Antigone Test Study Guide
1. What did Greek actors wear?
Masks
2. Greek plays feature a group of performers who sing, dance, provide exposition and interact with the other characters. This group is called...
The Chorus
3. Who was Antigone's father?
b.
Oedipus
4. Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, did what?
Fought on opposite sides in a war for power in Thebes
5. Who is Creon? b. The new king of Thebes
6. What happened to Eteocles and Polyneices?
They died in battle at each other’s hand
7. What does the king of Thebes declare?
Eteocles is to be given a funeral and full honors while Polyneices' body will be left for the sun and the carrion animals
8. What does Antigone ask Ismene to help her do?
Bury Polyneices' body
9. Creon forbids the burying of Polyneices because:
Polyneices’ army invaded Thebes
10. Ismene refuses to help Antigone because she is: afraid of Creon
11. The chorus represents: the elders of Thebes
12. Who does the Chorus consist of?
The Theban elders
13. Which of these values does Creon praise in his initial speech to the Chorus?
Loyalty to the state
14. The Sentry character can be seen as an experiment. In the context of Greek drama, what is unusual about this character?
His speech is written in a somewhat naturalistic style

15. What does the Sentry report?
That someone has buried Poylneices
16. The Chorus, on first hearing the Sentry's news, wonders if...
God did it
17. What does Creon tell the Sentry?
That he must find the culprit or face execution
18. What/who does the Sentry bring back?
Antigone
19 . What does the Sentry witness?
A sudden and mysterious dust storm, which he takes as a sign of the gods' displeasure
20.
What does Antigone do when she is brought before Creon?
Defends her actions by asserting the supremacy of divine law
21 . What does Haemon warn Creon?
That the people of Thebes secretly side with Antigone
22.
Early in their conversation, why does Creon insist that it is especially important that they beat Antigone?
Because she is a woman, and they cannot allow people to say that they were beaten by a woman
23. Creon orders Antigone to be locked in a vault because: he could feel less responsible for her death
24. Creon’s greatest fear is: anarchy
25. Haemon uses which metaphor to explain to Creon why he should not be so stubborn? a tree that is swept up in a flood
26. Who else does Creon have arrested in connection with the crime of burying
Polyneices? a Ismene, Antigone’s sister
27. What does Haemon claim is God's crowning gift to man? the ability to reason

28. What does Antigone beg the people of Thebes to bear witness to?
. how she was denied pity and unjustly judged by Creon
29. Who does Antigone blame for her terrible misfortune? the sins of her father, Oedipus
30. According to the chorus, what is considered a virtue?
Reverence to the gods
31. What does the prophet claim can be done to repair the evil performed against the gods?
Creon can admit he was wrong
Creon can bury Polyneices
Creon can release Antigone
32. What warning does Teiresias give to King Creon if he refuses to heed the prophesies? b. he shall have to pay back “Corpse for corpse” as punishment for angering the gods
33. What advice does the Choragos give King Creon once Teiresias leaves? to quickly free Antigone from the vault/ and build a tomb for Polyneices in order to appease the gods' anger.
34. Who does the messenger claim is "a walking dead man"?
King Creon
35. Describe Haimon's reaction when Creon entered Antigone's tomb. he spat in his father's face and drew his sword against him
36. At the end of the play, Haemon is: dead by suicide
37. What happened after the messenger relayed the news about Haimon and
Antigone to Eurydice?
Eurydice walked silently into the house went to the altar and killed herself.
38. Creon’s punishment for killing Antigone is that: his son and wife kill themselves
39. A tragic hero in Antigone is:
Creon

40. The tragic hero’s flaw is: pride
41. All of the following are themes of Antigone
Stubbornness and pride lead to downfall.
Religious laws are more important than civil laws.
A great leader should be able to admit when he is wrong
42. Who is the author of Antigone?
Sophocles
43. What type of drama is Antigone? tragedy
44. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “Great Ares like a war horse wheeled /Ubiquitous his bound strength…” simile
45. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “My last and golden day:/ Best, the last, the worst/ To rob me of tomorrow.” paradox
46. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “…his children decked like olive branches round/ His throne.” simile
47. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “Money levels cities to the ground, / Seduces men away from happy homes” personification
48. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “He the wild eagle screaming insults above our land his winds their shields of snow his crest their marshaled helms.” metaphor
49. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “Is brazen boasting of barefaced anarchy?” alliteration
50. What literary device is being used in this line from Antigone: “How often I have heard the story of Niobe, Tantalos’ wretched daughter, how the stone clung fast about her, ivy-close...” allusion