Character/Theme Development

As you read, complete this chart to help you understand how certain characters and events are connected. As
characters act and react to situations, you will notice relationships or conflicts developing. Through these events,
themes also develop throughout the play. For most of the play, you will complete entries for major characters only:
Antigone, Ismene, Creon, and Haimon. However, Scene 5 and the Paen challenge you to explore different characters,
some of which are minor to the play as a whole, but integral to those scenes.

Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Prologue, Antigone Sister of oedipus two sons Creon forbid the burying Power of man vs power
Scene 1, Wants to bury Polyneices of Polyneices of fate
Ode 1

Ismene Sister of Antigone Antigone tells ismene she

Doesn’t want her sister to get in going to bury her brother
trouble and ismene refused

Creon King of Thebes Polynices led the army to

Forbid the burial of Polyneices attack Thebes and Creon
forbid the burying of him
Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Antigone Caught burying polyneices She wanted to be a good Power over honor
sister
Scene 2,
Ode 2

Ismene Caught with Antigone trying to She wanted to die with

take the blame her sister

Creon Convicting both sisters of a crime Antigone was caught and

Ismene is trying to take
the blame but Antigone
denies her helping her

Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Scene 3, Antigone Antigone is not in scene three Not in scene three THe law of man vs the
Ode 3 law of the gods

Ismene Ismene is not in scene three Not in scene three

Creon Arguing with his son about his Creon is being tested by
decree his own son because he
made the wrong call
 Haimon Trying to get his father to Creon put haimon future
reconsider bride to death and he tries
to get Creon to change his
mind
Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Scene 4, Antigone About to be sent to a stone tomb She doesn't think what Who right the man in
Ode 4 and accepts it she did is a crime and power or the man wh0
Creon is to hard headed is following tradition
to think
Creon Creon doesn't care for her and Antigone was caught and
sends her away she is sent to a stone tomb

Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Scene 5 Creon Creon doesn’t believe Teiresias Creon is to hard head to The clouding of power
prediction to correct and that he is accept anything bad said
being bribed about him or his action

Teiresias Teiresia makes a bad prediction Teiresias foretells a bad

and creon doesn’t believe it is future and Creon doesn’t
corrected believe it
 Scene of Characters Relationships or Conflicts What motivated the What could be a possible
Play character to react this way? developing theme?

Paen Creon Creon just went againist his own He listened to his chrous That not following fate
law and is hard to except and Buryed polynices will to disaster
body but was too late to
save Antigone

Messenger Tells that his son and his wife had He heard the news and
killed themselves ran as quickly as he could

Think about the title of the unit, ​Taking a Stand.​ Read back over your notes on this chart. If you
could choose the most critical theme that Sophocles was trying to develop throughout this tragic
play, what would it be? Which characters helped to develop that theme the most?
That Man in power will deny wrong and support is ideals but the right thing is never clear