Explain why the Paean immediately follows Scene 5. Please add convincing details from both the Paean and Scene 5. As always, please compose and carefully edit your response in an MSW document before posting.
The Paean is a celebration of the god Dionysos. The Paean praises the god of wine and fertility while it is also a cry for help. Because the Paean is an outcry to Dionysos, it is placed immediately after Scene 5. In Scene 5, the blind prophet Teiresias tells Creon that the gods are upset with the wrong that he has done. Teiresias states, “The gods are deaf when we pray to them, their fire/ Recoils from our offering” (783). This means that because Creon disobeyed the gods’ law by denying Polyneices a burial and punishing Antigone, the city of Thebes has lost favor with the gods. The Paean follows directly after Scene 5 because the purpose of the Paean is to restore Thebes’ favor with the gods. The Paean says, “The shadow of plague is upon us: come with clement feet” (787). The plague refers to the suffering that Thebes will face because the gods are upset with Creon. When the Paean refers to clement feet, it is asking Dionysos to come and bring healing or be merciful. The Paean is significant because it attempts to placate the gods and prevent the adversity that Thebes may face.
The Paean follows scene 5 because it is an attempt to ask the powerful Dionysos to bring peace and balance back to the city of Thebes. Scene 5 explains the prophecy of Creon and the consequences for his negative leadership decision that was based on pride. Teiresias converses with Creon regarding the new calamity throughout the entire city. This scene foreshadows the tragic ending of Antigone and leads the audience to believe that this play will not have a happy ending. The Paean is written as a plea for good fortune and asks the divine powers to heal the wound of misfortune and sorrow that King Creon has created with his choice to not bury Polyneices, therefore indirectly withholding a child from the gods. The paean is written in a format similar to chants in the Hawaiian culture. In many Hawaiian moolelo (for example The Wind Gourd of Laamaomao), the gods are called upon when hardships and obstacles arise and a human needs assistance and guidance in order to bring tranquility to the people once again. Scene 5 emphasizes the mistake Creon has made and focuses on the predicament he has caused between himself and the gods, and well as the city of Thebes and the gods. The Paean is a way of trying to set things straight and to remove all the evil from the city of Thebes.
The Paean, a choral hymn in praise of Dionysis, immediately follows Scene 5 because this Paean is not simply a hymn of praise to Dionysis. It is also a prayer asking the god for help. In Scene 5 Teiresias foretells a horrible future for Creon if he does not free Antigone and burry Polyneices. That he will pay flesh with flesh, and be cursed by far away cities. But Creon held his pride until the prophet left, when the choragos was finally able to convince him to admit that he was wrong. However, at that point he was fearful of being punished. The Paean is, in some ways, a prayer to not only help Creon save Antigone, but also to minimize his consequence, and in extension, the consequence of his people. Line 12 of the Paean says, “The shadow of plague is upon us:/ come/ with clement feet/ oh come from Parnasos/ down the long slopes/ across the lamenting water.” The shadow of plague could be interpreted as the consequences of Creons actions, should he fail to correct them. They also call upon Dionysis to come with “clement” feet, or merciful feet. In other words, they are praying for mercy from Dionysis. The lamenting waters could refer to Thebes, and to the grief that was experienced at the time due to so much death.
I agree with Kanoe that the Paean is a celebration of the god Dionysos (god of many names). This is a good observation because before every stanza or grouping of lines the Choragos would sing “God of many Names” (4; 6; 11) then finally the chorus calls out “Iacchos of Thebes” (12) and Iacchos is another name for Dionysos, which links to how the Choragos was calling him “God of many names”. The Paean is common to a lot of creation chants. I say this because in the footnotes it gives us information about how the city of Thebes was created. It also gave us a lineage line of where Dionysos came from and how his family were the creators of the setting of Antigone. For example the story of Dragon Field, Kadmos (father of Semele who is birthing mother to Dionysos through Zeus) was instructed by Delphi to follow a cow until he lays to rest, and that is where he shall build the city of Thebes. He challenged a dragon near a stream. He sliced his head of and scattered his teeth on a field where Warriors sprang from them. Until five Warriors were left, they and Kadmos founded the city of Thebes. This could be linked to a creation chant and how Dionysos is linked to city of Thebes. That is why the Paean is a celebration of Dionysos because the city of Thebes are in trouble with calamity with Creon and Antigone. So the Choragos and chorus is praying to Dionysos to bring peace and tranquil to the city.
I agree with Kanoe’s statement that the Paean is to restore Thebes’ favor with the gods. I support this statement because I believe that the Paean is a cry for mercy to Dionysos. Towards the end of Scene 5, Creon realizes that his actions towards Polyneices and Antigone are wrong, so he tries to fix his actions by setting Antigone free from imprisonment. Creon’s plead for help works parallel to his action of setting Antigone free because they are both trying to restore Creon’s favor with the gods. Creon’s cry includes imploring Dionysos to come with “clement feet,” meaning that Creon wants Dionysos to punish him with a lesser severity. The order of the content in the Paean is similar to the order in which people pray to God today. The prayer is started off with acknowledgment to the God, followed by the mentioning of how powerful He is and everything he has done/given us, followed by the requests of the person, and finally closes with more acknowledgment and praise. This is significant because we can relate our own actions of today to the actions of the characters of an ancient Greek play.
I agree with Kalehua that the Paean follows scene 5 because the people of Thebes are asking Dionysos to take pity on them and make everything return to peace. In scene 5, Teiresias, a blind prophet, foretells Creon what his consequences will be from the gods for not burying Polyneices and wrongly penalizing Antigone for trying to do the right thing. Since scene 5 unfortunately describes Creon’s punishment, the Paean is a request for help from the people wanting joy and happiness to return to them. The first line “God of many names” is repeated more than once throughout the Paean, inferring that the people want to honor Dionysos for all the things that make him known. By trying to acclaim Dionysos, the people probably felt that it would cause him to feel sympathetic towards them because they are most likely part of Creon’s vengeance.
The Paean is a celebration of the god Dionysos. The Paean praises the god of wine and fertility while it is also a cry for help. Because the Paean is an outcry to Dionysos, it is placed immediately after Scene 5. In Scene 5, the blind prophet Teiresias tells Creon that the gods are upset with the wrong that he has done. Teiresias states, “The gods are deaf when we pray to them, their fire/ Recoils from our offering” (783). This means that because Creon disobeyed the gods’ law by denying Polyneices a burial and punishing Antigone, the city of Thebes has lost favor with the gods. The Paean follows directly after Scene 5 because the purpose of the Paean is to restore Thebes’ favor with the gods. The Paean says, “The shadow of plague is upon us: come with clement feet” (787). The plague refers to the suffering that Thebes will face because the gods are upset with Creon. When the Paean refers to clement feet, it is asking Dionysos to come and bring healing or be merciful. The Paean is significant because it attempts to placate the gods and prevent the adversity that Thebes may face.
ReplyDeleteThe Paean follows scene 5 because it is an attempt to ask the powerful Dionysos to bring peace and balance back to the city of Thebes. Scene 5 explains the prophecy of Creon and the consequences for his negative leadership decision that was based on pride. Teiresias converses with Creon regarding the new calamity throughout the entire city. This scene foreshadows the tragic ending of Antigone and leads the audience to believe that this play will not have a happy ending. The Paean is written as a plea for good fortune and asks the divine powers to heal the wound of misfortune and sorrow that King Creon has created with his choice to not bury Polyneices, therefore indirectly withholding a child from the gods. The paean is written in a format similar to chants in the Hawaiian culture. In many Hawaiian moolelo (for example The Wind Gourd of Laamaomao), the gods are called upon when hardships and obstacles arise and a human needs assistance and guidance in order to bring tranquility to the people once again. Scene 5 emphasizes the mistake Creon has made and focuses on the predicament he has caused between himself and the gods, and well as the city of Thebes and the gods. The Paean is a way of trying to set things straight and to remove all the evil from the city of Thebes.
ReplyDeleteThe Paean, a choral hymn in praise of Dionysis, immediately follows Scene 5 because this Paean is not simply a hymn of praise to Dionysis. It is also a prayer asking the god for help. In Scene 5 Teiresias foretells a horrible future for Creon if he does not free Antigone and burry Polyneices. That he will pay flesh with flesh, and be cursed by far away cities. But Creon held his pride until the prophet left, when the choragos was finally able to convince him to admit that he was wrong. However, at that point he was fearful of being punished. The Paean is, in some ways, a prayer to not only help Creon save Antigone, but also to minimize his consequence, and in extension, the consequence of his people. Line 12 of the Paean says, “The shadow of plague is upon us:/ come/ with clement feet/ oh come from Parnasos/ down the long slopes/ across the lamenting water.” The shadow of plague could be interpreted as the consequences of Creons actions, should he fail to correct them. They also call upon Dionysis to come with “clement” feet, or merciful feet. In other words, they are praying for mercy from Dionysis. The lamenting waters could refer to Thebes, and to the grief that was experienced at the time due to so much death.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kanoe that the Paean is a celebration of the god Dionysos (god of many names). This is a good observation because before every stanza or grouping of lines the Choragos would sing “God of many Names” (4; 6; 11) then finally the chorus calls out “Iacchos of Thebes” (12) and Iacchos is another name for Dionysos, which links to how the Choragos was calling him “God of many names”. The Paean is common to a lot of creation chants. I say this because in the footnotes it gives us information about how the city of Thebes was created. It also gave us a lineage line of where Dionysos came from and how his family were the creators of the setting of Antigone. For example the story of Dragon Field, Kadmos (father of Semele who is birthing mother to Dionysos through Zeus) was instructed by Delphi to follow a cow until he lays to rest, and that is where he shall build the city of Thebes. He challenged a dragon near a stream. He sliced his head of and scattered his teeth on a field where Warriors sprang from them. Until five Warriors were left, they and Kadmos founded the city of Thebes. This could be linked to a creation chant and how Dionysos is linked to city of Thebes. That is why the Paean is a celebration of Dionysos because the city of Thebes are in trouble with calamity with Creon and Antigone. So the Choragos and chorus is praying to Dionysos to bring peace and tranquil to the city.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kanoe’s statement that the Paean is to restore Thebes’ favor with the gods. I support this statement because I believe that the Paean is a cry for mercy to Dionysos. Towards the end of Scene 5, Creon realizes that his actions towards Polyneices and Antigone are wrong, so he tries to fix his actions by setting Antigone free from imprisonment. Creon’s plead for help works parallel to his action of setting Antigone free because they are both trying to restore Creon’s favor with the gods. Creon’s cry includes imploring Dionysos to come with “clement feet,” meaning that Creon wants Dionysos to punish him with a lesser severity. The order of the content in the Paean is similar to the order in which people pray to God today. The prayer is started off with acknowledgment to the God, followed by the mentioning of how powerful He is and everything he has done/given us, followed by the requests of the person, and finally closes with more acknowledgment and praise. This is significant because we can relate our own actions of today to the actions of the characters of an ancient Greek play.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kalehua that the Paean follows scene 5 because the people of Thebes are asking Dionysos to take pity on them and make everything return to peace. In scene 5, Teiresias, a blind prophet, foretells Creon what his consequences will be from the gods for not burying Polyneices and wrongly penalizing Antigone for trying to do the right thing. Since scene 5 unfortunately describes Creon’s punishment, the Paean is a request for help from the people wanting joy and happiness to return to them. The first line “God of many names” is repeated more than once throughout the Paean, inferring that the people want to honor Dionysos for all the things that make him known. By trying to acclaim Dionysos, the people probably felt that it would cause him to feel sympathetic towards them because they are most likely part of Creon’s vengeance.
ReplyDelete