The Second Stasimon of Antigone

This stasimon has always attracted particular attention, partly because it contains some famous textual problems, partly because it has much to say about ate , a theme especially dear to interpreters of Greek tragedy. It is also a very fine lyric and many critics have been sensitive to its poetry; is there then any need for further discussion? My defence is simply that the best known passages of great literature tend to become encrusted with clichés, so that every now and again it is worth our while to attempt a fresh reading. Everyone agrees that the most obvious function of the ode is to offer some sort of commentary on the bewildering events of the preceding scene – the confrontation between Antigone and Creon, which opens with Antigone defending her action by appeal to the Unwritten Laws (450ff.) and ends with Creon condemning her to death (575ff.).