Antigone Questions and Answers – Flashcards
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How are Antigone and Ismene related?
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They are related as sisters.
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Who are the two brothers mentioned in the prologue?
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Polyneices and Eteoceles
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How did the two brothers die?
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They kill each other.
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What is King Creon's decree?
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No one should bury Polyneices.
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What does Antigone plan to do?
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Bury him herself.
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What is Ismene's decision regarding the King's decree?
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She's not going to help Antigone.
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What does the Choragos compare Polyneices to in the Parados?
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A wild eagle screaming.
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What city has "seven gates in a yawning ring"?
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Thebes
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What does the Chorus compare Thebes to?
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Chariots singing for joy.
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According to the Choragos, what does God hate?
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God hates people who brag.
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How does Oedipus die?
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He gouges his eyes out.
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Who says, "You should be cold with fear"?
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Ismene
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Who is the new King of Thebes?
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Creon is the new king of Thebes.
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How did the new King of Thebes claim heir to the throne?
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next in blood line (brother of Jocasta)
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What crime has Polyneices committed in the opinion of the king?
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He broke exile.
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What news does the sentry bring to Creon?
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Someone has already buried Polyneices.
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How was it decided which of the sentries would bring the news about Polyneices to Creon?
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They were playing dice.
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How does Creon believe the act of burying Polyneices was carried out?
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He says that it was an anarchist.
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What does Creon demand that the sentry do?
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Find out who buried Polyneices.
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According to Ode 1, what is the most wonderful of all the world's wonders?
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Man is the most wonderful thing.
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Of all the winds, man has made himself secure against all except one. Which wind is that?
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Late wind of death
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List man's accomplishments according to Ode 1.
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1. Language 2. Intelligence 3. Fashion
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Describe Polyneices' tomb.
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Lightly dusted with gold dust.
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Who has the sentry captured and brought before King Creon?
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Antigone
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How did the guards manage to capture Antigone?
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They found her burying Polyneices.
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How did Antigone react to being captured by the sentries?
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She's not a coward. She denies nothing.
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What reason does Antigone give for defying Creon's decree?
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She says your not God. The laws of God about burying the dead are more important than your laws.
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Who else does Creon have arrested in connection with the crime of burying Polyneices?
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Their sister Ismene.
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Why is Antigone angry with Ismene?
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Ismene didn't help Antigone bury their brother when she asked. Now she wants to share the blame.
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Besides being Antigone's uncle, how else were Creon and Antigone related?
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Antigone is engaged to marry Creon's son, Haimon.
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What is to be Antigone's punishment for burying her brother?
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She's going to be put to death.
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According to Ode 2, who is the fortunate man?
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The man "who has never tasted God's vengeance."
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Who is the god who must not be made angry, according to Ode 2?
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Zeus if he gets angry people will suffer from his anger.
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What is Haimon's initial response when his father asks how he feels about the King's decision to execute Antigone?
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He will obey his father, he agrees with him.
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What does Creon say that men pray for?
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They pray for attentive and dutiful sons.
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Why is Creon intent on harshly punishing, even family members, all those who break the law?
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To show his power.
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What does Haimon claim is God's crowning gift to man?
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He thinks the gift to "reason."
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What does Haimon tell King Creon about the people of Thebes' allegiance to him?
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They fear him.
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Whose point does the Choragos support?
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He supports Haimon.
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How does the city feel about Antigone's crime?
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They sighed sympathetically with Antigone.
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While Creon is ranting at his son, what does the king threaten to do?
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He will make Haimon watch Antigone's death.
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Describe Creon's death sentence for Antigone?
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He's going to lock her in a vault in a wilderness.
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According to Ode 3, what is it that "even the pure immortals cannot escape"?
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Love
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Who is Aphrodite?
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Goddess of Love.
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Whose fate does Antigone compare to her own?
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Niobe
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What does Antigone beg the people of Thebes to bear witness to?
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She was unjustly judged.
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Who does Antigone blame for her terrible misfortune?
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Oedipus
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According to the chorus, who is considered a virtue?
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Reverence
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According to Ode 4, who was locked away in a brazen vault?
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Danae
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Who came to the princess while she was locked away?
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Zeus
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Who "bore the gods' prisoning anger for his pride"?
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Dryas' son
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What is the "half remembered tale of horror" that old man tell?
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Ares wife watched ripped out the eyes of his sons.
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Who is the blind prophet who comes to speak to King Creon?
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Teiresias
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What does the prophet claim that he heard which frightened him?
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He heard birds fighting.
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What happened when the prophet began "the rites of burnt-offering at the altar"?
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He says that instead of flourishing they melt.
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What does the prophet claim to be the cause of the gods' reaction to their offerings?
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The Gods are angry.
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What does the prophet claim can be done to repair the evil performed against the gods?
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If Creon changes his mind.
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What is King Creon's reaction to Teiresias' message?
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He says," "Get out of here!"
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What is it that Creon claims all prophets love?
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All prophets love to ridicule Creon.
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What warning does Teiresias give to King Creon if he refuses to heed the prophesies?
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If he doesn't change his mind he will pay.
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What advice does the Choragos give King Creon once Teiresias leaves?
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The advice he gives him is free Antigone and build a tomb for Polyneices.
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How does King Creon react to the advice of the Choragos?
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He will do it.
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Who says, "All men make mistakes" and explain the meaning.
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Teiresais
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The Choragos and the Chorus pray to a "God of many names". What are some of these names?
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Iacchos, born of the thunder.
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Who does the messenger claim is "a walking dead man"?
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Creon
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How has Teiresias' prophecy that Creon would pay to the gods "flesh if his own flesh" come true?
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Haimon has killed himself.
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Who is Eurydice?
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The Queen, wife of Creon and mother of Haimon.
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What were Creon and the messenger doing when they prayed to Hecate and Pluto?
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They were washing the corpse of Polyneicus with holy water before they burned it.
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What did King Creon and the messenger do as soon as they finished their tasks regarding Polyneices?
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They ran to the vault to free Antigone.
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Describe what Creon saw when he looked through the crevice into Antigone's tomb.
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He saw Haimon weeping over Antigone's body. Antigone hanged herself.
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Describe Haimon's reaction when Creon entered Antigone's tomb.
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He splits in Creon's face and kills himself.
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What happened after the messenger relayed the news about Haimon and Antigone to Eurydice?
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Eurydice walked into her house and killed herself.
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What does the Choragos claim is "always punished" by the gods?
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The Gods always punished pride.
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Who is Hephasistos?
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He is the son of Zeus.
