Themes in antigone pdf

Antigone and Creon represent the extreme opposite political views regarding where a citizen of a city should place his or her loyalties.

In the play, Creon has a strict definition of citizenship that calls for the state to come first: "…whoever places…. Antigone , on the other hand, believes that there are unjust laws, and that she has a moral duty to disobey a law that contradicts what she thinks….

The ancient Greeks believed that their gods could see the future, and that certain people could access this information. Independent prophets called "seers" saw visions of things to come. Oracles, priests who resided at the temples of gods—such as the oracle to Apollo at Delphi—were also believed to be able to interpret the gods' visions and give prophecies to people who sought to know the future.

Oracles were an accepted part of Greek life—famous leaders…. Plot Summary. Lines Lines Lines Lines All Themes Blindness vs. Sight Natural Law Citizenship vs.

Family Loyalty Civil Disobedience Fate vs. Free Will. All Symbols Antigone's Tomb. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.

Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play. Sign Up. Ultimately, however, we see that she has merely bought into the problematic concepts that Creon espouses, for even when Creon realizes he may be wrong, he switches his defense, arguing that even if he were incorrect, he couldn't admit defeat to a woman, for that would upset divine law even more than backtracking on his principles.

It is this fundamental untruth that Sophocles' play seeks to correct, mainly through the punishment that the Gods inflict on Creon as a result of his obtuse, misogynistic thinking. When faced with injustice, Antigone and Ismene react quite differently - the former aggressively, progressively, and the latter more conservatively.

Ismene is not so much afraid of injustice as she is frightened of her own demise - and she cannot bear to incur the wrath of men for fear of being condemned to the same fate as the rest of her family. After watching her father and brothers die, she believes that the best course of action is to lie low and obey. In the case of Ismene, it seems inaction is tied to fear-at least until she willingly offers to die next to Antigone, at which point we realize that she is not so much inactive as she is unsure of her place as a woman.

Thus, while Ismene is a figure characterized principally by doubt, Antigone is one who plunges ahead purely on self-belief and her firm convictions about right and wrong. Ultimately, then, because of these fundamental differences in philosophy, they cannot die together, though Ismene wants to. Antigone forbids it - she cannot bear to have her sister tag along when Ismene all along is in the camp of the patriarchs, despite her eleventh-hour shift.

Athenians, and particularly Thebans, were sensitive to the idea of tyranny and the fine line between a strong leader and a brutal tyrant. Creon is in many ways a sympathetic character, but he abuses his power subtly - mainly by decreeing man's law as a consequence of divine will.

His faults do not necessarily stem from a lust for power, for he often has noble intentions. He is completely loyal to the state, but is subject to human weakness and poor judgment.

Indeed, at the beginning of the play he frequently comments on his desire to do what's best for Thebes and gains the confidence of both Haemon and the Chorus of Elders, who say that they will follow him if that is his goal. And though he continues to reprise this theme, Creon is clearly more concerned with preserving certain values of law rather than the good of the city.

When faced with a choice that would preserve 'tradition' or his own interpretation of the rule of law vs. The Question and Answer section for Antigone is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. The chorus is an important element of drama. In Antigone, it serves multiple purposes, such as providing background information about events that occurred before the start of the play.

After they have compiled and created their ABC Book, they should have developed a clear understanding of the character, the plot, and the themes, paving the way to their re-imagining the text for their creative reformulations. Display slide Have students compile all of their letter pages into a whole-class Antigone ABC book. Ask students to read their individual contributions aloud.

Encourage students to consider literary forms to reformulate the play. Have them as a whole class brainstorm possibilities. Share with them some of the following options:.

Require they determine ahead of time how many panels might be needed to tell the story. Have them consider which elements are better told in graphics and which are better told in words. Remind them to maintain the integrity of the story in whichever medium they choose. Letters : Suggest students assume the perspectives and personas of various characters in order to write letters from the characters' perspectives.

Require they determine in advance how many letters might be needed. Discuss which perspectives are needed in order to tell the story completely. Suggest they plan in advance what each of the major characters might say about different events in the story. Encourage them to identify a specific audience for each letter. Share with your students the history of the epistolary novel—a story written entirely through letters between and among characters.

Interviews : Have students who are interested in journalism plan an interview with one or more characters from the play. Require they identify which character s should be interviewed. Remind them that they must create a script for the interview in advance.

Guide students in developing pertinent questions to ask the character s in order to portray the story. Have them portray the point of view and perspective of each character in the interviews. Encourage students interested in this option to videotape their interviews. Poems : Encourage students to write a poem or poems retelling the story and theme s of the play. Require they plan in advance the subject, the occasion, the audience, the purpose, the speaker, and the tone of each poem they write.

Advise them that the poem or poems together retell the story. Newspaper Articles : Give students interested in print journalism the opportunity to write a newspaper article or series of articles regarding the events that transpire in the play.

Instruct them to write in the correct style and voice of a newspaper article. Have them include events from the play in their articles. Suggest they consider including images and quotes from characters in their articles. They will want to create headlines for each article that preview the content of the article.

Television or Movie Scripts : Give students interested in video and film the opportunity to create a television or movie script that retells the plot of the play set in modern times. Encourage them to imagine the events of the plot as they might occur in modern society.

After reading the play and completing the activities, instruct students to reflect on the ways their thinking changed after studying the play. Use this assessment to determine whether or not your students comprehend the play and whether they are able to connect the themes to their lives today.

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