Tom Garry

Period 3

April 11 2010

Antigone Journals

1. In the play Antigone, by Sophocles, the members of the chorus are described as

“elderly Theban nobles.” They are a group of around 15 wizened men, presumably

members of Creonʼs court. The chorus in Antigone provides the audience with

necessary background information relating to the story and the characters. For

example, in the Chorusʼ first section they tell the story of how the two brothers of

Antigone killed eachother when Polyneices attacked Thebes.

2. In the play Antigone, both Antigone and Creon demonstrate hubris. Antigoneʼs hubris

comes when she willfully disobeys and disrespects Creon, who is both her uncle and

her king. After Antigone is caught she isnʼt remorseful, and continues to stubbornly

oppose Creon. Creon also demonstrates hubris by abusing his power and making his

own laws. Creon uses his power to sentence Antigone to death for breaking a law he

just created.

3. One example of comic relief in the play Antigone comes early in the play when the

Sentry and Creon argue after the Sentry relates the story of how the body of Polyneices

was buried. The argument between the two reads, “CREON: Donʼt you know yet your

talk irritates me? SENTRY: Does it hurt in your ears, sir, or in your soul? CREON: What

is this? Anatomy? SENTRY: The man who did it irritates your mind. I just bother your
ears. CREON: You canʼt stop talking, can you? You must have been born this

way.” (lines 395-400) This humorous passage comes immediately after the Creon

threatens the Sentry with death unless he finds who is responsible for the burial.

Creonʼs rage and very serious threat contrast starkly with the comic nature of his

exchange with the Sentry.

4. The most important quality ingrained in in Antigone is her sense of familial duty. She

feels compelled to bury her brother no matter what the consequences are because her

parents are dead, and so her brother is irreplaceable. Her sense of duty towards her

family compels her to disobey the law of Creon in order to ensure that her brother

receives the proper burial he needs. She is also very brave, and this gives her the will to

disobey Creon.

5. Antigone did leave me feeling relieved. The story resolved itself very completely, with

Polyneices second burial and the deaths of Haimon, Antigone, and Eurydices, all the

major conflicts of the book are resolved. I donʼt feel sorry for Creon, because I believe

the deaths of his family members was inevitable. Creon refused to relent or compromise

with the others, and the conflicts betwen Haimon and Creon, and Creon and Antigone,

could not be resolved except through their deaths. I do feel sorry for Antigone because

she was bound by her duty to her family to do what she did, and so she was

condemned to death from the beginning.

6. The play was rightfully titled Antigone, and should not have been titled Creon. This is

because while Antigone and Creon are both protagonists in the story, it is Antigoneʼs

actions which drive the plot forward, everything Creon does is a reaction to a
 statement or action of Antigone or one of the other characters. Antigone is the

catalyst of the play, the story is centered around her actions and beliefs, and how the

other characters react to her actions, or the effects of her actions. Lastly, it is

Antigoneʼs opening lines to her sister Ismene, in which she tells her “Donʼt you see

hatred marches on love when friends, our own people, our family are treated as

enemies?” (lines 12-16), which introduce the audience to the core themes of the play.

Current Events

" For my article, I chose a story published in the New York Times on April 11, 2010

about the recently deposed president of the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. This

article is connected to the themes of Antigone because like Antigone it features the

leader of a nation who is ignorant to the feelings of those he rules, and whose rash

leadership decisions lead to his downfall. Antigoneʼs Kreon angers the Thebes populace

when he orders the killing of his niece, Antigone, while the president of Kyrgyzstan,

Kurmanbek Bakiyev, angered the Kyrgyz people when his presidential guard shot and

killed dozens of protesters. In both cases, the leader of a government overstepped his

authority and misused his power, and in doing so lost the loyalty of his subjects. Lastly,

in both instances the leaderʼs believed that their subjects would support them without

questioning their authority or decisions.