By Sophocles
In addition to taking your own notes in
your notebook, please write your
responses to the presentation questions
on a separate piece of paper to be turned
in at the end of class.
All questions are in yellow.
The title should be, My Thinking about
Antigone
 Born in 495 B.C. near Athens
 Wrote nearly 120 plays
 Many were performed at the
Theatre of Dionysus
 Only 7 of his plays survive
 Antigone is chronologically the last
in a trilogy surrounding
Oedipus (her father)
 All of the plays by Sophocles
are considered tragedies
 Main character comes to an unhappy
end
 Main character is usually respected and
honorable
 The character’s downfall usually comes
from forces beyond
his/her control
 The “tragic hero” usually
gains wisdom in the end
 Usually born from nobility (wealthy and
powerful)
 Possesses a “tragic flaw” such as pride
or self-confidence that causes the
character to disregard law or the gods
 Is responsible for his/her
own fate
 Has potential for greatness
but is doomed to fail
 Set after the war in Thebes
 Story stresses “divine law” over those
made by man
 The name Antigone means "worthy of
one's parents"
 Antigone is the daughter of
Oedipus, the king of Thebes
 Laius, the king of Thebes, and his wife
Jocasta have a child, Oedipus
 An oracle (fortuneteller) informs Laius
and Jocasta that the baby is destined to
kill his father and marry his mother
1. If this was your child, what
would you do at this point?
*Remember, you believe
the oracle
 When the baby is born, Jocasta and Laius
stab the baby in the ankles and give him to
a servant to kill
 But the servant can’t bring himself to kill
the baby, so he gives him to a shepherd
 The shepherd gives the baby
to the king and queen of
Corinth
 They name the baby Oedipus,
which means “swollen foot”
 When Oedipus grows up, he goes to
see an oracle (just like his parents did)
 The oracle tells him of his fate, the same
one his parents were told about
2. What should Oedipus do?
 Oedipus decides to flee Corinth
 On his journey, he meets a rude group
of noblemen and ends up killing one of
them
 When he gets to Thebes, he discovers it
guarded by the
Sphynx
 She asks him a riddle
before she will let him
pass
 The riddle:
3. What walks on four feet in the morning,
two in the afternoon and three at night?
(If anyone gets this, it will blow my mind)
 Oedipus is a hero when he gets to
Thebes
 As a reward, he marries the queen
(Jocasta), who was recently widowed
 They are happily
married for 20 years
and have 4 children,
sons Polynices and
Eteocles, and
daughters Antigone
and Ismene
 The family tree:
 And then Oedipus and Jocasta discover
the awful truth
4. What do you think they should do?
5. What do you think of their reactions?
 Following her parents’ deaths, Antigone
is raised by her uncle Creon, king of
Thebes
 Brothers Polynices and Eteocles raise
up
armies to try and rule Thebes
 They both die in battle
 Creon buries Eteocles with honor
because he defended Creon’s rule
 But Polynices is seen as a traitor and
left for the animals
 Antigone thinks this is
violates divine law
 She decides to bury her
brother by herself
6. Which set of laws are more
important?
7. When, if at all, is it our responsibility to
protest or break an unjust law?
8. What price should someone be willing to
pay if s/he breaks an unjust law?
9. What is good leadership? Can a
good leader show uncertainty
and maintain leadership?
10. How much power do we have
over our fates?
 Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta
 Ismene, Antigone’s sister
 Creon, king of Thebes and Antigone’s
uncle
 Eurydice, Creon’s wife
 Haimon, Creon and
Eurydice’s son and
Antigone’s boyfriend
 Teiresias, the blind prophet