1. Laws must be obeyed.
2. The old are wiser than the young.
3. The strong should never force their will on the weak.
4. Religious laws are more important than government laws.
5. “Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.”
Study Questions:
1. The play opens with Antigone and Ismene.
Characterize the two sisters with specific examples.
2. Do you support Antigone’s defense of her civil
disobedience? Are we meant to admire her?
3. How does Antigone differentiate between human
and divine law? How is this distinction at the
thematic heart of the play?
4. At the start of the play, what motivates Creon? What
reasons does he give for his edict? How do his
definitions of terms such as “traitor” and “patriot”
reveal his concerns?
1.
2.
3.
4.
How does Sophocles provide exposition to ground the
audience in the background of events and the characters?
Consider the opening dialog and the initial speeches of the
Chorus and the sentry.
In lines 117-179, how does the Chorus warn against hubris
(pride)? How do the various metaphors and images (the sun,
the shield, the eagle, the armor, the chariots, the choirs)
contribute to the meaning of this passage? How do the words
of the Chorus in this passage foreshadow later events in the
play?
Beginning with line 472, the sentry uses an analogy comparing
Antigone to a bird. Explain why you do or do not find it a
fitting comparison to illuminate Antigone’s situation.
What is the purpose and effect of Antigone’s rhetorical
question in lines 587-588?
1.
Which of the following is it more important to have
loyalty to: yourself, the laws, or some higher power?
2.
Would you ever betray your best friend? A relative? Your
country?
3.
What makes people change loyalties? How does hardship
affect people’s loyalties?
4.
How can betrayal affect loyalty?
5.
Find two quotes from the play so far that point to this
theme.
1.
What words would best describe Haemon? What is
Haemon’s strategy going into his conversation with
Creon (710)?
2.
How would you describe Creon’s reasoning in his
conversation with Haemon?
3.
What does this conflict say about the power of
reason and and the p0wer of authority?
1.
Discuss the end of Antigone’s speech (1014-1022). Is
it consistent with her character or does it mark a shift
in her thinking?
2.
The Chorus is meant to voice the thoughts of the
people. How does the Chorus react to Creon’s edict
and the resulting conflict between Creon and
Antigone?
In their encounter, Creon accuses Tiresias of being
motivated by the desire for money. Why? What
does this pattern say about Creon as a leader?
2. Over the course of his confrontation with Tiresias,
Creon reverses his position several times. Why?
What causes his shifts from heeding the prophet’s
advice in the past to denouncing him to taking
Tiresias’s advice to heart?
3. Quote the line that shows Creon knows to defer to
the gods. Does he believe it or was it just the severity
of the prophecy that sways him?
1.
1.
Why do people engage in civil disobedience, and what
types of goals and methods do they have and employ?
2.
What forms of authority have you encountered in your
life? How do you react to this authority? Have you ever
been tempted to resist this authority? What methods did
you use, and what were your goals?
Have you ever been in a position of authority? How was
this authority established, and what sorts of power did
you have?
In what ways can you relate to the various characters’
struggles with power and authority in Antigone? Provide
textual examples to support your ideas.
3.
4.
In his Literary History of Greece, Robert Flaciere writes, "what is
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 …"
In three pages, double-spaced, explore which character
you think is the best example of "unshakable will
power.” Also, explain whether you think Sophocles saw
this "unshakable will power" as a virtue or a flaw.
Minimum of three direct quotes.