Analytic Reading Questions for Sophocles’ Antigone

1. What happened to Ismene’s and Antigone’s brothers?

2. Why was Eteocles given a proper burial with honors and Polyneices wasn’t?

3. What does Antigone ask Ismene to help her with? What is Ismene’s reaction?

4. How does Ismene try to reason with Antigone? How does Antigone react?

5. What does Creon say in his speech after the war?

6. What news does the Sentry bring Creon? What is his reaction?

7. Why couldn’t Creon believe that Antigone was the one who buried Polyneices?

8. What does the Sentry say about how he found Antigone?

9. Why do you think Ismene wants to be punished along side her sister? What is Antigone’s punishment?

 10. How does Haimon try to reason with his father?

11. What does Haimon mean when he tells his father, “then if she must die.--But her death will cause another;” after trying to reason with him?

12. What does Creon have in mind for Antigone? For Ismene?

13. What does Antigone hope her people will do?

14. What does Teiresias tell Creon? How does Creon respond?

15. How did Antigone die?

16. How and why did Haimon die?

17. How and why did Eurydice die?