The Line 572 Debate

When I read line 572 of Antigone, I remember being slightly confused. I wasn't sure why the reasoning, determined Ismene had quickly shifted to an almost plaintive wail. Viewing the second Antigone lecture made me realize that I wasn't the only reader who had paused at that line. The debate about whether Antigone or Ismene originally uttered line 572 was far more complex than I had imagined. Until watching the lecture, I had no idea what different a single line could make in a play. I understood that some lines in plays were more quotable than others (e.g. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet), but I would not have guessed that lines can be famous for their controversies. 

I know have a better understanding of what line 572 means to the play as a whole. If Antigone is the speaker, thEn that line expresses the raw vulnerability and anguish that I feel like was missing from a lot of her dialogue. Antigone is presented as an unshakeable, almost resigned character, and if she spoke line 572 it would indicate a rare moment of helplessness. Yet such a moment would be out of character, not to mention breaking the typical structure of such an exchange. My guess is that Ismene is the original speaker of line 572, although I feel like I don't know enough about her past romantic history to completely grasp its significance in the debated line yet. Either way, I find the debate really intriguing and it certainly helped me think about Antigone and Ismene in a new light.