The setting of the Antigone, as in the case of most Greek tragedies, does not require a change of scene. Throughout the play the skene with at least one door represents the facade of the royal palace of Thebes. Even when the poet shifts the audience's attention to events in the plain and the cave in which Antigone was entombed, there is no shift of scene. These events are reported by minor characters (here, a guard and a character specifically called a messenger) rather than enacted before the audience (245-277;1192-1243).1
Interior action is also reported by a messenger to characters
on-stage for the benefit of the audience. The suicide of Eurydice,
which takes place inside the palace, is reported to Creon
(and to the audience) by a second messenger (1279-1318).2
The messenger speech eliminates the need for scene changes, which,
due to the limited resources of the ancient theater, would have
been difficult and awkward. Sophocles,
made a virtue of the necessity of this convention of the ancient
theater by writing elaborate messenger speeches which provide
a vivid word picture of the offstage action.
are references to lines in the Antigone. All quotations
from the Antigone are translated by the author.
2During the report of this messenger the body of Eurydice
probably was displayed on the ekkyklema
Exercise for Reading Comprehension
Prologue (1-99) - Antigone
The play opens with
the prologue consisting of dialogue between Antigone and her
What is the dramatic purpose of the prologue? What problem does
Antigone report to her sister (21 ff.)? What does Antigone intend
to do? What is Ismene's reaction to this intention (49-68)? What
is Ismene's view of the relationship between men and women (61-62)?
Briefly analyze the characterization of these two women in the
prologue. What dramatic purpose does the character of Ismene
In the Greek text the word,
philos, which can loosely be translated as 'friend', is
frequently used by the two sisters (10; 73; 99) in the prologue.
Philos is related to the verb philein 'to love' and can
be used as we use the word "friend", but also can be
applied to a blood relative and therefore often means something
like our "loved one". To whom does Antigone apply this
term in the prologue (73)? How far is Antigone prepared to go
on behalf of her loved one (72-73)? Why does Antigone, employing
an oxymoron3, say that she will "do holy things
criminally" when she refers to her proposed deed (74)? What
conflict of values is represented in this phrase?
is a rhetorical figure of speech, which joins two contradictory
terms for paradoxical effect, as in "a wise fool".
The word itself is a combination of two Greek words meaning 'sharp-dull'.
Although the events
described in the parodos are presented rather obscurely in poetic
language as is characteristic of choral songs, can you summarize
in a general way in one or two sentences what the Chorus is describing?
The "man who had come from Argos" refers in a collective
sense to the Argive army which supported Polyneices in his attack
on Thebes. Which side in the war does the Chorus favor and why?
First Episode (162-331) -
Creon, Chorus and Guard
Creon in his first appearance
in the play delivers a long speech outlining the philosophy that
guides his actions and his edict (162-210). What human institution
does Creon believe to be most important in life? Compare his
beliefs with those of Antigone. On what specific points does
Creon contradict Antigone (182-183; 187-188; 209-210)? Note the
language of Creon's edict (206-207). What character in a work
read earlier this term used similar language with reference to
a denial of burial?
What is the Chorus's initial
attitude toward Creon's decree (211-214)? What is the dramatic
purpose of the character of the Guard? How is he characterized
in this scene? What view of Creon does the Guard present to us
(228-236)? What is Creon's reaction to the Guard's news (280-314)?
First Stasimon (332-372)
The first stasimon,
often referred to as the "Ode to Man", is one of the
most famous choral songs in Attic Tragedy. The Chorus begins
by singing: "There are many wondrous things and yet nothing
is more wondrous than man" (332). The Greek word for "wondrous"
is deinos, which is ambiguous in its meaning. It can also
mean "terrible" (i.e., "producing fear").
The Chorus obviously intends the meaning "wondrous"
when it praises man for his mastery of nature by the development
of civilized skills. This praise of man's achievement of civilization
is undoubtedly inspired by Sophistic anthropological accounts
of man's cultural development as a result of his own efforts.
Like the Sophists,
the Chorus views human progress in an optimistic way.
Make a list of man's civilized
skills as enumerated by the Chorus.4 According to
the Chorus is there any limitation to man's mastery of nature
(359)? Does it view man's cleverness as unambiguously "wondrous"
or is there also something "terrible" about it (368)?
Explain your answer briefly. To whom is the Chorus referring
in the last stanza of the ode when it sings: "whoever due
to daring cherishes evil is without a city" (370-371)? Who
appears on-stage immediately after this ode? Connect the appearance
of this character with what the chorus sings in the last stanza
of the "Ode to Man".
Creon consistently uses metaphors (images) which link him with
these skills and with civilization in general (189; 293; 476-478;
569). On the other hand, Antigone and the resistance to Creon's
edict is generally represented by images connected with nature
(423-425; 712-717; 825-830). Why do you think that Sophocles
organized his imagery in this way? What meaning does this organization
of imagery suggest for the Antigone?
Second Episode (373-581)
- Guard, Antigone, Creon, Chorus and Ismene
The second episode presents
the face-to-face confrontation of the two antagonists, Antigone
and Creon. What is the attitude of the Chorus and the Guard with
regard to the capture of Antigone (373; 437-438)? How does Antigone
defend her defiance of the edict (450-455)? How does Antigone
view the relationship between laws made by man and those created
by the gods? What is Creon's view of the relationship between
man and woman and the relative importance of blood ties vs. the
ties of citizenship (484-485; 522; 525)? How does this contrast
with Antigone's view of the same? What is Antigone's attitude
with regard to her deed (502-503)? with regard to Ismene's attempt
to share responsibility for the deed (538-560)?
Second Stasimon (582-625)
After the confrontation
between Creon and Antigone, the Chorus sings of the misfortune
that has come to Antigone and Ismene, who have been condemned
to death. The Chorus puts this tragedy in the context of the
calamities suffered by the House of Labdacus (592), the grandfather
who killed his father and married his mother and whose sons,
killed each other in a dynastic struggle. Who brought these disasters
on the House of Labdacus (584-601)? Why has this family suffered
so much and made such disastrous mistakes? (613-625)?
Third Episode (626-780) -
Creon, Haemon and Chorus
How would the Athenian
audience have received Creon's statement to his son Haemon:
"It is necessary to obey him whom the city puts in charge
even in small matters, whether they are just or unjust"
(666-667)? How does the Chorus view this statement (681-682)?
According to Haemon, what is the reaction of the common people
to Creon's decree of death for Antigone (692-695)? What advice
does Haemon give to Creon (707-711)? What is the point that Haemon
is attempting to make to Creon by the analogies of the tree and
the ship (712-717)? What criticisms does Haemon make of Creon
(731-745)? What threat does Haemon make (751)? Why does Creon
change Antigone's punishment from public stoning (36) to burial
alive in a cave (773-780; see also 888-890)?
What is the main theme of this
brief ode to Love? Since choral odes generally comment upon the
action of the previous episode, explain what connection this
song has with the preceding scene. Can you find any lesson for
Creon in this ode?
Fourth Episode (801-943)
- Antigone, Chorus and Creon
What new side of Antigone's
character do we see in the kommos
which begins the fourth episode (808-882)? Antigone compares
herself to Niobe
(Tantalus's daughter) who because of her grief turned to stone
(825-826). What does Antigone say that she and Niobe have in
common (831)? What difference and similarity between the two
does the Chorus see (832-836)? Antigone's statement in 905-912
has disturbed many critics of this play. For this reason, this
passage has been seen by some as an interpolation made soon after
death.5 Other critics defend the authenticity of this
passage by saying that these words are not as unfeeling as they
seem: Antigone, on one hand, is talking about a real brother,
who is now dead, and, on the other, a husband she has not yet
married and children who do not yet exist. Which interpretation
do you agree with? Why?
was in the text of the Antigone used by Aristotle in the fourth
Fourth Stasimon (944-987)
The fourth stasimon
presents three mythical examples which comment upon Antigone's
situation. What do the first two mythic personages, Danae and
Lycurgus (the son of Dryas), have in common with Antigone (944-963)?
The third example, Cleopatra,
may have also shared the same characteristic with Antigone, but
it is not mentioned. According to C.M. Bowra (Sophoclean Tragedy,
Oxford, 1944, 105), these examples may indicate the doubts the
Chorus has about Antigone. The Chorus has been alarmed by her
defiant behavior, but it also has been impressed by her heroism.
Bowra writes: "The three stories seem to suggest different
interpretations of what is happening and to hint that any one
of them may be right." Examine each example carefully and
determine whether it puts Antigone in a favorable or unfavorable
Fifth Episode (988-1114)
- Teiresias, Creon and Chorus
The fifth episode brings
the appearance of the blind prophet Teiresias.
What dramatic purpose does the character of Teiresias serve?
What omens does Teiresias report (999-1011)? What do these omens
mean (1023-1033; 1065-1090)? What is Creon's initial reaction
to Teiresias's report (1034-1047)? How is this reaction characteristic
of Creon (see 294-303)? Why does Creon finally change his mind
about Teiresias (1065-1067; 1091-1093)? What course of action
does the Chorus recommend to Creon (1100-1101)? What is Creon's
reaction to this recommendation (1105-1106; 1108-1112)? What
has Creon learned about law (1113-1114)?
Why in the hyporchema6does
the Chorus choose to pray to Dionysus
at this critical moment rather than to any other god? What request
does it make of the god (1140-1142)?
feature of the structure of the Antigone is the substitution
of a lively dance-song called a hyporchema for the more
stately rhythms of what would have been the fifth stasimon. The
optimistic tone of the hyporchema has been occasioned
by Creon's change of heart and is meant to emphasize by contrast
the horror of Antigone's death and Creon's misfortune in the
Exodos (1155 to end) - Messenger,
Chorus, Eurydice and Creon
Is the prayer of the
Chorus in the hyporchema answered positively or negatively
in the exodos? Why do you think that Creon goes to bury
Polyneices first rather than to Antigone's cave, as he said he
was going to do in the previous scene? What does Creon find when
he arrives at the cave (1192-1225)? What is the result of Creon's
confrontation with Haemon (1228-1241)? In his kommos
Creon gives voice to one of the traditional themes of tragedy.
See if you can identify this theme in 1271-1275. Why did Eurydice
commit suicide (1301-1305)? What moral lesson does the Chorus
see in the fate of Creon at the close of the play (1347-1353)?