Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- How are women portrayed in Antigone?
- Discuss the conflict between fate and destiny on one hand and free will on the other. Which dominates? How does each character grapple with their limited free will?
- How do the play’s main characters (Creon, Antigone, Ismene) see themselves? How is this similar or different from how they are perceived by others?
- What function does off-stage action have in Antigone? Why, for example, does Sophocles sometimes have messengers describe actions that have occurred rather than portraying events directly?
- Compare and contrast Oedipus and Antigone. How are they similar? Different?
- Antigone assumed her fate was to die in jail and therefore killed herself, fulfilling her fate only because she was aware of it. The question is, if characters were not aware of their own supposed fate, would it be fulfilled?