A Few Comments on The Tomb of Antigone by María Zambrano

The tomb of Antigone (1967) is considered one of María Zambrano’s most emblematic works. Her multiple re-writings of this myth indicate that the author herself also awards her reflections on Antigone an important place in her thought. Antigone is saved from her death by the philosopher, that is, she moves away from the destiny Sophocles imposes on her. By contrast, Zambrano gives Antigone the crucial time she needs to be able to acquire self-consciousness. Thus, through this text Zambrano describes Antigone’s poetic-philosophical journey towards those “dark caverns of thought”. The reader witnesses this descent when Antigone enters her own grave, that intermediate space between death and life and – through a ritual process characterised by pain, loneliness and delirium that finally allows her a different and more authentic perspective on life – she is reborn, she reveals her soul and, finally, she rebels. Zambrano gives Antigone a chance to live, to develop a different idea of desire, to express her love in a visible way through the poetic word.