Sophocles and Antigone



Sophocles and Antigone

Sophocles introduced important innovations to the stage.

- He broke the tradition of using only _________ actors.

o Adding a 3rd actor resulted in more complicated relationships and intricate dialogue between characters

- He reduced the role of the _____________.

o Placed more emphasis on ____________

o Chorus remained important as a means of commenting on action and establishing tone.

- He was the first dramatist to write plays with specific ______________ in mind.

____________________ is considered the most influential drama ever written.

Antigone was written in _____________ B.C.

Greek tragedies were typically divided into 5 parts:

- _______________- opening speech or dialogue

o Gives exposition necessary to follow the subsequent action

- _______________- chorus makes first entrance

o Gives perspective on what audience has learned in prologue

- _______________ (episodes)- follow parados, characters engage in dialogue

o Frequently consists of heated debates dramatizing the play’s conflicts

- ________________- a choral ode

o Chorus responds to and interprets the preceding dialogue

- ________________- last scene

o Follows final episode and stasimon

o Resolution occurs and characters leave the stage

• During odes, the chorus moves from RIGHT to LEFT, singing the ______________.

• Then the chorus members move from LEFT to RIGHT during the _____________________.

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Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) defined tragedy on the basis of the plays during his lifetime.

TRAGEDY- presents _______________________ individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a _________________ that reveals the breadth and depth of the human spirit in the face of ______________, __________________, and even __________________.

- protagonist of play- a great man or woman brought from happiness to ________________

- character’s stature is important because it makes his or her fall more terrifying

In Greek tragedy, the fate of the community (state) is linked with the protagonist. (ex: plague in Thebes because of Oedipus’s actions)

Protagonists

- noble birth

- monarchical values

- nobility of character is more important that inherited titles or privileges

Determination to complete some task or goal made him or her admirable in Greek tragedy- BUT- this does not free them from “some error or frailty” that brings about misfortune

- Aristotle called this weakness ____________________ (result of tragic flaw).

o Examples:

▪ Excess of ___________

▪ Excess of ____________

▪ Excess of _________________

▪ Any other trait that leads to disaster

- Hamartia is also defined as “wrong act” or a mistake based not on a personal failure but on circumstances outside the protagonist’s personality and control

- Sometimes misfortunes are NOT the result of a character flaw but of _________________ events that overtake and thwart the protagonist’s best intentions.

- Tragic flaws

o Oedipus- excessive pride (____________________)

o Antigone- “_____________”

Whatever the cause of the downfall, he or she accepts responsibility for it. Even in failure, the protagonist displays greatness of character.

Witnessing this greatness, which seems both to accept and transcend human limitations, makes audiences feel relief rather than hopelessness at the end of the tragedy.

- Aristotle called this response “____________________” or purgation of the emotions of pity and fear.

- _________________ and ___________________ are purged because the protagonist’s suffering is an affirmation of human values even if they are not triumphant.

Greeks believed that the dead had to be buried before the soul could be at rest.

Questioning Character’s Motivations

- a motive is a person’s reason for doing something

- knowing a character’s motives helps us understand the character and gives us insight into the events taking place

Prologue through Scene 2

- conflict: between Antigone, who wants to honor her dead brother by burying him, and King Creon who forbids it

- conflict: between Antigone, who honors the laws of the gods, and her sister Ismene, who wants to honor the laws of King Creon

- Antigone sets the action in motion and shows love for her brothers by wanting both of them to receive the honors of burial.

- Because she instigates the action and elicits our sympathy through her determination to do the “right thing,” we begin to identify her as the protagonist

1. What personality traits does Ismene reveal in her speech on p. 774 that makes her unlike Antigone?

2. Summarize Antigone’s personality.

3. What do lines 21-26 reveal about the outcome of the battle?

4. What does this reveal about Greek beliefs?

5. Find irony on p.776.

6. How do Creon’s words (p.778) reveal him to be the antagonist in this play?

7. What punishment has Creon promised to anyone who buries Polyneices?

8. Why is the sentry motivated to prove someone else has buried Polyneices?

9. Why does Choragos suggest that the gods might have buried Polyneices?

10. What does Creon’s speech on p.780 suggest about his character?

11. How has the sentry’s demeanor changed when he returns to Creon the second time?

12. On p. 782, to what does the sentry compare Antigone?

13. How does the sentry’s description of Antigone paint her in a positive light?

14. How do lines 65-84 reinforce the audience’s sympathy for Antigone?

15. What additional motive, beyond upholding the law, does Creon reveal on p. 784?

16. Why does Creon believe that Antigone’s death will give him “everything”?

17. Which details in the scene on p.784 solidify Antigone’s role of protagonist and Creon’s role as antagonist?

18. Why does Ismene now want to share the guilt for burying Polyneices?

19. Who does Antigone say agrees with her decision to bury her brother? (p.785)

20. What two crucial decisions does Antigone make in first part of this drama?

Scenes 3-5

21. Identify connections between the stories of Niobe, Tantalus, and Antigone.

22. Read the chorus’s speech on p. 797, lines 33-36 & 45-48. What virtue of Antigone’s does the Chorus mention?

23. What flaw in Antigone does the Chorus point out?

24. Whom does the Chorus blame for Antigone’s fate?

25. Explain lines 67-71.

26. Why does the Chorus recount Danae’s story on p.798-799?

27. How does Creon plan to get rid of Antigone?

28. In Creon’s speech on p.800, how does he seem to place himself above the gods?

29. What details in Creon’s speech (p.800) emphasize his role as a tragic character?

30. What human emotions (lines 98-100) is Creon showing for the first time?

31. In lines 77-81, three children are mentioned. Who are they?

32. What does Creon plan to do? (lines 112-119)

Exodus

33. Does the messenger bring good or bad news? What does he tell Choragos and Eurydice?

34. What does Creon mean when he says, “I was dead, and your words are death again”?

35. Do you feel sympathy for Creon at this point?

36. What are Eurydice’s last words?

37. What does Creon mean when he says, “My comfort lies here dead”?

38. Both Antigone and Creon are unwilling to appear weak. How could this trait influence a person’s actions and outlook on life?

39. In your opinion, is Antigone or Creon the more tragic character?

40. Which suffers the greater downfall? Give evidence from the play to support your answer.

41. Identify the climax, and list 2 events that take place in the resolution of the play.

42. How is the struggle between Antigone and Creon resolved?

43. How does the resolution reveal the play’s theme?

Considerations for Critical Thinking and Writing

44. How does Ismene serve as a foil to Antigone? Why does Antigone reject her sister’s (later) offer to martyr herself?

45. How does Haimon serve as a foil to Creon?

46. Is Haimon’s decision to commit suicide plausible?

47. What is Creon’s attitude toward women?

48. How does this affect his reaction to Antigone’s disobedience to the state?

49. Describe what you think Sophocles’ attitudes were concerning the competing claims for the authority of the state over the individual. Explain how those views are indicated in the play and whether you agree or disagree with them.

50. How might the emphasis of the play have been changed if Sophocles had included the scene in the tomb between Haimon and Antigone? Why do you think he left out such a potentially affecting scene?

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