Key Quotations (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note

Antigone: Key Quotations

When you answer any question on Antigone, remember to support your points with textual references. You can evidence your knowledge of the text in two equally valid ways: both through references to it or direct quotations from it. Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of the play. This will help you select references effectively.

A good idea is to group evidence (or key quotes) by character or theme so you can see the development of Sophocles’ ideas. 

Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations arranged by the following themes:

• Law vs. morality 

• Competing loyalties

• The consequences of pride 

• Blindness to the truth

• The power of fate

N.B., When we include quotations, or references are made to the text, we are referring to the Paul Woodruff translation of Antigone (Hackett, 2001). Please note that many other translations of the play are available and equally valid, but that quotes and line references in this guide might not match these other translations or editions of the play.

Law vs. morality

The core conflict of Antigone concerns the clash between human law and divine moral authority, revealing how competing value systems shape characters’ decisions and actions.

Meaning and context

• Antigone says this during her confrontation with Creon in the first episode:

  • She actually says several variations of this, essentially telling Creon that his laws will never be more powerful or significant than the laws of the gods

• Right from the first scene, we are given a clear indication of the conflict central to the story

• It is only in the very last scene that Creon acknowledges that divine law is, indeed, more powerful than any human law

Analysis

• Throughout Antigone’s conversation with Creon, she uses language that is direct and defiant:

  • This contrasts with Haemon, who speaks in a way that acknowledges his father’s power

  • It also contrasts with Tiresias, who speaks in metaphors and theoreticals

  • Antigone is not concerned with appealing to Creon’s power

• The use of “no man” reveals how Antigone sees Creon, not as a king with divinely ordained power, but as simply a man:

  • In fact, this use of “no man” is absolute and universal, not just about Creon but about all human authority

  • It reduces Creon from king to a mere, ordinary mortal, stripping away his legitimacy

  • We could also argue that there is a subtle challenging of patriarchal authority — a woman clearly declaring independence from a man in authority

• Antigone also sees Creon’s motivation, not to persuade her or encourage her but to “frighten” her:

  • His authority is based on fear, not justice or morality

  • Antigone frames herself as immune to fear, which elevates her to the status of hero or martyr

  • This implies that true moral conviction cannot be coerced

• The use of “such a law” is dismissive and vague:

  • She does not see Creon’s decree as a real or valid law

  • “Such” suggests it is not worthy of precisely defining

Competing loyalties

Sophocles presents the tension between familial, religious, and civic loyalties, showing how characters are often forced to choose between equally valid but opposing obligations.

Paired quotations

Meaning and context

• From very early in the play, we see Creon’s concern with people taking him seriously and viewing his laws as most important

• During this interaction, the Chorus affirms that Creon can make whatever laws he wants:

  • This is the beginning of the play when the Chorus is more clearly aligned with Creon

• The second quotation comes from the exchange between Creon and Haemon, when Haemon tries to persuade his father to free Antigone:

  • After using a variety of metaphors and sharing what the people think to try and persuade his father, his response here is exasperated and passionate 

• For much of the play, Creon is more concerned with being right than doing what is right

Analysis

• The question “What are your orders?” implies that the Chorus positions itself here as subordinates rather than advisors:

  • This undermines its traditional role as a moral voice

  • This shows a level of passivity, suggesting that collective moral judgment has been replaced with obedience

• “Orders” has military, not just political, connotations:

  • Thebes under Creon is already functioning like a controlled, military state, not a balanced state where multiple perspectives are allowed

• The use of “side” reduces morality to loyalty:

  • Moral issues become binary

  • There is no space for debate, nuance, or ethics

  • Law becomes allegiance to the ruler, not justice

• “Not side with anyone” is broad and indiscriminate, highlighting a fear of absolutely any opposition:

  • Creon is not just punishing disobedience, he is policing association

  • This implies early signs of paranoia and insecurity, all rooted in Creon’s hubris

• Creon’s use of “everything” is absolute and exaggerated:

  • He cannot receive disagreement without framing it as betrayal

• Haemon’s mention of “the gods below” aligns him with Antigone’s moral position

• He uses Creon’s language of “sides” and redefines it:

  • He moves from individual to familial to the divine when he says “your”/”mine”/”the gods”

  • His listing of sides expands the concept to include all levels of existence

• The use of exclamation points in Haemon’s response demonstrates how after his very measured and rational argument with his father, he turns to emotional urgency as a final appeal to his father

The consequences of pride

Rigidity, stubbornness, and hubris in leadership inevitably lead to tragic consequences.

Paired quotations

Meaning and context

• The first quotation comes from the first episode, when Creon questions Antigone about her actions:

  • He lectures her on the cost of her stubbornness

• Tiresias has come to share his prophecy with Creon:

  • He is not speaking directly to Creon here, blatantly telling him that he is stubborn

  • He speaks in code, but Creon says that he hears him 

Analysis

• Creon agrees with all that is said about pride and stubbornness when it remains in the hypothetical or is directed at someone else:

  • As soon as such commentary is directed at his behaviour, he becomes defensive and aggressive

  • This is part of his tragic flaw: intellectual understanding without self-awareness

• Creon is very interested in being perceived as “super-strong” but strength can become a liability:

  • Creon defines strength as dominance, not flexibility

  • Creon’s obsession with strength and dominance leads to a “shattering” that is abrupt and violent 

• The first quotation acts as foreshadowing and contributes to the dramatic irony within the play:

  • It is ironic that Creon’s words — initially directed at Antigone — actually apply to himself as well

  • He unknowingly predicts his own downfall

• “Rigid” here suggests a kind of psychological inflexibility, an inability to adapt or listen:

  • This fixed mindset links to the tragic structure of the play

  • An inability to change inevitably leads to downfall

• While Creon uses complex imagery in the first quotation, Tiresias uses a very blunt, simple statement to convey his message:

  • The truth becomes more direct as the play progresses and the need for change becomes more urgent

• The use of “fool” implies that this is not just about intelligence, but about a lack of judgment and wisdom:

  • This is both a moral and intellectual failure

Blindness to the truth

Through Creon’s refusal to heed warnings and advice, Sophocles shows how moral blindness and an inability to listen to others result in irreversible tragedy.

Paired quotations

Meaning and context

• While Creon was initially open to Tiresias’ prophesy, he turns away from his truth when it becomes uncomfortable and requires him to do something he does not want to do

• The second quotation is spoken after tragedy strikes:

  • Creon sees that Tiresias’ prophecy has come true

  • His son is dead, and it is his fault

• If Creon had heeded warnings earlier on, he could have avoided so much misery 

Analysis

• The use of “Prophesies?” is dismissive:

  • This suggests contempt rather than curiosity or concern

  • It undermines the divine authority of the prophet and his truth to something trivial

• When Creon says “your tribe”, he erases Tiresias’ individuality:

  • This is generalisation and dehumanisation, implying that Tiresias is acting as part of a corrupt collective rather than acting as an individual out of moral duty

• Throughout the play, Creon continually makes reference to money and bribery, suggesting that everyone around him has false motivations:

  • He assumes others are motivated by greed and corruption

  • This reflects his own insecurity about power and control

  • This also suggests that Creon cannot imagine genuine moral or divine motivation 

• “I’ll never pin the blame on anyone else that’s human” provides evidence of a complete shift in Creon’s thinking:

  • While he earlier blamed everyone else, now he refuses to blame anyone else

  • He earlier attributed many events to external forces — either corrupt individuals or fate 

  • Here, we see a shift from blaming others to full personal accountability

• The repeated use of “I” in the second quotation emphasises Creon’s acceptance of personal responsibility and his evolving self-awareness

• In these two quotations, we see a shift from an active rejection of the truth to a painful acceptance of the truth:

  • Blindness is replaced by insight, denial becomes self-blame, pride leads to everything falling apart

The power of fate

Try as they may, humans cannot escape divine justice and fate. Attempting to do so inevitably leads to tragic outcomes.

Paired quotations

Meaning and context

• During her confrontation with Creon, Antigone clearly articulates the motivation behind her behaviour

• Having discovered that his son and wife are dead, Creon now understands the futility of fighting divine will

• Creon can only understand the truth and admit the power of fate when everything falls apart

Analysis

• In the first quotation, the passive construction of “weren’t made” removes any idea of a human creator:

  • These laws are beyond human origin, and are instead divine and eternal

• “Now or yesterday” trivialises the human concept of time:

  • Human lawmaking is reduced to something temporary and insignificant

  • In contrast, “for all time” reveals an absolute, timeless scale far beyond the human lifespan

• The use of “live” in reference to laws personifies them:

  • They are not just rules but enduring, living truths — active and sacred

• Antigone presents divine law as inseparable from the will of the gods:

  • To obey one is to obey the other

• In the second quotation, “leapt on it” continues the often violent and physical language used by Creon:

  • Fate is seen as an attacking force

  • Creon is suddenly overwhelmed and helpless

• “My head bows” suggests submission and a loss of power:

  • This is a physical image of humility and defeat

  • Creon only bows after he has lost everything

• When we look at these two quotations together, we see that Antigone understands divine law from the very beginning, but Creon only learns through suffering

Sources

Sophocles (trans. P. Woodruff) (2001), Antigone, Hackett Publishing Company