1. Trace the role of the Chorus throughout the play.

In the Parodos, the Chorus provides a background to the events of the civil
war in Thebes between Eteocles and Polyneices. The two brothers fight
against each other with their armies, and both die. The Chorus justifies the
reserved honor for Eteocles for being loyal to his country, and the wickedness
of Polyneices war against his own country.
The Choragos represents the chorus in scenes between Creon and the
sentry. In a way, he is a narrator. He also contradicts Creon, sometimes
questioning his decisions.
The first ode glorifies mankind and his control over wild nature, but also
concedes to the fate of man, both good and evil. It says, When the laws are
kept, how proudly his city stands! When the laws are broken, what of his city
then?
Ode II describes the curse on Oedipus family and pities Antigones fate.
Some foreshadowing hints at the theme of the gods law versus the arrogant
laws of mankind (the king).
Ode III criticizes Creons actions against Antigone and the gods. Only love
can conquer.
During Scene IV, the Chorus explains how Antigones actions are what have
caused her consequence, death. Your death is the doing of your conscious
hand.
In the Paean, the Chorus praises the gods Dionysus, Persephone, and
Demeter. This shows the Greeks reverence for gods and the idea of fate.
At the very end, the Choragos delivers the last line, stating the theme
wrapping together the story.
2. What is the primary message of Antigone?
The primary message, or theme, is that the law of the gods is far greater than
the law of men. No wisdom but in submission to the gods. This play fits in
the category of Greek tragedies that teach the consequences of hubris, or
excessive pride. Greek tragedies give the audience catharsis, or a purging of
negative emotions and actions.
3. Near the beginning of the play, Creon gives the following criticism of Antigone:
The inflexible heart breaks first, the toughest iron
Cracks first, and the wildest horses bend their necks
At the pull of the smallest curb.
What does he mean and whom else does this apply to later in the play?
Creon is showing how stubbornness receives suffering. People who are not
flexible end up having to bend their necks when misfortune falls upon them.
This actually is Creons flaw within himself. Creon and Antigone share the same
flaw of prideful stubbornness, but fate calls for a different suffering end for each
character.

4. Though the play Antigone emphasizes the role of Fate, it also conveys the
idea that human choices always have consequences. Explain how two
characters make choices in the play and then reap the consequences of their
choices.
Creon makes the choice to create a law against Polyneicess burial. This cruel
law draws Antigones hatred and defiance against the king. He also condemns
her to death, saying that her death is left to the gods will, not his own choice. He
doesnt listen to Teiresias, the prophet urging him to think back on his actions and
go against his law, even if it made him dishonorable for contradicting his own law.
His consequence is living on with his wife Eurydice and son Haimon dead. He
realizes that all that matters to him has been swept away.
Antigone makes the choice to defy Creons law and bury Polyneices. But her
prideful stubbornness motivates her choices, not just familial respect and
empathy for her brother. In the end, she is the one who hangs herself. Creon
had actually changed his mind by then and was going to retrieve her and
exonerate her. Her ultimate consequence is death. She does not marry Haimon
and live a long life. She dies (kills herself) over the conflict with Creon.