ENG111 -- Introduction to Literature

Prof. Eileen Joy

Spring 2007

DISCUSSION QUESTION #1 (Antigone)

Choose ONE of the following prompts:

1. In the Prologue of Sophocles's Antigone, Antigone and her sister Ismene fight over burying their brother Polyneices, whom Creon has decreed must remain on the battlefield to be eaten by birds. While arguing, Antigone claims that the laws of the gods "mean nothing" to Ismene, and Ismene replies, "They mean a great deal to me; but I have no strength to break laws that were made for the public good." When Antigone refuses to budge, her sister tells her, "Go then, if you feel that you must. You are unwise, but a loyal friend indeed to those who love you." Later Ismene shows up in Creon's court confessing a share in Antigone's "crime" of burying their brother. How would you characterize the two sisters' relationship in the play?

2. In several of his speeches, Creon puts forth his belief that the state is always more important than any one individual. At one point, he says, "as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare,--I have no use for him." At another point he says that "Whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed--must be obeyed, in all things, great and small, just and unjust." Antigone's argument against Creon is that all his strength, as king and ruler of the state, "is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God." Why is she arguing this, and do you agree with her, or Creon, and why?

3. Patricia Lines, a scholar of Greek drama, has argued that Antigone has too much pride, and that her main problem is that she acts as if she is a "law unto herself." Therefore, Antigone cannot really be viewed as a hero, or if she is a hero, she is a deeply flawed one, because she is unwilling to take advice from anyone but herself. Do you agree with this assessment, and why or why not?

Please respond to the question with full, complete sentences. You should write one to one-and-a-half typed, double-spaced pages in response to the prompt (but let's not get distracted by these fine points of detail--what matters to me is that you respond to this prompt with thoughtfulness and care and show me that you have something of substance to say in relation to the reading and discussions we have had in class, and what that ultimately means is: MORE is always better than less, but one page is the minimum). The questions are always interpretive in nature, and therefore there are NO right or wrong answers, only your opinion (an opinion, nevertheless, that's hopefully grounded in a close reading of the text as well as a close attention to background material presented in class). You will want to refer to and/or quote specific passages from the text in order to support your observations and ideas (that will help you practice a skill that will become an absolute necessity when you are writing your critical essay).