Antigone Vocab

Prologue- scene 2

Anarchists - ​a person who believes in or tries to bring about anarchy.

Arrogance - ​the quality of being arrogant.

Contempt - ​the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving 
scorn.

Decree - ​an official order issued by a legal authority.

Edict - ​an official order or proclamation issued by a person in authority.

Helm - ​a tiller or wheel and any associated equipment for steering a ship or boat.

Insolence - ​rude and disrespectful behavior

Proclamation - ​a public or official announcement, especially one dealing with a matter of great 
importance.

Reversence - ​deep respect for someone or something.

Sated - ​satisfy (a desire or an appetite) to the full

Sententiously - ​abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims

Sultry - ​(of a person, especially a woman) attractive in a way that suggests a passionate nature.

Transcends - ​be or go beyond the range or limits of

Triumph - ​a great victory or achievement

 Notes

Introduction
● Antigone is a greek tragedy written by sophocles
● It comes after oedipus the king and
● Continues the story of aeschylus “seven against thebes”
● Antigone’s burial of her brother polyneices and the unexpected consequence of her
actions of civil misbehavior

Synopsis P1
● In the civil war eteocles and polynices died fighting each other for the throne of thebes
● Creon, the new ruler of thebes declared eteocles to be honored and polynices to be
disgraced because the was against his father oedipus wishes to let eteocles be the ruler.
● Creon declared polyneices body to be unburied and left in the battle field.

Synopsis P2
● Antigone decides to dispose of polyneices body properly, going against what creon said.
● Antigone’s sister ismene refuses to help her because she fears if she gets caught she
will be killed with the death penalty.
● But with the help of the chorus of the elders antigone will pull it off, but she is very fearful
of her consequence.

Synopsis P3
● Creon was very mad at the actions of antigone but she insisted on having full
responsibility of the disobedience, this is because they brought ismene in for
interrogation and antigone didn’t want her to get in trouble.

Synopsis P4
● Creon's son haemon who is engaged to antigone sides with his father because of what
antigone did but pleads to spar her.
● Until haemon and his father get into a argument and haemon never wants to see his
father again.

Synopsis P5
● Creon lets Ismene live but insists Antagone be thrown into a tomb and buried alive.
● Through it all Antagone is defending what she did but creon will not give up.
Synopsis P6
● There is a blind prophet named Tiresias and warns creon that the gods will side with
antigone and will lose a child in the process because the left polyneices in the battle field
dead and is about to bury antigone alive.

Synopsis P7
● The chorus begs creon to let antigone free and bury polynices and creon follows through
and buries polyneices, resulting in creon not getting in trouble

Synopsis P8
● Antigone and Haemon have taken their own life. Eurydice is creon’s wife and is so upset
that her son is dead. Resulting in Eurydice taking her own life and with her last breath
cursing her husband.

Synopsis P9
● Creon is very upset with himself because even though he didn't kill antigone his wife and
son are now dead.