English Name __________________________________________Greek Drama: Antigone Period _____

SAME MYTH, SECOND VERSE…PART I: Using the annotation notes on our online in the textbook, complete the following chart.

MYTHICALCHARACTER

SUMMARYOF MYTH

COMPARETO ANTIGONE

CONTRASTWITH ANTIGONE

Niobe(page 27 line 671-676)“How often I have heard the store of Niobe, / Tantalos’ wretched daughter, how the stone / Clung fast about her, ivy-close: and they say / The rain falls endlessly / And rifting soft snow; her tears are never done. / I feel the loneliness of her death in mine.”

She is the daughter of Tantalus and she was also the queen of Thebes. Niobe had 14 children and she mocked Leto for only having 2 children, so he sent his two sons Apollo and Artemis to kill her whole family and they did, so she ran to the mountains and cried she turned into stone and the rock formed into a stream from her tears. She became the symbol of eternal mourning. Her children were left unburied for 9 days because Zeus had wanted to turn all the people in Thebes into stone as well.

They both offend very important person and face divine curses and deal with unburied love ones. Antigone deals with her unburied brother while Niobe deals with her unburied dead children. They both have offensive attitudes and behavior towards their important loved ones. As well they both die in the end of the myth because they lost on their family so they were in sorrow.

Tantalos(page 27 line 671-672)“How often I have heard the store of Niobe, / Tantalos’ wretched

Tantalos is invited to Zeus’ house and Zeus tells him a bunch of secrets, which Tantalos leaks. To try and apologize, Tantalos chops up his own son, boils

- Creon and Tantalos were both kings that did immoral things

- Both kings were cursed.

- Both had to deal with death of son.

- Tantalos was a favorite of kings, Creon wasn’t.

- Tantalos was trying to please the gods, Creon was only trying to please

daughter…” him, and tries to serve it to the gods, which the gods are horrified and sentence him to forever stand in a pool in Hades. In this pool, Tantalos is TANTALIZED (origin of word) because whenever he tries to get water the water drains, and there is a fruit over his head that raises whenever he tries to reach it.

- himself.

Danae(page 29 line 738)“All Danae’s beauty was locked away / In a brazen cell where the sunlight could not come: / A small room, still as any grave, enclosed her.”

Mother of Perseus by ZeusHer father believed her son would kill him so he locked her in a tower so she couldn’t have kids. Once her son is born her father then puts Perseus and Danae in a bronze chest and sets it on the sea. They survived and became the object of unwanted affections of King of Seriphos

- Imprisoned in a tower like Antigone was in the tomb

- Both by kings in stories warned of death in families or to self

- Danae lived and had a child

- Creon is Antigone’s Uncle vs. Akrisios being Danae’s father

Dyras’ son Lycurgos(page 29 line 747)And Dryas’ son 8 also, that furious king, Bore the god’s prisoning anger for his pride: Sealed up by Dionysos in deaf stone, His

*Be sure to look at the nine Implacable Sisters mentioned in that antistrophe!

Lycurgus, King of Thrace, banned Dionysus and his cult from entering his lands. When Lycurgus learned that Dionysus was in Thrace, educating

Lycurgus, according to Sophocles, was locked in a prison of stone by Dionysus as punishment, similar to Creon sentencing Antigone to death in a cave.

Lycurgus defied the gods, banning Dionysus and his followers from his land. Antigone, on the other hand, revered the gods and believe it was their will to give Polynieces a proper burial.

madness died among echoes.

people in the ways of wine, he attacked Dionysus and imprisoned his followers. Dionysus cursed him to a life of madness, causing him to kill his wife and son. The nine Implacable Sisters are the Muses.

Eidothea (page 30 line 759)“How a king’s new woman, sick / With hatred for the queen he had imprisoned, / Ripped out his two son’s eyes with her bloody hands”

*Look at her father, god of the North Wind, as well as the Fates. Why would Ares grin at this while this shuttle plunged four times, four blind wounds crying for revenge? What’s with this shuttle and these wounds???

Daughter of the shape-shifting god Proteus, an early sea god.

Goes against greater rule like Antigone by revealing they need to give sacrifices to Zeus

More violent than Antigone

Cleopatra(page 30 line 760)“With hatred for the queen he had imprisoned,”

Daughter of Boreus, the North Wind. First wife of King Phineus. Phineus locked her awy in a cave. Phineus’s second wife, Eidothea, acussed her two sons of attempted rape and tricked Phineus into

Both were locked away in a cave and had family members who were blinded.

Cleopatra was released from her prison alive.

blinding them. Cleopatra’s brothers, Calais and Zetes, freed her, put her sons on Phineus’s throne and set Eidothea away to her own land.

PART II: What do all of these characters have in common?

Part III: Look up these are allusions and provide a brief summary. Then write down the connection you see between this reference and Antigone.

Mythical Character Summary of Myth

Connection to our play: Why reference this? How is it significant? Think of context and culture!

Persephone(line 716)O tomb, vaulted bride-bed in eternal rock, Soon I shall be with my own again / Where Persephone welcome the thin ghost underground:

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Persephone is the goddess of vegetation. At one point,

In this quote, Antigone is talking about her death and Persephone’s dwelling in the world of the dead

Hades falls deeply in love with her and keeps her in his castle until she is forced to eat 6 pomegranate seeds. This curses her to spend eternity in the underworld with Hade, but when Zeus sees Demeter’s depression, he sends Hermes to strike up a deal with Hades. They came to the agreement that she would spend six months(spring and summer) in the underworld and 6 months (fall and winter) on earth.

serves as a metaphor. It also connects Antigone’s fate and hopelessness to that of Persephone when she is condemned to spend eternity in the underworld.

Acheron(lines 664)Now sleepy Death / Summons me down to Acheron, that cold shore: / There is no bridesong there, nor any music.

One of the rivers of the underworld ruled by Hades where souls are

Antigone accepts her death. Alludes to her death.

ferried across. Known as river of woe.

HephaistosI began the rites of burnt-offering at the altar, / But Hephaistos failed me: instead of bright flame, / There was only the sputtering slime of the fat thigh-flesh / Melting:

God of blacksmiths and fire

He failed to start the fire for the alter, a bad sign. Allusion to war and conflict.

Iacchos(page 35)O Iacchos son of Kadmeian Semele O born of the Thunder! Guardian of the West Regent of Eleusis’ plain O Prince of maenad Thebes and the Dragon Field by rippling Ismenos. . . the nymphs of Iacchos dance at the spring of Castalia. . . oh come from Parnasos:

*Be sure to include Semele, the Eleusis’ plain, maenad Thebes, the Dragon Field, Ismenos, Castalia, and Parnasos. Kudos if you can explain why his female followers chant “Evohe evohe.’

Dionysus is distantly related to Antigone’s family. Many places in Thebes have sacred connections to him. The tragedies were performed in honor of him.

Amphion(line 901-902)Men of the line of Kadmos you who live Near Amphion’s citadel:

What is his citadel? His

citadel is a castle of some sort in Thebes – Cadmea

He was the son

Basically he just founded Thebes

of Zeus, who founded Thebes; later married Niobe, who after insulting the goddess Leto she killed their children. Some say he killed himself after this and others say he was killed with his children.

Pallas(line 928)As I was unlocking the gate of Pallas’ shrine, For I needed her help today

Athena, often given the epithet “Pallas”, is the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic war, mathematics, strengths, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill in ancient Greek religion and mythology.

*Why would Eurydice need her help?Eurydice’s name means “wide justice” and she seeks help from Pallas, another name for the goddess Athena, who is goddess of justice and wisdom which is the guidance Eurydice is seeking.

Hecate and Pluto(line 940)To the outer plain where Polyneices was lying, No friend to pity him, his body shredded by dogs. We made our prayers in that place to Hecate And Pluto, 18 that they would be merciful.

Pluto- Other Name for Hades, the effects of the death, and the lord of the dead; the actual death force is Thanatos, think ‘final destination’Hecate- goddess of magic, witchcraft, crossroads and decisions. Symbols are torches, dogs & keys and daggers. Considered to be honored by deathless gods

Death plays a large role in all 3 plays. The 1st play is caused by the death of Lysus, the 2nd is about the death of Oedipus, the 3rd play is because of the death of PolynicesGoddess of decisions, Antigone’s decision leads to her downfall, Hecate emphasized as only child while Antigone emphasizes respect towards brother, both are guardian-like

Io Fire(page 35 lines 896)Io Fire! Chorister of the throbbing stars! O purest among the voices of the night! Thou son of God, blaze for us!

Moon of Jupiter named after a priestess that Zeus had a relationship with.

Why reference Io Fire?Asking for power and help.

The Furies(lines 848 page 33)And the Furies and the dark gods of Hell Are swift with terrible punishment for you.

They were female chthonic deities of vengeance, and sometimes referred to as “infernal goddesses”. They emerged when Cronus castrated his father Uranus

Deities of vengeance, so it was their responsibility to reign down with terror on Creon for the pain he caused both of his daughters and his dead son, Polynieces. Teiresias is predicting what the Furies will

and emerged from the drops of blood. They bring fury upon people who upset the balance of host to guest or parents to child.

do, which ends up becoming reality at the end with Creon’s guilt.