Antigone Packet



Antigone Packet

Lesson 1: Prologue- Scene 2

Reading: Pages 773-787

Background for Prologue and Parados:

The Greeks believed that the spirit of a dead person could enter Hades only after the body had been purified and buried. Until the proper rites were performed, the person hovered at the gate of Hades, neither alive nor completely dead.

Women in ancient Greece had to depend on male relatives for support. Girls married when they were thirteen or fourteen, and their husbands often were more than twice their age. Women in wealthy households were secluded, had no legal rights, and did not inherit property. If a woman's husband died, a man in her family, her guardian, would try to find her another husband.

 Discussion Questions for Prologue and Parados:

1. Teiresias is a blind prophet. How important might the detail of the prophet's blindness be to the story?

2. How are Antigone and Ismene contrasted in the first lines of the play?

3. In line 36, what does this statement reveal about Antigone?

4. In one sentence, express Ismene's argument against aiding Antigone as she explains it in lines 37-53.

5. In verbal irony, what is said is the opposite of what is meant. Where does Antigone use verbal irony with Ismene?

6. In the Parados, Polyneices is compared to an animal. What animal is it, and how does this metaphor make you feel about Polyneices?

7. Which of Antigone's last lines are meant to produce the most emotional effect?

8. What hopes for the future does the Chorus express?

9. How does the Parodos differ in tone and content from the Prologue?

Background for Scene 1 and Ode 1:

The original audience for Antigone might have read between the lines in Creon's first speech to the Chorus. They might have seen some political commentary. Athens was a democracy, but there were memories of its previous rulers, who worked hard to preserve their family identities-and their family welfare. Even in the democracy, aristocratic families were known to promote their own interests. Thus, it would have been important for the audience to hear Creon distancing himself from Polyneices, a rebellious family member, and decrying nepotism.

Discussion Questions for Scene 1 and Ode 1:

1. In Creon's first words to the Chorus, what were the "storms" that threatened to destroy the Ship of State?

2. What reasons does Creon give for not allowing Polyneices to be buried?

3. How does the arrival of the Sentry affect this scene?

4. What news is the Sentry reluctant to deliver?

5. How does the Sentry's announcement-there is evidence that Creon's command has been disobeyed-affect the action of the plot?

6. Retell the order of events of the Sentry's story in lines 79-113.

Background for Scene 2 and Ode 2:

Creon's comment about his nieces underscores Ismene's role as a foil to Antigone. Ismene's main purpose in the play is to emphasize, through her own weakness, Antigone's strength.

The curse that afflicts the royal family is a thread that runs throughout the play. In Ode 2, the Chorus identifies Antigone's suffering as a consequence of the sin and downfall of Oedipus.

Notice that the language of Ode 2 is more metaphorical and alliterative than that of the dialogue. The ode also contains several historical and mythological allusions, whereas the dialogue is more plainly spoken.

Discussion Questions for Scene 2 and Ode 2:

1. What does the Sentry compare Antigone to when she discovers that Polyneices’ corpse has been unburied? How does this simile make you feel about Antigone?

2. Why do you think Ismene changes her mind about her brother’s burial? Do you think Antigone is justified in rejecting Ismene’s support, or is she being too hard on her sister? Explain.

3. According to Ode 2, “God’s vengeance” looms over the House of Oedipus. What human fault does the Chorus say is responsible for this “curse of heaven”?

4. So far in the play, which characters have shown that they have this fault? Explain.

Preparation: Prepare Now for an Assignment Later

As you continue to read the play, consider which character, Antigone or Creon, suffers more in this play. Depending on which character you choose, how much blame should the other character shoulder?

Lesson 2: Scene 3-Exodus

Reading: Pages 791-808.

Background for Scene 3 and Ode 3:

Although in Scene 1 Creon claims to represent the State, in Scene 3 he refuses to accept the idea that his subjects support Antigone. "And the City proposes to teach me how to rule?" he demands. Finally, he gives up all pretense of representation and declares, "The State is the king!"

Literary critic Bernard Knox writes, "This autocratic phrase puts the finishing touch to the picture Sophocles is drawing for his audience: Creon has now displayed . . . the characteristics of the tyrant, "a despotic ruler who seizes power and retains it by intimidation and force." It is important to realize that Athenian audiences despised tyrants because tyrants ruled Athens for about a hundred years before a democratic government was established in 508 BC. 

Discussion Questions for Scene 3 and Ode 3:

1. In this scene, Creon withstands a powerful assault on his thinking. Who makes the attack, and what effect does it have on Creon?

2. In line 31, Creon says that Antigone will probably plead “family ties” to avoid being punished for breaking the law. How has Creon completely misjudged Antigone’ character?

3. What metaphors does Haimon use to argue that Creon should be more flexible?

4. Why do you think Creon changes his mind about how to punish Antigone? How can he believe that he can absolve himself, or the state, or her death?

5. At this point in the play, what do you think of Haimon’s threat in line 124? Do you think he is serious, or do you think he is trying to pressure his father into changing his mind?

6. Ode 3 is a rather bitter commentary on love. Discuss the view of love given in Ode 3. Why does the Chorus give only one view of love?

Background for Scene 4 and Ode 4:

Antigone holds to a classical Greek view of the afterlife: Although it is a place where there are "no more tears" and where there may be some reunion with those who have gone before, it also is a place without warmth and music, a place of darkness, and a place of "thin ghosts.” Indeed, part of Antigone's heroism lies in her willingness to consign herself to a place of such mixed happiness and gloom.

Discussion Questions for Scene 4 and Ode 4:

1. How is Antigone’s tone in this scene different from her tone in earlier scenes?

2. Beginning at line 25, Antigone accuses the Chorus of laughing at her and denying her “all pity.” What do you think she means by pity, and how does the Chorus respond to her?

3. What does Antigone mean in line 41 when she says that her father’s “marriage strikes from the grave to murder” her own marriage? How does the Chorus argue against this view in lines 45-48?

4. In line 71, Antigone asks that Creon’s punishment equal her own. What do you predict will happen to Creon in the final scene? Why do you think so?

5. In Antigone’s last lines in the scene, what does she ask the gods to remember? What motives do you think she has for making this public request?

6. In Ode 4, the Chorus alludes to 3 Greek myths. What does Antigone have in common with Danae, Lycurgos, and Cleopatra? Do you think Sophocles is using this ode to condemn Antigone for her pride or to praise her courage in accepting her fate? Explain your opinion?

Background for Scene 5, Paean and Exodus:

Most ancient Greek tragedies observed three unities-unity of time (with all action in the play unfolding in one day), unity of place (with all action occurring in one place), and unity of action (with all events an important part of developing or resolving the conflict).

In his Literary History of Greece, Robert Flacelière writes, "What was genuinely new in the plays of Sophocles . . . was their greater emphasis on the development of individual character. . . . His characters are no longer simply the playthings of the gods. . . . They act in accord with definite ideas of their own. . . . all of Sophocles' protagonists display . . . unshakable will power. . . ."

Flacelière suggests that Antigone, rather than Creon, is the play's best example of inflexible will power. Do you think Sophocles believes "inflexible will power" to be a tragic flaw or a virtue?

Notice the repetition of a burial in the Exodos. Burials are representative of familial and religious loyalty. This is the basic extended metaphor of Antigone. By the end of the play, Creon will seek his own burial.

 

Discussion Questions for Scene 5, Paean and Exodus:

1. Why do you think Creon finally agrees to free Antigone and bury Polyneices? What lines give clues to his motives?

2. How would you describe the major conflict in Antigone?

3. At the end of the play, Eurydice blames Creon for the tragic turn of events and Creon accepts her curse saying, “I alone am guilty” (line 129). What do you think of Creon’s statement of sole responsibility?

4. “ There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; / No wisdom but in submission to the gods. / Big words are always punished, / And proud men in old age learn to be wise.” These are the last words of the play stated directly to the audience. What are your thoughts about these two sentences? Do you agree or disagree? Is this the way life is or is there another point of view?

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