Name_____________________________ Classwork/Homework

Antigone
Ode 4, Scene 5 and Paean

Ode 4
1. Ode 4 tells the stories of other Greek myths in which women were locked away or shunned from society.
What do the last two lines mean? What is predicted for Antigone (and Creon) if “Fate found means / to
build a tomb like yours for all her joy”?

Scene 5
1. In Scene Five we meet a new character, Teiresias. He is an old man who can see the future and read the
signs of the gods. Why is it ironic that he is blind?

2. In the first of the Oedipus plays, Oedipus Rex, Teiresias helped to

uncover the truth about Oedipus’s birth. (He was the garlic in the
vegetable play.) What does Creon owe to Teiresias? What did he
allow the king to do?

3. What news does Teiresias have for Creon? Why are the gods
angry with Creon?

4. What, according to Teiresias, is one characteristic of a “good man” (line 34)?

5. In lines 49-65, Creon implies that Teiresias is corrupt and that his prophesies can be bought and sold.
What does this tell you about Creon?
6. Teiresias loses his temper and accuses Creon of keeping the “child of this world” (Antigone) in a grave
before her death and of denying the dead (Polyneices) a grave (lines 73-75). According to Teiresias, Creon
will be pursued by “the Furies” (line 77). Who or what are the Furies? Look to the note at the bottom

7. According to Teiresias, what will be Creon’s punishment (lines 79-84)?

8. Teiresias exits and the choragus tells Creon that the prophet has never been known to be wrong. Creon
is frightened by Teiresias’s prophecy and begins to think that he should back down after all. However, he
says that it is hard to give in. Why is this so hard for Creon to do?

9. What advice does the choragus give to Creon (lines 96-97)? Does Creon agree to do it?

10. Why must Creon do this thing himself, rather than leave it to others?

Paean
1. This song is mostly the chorus asking the Gods to intervene in everything that is happening. What do
they ask the gods to help? What role do the Greeks believe that they played in this part of the play?