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. 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. 2. In lines , 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? 3. 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. 4. What is the purpose and effect of Antigone’s rhetorical question in lines ?

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 ( ). 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?

1. 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. 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? 3. Have you ever been in a position of authority? How was this authority established, and what sorts of power did you have? 4. In what ways can you relate to the various characters’ struggles with power and authority in Antigone? Provide textual examples to support your ideas. 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? 3. Have you ever been in a position of authority? How was this authority established, and what sorts of power did you have? 4. In what ways can you relate to the various characters’ struggles with power and authority in Antigone? Provide textual examples to support your ideas.

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.