English
Greek Drama: Antigone
Name __________________________________________
Period _____
SAME MYTH, SECOND VERSE…
PART I: Using the annotation notes on our online in the textbook, complete the following chart.
MYTHICAL
CHARACTER
Niobe
(page 27 line 671676)
“How often I have
heard the store of
Niobe, / Tantalos’
wretched daughter,
how the stone /
Clung fast about
her, ivy-close: and
they say / The rain
falls endlessly /
And rifting soft
snow; her tears are
never done. / I feel
the loneliness of her
death in mine.”
Tantalos
(page 27 line 671672)
“How often I have
heard the store of
Niobe, / Tantalos’
wretched
daughter…”
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SUMMARY
OF MYTH
Niobe was proud of having 12
children
Apollo killed her sons, Artemis
killed her daughters because of
her pride
Bodies unburied 9 days all
thebians turned to stone
10th day they were buried by the
gods
Going back home she was turned
into stone on Mount Siplysus
Zeus invites Tantalos to his house and
tells him secrets, which Tantalos
reveals. To try and compensate, he
chops up his son, boils him, and serves
him as a banquet to the gods. The gods
discover this, and he is sentenced to a
pool in Hades where he sits beneath a
tree with fruit on its’ branches, which
retract when he attempts to grab them,
COMPARE
TO ANTIGONE
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Unburied relatives
Suffered from her pride
Encased into stone
-
Creon and Tantalos both did
immoral things to attempt to gain
power
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CONTRAST
WITH ANTIGONE
Brother not her children
Antigone put in by man not gods
Antigone kills herself Niobe
lives
Tantalos was only trying to
please the gods, and Creon was
trying to please himself.
Danae
(page 29 line 738)
“All Danae’s
beauty was locked
away / In a brazen
cell where the
sunlight could not
come: / A small
room, still as any
grave, enclosed
her.”
Dyras’ son
Lycurgos
(page 29 line 747)
And Dryas’ son 8
also, that furious
king, Bore the
god’s prisoning
anger for his pride:
Sealed up by
Dionysos in deaf
stone, His madness
died among echoes.
Eidothea (page 30
line 759)
“How a king’s new
woman, sick / With
hatred for the queen
he had imprisoned,
/ Ripped out his
two son’s eyes with
her bloody hands”
and the water in the pool does the same.
Mother of Perseus (killer of Medusa,
first Greek hero)
Oracle told her father that her son would
kill him
He locked her in a tower, but
impregnated by Zeus in the form of
golden rain
Once her son is born her father then puts
Perseus and Danae in a bronze chest and
sets it on the sea, rescued by Zeus
*Be sure to look at the nine Implacable
Sisters mentioned in that antistrophe!
Lycurgus, King of Thrace, banned
Dionysus and his cult from entering his
lands. When Lycurgus learned that
Dionysus was in Thrace, educating
people in the ways of wine, he attacked
Dionysus and imprisoned his followers.
Dionysus cursed him to a life of
madness, causing him to kill his wife
and son. The nine Implacable Sisters are
the Muses.
Imprisoned by kin
Lycurgus, according to Sophocles, was
locked in a prison of stone by Dionysus
as punishment, similar to Creon
sentencing Antigone to death in a cave.
*Look at her father, god of the North Wind, Antigone was of very royal descent, and
as well as the Fates. Why would Ares grin at even being related to the past king could
this while this shuttle plunged four times,
not save her.
four blind wounds crying for revenge?
What’s with this shuttle and these
wounds???
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Blinded her stepsons, which
were descended from
royal/grand ancestry, and even
this couldn’t protect the stepsons
Creon locked Antigone up to punish her
Danae’s father locked her up to protect
himself
Lycurgus defied the gods, banning
Dionysus and his followers from his
land. Antigone, on the other hand,
revered the gods and believe it was their
will to give Polynieces a proper burial.
Eidothea gave punishment rather than
received it.
Cleopatra
(page 30 line 760)
“With hatred for the
queen he had
imprisoned,”
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Was imprisoned in a cave and
was the daughter of Boreas, the
North Wind
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Both imprisoned into caves
Both had blinded relatives
Both were daughters
Cleopatra was a mother while Antigone
means “against birth”
PART II: What do all of these characters have in common?
Part III: Look up these are allusions and provide a brief summary. Then write down the connection you see between this
reference and Antigone.
Mythical Character
Summary of Myth
Connection to our play: Why reference
this? How is it significant? Think of
context and culture!
Persephone
(line 716)
O tomb, vaulted bride-bed in eternal rock,
Soon I shall be with my own again / Where
Persephone welcome the thin ghost
underground:
Daughter of Zeus and Demeter,
Persephone is the goddess of vegetation.
At one point, Hades falls deeply in love
with her and keeps her in his castle until
she is forced to eat 6 pomegranate
seeds. This curses her to spend eternity
in the underworld with Hade, but when
Zeus sees Demeter’s depression, he
sends Hermes to strike up a deal with
Hades. They came to the agreement that
she would spend six months(spring and
summer) in the underworld and 6 months
(fall and winter) on earth.
In this quote, Antigone is talking about
her death and Persephone’s dwelling in
the world of the dead serves as a
metaphor. It also connects Antigone’s
fate and hopelessness to that of
Persephone when she is condemned to
spend eternity in the underworld.
Acheron
(lines 664)
Now sleepy Death / Summons me down to
Acheron, that cold shore: / There is no
bridesong there, nor any music.
One of the rivers of the underworld ruled
by Hades where souls are ferried across.
Known as river of woe.
Antigone accepts her death. Alludes to
her death.
Hephaistos
I began the rites of burnt-offering at the altar, /
But Hephaistos failed me: instead of bright
flame, / There was only the sputtering slime of
the fat thigh-flesh / Melting:
God of fire
He relates because the fire for the
offering was not bright because of
hephaistos
Iacchos
(page 35)
O Iacchos son of Kadmeian Semele O born of
the Thunder! Guardian of the West Regent of
*Be sure to include Semele, the Eleusis’
plain, maenad Thebes, the Dragon Field,
Ismenos, Castalia, and Parnasos. Kudos if
you can explain why his female followers
He is related to Oedipus and Dionysus is
involved in a lot of tragedies.
This particular section shows the places
Eleusis’ plain O Prince of maenad Thebes and
the Dragon Field by rippling Ismenos. . . the
nymphs of Iacchos dance at the spring of
Castalia. . . oh come from Parnasos:
chant
Amphion
(line 901-902)
Men of the line of Kadmos you who live Near
Amphion’s citadel:
What is his citadel?
“Evohe evohe.’
where Dionysus was worshipped.
Iacchos is another name for Dionysus. The
chorus is praising him. Most of the things the
chorus mentions are sacred to him. He is born
from Zeus and Semele. He is technically related
to Oedipus.
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His citadel is a castle of some sort
in Thebes – Cadmea
He was the son of Zeus, who
founded Thebes; later married
Niobe, who after insulting the
goddess Leto she killed their
children. Some say he killed
himself after this and others say he
was killed with his children.
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Basically he just founded Thebes
Pallas
(line 928)
As I was unlocking the gate of Pallas’ shrine,
For I needed her help today
Pallas Athene, goddess of wisdom
*Why would Eurydice need her help?
She called out to Athena because Athena is
goddess of Justice and Euryidce means
wide justice. She called on her to give her
strength after hearing the sad news.
Hecate and Pluto
(line 940)
To the outer plain where Polyneices was lying,
No friend to pity him, his body shredded by
dogs. We made our prayers in that place to
Hecate And Pluto, 18 that they would be
merciful.
Pluto- Other Name for Hades
People believed that Poly was going to the
Underworld because he died a traitor to
Thebes
Io Fire
(page 35 lines 896)
Io Fire! Chorister of the throbbing stars! O
purest among the voices of the night! Thou
son of God, blaze for us!
The Furies
(lines 848 page 33)
And the Furies and the dark gods of Hell Are
swift with terrible punishment for you.
Hecate- Goddess of magic, witchcraft,
crossroads and decisions.
Both are deities of the Underworld
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One of Zeus’ lovers
Hera finds out
Makes her wander in Egypt
Represents moon and stars
They were female chthonic deities of
vengeance, and sometimes referred to
as “infernal goddesses”. They emerged
when Cronus castrated his father Uranus
and emerged from the drops of blood.
They bring fury upon people who upset
the balance of host to guest or parents to
child.
They prayed to the Underworld Gods to be
merciful to him as they finally buried him in
the end which would finally allow his “soul”
to pass on.
Why reference Io Fire?
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Zeus’ lover in Antigone
Praying to moon and stars
Deities of vengeance, so it was their
responsibility to reign down with terror
on Creon for the pain he caused both of
his daughters and his dead son,
Polynieces. Teiresias is predicting what
the Furies will do, which ends up
becoming reality at the end with Creon’s
guilt.