Download Antigone Background Notes

Antigone Background Notes
I. Origin of Tragedy
A. Religious festivals in the
spring to honor Dionysus.
Each year, playwrights
were chosen to produce
three tragedies, along with
a satyr play (a comic
interlude) for a theatrical
competition at the festival.
Dionysus (Bacchus),
god of wine, revelry, & fertility
B. Thespis, “Father of Drama” (thespians)
1. introduced the first actor and dialogue
C. Sophocles
1. added third actor
2. fixed number of the Chorus to 15
3. introduced painted scenery
4. made each play of a trilogy separate in nature
(each play could stand alone)
 Oedipus
Rex
 Oedipus on Colunus
 Antigone
Sophocles
II. Structure of Theatre
A. theatron: “seeing” place where the audience sat
B. orchestra: circular dancing place where actors and
Chorus performed
C. thymele: altar to Dionysus in center of the
orchestra
D. skene: building used as dressing room
E. proskenion: façade of skene building which served
as backdrop
F. parados: entrance to the theatre used by Chorus
Greek Theatre
III. Actors and Acting
A. The playwright took the leading role
B. All male performers (played female roles too)
C. Never more than 3 actors (changed characters)
1. protagonist, deuteragonist, tritagonist
D. Costumes and Masks
1. long, flowing robes (colored symbolically)
2. high boots with raised soles
3. large masks made of wood, linen, cork
a. identified age, gender, emotion
b. exaggerated features (eyes, open mouth)
IV. The Chorus
A. Music and Dance
1. music: flute, lyre, drums
2. dance: expressive rhythmic movements
B. Function of the Chorus
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
sets overall mood and expresses theme
adds beauty through song and dance
gives background information
divides action and offers reflection on events
questions, advises, expresses opinion (usually
through Chorus leader)
V. Conventions of Greek Theatre
A. Aristotle’s Unities
1. action (simple plot)
2. time (single day)
3. place (one scene throughout)
B. The Messenger (sentry)
1. tells news happening away from the scene
2. reports acts of violence not allowed to be seen
C. Limitations of the Theatre
1. the Chorus is constantly on the stage
2. no intermission
3. no lighting, no curtains
VI. Important Terms
1. tragedy: an imitation of a serious action
which will arouse pity and fear in the viewer
2. tragic hero: a character, usually of noble
birth, neither totally good nor totally evil,
whose downfall is brought about by some
weakness and error in judgment (a tragic
flaw)
3. hamartia: a tragic flaw, weakness of character
or error in judgment which causes the downfall
of the hero (tragic flaw)
4. hubris: the tragic flaw of pride
5. catharsis: the “purging” or release of emotions
the audience feels
6. deus ex machina: a person or god that
intervenes in the action
VII. The Original Dysfunctional Family
King Menoeceus
King Laius
Jocasta
King Oedipus
Eteocles
Polyneices
Creon
Eurydice
Jocasta
Ismene
Antigone
Megareus
Haemon
King Laius and Jocasta have a son, Oedipus.
The Oracle predicts Oedipus will grow up
and kill his father, so Laius has Oedipus
taken to the top of a mountain, his feet
Ohhh, that
bound.
hurt!!!
Baby Oedipus is rescued by a shepherd. He
grows up and hits the road. Meets the
Sphinx. Answers the Sphinx’s riddle.
Sphinx kills herself.
Oedipus argues with and kills a man on the road
who, unbeknownst to Oedipus, is his father
Laius. Oedipus continues and when he reaches
Thebes, he is rewarded for killing the Sphinx
that has been plaguing their town (no one has
been able to come and go since the Sphinx has
been guarding the road). Oedipus is given the
newly widowed queen to marry. Look back at
the family tree…
Oedipus and his “wife” have four children.
Eventually, a new plague strikes Thebes and
the Oracle is consulted again. The
soothsayer, Teiresias, tells them that Thebes
is suffering because of Oedipus and Jocasta’s
crime against nature.
Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus takes her
brooch and blinds himself. He is exiled
from Thebes and Antigone and Ismene,
his daughters, dutifully lead their father
through the lands during his exile.
A civil war breaks out about who will be the
new ruler of Thebes. Eteocles and
Polyneices fight to be heir to the throne.
They kill each other and their Uncle Creon
steps up. He believes one was the rightful
heir (the oldest son) and other was a traitor
to the state for challenging him. Creon
refuses a proper burial for the “traitor” and
this makes Antigone angry; she believes
BOTH her brothers deserve a proper burial.
Remember your mythology?
Why was a proper burial so
important to the Greeks?

For the most part, the Greeks did not believe in
a different afterlife for the good or bad—i.e., no
heaven or hell. In their view, the afterlife was
almost universally grim; the important detail for
the dead was whether they were buried or
unburied. Those who did not receive proper
funeral rites were doomed to wander by the
river Styx, the entrance to the Underworld, for
eternity; their souls could never be at rest. Thus,
denying burial to a corpse not only insulted the
body, but also damned his soul for all time.

The buried were granted access to Hades, the
name of both the Underworld and its king (who
was also known as Pluto). In order for the dead
to gain this access, a complicated ritual had to
be performed. There were few ‘professional'
undertakers, so a man's funeral fell to his family,
especially the women of the family. They
prepared the body for cremation, oversaw the
collection of the bones and ashes and burial of
the urn, provided the tomb with liquid offerings
(libations), and led the mourning, a loud and
violent process in which women tore their
cheeks with their fingernails, ripped out their
hair, and poured dirt over the heads and
clothing.

Mourning the dead was one of the few
things women were allowed to do in
ancient Greece, especially Athens. Women
of well-born families were expected to
stay at home in specially designated
women's quarters at all times except
during certain religions festivals. Marriages
were arranged by a girl's father or
guardian. Women were not true citizens of
the democracy and could not speak or
vote in the assembly. They were not even
allowed to speak in court, a basic right for
Athenian men.
 Burying
and mourning their dead
relatives gave women an opportunity to
do something important for their
families. It brought women to the fore
and gave them a role to play. When
Creon forbids burial of Polynices, he
denies Antigone the chance to do one of
the few important things society allowed
women to do. Thus, he is attacking her
identity, and that is a large part of the
reason she opposes his orders.
You need to get to Hades!
Once a person has died, s/he must pay the
ferryman, Charon, to take him/her across the
River Styx to the Underworld. Otherwise, the
soul will not be able to rest.
Michelangelo’s
Last Judgment