Antigone Unit Test Study Guide
Characters:
Antigone – Believed the laws of the gods super
ceded those of the mortals
Eteocles – Refused to share the throne of Thebes
with his brother
Ismene – Wanted to be equally guilty
Teiresias – Convinced Creon he was older and
therefore wiser
Polyneices – Was denied burial because he
attacked his own city
Haimon – Attempted to stab Creon and fell upon
his own sword
Multiple Choice Questions:
Oedipus Questions
1. Oedipus was married to… Jocasta
2. Oedipus’ biological father was… Laius
3. Who casts a generational curse on his/ her family? Oedipus
4. Who stabs out his/ her own eyes? Oedipus
5. One of the thematic motifs in Oedipus is… an individual cannot always escape his/her fate or destiny.
Prologue & Scene I
1. Creon has forbidden Polyneices’s burial because Creon views him as a ___traitor__.
2. What is the setting of the play? Thebes
3. What happened to Antigone’s brothers? They killed each other in a bitter battle for the throne of
Thebes
4. Antigone’s determination to bury Polyneices is based mainly on feelings of loyalty for her brother
5. Ismene is, at first, unwilling to help Antigone bury Polyneices because Ismene does not want to be
punished for breaking the law.
6. When Ismene shows reluctance to help Antigone bury Polyneices, Antigone responds with scorn and
anger.
7. Who is the protagonist in this play? Antigone
Scene II
8. When Antigone goes ahead with her plan to bury Polyneices, she believes that she may very well be put
to death
9. Creon becomes upset whenever he perceives a challenge to his____authority____.
10. Who is the antagonist in the play? Creon
11. How did the Sentry know that it was Antigone that buried Polyneices? He saw her do it
Scene III
12. What does Creon say makes a good son? Someone that obeys his father no matter what
13. Haimon uses a metaphor in the following quote to express that— “In flood time you can see how some
trees bend, and because they bend, even their twigs are safe, while stubborn trees are torn up, roots and
all.” that Creon’s stubbornness will lead to his downfall.
14. You are not in a position to know everything/ that people say or do, or what they feel:/ your temper
terrifies them—everyone will tell you only what you like to hear.” In the previous quote, Haimon is
appealing to— Logic
Scene IV, V & Exodus
15. What can the reader infer from the following speech by Antigone? “You have touched it at last: that bridal
bed/ Unspeakable, horror of son and mother mingling:/ Their crime, infection of all our family!/ O Oedipus,
father and brother!/ Your marriage strikes from the grave to murder mine.” Antigone feels that she is
cursed by the sins of her father.
16. How does Creon respond to the death of his wife and son? He blames himself