sophocles theban plays hackett themes – GradSchoolPapers.com

sophocles theban plays hackett themes
Choose two main themes in the book and give your point of view about it and how could it affect sour lives and what is different about it nowadays? back it up with events in the book don’t deeply explain whats given in the book just use it as a back up.
These questions would help you write the reaction paper.
Reading Guide for Sophocles? Antigone
Lines 1-116
As you read the first scene, consider the gravity of the city’s condition and how aware Antigone seems of it. What has happened? What is going on? Why does Antigone assume that Creon’s order is directed against her and Ismene? When Creon appears later, consider whether his conduct and language in fact supports her assumption. Do you sympathize at all with Ismene’s caution? Does Antigone treat her fairly? Why is Antigone so concerned with glory? Should she be? How old do you think Antigone is?
117-78
After the initial dialogue the Chorus emerges for their first choral ode (stasimon), which concerns the previous night’s battle. Contrast the picture of Polynices drawn there with Antigone’s earlier discussion of her brother; does your opinion of him, and of Antigone’s position, change at all? The chorus evokes Dionysus, the first of several times this god is mentioned. Why should the chorus call upon Dionysus?
179-376
Creon enters. It is very important that you do not project Creon’s later conduct back into his first speech. Read this speech carefully, consider his values and beliefs, and ask yourself whether there is anything wrong with his principles, whether in Greek terms or your own. Later, compare Creon’s subsequent actions with the principles he articulates here. Throughout this scene, pay close attention to the assumptions Creon makes about gender. When Creon talks about the gods and the law, is he talking about the same types of gods as Antigone does?
377-416
Second stasimon, perhaps the most famous choral ode in Greek tragedy. What image of man does this ode present? In this vision, what is human greatness? What are the limits of human ability and action? When can a daring man get into trouble?
417-655
Why is Creon so surprised when the Sentry brings in Antigone? Antigone is compared to a mother bird, not the last time she is referred to as maternal in this play. Is there anything strange or ironic about Antigone being represented as a mother? Or is the metaphor significant to social change? Antigone’s defense to Creon is very important, so read it carefully. Ismene defends Antigone and asks Creon how he could kill his own son’s bride. Has there been any reference to this relationship before?
656-700
Contrast this stasimon with the previous one. Is this ode’s thought and tone similar or different? What, if anything, has changed?
701-878
Compare the Creon in this scene with the one who first entered the play. Has he changed at all in language or conduct? To what does Haemon appeal in his attempt to save Antigone?
Does Haemon threaten his father, as Creon thinks? Why does Creon chose the particular method of execution that he does? What does it say about him?
879-94
The ancient Greeks had two words for “love”; philia, meaning something like “friendship”, and eros, which has more to do with passion. When the chorus talks about “love” in the ode, which of the two do they mean? And why is the chorus generalizing about love here?
895-1034
Note the chorus’ reference to Antigone’s “bridal vault”. What do they mean by referring to a wedding chamber? This will be an important image in the last part of the play. Antigone becomes a “Bride of Death” (or “Bride of Hades”). To understand the importance of this metaphor, you might benefit from reading the Hymn to Demeter, which tells the story of Demeter and Persephone. Consider Antigone’s speech which begins at line 978. Is this speech consistent with what she has argued before? Is Antigone’s faith in the gods wavering here?
1035-89
Consider what these myths have in common with each other, and with the story of the play at this point.
1090-1237
What does the failure of Tiresias’ sacrifice have to do with Polynices and Antigone? What, specifically, in Tiresias’ warnings leads Creon to change his mind?
1238-72
Why does the chorus call on Dionysus in this ode?
1273-End
Why does Antigone chose to commit suicide? Does it suggest her mother’s death, or is there an important difference? Creon’s wife is only on stage momentarily, yet she plays a key role in Creon’s disaster. What does her suicide mean to him? Is Creon a tragic figure? Do you feel sympathy for him at the end as someone who initially tried to do good yet was overwhelmed by circumstance, or do you believe that he is a bullying, misogynistic control-freak who gets what he deserves? Try to come up with arguments for both sides.
In the text?s Introduction, Meineck writes of Sophocles, ?More than any of his contemporaries, he is fascinated by the enduring question of what it is to be human in a world that does not bend itself to support human ambitions. What ?human ambition is he referring to here?
The ?new learning? in Sophocles? time was rhetoric – the art of persuasion ? and ?various programs to explain nature and human events without reference to the gods (Meineck 10). How is Antigone of the ?old learning? and Creon of the ?new learning?? How does this discussion connect to ?Self? and foreshow ?Community?? Are we still having this discussion today? If so, in which areas?

 
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