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52 Reason In the version of the play I’m watching, Antigone goes to her death, just as in your version, and Creon, in the name of the state, has lost his heir. But in my version a god sings a song that entrances everyone, so all of them know they’ve been a part of a music they had no notion of, or so sings the god who comes into the theater. As a song has a beat, and a changing and repeating rhythm, so the body has a heart, and an adaptable mind. While the mind causes errors, often provoked by the heart, the mind insists on speaking, even metrically, and so we go to our deaths: articulate, and in error, formidable, deserving of awe, and odd— as the chorus seems to know. Watch our dance of custom and ceremony. Creon should listen to us: Bury the dead, as our city’s ritual prescribes. And Antigone, obey our king, and end this story, so our fear won’t overwhelm even our pity. Sweet Reason, all that’s needed to make peace among us. Creon’s desire for a triumphant city, and Antigone’s love for the dead, who alone cannot betray her— no wonder our hearts are divided, as if by a knife. The song has its reasons but is outside of reason for the usual reasons, or so sings the god. ...

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