Antigone Flashcards
What is Antigone’s Harmatia?
Her fixation on martyrdom and personal honour leads her to death
What is Creon’s Harmatia ?
Dictatorial obsession for Polis law leads to destruction of Oikos
He has an inflexible attitude towards authority
How is Antigone hubristic?
Excessive desire for glory causes her to shun Ismene
Transgressive in viewing herself as the bride of death and comparing herself to divine figures like Niobe
How is Creon hubristic?
He conflates law of polis with divine law
He is excessive in tyrannical use of power
What is the Peripeteia in Antigone?
Teiresias prophesies imminent destruction of Oikos and informs Creon
What is the Anagnorisis?
Creon laments that he is responsible for the deaths of Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice
What is the Agon ?
Antigone argues that she was justified in defending divine laws of burial
Creon argues that this was not justified we the Gods don’t value traitors
Who is Tiresias?
Blind prophet who prompts Creon’s Anagnorisis
What happens in the prologue?
Antigone asks for ismene’s help in burying Polynices. Ismene refuses and Antigone rejects her
Antigone tells Ismene of the emergency decree
What is the emergency decree?
New law made by Creon
Polynices is not allowed to be buried or mourned
Punishment is being stoned to death
Why does Antigone want want to bury Polynices (4)
Divine law dictates corpses should be buried
Family ties and loyalty to brother
To redeem polluted Oikos
GLORY
Why does Ismene not want to help Antigone?
She does not want to break state law
She stresses that they are only women
She is confined by patriarchal values
How does Antigone reject Ismene in the prologue?
She says even if Ismene changes her mind she does not want her help
She will hate her for her silence
What does Ismene say to show she is crushed by the Patriarchy?
“We must submit in this and things still worse”
What does Antigone say in the prologue about glory?
“I will suffer nothing as great as death without glory”
What happens in the parados?
The chorus thank the gods Polynices is defeated and they want to celebrate
Metaphor of Polynices
“Eagle screaming winging havoc over the land”
What happens in episode 1? (6)
Creon presents his ethos
1) you are nothing if you put personal relationships before the state
2) leaders should not be Afraid of implementing laws. If he does be is worthless
He stresses the need for loyalty from the chorus
They react with a tentative “I suppose”
He tells of what he will do to Polynices
Sentry enters and says body has been buried.
Leader of the chorus questions whether it could be the work of the gods
Creon gets mad and threatens sentry with death and torture
Who are the chorus
12-15 old citizens of Thebes
Why does Creon not bury Polynices ?
State law
To set an example to citizens to consolidate and showcase his power
How is Creon excessively paranoid ?
He threatens the sentry with torture and RAHHH
He assumes he has been bribed
How does the sentry reveal Creon’s Harmatia?
“It’s terrible when the one who does the judging judges all wrong”
What happens in the first stasimon?
The chorus sing an ode to man
They stress that people who live by the god’s laws and the state laws are the happiest
This relates to the two extremes of Antigone and Creon
What happens in episode 2
Antigone is brought before Creon and confesses she buried her brother. She was found trying to bury her brother again
Creon and Antigone engage in an Agon
Ismene claims she helped but Antigone rejects her
What evidence do we get in episode 2 that Antigone buried Polynices for personal glory
She was found by the body. She went back deliberately to be caught to get glory. She had already buried him.
She rejects the help of Ismene to have all the glory herself
