#Antigone and polynices

[bookofjudith]

A Brother Named Gethsemane, Natalie Diaz // Antigone in front of the Dead Polynices, Nikiforos Lytras

#web weaving #Antigone #Sophocles #Antigone and polynices #nikiforos lytras #Natalie Diaz #when my brother was an aztec #a brother named gethsemane #art compilation

[storyofmorewhoa]

Antigone and Polynices by Lytras Nikephoros

#lytras nikephoros #antigone and polynices #polyneices #antigone and polyneices #sophocles #greek mythology #ancient greek drama

[mythosmondays]

iv. Antigone & Polynices

In that city of Thebes, a great loss is where we begin. With those seven fallen, two brothers among them, the Thebans rejoiced in ways most unpleasing to those radiant Gods - for Creon, succeeding the throne as King after the death of his nephews, declared that marching son of Oedipus a traitor, one who would receive no burial rites.

Cursing the shade of his own blood to wander eternally in that unfitting land, belonging only to the living, Creon sent out a decree that any who provided burial for Polynices would themselves be put to death, and would suffer his fate with him. His brother though, the one loyal to Thebes between those dual kings, received the highest of honors - a beautiful pyre and procession, and offerings to bring along with him to that Underworld, mourners and funerary games; all this glory was to be his alone, for Creon wanted nothing more than for the Theban people to remember only Eteocles, and leave Polynices in the dust of time. In that crowd of mourners though, were two sisters who could never push the memory of Polynices, or his damned fate, from their minds any more than they could the celebrated Eteocles. Both Ismene and Antigone, the last of Oedipus’ children, pulled at their hair and beat their bodies with tight fists over Eteocles, washed and clean upon his pyre, and mourned their brother - but while Ismene’s fear cast a thick fog over her grief for Polynices, Antigone could not unhear the whispers of his shade, calling her to her duty to him, as much her blood as Eteocles.

That night, she went from her rooms and sought out her uncle, begging him without pride or shame, as though a common citizen rather than a princess, to allow Polynices to receive even simple rites, to free his spirit; he struck her down, and though he ordered her, as king rather than blood, to return to her rooms, she placed her forehead against the smooth tile of his chamber and plead again for even just permission to steal out into the night and cover him with dirt, to offer him a meager sacrifice, so his shade might be free of his body and its eternal torment. At this he became enraged, and forbade her from any such action, swearing no mercy would find her should she go against his command. Fleeing from him then, not in fear but rather, in rage, she prepared the meager offering she’d intended of fruit and small cuts of meat, and only one skin of wine, and made to leave the palace; but as she crept down the halls away from her rooms, Ismene caught her and clung to her, begging her not to do such a thing, for how could she live? The last of their father’s children, she would be alone in a world as this, with no blood to truly protect her. And seeing only determination on her sister’s face, Ismene pled her to stay, if not for herself than for Haemon, who had only tender love for Antigone, and wished to marry her alone; what would become of him? Of Thebes? His father, Creon, would not permit him to remain unwed, and surely she knew what fate would befall him then.

But Antigone, for all the love she held for Ismene, and for Haemon, and for Thebes, these were not the ones doomed to a restless afterlife, wretched and wandering forever - this was Polynices’ fate alone, and she alone would right it, not matter the cost. This was the love she had for him. At this, Ismene begged to come, to not be, again, left behind; but Antigone knew her sister’s fear and refused. Alone, she continued on into the night, creeping past guards and servants and citizens out into the destruction around the great city’s walls, and there she found the body of her brother.

She set out for him that fruit and meat, and let the wine spill out and darken the ground beside him, and took the coins she carried for his fare and tucked them into the pockets of his torn tunic; she piled fists of dirt along his body and beat at her own in spots already well bruised, pulled at her hair and groaned low the prayer for his safe descent. She prayed that Hades, gracious King of that magnificent Underworld, might receive him and let her brothers meet, that they might reconcile in death as they could not in life. In showing such devotion, such love for her brothers, Aphrodite heard that prayer not meant for Her and felt pity in Her own heart, and so She sent word to Dionysus to stay the hand of punishment for Antigone in Thebes, for this was His own city; and remembering that His mother, that lovely Semele, was daughter of Cadmus and sister to Polydorus, the great-grandfather of Oedipus, He knew this girl as His distant blood and came, so these two Gods together crafted a plan.

As Antigone mourned, a guard caught sight of her and sent word to Creon, who though near-ill at the thought of losing another of his sister’s children - at his own hand, especially - called for her to be sealed into a stone tomb at first light for disobeying his will. But Aphrodite, knowing of Haemon’s love for the girl, woke him from his sleep with dreams of her torment, and as he lay, still half in the arms of Hypnos, Dionysus whispered truths known only to that God so loved in Thebes, and told Haemon that it was His will that Antigone be spared, as she had spared the city a terrible fate for Creon’s unholy wish. Throwing off his bedclothes, he ran to his father and relayed the message, and so the king had no choice but to make an exception, and he wept with relief. When first light came, Antigone was free of her imprisonment, and Aphrodite sent her sweet words, that Haemon would take her as his wife and they would live happily together in Thebes, for her love and devotion had so impressed the Gods that they saw fit to guide her life to happier days; and having his house visited by two Gods that night, Creon wept with joy for Antigone, and with great sorrow for his own blind foolishness. 

#greek mythology #faith #greek mythos #pagan religion #religion #roman mythology #roman mythos #text post #episode #mythos mondays #Aphrodisia #Aphrodite #Dionysus #Antigone #Polynices #antigone and polynices

[loving-family-poll]

Ultimate Incest Tournament - Round 2

Propaganda under the cut:

Antigone/Polynices:

Sometimes a sister just loves her brother a little too much <3

Antigone wanted to be buried thigh to thigh with her brother and her story is so deeply intertwined with his, you quite literally cant talk about her without talking about him. he devoted so much to their family and they're forever together in death

She risked her life defying her uncle the king to give him a proper burial, which did lead to her being sentenced to death!!

The children of Oedipus and Jocasta, incest being a family curse :) the cycle is cycling

"A husband or a child can be replaced but who can grow me a new brother?"

Ginger/Brigitte:

Codependent sisters and werewolves and angst <3

ginger giving into her desire for eating flesh making her horny…. lycanthropy used as a metaphor for gender nonconformity but also… another type of nonconformity…. “we were always considered freaks. there was us, and there was them.” “but you can’t break up with blood. you can’t divorce your sister.” “ginger shoves brigitte backward onto her bed. ginger piles on top of her, playfully pinning her down. GINGER: ‘i want more.’ brigitte squirms fitfully. BRIGITTE: ‘no, it’s too gross! you’ll get caught.’ GINGER: ‘not if you help, bee. i’m starving. tell me you don’t so dig it. tell me you don’t wanna see what happens.’” “SAM: ‘it’s called monkshood [wolfsbane] because people used to think it kept them pure from dirty thoughts. seriously.’ BRIGITTE: ‘make my life easier.’” “brigitte stirs in her sleep. ginger stands at the end of brigitte’s bed, staring at her.” i could just copy/paste the entire original script (such as brigitte masturbating to the sound of ginger having sex). and then it ends in one murdering the other and hugging her dead body. what more can you ask for.

"Out by sixteen or dead on the scene, but together forever."

"I'd rather die than be here without you"

"If I wasn't here would you eat her?" "God, that would be like, fucking her" *later wants to eat Brigitte*

"You know, we're almost not even related anymore."

#tournament polls #tumblr polls #incest poll #antigone/polynices #antigone #ginger/brigitte #ginger snaps #round 2 #tw incest

[transbutchbluess]

obsessively thinking about antigone tonight. queer antigone / antigone as a product of incest displaying incestuous undertones&themes herself / married through death antigone (anouilh’s antigone, who wanted to have her first time with hemon the evening before she goes to bury her brother, who wanted to die not-a-virgin and yet not-a-wife but who didn’t, because they fought instead) / antigone who only knows how to live for oedipus / antigone who only knows how to die for her brothers / antigone who is nothing but her love for her family / antigone who leaves ismene behind / antigone who knows her brothers have been cursed by her father but still goes back to thebes, because she has to / antigone who knows creon will remove the dirt she puts on polyneikes’ body, but still puts it there, because she has to / antigone ready to die, born to die / antigone already dead from the beginning, her fate sealed long ago / antigone leaving thebes as a child knowing she will only come back to die.

#antigone #it’s probably my favorite tragedy #which says a lot because i love many ancient tragedies #but antigone ? #i love her so much #i have so many versions of her story now #plays : sophocles (3 translations including one by anne carson) / anouilh / cocteau #novels : henry bauchau’s oedipus on the road + antigone #and it breaks me every single time #classics #oedipus #jocasta #ismene #eteokles #polyneikes #polynices

[siblingshowdown]

Sibling Showdown Round 1 Bracket D1

Image credit: The Oath of Fëanor by Jenny Dolfen (goldseven.de) used with permission, also showing Fëanor

Antigone by Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927), Eteocles not pictured

#sibling showdown #tumblr bracket #silmarillion #greek mythology #theban plays #maedhros #antigone #maglor #polynices #celegorm #eteocles #caranthir #ismene #curufin #amrod #amras #children of oedipus #sons of feanor #greek myth

[katabay]

Do you think brothers are an interesting motif in both fiction and history?

I’ve watched all 15 seasons of supernatural, I have a sideblog that only contains posts about cain and abel, and one of my favorite epics is statius’ thebaid

#the short answer is yes. In general I find sibling dynamics compelling in fiction and history #the longest answer requires a lot of heavy reading with themes and whatever and I’m not gonna get into any or that on this website #brothers contain multitudes! Cain & Abel / Antigone & Polynices were for sure the starting point for interest #ask tag

[finelythreadedsky]

i love it so much when greek drama uses the metaphor of a bird lamenting her lost young in situations where it's manifestly inappropriate, like when the chorus of the agamemnon compares the menelaus' loss of helen to the anger of eagles whose chicks have been killed (ignoring the person who has actually lost her child and to whose grief the image might be more fitting). and then when the chorus compares cassandra's lament to the nightingale's mourning for her child itys, when cassandra's sorrows in fact stem from the fact that she did not "come to the point of having children" with apollo, and when the guard in antigone calls her screams over polynices "the sharp cry of an embittered bird when she sees the cradle of her empty nest bereft of her chicks" and then antigone herself later delivers a long lament that makes a point of having never had the opportunity to even have children, let alone lose them...

#something about the loss of a child as the ultimate paradigm of grief. #which does make a lot of sense given infant mortality #but causes some issues with the collapsing of losses and family members into each other #which is very appropriate in antigone! #this line frames polynices as husband and son as well as brother and this family is that tangled in on itself #oresteiablogging #antigoneblogging #ag. 49-54 and 1142-1145 #ant. 423-425 #mine

[iphisesque]

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus (Johnston) / Sophocles, Antigone (Johnston)

#antigone #oedipus at colonus #sophocles #tagamemnon #ismene #polynices

[posflote]

antigone. THE tragic figure. blueprint of doomed siblings. my guy.

#collage #antigone #cain and abel #ismene #polynice #eteocle #siblings

[godlikecunning]

cannot translate the emotions that having siblings gives you

#it’s all cain and abel #until it is about antigone and polynices

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Joseph Abel - Antigone kneeling next to the body of her brother Polynices, 1805.

#Joseph Abel #Antigone kneeling next to the body of her brother Polynices #Antigone #on your knees #Polinices #Polinikes #Polynices #dead #death #murder #found dead

[britneyshakespeare]

... No baser custom ever arose among men

than money. It sacks cities and uproots men from their houses.

It is a masterful teacher in perverting the minds of just men,

inciting them to turn to disgraceful deeds.

Money has shown man how to give himself over to iniquity

and encouraged him to every impious deed.

Creon in Antigone by Sophocles, translated by Peter Constantine

#it's funny bc polynices' body was buried for completely opposite reasons #we love familial reverence and honor hell yeah #antigone #sophocles #oedipus cycle #theban plays #poetry #classical literature #greek theater #quotes #it's my brother's bday today. i would do the same for him

[mhsdatgo]

Antigone holds me in an unironically tight chokehold...

#antigone #ismene #sophocles #classic literature #tragedy #FUCK THE LAW #IT WAS HER BROTHER #polynices

[loving-family-poll]

Ultimate Incest Tournament - Round 1

Propaganda under the cut:

Anna/Elsa:

BABY'S FIRST INCEST!

Literally the only reason either of them are alive is because of the love for their sister! Anna went after Elsa even though it was dangerous, she spent her childhood waiting at Elsa's door because she loved her so much and wouldn't give up because she knew and believed Elsa loved her too. Anna gave her life for Elsa, did it without a second thought, and Elsa brought her back, if that isn't true incest love I don't know what is.

The whole premise of frozen is the importance of sisterly love! Anna literally runs away from her "boyfriend" while she's about to die and saves her sister from getting killed instead, and then Elsa thaws Anna with an "act of true love" ok ok you cannot tell me that's not incestuous as fuck

And like yeah Anna gets a bf but that's just a cover for how much she loves her sister, and Elsa has clearly chosen Anna over any romantic interest. All this to say, lesbian Elsa truthers don't need to campaign for Elsa to get a girlfriend, when Anna is right there

Dangerous to dream from the musical is literally the gayest song ever

Antigone/Polynices:

Sometimes a sister just loves her brother a little too much <3

Antigone wanted to be buried thigh to thigh with her brother and her story is so deeply intertwined with his, you quite literally cant talk about her without talking about him. he devoted so much to their family and they're forever together in death

She risked her life defying her uncle the king to give him a proper burial, which did lead to her being sentenced to death!!

The children of Oedipus and Jocasta, incest being a family curse :) the cycle is cycling

"A husband or a child can be replaced but who can grow me a new brother?"

#tumblr polls #tournament polls #incest polls #anna/elsa #frozen #antigone/polynices #antigone #tw incest #round 1

[edwardscissorfeet]

antigone was like i can have a new husband and new children but my parents are dead and i will never have a brother again like. ok. ok. FUCK.

#real but also kind of suspicious the first time i resd that i was like hey. did antigone inherit her father's incestuousness #google said yeah #i cant believe sophocles wrote a bombass play with no villains. creon is valid. antigone is valid. polynices eteocles and haemon are valid. #sophocles #antigone #oedipus