1. Antigone

2. Creon
Although sounding sympathetic to Oedipus in the final scene, he is eager to have Oedipus separated from his children and grants his request for exile – shows that Creon really does desire to be king, which consumes his rationality, leading to his downfall
He believes he is in a comfortable place of power
and assumes stability and power, but loyalty is not there yet. He wants to prove his power. He exerts it forcibly. (line 42)

3. Antigone
Antigone buries Polynices against Creon’s will. WHY? (She has reasons for and against)
Dialogue between Antigone and Ismene (p. 61 line 54) ((p. 62 line 70-80) (line )
The argument cements Antigone’s resolve, not her convictions (line 97) get your affairs in order- parting language/death
Family vs.civil responsiblity

4. Is Creon just in demanding this law
Why did Polynices attack?
Chorus- gods despise pride (140)
Metaphor- ship of state speech (p. 67 line 180)
The state is everything ( , safety is paramount 211 )
but does he live this truth?
Leader: does Creon have this power?

5. Creon’s irrationality
Guard: some mysterious person has buried Polynices ( )
Chorus: could a god have done it? ( )

6. Ode to Man speech p. 76, line 376 How is man described here?
What is the Chorus reflecting?
Inhumanity line 414

7. Who is the “dangerous” enemy?
Antigone is more dangerous than Oedipus, especially to Creon, because she is acutely aware of her history.
Creon and Antigone argue, Creon doesn’t believe it (446, 449)
Due to the fate her family has experienced, Antigone feels she has nothing to lose. (line 512)

8. The contrast between divine law and human law
Antigone: the laws of the gods and the dead demanded that I bury my brother
Creon: even in death, a traitor is a traitor. Ismene too is guilty.

9. Why is she a threat?
She casts doubt on Creon’s authority – she points out his laws cannot override the will of the gods or the traditions of men. Does Haemon get any grace from him?
She places Creon’s laws against Polynices’ burial in a way that makes the law seem shameful and ridiculous.
When she is sentenced to death, she is happy she will be reunited with her family – shows she will maintain family connections even in death. 883

10. Dumb girls Haemon- family over women (line 711) Get another one (723)
This boy has sold out to a woman
Fool!... Taken in by a woman
Anarchy or women? Creon seems to argue against anarchy, his concerns for the polis, but is that the problem? ( )

11. Justice is guaranteed 1400, fated, but free will is the timing
Creon shows the world that of all ills
Afflicting men the worst is lack of judgment.(1372)
Justice is guaranteed 1400, fated, but free will is the timing
Chorus: line ) reinforces the will of the gods as sovereign
Tragedy is the submission to divine will

12. Antigone “If I had been the mother of children” (995-)
Creon listens to Tiresias eventually (line 1121) and finally (1177) because ( ) is true.
Don’t question the gods! (1215) so he changes his mind. Never happened before! Peripeteia.
Going to Antigone’s tomb they heard Hæmon weeping (1295)
Wedding chamber- Jocasta’s marriage bed
dramatic irony of Hæmon’s attack(1359-silent)
Eurydice leaves in silence (1374) Why is she followed?

13. Antigone symbols
Tomb: imprisonment symbolizes that her loyalties and feelings lie with the dead instead of with the living
Tomb: Creon’s lack of judgment and his insult to the gods (defying them by showing his control over Thebes (this is the gods’ territory)

14. Motifs- Oedipus and Antigone
Motifs are recurring structures or events that help inform the reader of the story’s themes
1) Violence against oneself – Almost every character that dies in both plays is at their own hand – can you identify them all?

15. Duality OR Sight vs Blindness
Creon experiences the same type of blindness to truth (as Oedipus) in Antigone.
Tiresias is a blind prophet; he can see the truth and into the future.

16. Graves and Tombs
The plot of Antigone revolves around the idea of proper burials (proper?)
The unburied body is left for all to see and is fed upon by dogs; this offends the gods
Antigone is entombed alive due to her defiance

17. 4 Themes
Excessive Pride – Creon establishes a law that goes against religious principles (no man can create a law that is equal to the laws of the gods).
When Tiresias tells Creon of his fate, Creon refuses to believe this; thus Creon must suffer the loss of his family.

18. Position of women
Antigone’s gender has major effects on the meaning of her actions. Her gender makes Creon more intent upon defeating her; her rebellion upsets the view of gender roles and hierarchy in Greece. By refusing to submit to Creon she overturns the rules of her culture. How would audience have responded? Not an admirable trait. Not a tragic hero.
Ismene is her foil because she believes the complete opposite of Antigone – she thinks men are stronger and, therefore, must be obeyed.

19. Review tragic hero qualities
Pity and fear
Prominence
Fall/reversal of fortune
Fall not from weakness; inevitable
Respectable and repellant

20. Threat of Tyranny
The people of Athens and Thebes were sensitive to the line between a strong leader and a tyrant.
Creon abuses his power when he makes a law that goes against the will of the gods.
Creon does have good intentions; he is loyal to his country but he makes poor judgments- stubborn.
As the play continues, Creon cares more about the value of law rather than the good of the people.
5) Creon is given a choice: choose his law or the law of the gods; he chooses his own.

21. Power of the unwritten law
Creon thinks his ruling for Polynices is justified because Polynices is a traitor.
The duty to bury the dead is part of what it means to be human, not part of what it means to be a citizen.
Moral duties make up the body of unwritten law and tradition – the very laws Antigone abides by.

22. Discussion questions
Trace the development of each of the following themes:
Any excess, even an excessive devotion to state or religion, is a fault and leads to misfortune.
2. Pride and stubbornness give rise to tyranny and are character flaws that cause suffering and- inevitably -tragedy.
3. Discuss Antigone’s refusal to compromise and her decision not to allow Ismene to assume any part of the blame for burying Polynices.

23. WHo is the tragic hero? What is his/her hubris? Peripeteia?
Jocasta?
Creon?
Antigone?

24. Oedipus/Antigone check
Sigmund Freud p
“Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mother’s bed.” (line 1074, p. 215)
When the Chorus doubts the gods, they are reinforcing: Do the gods exist? Are they reliable?

25. Poetry terms review Formal language- ceremonial
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
“Y’all fixin’ to git outta here?”
The smell of the papaya wafted up through the coconut groves.
At 9:34pm he should take his shower to commence his evening ablutions.
“Do you, Jocasta, take this man…”
Formal language- ceremonial
Concrete language- perceived through the senses (not abstract)
Colloquial language- informal
Literal language- factual
Emotional language- emotive

26. Who said it?
“The law is strong, we must give in to the law… I must yield to those in authority.”

27. Who said it?
“The time is not far off when you shall pay back corpse for corpse, flesh of your own flesh.”

28. Who said it?
“Big words are always punished, and proud men in old age learn to be wise.”

29. Who said it?
“I know I must die, even without your decree: I am only mortal.”

30. Who said it?
This character said, “Anarchy, anarchy! Show me a greater evil!”

31. Who did it?
This character stabs him/herself in the castle.

32. Who did it?
This character tries to kill his/her father, then turns the sword on him/herself.