1. Greek Drama Style

2. Ancient Greek playwrights in Athens wrote plays for the Great Dionysia Festival that was held every spring. It was a civic duty to attend these plays, as they dealt with moral and social issues important to the community. Sophocles based Antigone on the Theban myths of the legendary rulers of Thebes, using what was, even in his time, an old story to comment on such issues as the absolute rule of kings and the status of women in society.

3. Tragedy Antigone is a traditional Greek tragedy. A tragedy is defined as a drama about a noble, courageous hero or heroine of excellent character who because of some tragic character flaw brings ruin upon himself or herself. Tragedy treats its subjects in a dignified and serious manner, using poetic language to help evoke pity and fear and bring about catharsis, a purging of these emotions.

4. In the case of Antigone we have two characters at the center of the conflict, Antigone and Creon, who are both tragic figures. Antigone defies a royal law to bury her brother and pays with her life, while each meets a tragic end.

5. Catharsis Catharsis is the release or purging of emotions of fear and/or pity, brought on by art, usually tragedy. It is an act that brings spiritual renewal. One of the conventions of Greek drama was to have all violence occur offstage and then conveyed verbally to the audience. This occurs in Antigone. With Antigone, Sophocles (the playwright) hoped to illustrate to audiences the emotional price of his characters' actions, inspiring in his viewers new perspectives and a sense of caution regarding similar actions.

6. Chorus Another convention in Greek drama is the chorus. Strictly defined, a chorus is a group of actors who comment on and interpret the action taking place on stage. The Greek word choros means "dance," and sometimes the chorus actually functioned as a character in the play, or portrayed a group of citizens very similar to the audience.

7. In Antigone, Choragos, the chorus leader, is a character in the play; the rest of the chorus are Theban elders who alternately express loyalty to Antigone and Creon. The chorus's indecision underscores the complex nature of the issues in the play.

8. Historical Context

9. Fifth Century Greece and Its Influence The Fifth Century B.C. in Greece was a time of great advancement in philosophy, art, and government. Great writers such as Aristotle, Aeschylus, and Sophocles wrote plays, philosophy, and political tracts that would influence the world for thousands of years to come.

10. Bronze Age of Greece Antigone takes place in Bronze Age Thebes, sometime during the 1200s B.C. Sophocles uses the legends of the family of Oedipus (Antigone's father) in order to explore social and political issues of his time. Attending the theater was a civic and religious duty in Sophocles's time. By setting his play in a time period 800 years before his own, he could explore social and political issues without offending those currently in power …

11. … He uses the authoritarian rule of Creon and the strong-willed Antigone to warn against the dangers of dictatorship and to highlight the status of women in Greek society.

12. Civil and Moral Unrest In 429 B.C. a great plague killed almost two- thirds of the population of Athens, causing civil and moral unrest and testing the bounds of democracy. Warfare was also common at this time in Greek society, as the city-states of Greece competed with each other for trade, commerce, and artistic superiority. This unrest is reflected in the events portrayed in Antigone, beginning with the civil war that pits Antigone's brothers against each other.

13. Democracy and Government Sophocles was not only a respected writer, but also a member of the government in Athens. Democracy was practiced differently in Ancient Greece than it is in the modern United States. Full citizenship, which included the right to vote, was only given to free men; women and slaves were not considered full citizens and so lacked the same rights as men. They were forced to follow a different code of conduct.

14. Despite such inequities and restrictions, the foundations laid in the Fifth Century B.C. provided a framework for the founders of the United States and other world democracies- when they sought to establish a free democratic government.Sophocles was not only a respected writer, but also a member of the government in Athens. Democracy was practiced differently in Ancient Greece than it is in the modern United States. Full citizenship, which included the right to vote, was only given to free men; women and slaves were not considered full citizens and so lacked the same rights as men …

15. Playwrights and Drama

16. The Amphitheatre Among many creations, the Greeks created the amphitheatre. Hundreds of people could be seated in the theatre. The sounds echoed upwards, so that an actor could literally whisper onstage and be heard from hundreds of feet away. Amphi - around Theo - gods

17. The writers of the Fifth Century B.C. established the traditions of both tragedy and comedy. The first three plays at the Great Dionysia festival were tragedies, followed by the satyr play, which poked fun at the characters and situations of the earlier tragedies; "satyr" served as the forerunner to the modern dramatic convention of satire, which uses humor to criticize or mock. The satyr plays were then followed by a comedy by another playwright, as the competition for comedic plays was separate from the competition for tragedies. There were strict rules for tragedy in the Great Dionysia, and the plays were viewed as valued cultural.