Note from the Author: So, if you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of a fan of classic Greek stuff. I was in the play Antigone (the Jean Anouilh version) twice, once in high school and once in college. Both times I played Antigone, and both times had a profound impact on me.

If I recall correctly, I wrote the following for a directing class. I was allowed to write anything i wanted, but it had to have two characters, one of which would only have a short blip of dialogue near the end.

Feel free to perform this if you need a monologue or something for class. Just let me know about it, and record it for me or something, I'd love to see it performed. :)

After the Tragedy

CREON – Tiresias, it's me. You remember. The once proud king of Thebes. – or perhaps you've known too many of those to recall my name. My sister's two husbands…They're both long dead now, and only I live to confess to you our sins. Would to the gods I could join the dead kings below, have my soul washed and recycled, but that is the coward's way out now. Only I remain, until the last princess marries and bears an heir…

Yes, my son is dead. He killed himself because of me. Killed himself to be with her, the unjustly condemned. …My only son. My only child. Oh gods...oh gods, Tiresias, you were right. And I was not as right as you were. I and all of Thebes suffer the wrath of the gods for the dead I allowed to be desecrated. But I more than all, for I cannot shed the heavy crown I bear. I cannot join the happy dead. They are all together, and I…I am…alone… My wife…my son…all gone. Gone, all of my family, but one blessed niece who weeps and wishes herself dead like her sister. But she bears the same burden of royalty as I. She, like I, cannot escape guilt through death.

But why? Why do we carry this?! I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for the crown, the scepter, the blindness of kings! Oh, I dreamed of it as all men do, but I never wanted it. Not really. Take it from me! Take it all! Our bloodline is cursed! You who are a prophet would make a far wiser king! TAKE IT! Oh gods, take it…please…

You can't can you? It would corrupt you too, and then from where would we hear the voice of the gods?

Thebes has seen enough of war and plagues…Is there anything I can do now to prevent another curse from falling upon my people? Anything at all? I would gladly give my life, my eyes, as the last king did…

No?! No… No. I cannot bear it… Will this suffering never end? Is there no forgiveness for foolishness? The layman may be foolish and only he suffers for it. But when a king is a fool, his kingdom pays the price.

TIRESIAS – You have learnt wisdom too late, Creon. What the gods have decreed cannot be undone. But remember this – time marches onward, and this too shall pass away.

CREON – This too shall pass away…and so shall I. But for now I am condemned to live.