Name: ______________
Unit Plan: Antigone
“At the heart of the Greek tragedy is the spectacle of right vs. right”
STUDENT OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will learn the terminology of a Greek tragedy and use that vocabulary in class
discussion and written assignments:
 Tragedy / Tragic Hero
 Sophrosyne / Hamartia / Nemesis / Wisdom
 Hubris
 Protagonist / Antagonist
2. Students will learn how to annotate.
3. Students will learn how to select the most compelling evidence to support their claims.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS


Who is the tragic hero of the play?
How do the characters use Greek virtues to address conflict?
FOCUS QUESTIONS & VOCABULARY:
Directions: After we read each scene, respond to the following Focus Questions. For each
vocabulary word below, write its definition & part of speech in the space provided.
Prologue:
Focus Questions:
1. What is King Creon’s “new decree”?
2. What is the punishment for defying the decree?
3. What illegal act does Antigone want her sister Ismene’s help with?
4. Why does Ismene refuse to help her sister, Antigone?
Scene l:
5. What is the reasoning behind Creon’s new decree?
6. What news does the Sentry (messenger) bring to Creon?
7. When Creon hears that his law has been broken already, he makes some assumptions
about the criminal. Who does Creon suspect committed the crime?
8. Why does Creon threaten to kill the Sentry if he doesn’t reveal the criminal?
Scene 2:
9. Which Greek virtue(s) does Antigone use to defend her decision to defy Creon’s law?
10. What Greek virtue(s) does Creon use to defend his law?
11. Why does Antigone refuse Ismene’s help after she is caught?
Scene 3:
12. Who is Haemon? How is he related to Creon and Antigone?
13. What is Creon’s most persuasive line? Cite it below, and explain why you think he is
persuasive.
14. What is Haemon’s most persuasive line? Cite it below, and explain why you think he is
persuasive.
15. What is Antigone’s punishment?
Scene 4:
16. Why does Antigone lament in this scene? Is her sadness surprising? Why or why not?
Scene 5:
17. Why has Teiresias (the “blind seer”) come to speak to Creon?
18. What does Creon accuse Teiresias of when Teiresias advises him to yield?
19. What is Teiresias’s prophesy about Creon’s future?
20. What does Creon agree to do after Teiresias leaves?
Exodus:
21. What news does the messenger bring?
22. What does Eurydice do in response to this news?
23. Does Creon reach the “Wisdom” stage of tragedy? Include at least one quote to support
your answer. Cite your quote correctly.
Vocabulary
Prologue:

Decree (1022)

Yield (1023)

Sated (1024)
Scene 1:

Auspicious (1026)

Anarchy / Anarchist (1031)
Scene 2:

Edict (1035)

Compulsive (1040)
Scene 3:

Deference (1041)

Perverse (1045)
Scene 4:

Lamentation (1050)

Transgress (1050)
Scene 5:

Defile (1054)
Exodus:

Civic (1059)

Barbaric (1059)

Submission (1060)