Reading Assignment for Class is : Antigone - Pages 1 to 10 (Lines 1 to 725)
CONTEXT:
Helpful resources to give you context for the story - READ THEM BEFORE CLASS
Helpful resources to give you context for the story - READ THEM BEFORE CLASS
http://www.didaskalia.net/studyarea/greekstagecraft.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=10.2&fromdoc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.04.0009
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/24b.html
(Click on the forward arrow on the bottom at least 3 times to read 3 separate kinds of content: The Origins of Theatre - The First Plays, The Different Types of Greek Drama and their importance, The Great Playwrights of Athens' 'Golden Age')
Reading Response Questions:
1) Describe Creon's character and the way he is portrayed in the story. What kind of leader does he sounds like at the onset of the play? What would you consider his flaws? How do you know these are his flaws?
2) What is the purpose of the bumbling lines of the Sentry? Is his speech nonsense or wisdom? Use textual evidence to prove your point.
Creon's character in the tragedy play "Antigone" by Sophocles often produces fear to all in his kingdom. Everyone seem to fear him except Antigone. She does not fear his ruling because she mentions that he is not Zeus to make laws about the dead. She went ahead and gave her brother Polyneices a proper burial which by doing so was committing a crime. She knew about the consequences and clearly and openly disregarded it. The punishment made in the beginning of the play by Creon which was “stoning publicly” to whomever buries Poloneices, shows that he rules with fear, meaning, if the people fear him and his laws then they will do as he say. As a leader who raises fear in all his people, I would consider ego and lack of compassion as Creon’s flaw. If the people in the kingdom fear him and do as he says, fully understanding the consequences that if they break the law they might die, then this will make him feel as though he has the most power in Thebes, maybe as much power as Zeus. In the case of Antigone being caught doing the punishable act of burring her brother, Creon did not care that she spoke the truth by admitted that she did it, he did not care if Ismene was actually involved side by side with Antigone burring Poloneices or even consider the fact that his son, Haemon was in love with Antigone, because he just wanted to kill Antigone for committing the crime. For this I think shows his lack of compassion. In my point of view, Antigone was going to be the first example of what law breaking in Thebes looks like and Creon was doing all of this to prove that he rules with fear.
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