Antigone - 02
From: Antigone, by Sophocles
Genre: Drama
Topic: Injustice
Character: Female
Because it wasn’t Zeus who pronounced these Things to me, nor did Justice, companion Of the gods below, establish such laws For humanity. I would never think Your pronouncements had such strength that, being Mortal, they could override the unwritten, ever-lasting prescriptions of the gods. For those aren’t something recently made, but Live forever, and no one knows when they First appeared. I did not intend to pay The penalty to the gods for violating these laws in fear of some man’s opinion, For now I know I will die. How could I not, Even if you had not proclaimed it? But If I die before my time, I say this Is an advantage. Anyone who lives A life of sorrow as I do, how could They not count it as a blessing to die? Therefore, there is no pain for me in meeting This fate, whereas if I were to endure That one born from my mother die unburied, That would cause me pain. As it is, I feel Nothing. If, however, I seem to you To have acted foolishly, then perhaps I owe my foolishness to a fool.
