Antigone

1
Antigone

• History Background

2
Sophocles

• 496?-406? B.C.
• Born in Athens to a wealthy family
• One of three great playwrights along with
  Aeschylus Euripides

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Sophocles

• In 468 B.C., he was the top dramatist when he won
  the Athenian drama contest twenty times.
• He wrote more than 100 plays.
• Only seven complete plays have survived
• Antigone was written 441 B.C.
• It is a masterpiece.

4
Sophocles

• Dramatic Inventions
• Balanced symbolism realism
• Increased number of actors from two to three to
  complicate the plot
• Created the concept of juxtaposition
• Wrote trilogies as three separate units
• Used themes concerning the nature of man, his
  problems, and his struggles.

5
Greek Social Classes

• Upper class
• A unemployed citizen
• Free of economic tasks
• Used to slaves to conduct business
• Devoted time to education
• Allowed to vote
• Worth at least 20 talents
• Only about 300 families shared this status.

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Greek Social Classes

• Middle Class
• Non-citizen of foreign birth
• Couldnt own land or vote
• Urban professionals
• Managed the city
• Worth between one to three talents

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Greek Social Classes

• Freemen
• Freed slaves who obtained their freedom
• Family or friend paid ransom
• Worked a second job
• Fought in a war for the city
• Their master died
• The job that they were bought for was over
• Not allowed to vote

8
Greek Social Classes

• Slaves
• Prisoners of war, victims of slave raids,
  abandoned infants, or criminals
• Cost between 50 1,000
• Even the poor had a slave or two
• Upper class families had as many as fifty
• Used for government jobs
• Mostly women
• Treated kindly by their owners.

9
Literary Elements
Chorus A group of dancers or singers who comment on the action of the story. They relate events outside of the play or what happened before the play.
Greek Drama Imitated human action The chorus divides the play in five acts. Acts are composed of scenes in logical order
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Literary Elements
In Medias Res Latin for in the middle of things. A literary technique in which the story starts in the middle of the action.
Juxtaposition Comparing and contrasting two objects, people, or ideas by placing them together in a text.
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Literary Elements
Realism The truthful treatment of an event within a text.
Tragedy A play that culminates in an unhappy catastrophe, marked by sadness, misfortune, death.
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Literary Elements
Trilogy A literary work in three substantial parts, each of which in itself is a complete unit. Usually written against a historical background
Versimilitude The semblance of truth.
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Oedipus
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The Crossroads
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The Sphinx
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Antigone
17
Antigone
18
Polynices