 Hello fellow followers of Christ and welcome to the show that introduces you to the men and women behind history's greatest works of literature. Come along every week as we explore these renowned authors, the times and genre in which they wrote, why scholars praise their writing and how we as Catholics should read and understand their works. I'm Joseph Pierce and this is The Authority. Hello, this week on The Authority we're going to be talking about the great Greek playwright Sophocles and we're moving on a bit in time. Last week we talked about Homer and he was a few hundred years earlier. So Sophocles was born in 496 BC, so still almost 500 years before the birth of Christ. But we've got a few more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle now because we're a bit closer to our own time. So he was a contemporary of the other great playwright Iskolas, about 16 years younger than Iskolas, but actually live a long life and actually outlive Iskolas because he, Sophocles lived to be 90 years old, so he dies about 50 years after Iskolas, who died young. So, you know, 90 years is a long time in history. A lot's going to happen in the space of almost a century. So he witnessed the rise and decline of the Athenian Empire. So the rise of Athens as a great power, a great centre of civilisation, but also its decay and its decline. He died in about 406 or 405 BC. So the whole of that fifth century BC, he was basically alive. Now, he's known best for three plays that are connected together, the same characters in them. They're sometimes called the Oedipus cycle. I think Americans sometimes say Oedipus. You'll have to forgive me. We're bilingual in the authority. I'll be speaking British English and I'm sure you'll understand. So the Oedipus cycle, or sometimes it's called the Three Theban Plays because Thebes is the backdrop of them. And the first somewhat confusing thing about the plays is that the order in which they're written, the order of composition, is not actually the same as the order of the story. So the first to be written is Antigone. And that was written about 442 BC, when Sophocles was about 54 years old, middle aged. And then the next play was written about 12 years later, about 430 BC is Oedipus the King or Oedipus Rex. And Sophocles was about 66 years old when he wrote that. And then the final play, Oedipus at Colonus, was not actually performed until after he died. It was written when he was an old man. So his final last word and testament if you like, it can be seen in that play. And it's unfortunately the play that's least known of the three. And it's the most profound in terms of theology, philosophy, the mystery of suffering and the closest I would say morally of the three plays to a Christian understanding of things, which is probably why it's not taught so much in the secular world. So but so the thing is that in terms of that's them, they were written Antigone first, Oedipus Rex, and then Oedipus at Colonus. But the story is actually Oedipus Rex comes first, where Antigone, who's a young woman in the play of that name is a girl, a child, the Oedipus Rex. And then Oedipus at Colonus is when Oedipus is now an old man. And Antigone is his guide, she's now a young lady. And then Antigone, the play, which was the first one written, is the last in terms of the story, that's when she returns home after the death of her father. So that's a little bit confusion there. And there's always a question about what order you're going to talk, discuss, discuss them, teach them, read them. And I'm going to read them in the order in which they were written. So just have to bear in mind that the story we're talking about is actually the sequel to the two next two plays. The reason I'm going to teach it first, I think what we know this is called the authority where we're trying to focus on the authorial authority, who the author is, what the author believes, how those beliefs are present in the works. And so reading that discussing the works in the order in which they were written allows us to go through biographically as Sophocles gets older and wiser. So Antigone, there's a vibrancy about it. I'll almost say youthfulness about it, although Sophocles was middle aged when he wrote it. Basically, the scene for the play is that Antigone's two brothers, Polynoeces and Ateocles, are on opposite sides of a war. And Ateocles's side wins, but both Ateocles and Polynoeces, both the brothers are killed in battle. So Creon becomes king. And what Creon decrees as head of state in his power, secular power that he has, is the law of the state is going to decree that although Ateocles will have a full military funeral with all the honors that go with that to a hero who died for his country, that Polynoeces as a traitor would have no burial at all. There would be no religious service. And he would just be left to rot and be eaten by the wild dogs and the carrion. Now, in other words, the law of the state is imposing laws which contravene the right to religious liberty, the right to religious freedom. And Antigone responds basically by saying to King Creon, you have no right. The laws of man have no right to supersede the laws of God or the laws of the gods. And that it's incumbent upon the living to give a religious burial to the dead. And that nobody, no government, no politics has the right to contravene that religious liberty. So she is going to defy the law in order to in order to practice her religion. Her sister is mainly response is one of cowardice. She sort of agrees that Antigone is sort of right in principle. But look, it's the power of the state. What can we do against the power of the states much more powerful than we are. There's nothing we can do. So just, just live with it. And Antigone is far from being willing to live with it is is willing to die for her religious freedom. So she gives her brother a religious burial as best she can and is caught in the process and cut a long story short that eventually she she dies. Because of that, she lays down her life for her faith, faith if you like, she's a martyr to her religion and a martyr against secular tyranny. It goes without saying that this is applicable. One of the great things about great works of literature, even if they were written two and a half thousand years ago, is they are applicable to our own time. They apply to us. They were great lessons we can learn about our own time from these writers from other times. There's a there's a division between Creon and his son, Hamon, Hamon's in love with Antigone. So the plot thickens as they say. But but Hamon has some wonderful speeches in his in his dialogue with his father about the fact that no one agrees with you you're a tyrant. And the only reason that people not are not disagreeing with you is because they're they're scared to speak up that the power of the state has become a monster basically and you as the power of the state have become monstrous. And Creon refuses to listen to to to to Hamon. Hamon commits suicide. Creon's wife commits suicide. It's a Greek tragedy after all everybody commit suicide. Obviously Antigone dies and then Creon too late realizes his mistake. He's left devastated is left with nothing is left without his wife, his son. So he pays a huge price himself for his own wickedness. So the so the key thing about Antigone is of course that it's a great, if you like, parable about the the conflict always between as St. Augustine would say between the city of God, and the city of man between the things of God, and the things of the world of the world secular power versus all power and glory being being being to God. So this is something that in every generation we face right at this tension where the state tries to impose its secular will upon the practice of religion. So Antigone, the play stands as a monument, if you like, to this this battle for religious liberty through the ages. Let's now move on to the second play in the cycle. By the way, I should I should just mention that the appearance of Taurisius the prophet who's a blind prophet at the end of the towards the end of of Antigone. And the key thing there is that he is a spokesman for the gods, right? He's a prophet. He's blind. But he sees this is the paradox. He sees the future sees the consequences. He sees the fact that the kingdom and Creon will be punished if they continue to defy the will of the gods. So he's the spokesman of the gods who warns Creon of the consequences he will suffer and Creon in his pride and arrogance treats the prophet with contempt. So again, parallels with the Old Testament are palpable here. So but again, the blind prophet who sees and of course, this is also a prophecy of what's going to happen in the next play. So in Edipus Rex, we see that it's a comedy of errors or comedy of coincidences that pose questions about the meaning of suffering. Is there a meaning to suffering or is suffering just meaningless? So Edipus Rex is again, much great literature are some of the most important questions, particularly that concerning the role of suffering in life. So the king and queen, Laos and Jacasta are here that there's of a curse that their own son will slay them. So their response to that to that prophecy that curse is to slay their own son as an infant to kill Edipus when he's a baby so that obviously he can't kill them. So they give the baby to a servant for the servant to dispose of the servant in the goodness of his heart cannot bring himself to kill the baby. And then the baby is discovered lying in a field where he'd been left to die by a shepherd. And the shepherd takes pity on the baby. So we have mercy on the part of you like the poor wickedness on the part of the rulers. And then he's raised by two other kings and other king and king and queen and other kingdom Polybus and Merope. When Edipus as a young man hears this understanding of the of the curse that he's that he runs away because he thinks he's going to kill Polybus and Merope who are his adoptive parents. He doesn't know that that they're that they're only his adoptive parents. He thinks that he's a biological parents. So he runs away to avoid that curse coming true. And then he meets his real father who basically attacks him assaults him. He doesn't know he's his real father. He kills his real father in ignorance of who he is. And then he marries his mother again in ignorance of knowing who she is and they have children. So we had this curse. And when when Edipus realizes when it's all brought to light at the end of the play this this hideous chain of events which has led to him doing you know killing his own father marrying his mother having children by his mother. He he plucks out his own eyes in in in an act of self mutilation and self disgust that you know my eyes have done nothing but deceive me and I'm going to pluck up my self violence at the end. The self mutilation these these people being killed and apparently with no culpability it's not that Edipus by the way is a saint he he also acts arrogantly many ways but he certainly not he doesn't know he's killing his father he kills a man in self defense he doesn't know he's marrying his mother. So the question that's raised by Edipus Rex is is this suffering all meaningless? Is it an example of a meaningless absurd cosmos? And so that's one reason by the way Edipus Rex is is is is quite popular today to be taught because it allows people who are nihilistic and anarchic atheistic who don't believe in in divine providence or in the power of love or the power of goodness truth and beauty to say look there's no meaning to anything at the bottom of the cosmos is just meaningless suffering live with it or die with it commit suicide whatever but how does Sophocles deal with that issue? He deals with that issue with the next of the play of the final play Edipus at colonis and Edipus at colonis we have Edipus is an old man and obviously blind because he's blinded himself and Antigone his daughter who has given up any prospect of human happiness of marriage of having children of her own in order to lay down her life for her father to be his guide obviously a blind man needs someone to guide him so she embraces this suffering laying down her life for her father and what we find in Edipus and Antigone is this profound acceptance of suffering and the key thing is you know we can't avoid suffering right suffering is going to happen to all of us we are going to have to carry crosses the only thing we have to do we only thing we have this choice you have to make is what do we do with the cross and we find we're carrying it do we resent it do we hate it or do we ask Christ to help us carry it so again all of us are on Golgoth either side of Jesus Christ the bad thief from the good thief so we're on we're on with Christ and Golgoth and says that we're nailing him to the cross without sins but we're also being nailed to our own crosses because of our sins either side of him what do we do with the cross of suffering in our lives do we resent it do we hate it do we blame everybody else including God himself for it or do we as the bad thief does or do we as a good thief does except and embrace the fact that we are sinners that much of the suffering in our lives is a consequence of our sins the sins of others and instead of hating and resenting it and blaming others we ask God for help I like the good thief so basically that question the perennial question about the meaning of suffering is is addressed and in some what sense answered in this wonderful play Antigone sorry and it's an Oedipus a colonis it's because both Oedipus and Antig Antigone don't just suffer they accept suffering and embrace their suffering and and Oedipus says that that he's again gained great wisdom through his suffering and the fact that he was largely innocent of his suffering hasn't made him resentful he sees the the lessons it's taught the he was proud he's now learned humility he's become wiser and closer to the gods he's now a symbol and an image of the acceptance of suffering itself which makes him a gift and he says that I am a gift to those who accept me and we go back to the law of Xenia here with the Greek law of the responsibility of the host to be hospitable to the guest to the stranger well what that that might be fine the strangers wealthy and well dressed and well mannered what about the strangers a beggar a blind beggar an old man homeless probably disheveled maybe smelly and same thing with Antigone his guide how do we accept that sort of stranger and so again the seers the king embraces welcomes Oedipus and Antigone as as as as gifts as gift from God as as as as as carriers of great wisdom and he passes the test of Xenia he does the will of the gods Creon on the other hand treats Oedipus and Antigone with contempt look at them that's for Antigone look at her who's going to want to marry her now I mean she's made a mess that she is unlovable right untouchable a pariah and then how do the gods respond and this is really amazing because Oedipus knows that his time has come the end of his life if his earthly life has come he asked everybody to to stand back and this is just one witness and he wanders off and he's assumed into heaven by the gods it's it's you know your Christians Catholics cannot help but be reminded of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary that he's actually taken up by the doesn't die he's taking up into the gods as their acceptance of his acceptance of suffering and if you like the acceptance of suffering if is it is is a synonym for holiness there is no holiness without self-sacrifice there is no holiness without without suffering to love is to sacrifice ourselves for others than our lives for others so you know we might think that that ancient Greece and this this culture that hasn't yet seen Jesus Christ and his message to us would not know about suffering would not have thought about suffering would not have contemplated suffering and evidently of course all generations of humanity from the beginning of time since the since the fall of man himself have suffered and thought about suffering we made an image of God we've been given the power to love given the power to reason and so clearly people have thought philosophically again that we need to remind ourselves that that Sophocles is the same sort of time as the great Greek philosophers Socrates Plato Aristotle etc very philosophical culture they're asking these questions and that it's not it what we find is that these questions are answered by Christ so at the end of a novel we'll be looking at some stage in the future in the author to and become to GK Chesterton the question asked at the end of the person who is God is have you ever suffered and the character who's the divine figure in the novel says can you drink of the cup which I drink can you drink my cup crucifixion the God who lays down his life for us to make sense of suffering so to conclude the three plays Antigone teaches us very powerful lessons and of course again this reminds us of chronology the story of Antigone happens afterwards Edipus dies always assumed in the heaven and then Antigone returns home and and then she finds herself a defying King Creon in pursuit of religious liberty but in the order which they've written this is important this is why we've done it this way we see Sophocles as the author growing in wisdom right so seeing the point the importance of religion and and the decadence and the power of tyrannical states as being something inimical to the truth of religion and we have to fight the religion and then looking at suffering and what on earth is the meaning or purpose of suffering what if someone were to find themselves in a situation where they they they become the victim of things beyond their control and suffer greatly in consequence of that what does that say about suffering is there any purpose and then in the final play Edipus of Clonus that question is answered Sophocles now as an old wise man coming to see that yes we will suffer yes we have to respond to suffering we can do with anger or we can do with acceptance that Sophocles shows us in the character of Edipus and in the character of Antigone the necessity of the acceptance of suffering this is a great lesson that is great pagan playwright from in my judgment the greatest playwright in the history of Western civilization except for William Shakespeare who will obviously come to eventually in the authority also so on that note we'll remind ourselves how I concluded last week when we were talking about Homer about the Virgin Muse about the the the Greeks being like a bridegroom awaiting the car sorry like a bride awaiting the coming of the bridegroom here we see it in a sublime degree in the way that Sophocles looks at these key issues of suffering and acceptance in these three plays and next week on the authority will be looking at the last great the pagan writers come to the end of the of the era just a couple of decades before the birth of Christ the great Roman poet Virgil and we'll be looking at how he is part of a living tradition and owes so much of of what he writes to the works of Homer but that's next time thanks much for joining me this time until next time goodbye and God bless this has been an episode of the authority with Joseph Pierce brought to you by tan for updates on new episodes and to support the authority and other great free content visit the authority podcast dot com to subscribe and use coupon code authority 25 to get 25% off your next order including books audio books and video courses by Joseph Pierce on literary giants such as Tolkien Chesterton Lewis Shakespeare and as well as tans extensive 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