The clash of irrationalities in Sophocles' Antigone

A study of the Greek text of Sophocles' Antigone provides a deeper understanding of the identities and psychodynamic interaction between the play's two main characters. Creon's particular diction, imagery, and even syntax constitute a subtext reflecting his rigidly hierarchical attitude and paranoid fear that defensively overlie his castration anxiety, his persecutory conception of women, and his own body image. His mental collapse is precipitated by the insightful and lexically powerful ad hominem expressions featured in Tiresias's admonitions. Textual analysis also sheds light on the nature of Antigone's incestuous desires for intimacy and clarifies their archaic origins. As death becomes more imminent, Antigone's complex, evolving reaction includes a verbally marked spatial disorientation.