Unit 2 Study Guide
Antigone
Characters:
___________- protagonist, daughter of Oedipus, goes against Creon
___________- daughter of Oedipus, first loyal to law, then changes her loyalty to family
___________- son of Oedipus, favored by Creon, given a proper burial
___________- son of Oedipus, considered a traitor by Creon, not given a proper burial by Creon
___________- son of Creon, engaged to Antigone, speaks out against his father’s power and will
___________- wife of Creon, blames him for the death of their son
___________- current king of Thebes, lets his pride and loyalty to the law get in the way of doing what is
morally right
__________- blind prophet, attempts to get Creon to free Antigone and bury Polynieces
__________- head of the Chorus, often the voice of reason, is able to persuade Creon to free Antigone
and bury Polynieces
__________- group of men meant to represent the citizens of Thebes, often divided and uncertain of
their opinions
__________- a soldier who stands up to Creon
Overall Plot Summary:
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Specific Plot Points
Character loyalties:
Ismene: ____________, but changes to __________
Antigone: ____________ and _____________
Creon: _________________
Haimon’s conversation with Creon:
What is the mood of their conversation?
What does Haimon state about the people’s opinion of his father?
What does he state will happen if his father does not free Antigone?
-Conditions of Haimon’s, Antigone’s, and Eurydice’s deaths:
-Antigone’s tragic flaw:
-Creon’s tragic flaw:
-Creon’s journey through the elements of a tragic hero:
-Lesson that Creon learns at the end of the play:
Julius Caesar
___________- ruler of Rome, killed in violent murder, betrayed by close friends and the senate
___________- friend of Caesar, came from a family with a very strong political background, is loyal and
devoted to the republic
_____________- general that despises Caesar, wants power in Rome for himself
____________- warns Caesar to “beware of the ides of March”
____________- wife of Caesar, warns him not to go to the senate after witnessing his murder in a dream
____________- wife of Brutus, is very perceptive of his behavior leading up to Caesar’s death
____________- devoted friend of Caesar, gives a moving speech at Caesar’s funeral, one of the leaders
of the civil war that breaks out after Caesar’s funeral
____________- forms an alliance with Antony in the civil war, related to Caesar, changes his name to
Augustus and becomes the first emperor of Rome
Overall Plot Summary:
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Specific Plot Points:
Protagonist:
Antagonist:
Significance/Meaning of “Et, tu Brute?”:
“Crisis” Point:
Climax:
Death of Cassius:
Death of Brutus:
Why does Antony believe that Brutus was the noblest Roman of all?
Literary Terms for Antigone and Julius Caesar: Please know the definitions, and be able to identify
examples of the following literary terms.
Pun, alliteration, metaphor, simile, paradox, assonance, alliteration, protagonist, antagonist, conflict,
climax, resolution, plot, acts, scenes, dialogue, monologue, soliloquy, foil, tragic, flaw, aside,
foreshadowing, tragic hero, tragedy, ethos, pathos, logos.
Identify the literary devices used within the following quotes:
Antigone:
1. CHORUS: Love, unconquerable
Waster of rich men, keeper
Of warm lights and all-night vigil
In the soft face of a girl:
Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor!
2. CREON: Sold your soul for some silver: that’s all you’ve done.
3. CHORUS: Love, unconquerable
Waster of rich men, keeper
Of warm lights and all-night vigil
In the soft face of a girl:
Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor!
4. HAIMON: [Boyishly earnest] Father:
Reason is God’s crowning gift to man
5. CHORUS: 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.
Yet she was a princess too,
And Zeus in a rain of gold poured love upon her.
Julius Caesar
6. COBBLER: A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience, which is indeed, sir, a mender of
bad soles.
FLAVIUS: What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave what trade?
7. CASCA: A common slave—you know him well by sightHeld up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand,
Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched.
8. BRUTUS: And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg
Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
9. CAESAR: The cause is in my will: I will not come.
That is enough to satisfy the Senate.
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know.
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home.
She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans
Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it.
10. DECIUS: This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It is a vision fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
This is by Calpurnia’s dream is signified.
CAESAR: And this way have you well expounded it.
11. BRUTUS: Prepare the body then, and follow us.
[Exit all but ANTONY]
ANTONY: O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
(Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue),
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Greek Tragedy Notes:
Aristotle’s 3 Unities
Unity of Place: a play should be set in only one location.
Unity of Time: a play should only represent the happenings of one day; the events of the past are
recounted by characters.
Unity of Action: only actions and scenes relating to the main plot should be included; any unnecessary
subplots should be omitted.
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HAMARTÍA—the mistake or misjudgment made by a character that leads to their downfall; the
word literally means something like "missing the mark" because usually one makes their fatal
mistake based on an incomplete self knowledge
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HUBRIS—a common form of hamartia. Hubris is the “pride” or overwhelming self-confidence
which leads a protagonist to disregard a warning from the gods or to violate an important law.
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CATHARSIS—the audience’s reaction at the end of the tragedy; the feeling of acceptance that
while sad; it ended as it had to end; the audience recognizes their gratitude that they were not
the one’s in the tragic hero’s shoes that day
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DEUS EX MACHINA – “god from the machine.” In classical Greek theatre, a god lowered from a
crane at the end of the play (as if from heavens), usually to resolve the action of the play.