Wonders are many, and none is more
 wonderful than man. This power
 spans the sea, even when it surges white before the gales of the
 south-wind, and makes a path under swells that threaten to engulf him.
 Earth, too, the eldest of the gods, the immortal, the
 unwearied, he wears away to
 his own ends, turning the soil with the offspring of horses as the plows
 weave to and fro year after year. Chorus The light-hearted tribe of
 birds and the clans of wild
 beasts and the sea-brood of the deep he snares in the meshes of his
 twisted nets, and he leads them captive, very-skilled man. He masters by
 his arts the beast who dwells in
 the wilds and roams the hills. He tames the shaggy-maned horse, putting
 the yoke upon its neck, and tames the tireless mountain bull. Chorus Speech and thought fast as
 the wind and the moods that
 give order to a city he has taught himself, and how to flee the arrows
 of the inhospitable frost under clear skies and the arrows of the
 storming rain. He has resource for
 everything. Lacking resource in nothing he strides towards what must
 come. From Death alone he shall procure no escape, but from baffling
 diseases he has devised flights. Chorus Possessing resourceful skill, a
 subtlety beyond expectation he moves now to evil, now to good. When he
 honors the laws of the land and the justice of the gods to which he is
 bound by oath, his city prospers.
 But banned from his city is he who, thanks to his rashness, couples with
 disgrace. Never may he share my home, never think my thoughts, who does these things! Enter the Guard, on the spectators’ left, leading in
 Antigone. Chorus What marvel sent by the gods is this?—I am
 bewildered! I know her. How can I deny that this girl is Antigone? O
 unhappy child of your unhappy father, of Oedipus! What can this
 mean? What! Surely they are not bringing you captive for disobeying
 the King’s laws and being caught in lunacy? Guard Here is she, the one who did the deed. We caught this one burying him. Where is Creon? Enter Creon from the palace. Chorus There, he is coming from the house again at our need. Creon What is it? What has happened that makes my coming timely? Guard My king, there is nothing that a man can rightly swear he
 will not do. For second thought belies one’s first intent. I could have vowed that I would not ever come here
 again, because of your threats by which I had just been storm-tossed.
 But since this joy that exceeds and oversteps my hopes can be compared
 in fulness to no other pleasure, I am back—though it is contrary to my
 sworn oath— bringing this girl who
 was caught giving burial honors to the dead. This time there was no
 casting of lots. No, this piece of luck has fallen to me, and me alone.
 And now, my king, as it pleases you, take her yourself, question her and
 convict her. But justice would see me released free and clear from this trouble. Creon Your prisoner here—how and where did you take her? Guard She was burying the man. You know all there is to tell. Creon Are you clear and sure about what you are saying? Guard I am. I saw her burying the corpse that you had forbidden to bury. Is that plain and
 sufficient? Creon And how was she observed? How taken in the act? Guard It happened like this. When we had come to the place with those fierce
 threats of yours still in our ears, we swept away all the dust that
 covered the corpse and bared
 the damp body well. We then sat down on the brow of the hill to
 windward, fleeing the smell from him, lest it strike us. Each man was
 wide awake and kept his neighbor alert with torrents of threats, if any
 one should be careless of this task.