Antigone
An Introduction
90 (496 BC–406 BC)Playwright
• Born about 496 B.C.
• Born to wealthy parents
• Won many first prizes in
dramatic competitions
• Composed over 100 plays
• 7 complete tragedies are
preserved while others,
only fragments remain
• Antigone is one of those
complete tragedies
A Background to the Play
Antigone
• Laius marries Jocasta
• Laius receives an oracle that his future child
will grow up to kill him (Laius) and marry
Jocasta (child’s mother)
• Laius decides that he will not sleep with his
wife - but his “id” overpowers him
• A baby boy is born
Thebes
• A city in Ancient Greece
Background cont...
• What does Laius do to this baby? Pierces
his ankles and leaves him in the mountains
to die
• The baby is saved by a shepherd in Corinth
• The King and Queen of Corinth adopt the
baby and call him Oedipus (Swollen-foot)
from Greek Oidipous : oidein, to swell
+ pous, foot
Oedipus
• Oedipus grows up as a prince
About Oedipus…
• Oedipus receives an oracle that he will kill
his father and marry his mother
• Oedipus flees from his adoptive
home………………………………………
….in his travels runs into a man on the road
between Corinth and Thebes…the man
really irritates him and Oedipus kills him…
• …who do you think this man is???
• Laius! Oedipus’s
real father!
Thebes
• A city in Ancient Greece
Oedipus…
• Oedipus arrives in Thebes, saves the city
from the grip of a deadly sphinx, marries the
widowed queen (Jocasta – his biological
mother)
• They have four children: Antigone, Ismene,
Eteocles, and Polyneices
Oedipus’ Opponent
Sphinx:
A mythical
monster with the
head of a woman,
the breast of a
bird, the body of a
lion.
The Riddle
• Oedipus must answer
the Sphinx’s riddle or
else he’ll be killed:
The RIDDLE:
What goes on four legs
in the morning, two in
the afternoon, and
three in the evening?
The Answer...
• A man, who crawls when he is a baby,
walks when he is a young man, and limps
with a cane when he is old.
• The Sphinx kills herself, and Oedipus is
proclaimed the savior of Thebes, getting to
marry Jocasta as a reward.
Who’s who? Oh no!!!
Oedipus…
• Oedipus and Jocasta have the big
realization, she commits suicide, he blinds
himself and goes into exile leaving his
brother-in-law Creon in charge
Oedipus…
• Ismene and Antigone help out their
father/brother Oedipus until his death and
return to Thebes
• Antigone gets engaged to her first cousin,
Haemon, son of Creon
(Jocasta’s Brother)
(Engaged to Antigone)
Oedipus…
• The brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices,
dispute over sharing of power
• Creon supports Eteocles' claim to the
throne
• Polyneices raises an army against the city
Polyneices means “many quarrels”
Eteocles means “true fame”
Oedipus…
• The brothers die in battle
• Creon becomes regent (acting ruler) again
• Creon orders that no one is to bury the body
of Polyneices
Father and Grandfather
• Laius received an oracle
• Oedipus received an oracle
Thebes
• A city in Ancient Greece
Who Founded Thebes?
• Thebes - a city with a mythological
background
• In short, Cadmus founded the city of
Thebes after he killed a dragon, sowed the
dragon's teeth into the ground, from
which sprang Thebes' first inhabitants.
• Thus, Thebes' current residents are
mainly:
– descended either from a hero who tamed
the wild beast
– or from the beast itself.
– Think about the relation of this
background to the larger theme area of
civilization versus savagery!
Role of the Chorus
• Does the chorus change over the course of
the play?
• How does the chorus affect the action?
• How does it focus and intensify the
audience’s responses?
What About…The Chorus of
Theban Elders??
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•
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•
•
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Begins play with a prologue
Ends play with an epilogue
Introduces and comments on the action
Introduces characters
Acts as narrator
Acts as a conscience
Vocabulary
• Id - the unconscious (or instinctual) part of
“self”
• Oracle - a prophecy
• Regent – One who rules during the
minority, absence, or disability of a
monarch
• Archetype – an original model of a person
Archetype of a Greek Man
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•
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Intelligent
Reasoning
Proud
Vigorous (active in mind and body)
Independent Warrior
Respected the gods
Honored customs
Vocabulary
• Abodes - dwelling
• Hallowed – holy, sacred
• Unabated – not losing force / sustaining
force
• Ignominy – great dishonour
• Promulgated – to make known
• Carrion – carcass of a dead animal
• Transgress – to offend / to sin
During Ancient Greek Times…
• Introduction
• Greek Families
• Education
Ancient Greece - daily life
City States
Education in Ancient Greece
Greek Theatre
On Tragedy and Catharsis
• Aristotle saw tragedy in drama as an
important benefit to society, as was
catharsis, the release of human emotions
that occurs when witnessing such action on
stage
Antigone
• NOT a tragedy concerned with individual
characters
• NOT a drama about two different
personalities: Antigone and Creon - in fact
both have similar traits of self-will and
determination
Antigone Is
• A tragedy that deals with the relation
between mortals and gods
• The work reflects the ancient Greek ethos
(an outlook that forms the basis of all
civilized conduct and civilization itself)