Antigone, I’m sorry. I was wrong.

When I studied Sophocles‘ Antigone, back at high school, I was bored as hell. There were good reasons for it though, allow me to elaborate:

My back then Literature teacher, I don’t remember her name neither am interested in it, was probably the most annoying person I ever had the misfortune of trying to argue with. I’m an MA student for English Literature nowadays, which goes to say something about the way I perceive and approach the written word, but back then I was just a student, like the rest of the class. And when she taught us a poem which I disagreed on the meaning of, I was dimmed by her – illiterate. She sent me to an observation, claiming I did not know how to read or at least understand what I was reading. So maybe there’s no surprise that Antigone, one of the subjects of the class, was such a horrible memory in my mind.

Few weeks ago my mother went to the local library and there it was – a pile of carton boxes filled with English books donated to the library which didn’t want them. It was dying slowly in the sun, the pages turning yellow, and one of the boxes spilled all over the sidewalk, a very sad sight. She couldn’t bear it and called me, and I had to salvage whatever I could.

Sophocles’ Theban Plays was one of these books, a Penguin Classics edition, nothing too fancy really. Reading it I just couldn’t stop – I’m still pretty shocked at how interesting a read it is! The translation seems to be rather smooth, although a bit too accessible and lacking in the high art department – it still is a very good start for a reader who is less familiar with Greek plays. I enjoyed this thoroughly and will definitely return to reread it. A wonderful work! And I thought to myself – damn! Is this the same Antigone I’ve met in the past?

The moral of the story is this –

Your teachers are not always right, and when they are wrong – don’t let it hurt you. It will only result in a 10 years of delay in your life.

To my review of Theban Plays on Goodreads.com – CLICK HERE