Antigone Scene 1
Study Questions
1. LITERARY ANALYSIS - FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Explain the metaphor of the
ship (lines 8 – 17).
2. PREDICTING: What can you predict about Creon’s future actions as a ruler from his
speech (lines 8 – 47)?
3. CHARACTERIZATION AND MAKING JUDGMENTS: According to Creon in
lines 18 – 30, what deserves the highest loyalty? How do you feel about Creon’s
principles?
4. MAKING JUDGMENTS: Reread lines 31 – 42. Do you think Creon is justified in
treating Polyneices’s corpse in this way? Why or why not? What do you think his
motive is?
5. LITERARY ANALYSIS – PLOT: The rising action of a play involves the revelation
of complications that cause difficulties for the main characters. What has the sentry
discovered? How does this discovery heighten the conflict?
6. LITERARY ANALYSIS – TRAGIC FLAW: What do you think Creon’s tragic flaw
might be? Record direct lines and line numbers as evidence.
7. LITERARY ANALYSIS – DRAMATIC IRONY: Dramatic irony occurs when the
audience knows or recognizes something that the characters onstage do not. What 2
things does Creon assume about the motives of those who have disobeyed him (lines 117
– 123)? How is it ironic?
8. LITERARY ANALYSIS – THEME: What does Ode 1 convey about human greatness
and tragic limitation? (Focus on lines 19 – 24 of Ode 1.)