"You shall not die with me. You shall not claim that which you would not touch. One death is enough." (141)
Although it makes sense that Antigone would not accept Ismene's assistance, why is it, do you think, that she would not accept the help purely for the support for her brother?
I can't tell here whether Antigone is driven mainly by her own pride (so she alone gets the credit that Ismene doesn't deserve) or whether "One death is enough" implies that Antigone recognizes how extreme this penalty is and wishes to spare her sister who, despite her lack of help, is Antigone's last blood relative. Actually, I think Creon may be related to them? Laius's brother, perhaps. In terms of your question about supporting Polynices, perhaps even Antigone realizes it won't do their brother any good for both sisters to simply be dead with him.
ReplyDelete