Antigone Study Guide Questions
Scene 3 Ode 3
1. What is your first impression of Haimon? How does your view of him change as the scene progresses?
2. Explain how the citizens feel about Creon’s verdict.
3. In this scene, Creon withstands a powerful assault on his thinking. Who makes the attack and what effect
does it have on Creon?
4. What metaphors does Haimon use to argue that Creon should be more flexible?
5. At this point in the play, do you think that both Creon and Antigone should be more yielding, or do you
believe that some principles cannot be compromised?
6. How do Creon’s attitudes towards women seem to influence his decisions about Antigone?
7. Why do you think that Creon changes his mind about how to punish Antigone? How can he believe that he
can absolve himself, or the state, of her death?
8. In Ode 3, the chorus asserts that love is Haimon’s motive in defending Antigone. What other motivation can
you suggest for Haimon’s actions? Use support from the play.
9. What do you think of Haimon’s threat in line 119? Do you think that he is serious, or that he is just trying to
pressure his father into changing his mind?
10. “The State is the king!” declares Creon in line 107. “Yes,” replies Haimon, “if the the State is a desert.” What
does Haimon mean? Are there any contemporary figures who might express these views?
Antigone Study Guide Questions
Scene 3 Ode 3
1. What is your first impression of Haimon? How does your view of him change as the scene progresses?
2. Explain how the citizens feel about Creon’s verdict.
3. In this scene, Creon withstands a powerful assault on his thinking. Who makes the attack and what effect
does it have on Creon?
4. What metaphors does Haimon use to argue that Creon should be more flexible?
5. At this point in the play, do you think that both Creon and Antigone should be more yielding, or do you
believe that some principles cannot be compromised?
6. How do Creon’s attitudes towards women seem to influence his decisions about Antigone?
7. Why do you think that Creon changes his mind about how to punish Antigone? How can he believe that he
can absolve himself, or the state, of her death?
8. In Ode 3, the chorus asserts that love is Haimon’s motive in defending Antigone. What other motivation can
you suggest for Haimon’s actions? Use support from the play.
9. What do you think of Haimon’s threat in line 119? Do you think that he is serious, or that he is just trying to
pressure his father into changing his mind?
10. “The State is the king!” declares Creon in line 107. “Yes,” replies Haimon, “if the the State is a desert.” What
does Haimon mean? Are there any contemporary figures who might express these views?