Questions on Style and Structure
Antigone
Questions on Style and Structure
Literature and Composition
- How does Sophocles provide exposition to ground the audience in the background of events and the characters? Consider the opening dialogue and the initial speeches of the Chorus and the sentry.
- In lines 117-79, how does the Chorus warn against hubris, the Greek word for excessive 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?
- Beginning with the 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?
- What is the purpose and effect of Antigone’s rhetorical question in lines 587-88?
- Creon’s words in lines 970-78 are an example of dramatic irony. What effect does this speech have? Find another example of dramatic irony in the play, and discuss the impact it has on the plot and themes of the play.
- Discuss the end of Antigone’s final speech (ll. 1014-22). Is it consistent with her character as we have known her throughout the play, or does it mark a shift in her thinking?
- The Chorus is meant to voice the thoughts of the people. How does the Chorus respond to Creon’s edict and to the conflict between Creon and Antigone? What is the position of the Chorus? At what point does the Chorus turn on Creon? Why does it occur, and what is its significance to his ability to govern?
- In the speech by the Chorus that begins on line 1036, Sophocles alludes to the stories of Danae and other mythological figures. In what ways do these allusions deepen the thematic complexity of the play? Consider answering from the point of view of an audience in Sophocles’ time as well as that of a contemporary audience. Should a director staging a production of Antigone today consider omitting the speech?
- In the final scene of the play, how are the gruesome details of the deaths revealed? Why does Sophocles deliver the information this way? Would enacting the violence on stage enhance the meaning of the play? Explain.
- An Antagonist is a character who opposes the protagonist, thus creating a conflict. Ultimately, who is the protagonist of this play, Antigone or Creon? Who is the antagonist? Consider whose tragedy the play enacts. Explain your reasons for your responses.
- What roles do the secondary characters play: Haemon, Ismene, Tiresias, and Eurydice, for example? Which ones are most important?
- Is Creon’s rhetoric consistent throughout the play? How does his purpose and tone shift from speech to speech? Compare and contrast the way Creon responds to Antigone, to Haemon, and to Tiresias. Refer specifically to the text in each case.