Necessary Background for Antigone

A Little Bit About Greece  Government:  City-states— polis —each was its own government and political institutions; would band together against a common enemy but disliked each other otherwise  Includes Argo, Thebes, Athens, Sparta etc.  Religion:  Major gods: Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon etc  Gods had human vices but still controlled aspects of life from the skies to things like love  Marriage:  Arranged by relatives  focus to produce heirs

A Little Bit of Greece cont.  Burial Practices:  Women performed the rituals—three parts including laying out the body, the funeral procession, and interment or cremation  Without a proper burial, the person’s ghost ( psyche ) would never reach the underworld  Role of women  Not equal to men  subjected to father then husband OR brother; includes ideas of intelligence  Lead the funeral rites  Purpose was to run the household and have children

A Little Bit of Greece cont.  Belief in Fate:  Destiny is determined by the gods  Fate is unavoidable  However, a person’s tragic fate cannot be avoided and can often be self-fulfilled  Meaning—if they tried to avoid their destiny, the very act of avoiding it will mean that it is fulfilled

Oedipus Rex  Father of Antigone, Ismene, Polyneices, and Eteocles  Was fated from birth to kill his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta (this creates your dramatic irony)  Laius threw him out at birth & Oedipus was raised by King Polybus of Corinth  Once Oedipus learns of his fate, he leaves Corinth BUT kills Laius on the road to Thebes  He then solves the riddle of the Sphinx and marries Jocasta and gains the throne of Thebes

Oedipus Rex cont.  Much later, there is plague in Thebes that is caused by the murderer of Laius going unpunished  A prophet, Tiersias, reveals to Oedipus that he was the murderer, but no one believes him until Oedipus starts putting together pieces like the crossroads  More pieces come together like the shepherd who saved him as a baby and gave him to Polybus; Laius was killed by one man  Oedipus curses fate & himself  this same curse continues with his family  Jocasta kills herself & Oedipus blinds himself  He begs to be exiled as punishment

Drama Terms (1)  Scene  A collection of lines that make up one part of a play  Act  A collection of scenes  Exposition  Background information—sometimes assumed but often provided in the beginning

Drama Terms (2)  Setting  The place where the story takes place  Stage Direction  The poses, positions, and actions of characters that are not seen in the lines  Prologue  A scene that provides necessary exposition  Chorus/Choragos  The group of people who help to move the action along through providing philosophical details; sometimes a minor character

Drama Terms (3) CConflict TThe issues within a work; internal (man vs. self) or external (man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. society) SSoliloquy AA monologue said alone on stage with only the audience to hear AAside AA comment said quietly to the audience or another character that the majority of the cast does not hear; causes dramatic irony DDialogue CConversation between several characters while on stage

Drama Term (4) PProtagonist TThe main character of a larger work AAntagonist TThe opposite character who causes conflict with the protagonist FFoil AA character (usually minor) who helps to highlight traits of the protagonist; can be used to either highlight the flaws or good characteristics of the protagonist DDramatic irony WWhere the audience knows information or details that the characters do not know

Drama Terms (5)  Tragedy  A story whose conflict ends in death, destruction, and removal of the cause of disorder  Tragic hero  The protagonist of the story who finds defeat through one tragic flaw  Tragic flaw (hamartia)  The character trait that causes the downfall of the tragic hero

Main Questions We Will be Pursuing  Are there laws that should be broken if they stand in the way of justice?  Which is more important, obeying earthly laws or higher order laws?  What makes something morally correct?  When is it appropriate to break the law?  How does fate/destiny play into the decisions and choices we make as humans?