it be harsh! This man will not be unburied.
Herald
  1. What! Will you honor with burial a man whom the city detests?
Antigone
  1. For a long time now the gods have ceased to hold him in honor.