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Antigone Study Guide

by Sophocles

Antigone study guide contains a biography of Sophocles, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Polyneices and Eteocles, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war, have both been killed in battle. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices disgraced. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lay unburied to become the food of carrion animals. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead brothers, and they are now the last children of the ill-fated Oedipus. In the opening of the play, Antigone brings Ismene outside the city gates late at night for a secret meeting: Antigone wants to bury Polyneices' body, in defiance of Creon's edict. Ismene refuses to help her, fearing the death penalty, but she is unable to dissuade Antigone from going to…

Read the full Antigone Summary

• Antigone Summary
• About Antigone
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Lines 001-241
• Summary and Analysis of Lines 242-525
• Summary and Analysis of Lines 579-785
• Summary and Analysis of Lines 786-1090
• Summary and Analysis of Lines 1091-1350
• Antigone's Family Tree
• Related Links on Antigone
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Antigone: Major Themes
• Antigone: Essays
• Antigone: E-Text
• Antigone: Questions
• Antigone: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Sophocles: Biography