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

Antigone: Themes

The themes in Greek plays were rarely novel, but instead served as reminders to the audience of how to live. The plays reflected the ongoing struggles and moral questions of Greek society. Each play typically engaged with recent political or social changes, offering commentary on contemporary issues. In the case of Antigone, Creon’s rise to power reminds the audience of the tension brought about by changing governmental structures and the complex relationship between law, morality, and civil disobedience. 

Below are themes that could be explored in Antigone. Here you will find sections on:

• 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

In the play, Sophocles explores whether following the law is always the same thing as doing what is morally right.

Where do we see this theme?

• Antigone tells Ismene of her decision to bury their brother: 

  • “Call it a crime of reverence, but I must be good to those who are below” (lines 74–75)

• When speaking with Creon about her decision to bury her brother, Antigone refers to the ways in which his law contradicts the wills of the gods: 

  • “Hades longs to have these laws obeyed” (line 519)

• After speaking with Tiresias, Creon asks the Chorus what to do, and realises that the right thing to do is to allow Polyneices a proper burial: 

  • “Let the girl go. Free her from underground. And build a tomb for the boy who lies exposed” (lines 1100–1101)

What is Sophocles’ intention?

• Sophocles wants his audience to consider that issues of right and wrong are rarely straightforward:

  • Integrating new systems into society might inevitably mean sacrificing others, or at least making compromises

• Sophocles encourages his audience to consider:

  • If Athens is to effectively adopt a new democratic approach to rule, how will this interfere with systems of law already at play?

  • How will this work, especially when, like much of the divine law, these rules are often not really written down?

• He wants his audience to consider that true justice requires moral reflection, not blind obedience

What is the effect on the audience?

• The audience feels sympathy for Antigone and feels uncomfortable with Creon’s absolutism:

  • This prompts reflection about when it is right to challenge authority

Competing loyalties

In the play, Sophocles explores how loyalty to family and friends can conflict with loyalty to the state or other institutions.

Where do we see this theme?

• During the first conversation offered in the prologue, Ismene tries to dissuade Antigone from disobeying Creon and burying their brother: 

  • “Do you mean to bury him? Against the city’s ordinance?” (line 44)

  • “How horrible! When Creon forbids it?” (line 47)

• Haemon tells his father what he has heard in the streets about attitudes towards Antigone’s actions: 

  • “No woman has ever had a fate that’s so unfair (They say), when what she did deserves honor and fame” (lines 694–695)

What is Sophocles’ intention?

• Sophocles explores the conflict between private obligations and public responsibility, showing that human relationships can challenge existing social systems

• Sophocles emphasises that loyalty is complex and morally ambiguous, not simply “right” or “wrong”

What is the effect on the audience?

• The audience is encouraged to reflect on where their duties lie and whether obedience to authority should ever override personal loyalties

The consequences of pride

In the play, Sophocles explores how excessive pride and stubbornness can lead individuals to self-destruction.

Where do we see this theme?

• Creon shows an early sign of his pride and rigid thinking when he insists on absolute authority, declaring that the state must come before all else: 

  • “Never, while I rule, will a criminal be honored higher than a man of justice” (lines 207–208)

• Haemon urges his father to be flexible, but Creon interprets his disagreement as disloyalty rather than wisdom: 

  • “So you think the people should tell me what orders to give?” (line 734)

• Creon dismisses Tiresias: 

  • “Remember, you are speaking about your commander-in-chief” (line 1057)

What is Sophocles’ intention?

• Sophocles demonstrates the classical concept of hubris, that excessive pride or arrogance before the gods or moral law inevitably leads to tragedy

• Sophocles shows through Creon’s refusal to listen to advice that rigid self-importance blinds people to wisdom and creates suffering for themselves and others

What is the effect on the audience?

• The reminder that pride and inflexibility are dangerous traits provokes the audience to engage in self-reflection

Blindness to the truth

In the play, Sophocles explores how people often only recognise the truth when it is too late.

Where do we see this theme?

• Creon ignores repeated warnings — from Haemon, from Tiresias, and even from the Chorus: 

  • “Giving in would be terrible. But standing firm invites disaster!” (lines 1096–1097)

• Tiresias’ prophecy clearly predicts the consequences: 

  • “Your only child, born from your guts, traded for corpses” (1067)

What is Sophocles’ intention?

• He shows that humans are limited in foresight and often only understand consequences after disaster strikes

• By having Creon recognise his errors too late, Sophocles highlights human fallibility and the importance of humility, careful judgment, and heeding wise counsel

What is the effect on the audience?

• The audience feels pity, but perhaps more importantly, the audience feels fear, as they are reminded that wisdom often comes at a tragic cost

• This catharsis is a signature trait of Greek tragedy

The power of fate

In the play, Sophocles explores how human suffering is often shaped by forces beyond individual control, like fate, circumstances, or inherited conditions.

Where do we see this theme?

• The curse of Oedipus’ family suggests that some tragedy is partly pre-determined

• Antigone’s and Ismene’s fates as women in society shapes their experience and denies them any political power: 

  • “We are women and we do not fight with men. We’re subject to them because they’re stronger, and we must obey this order, even if it hurts us more” (lines 62–64)

• Antigone accepts her death, framing her fate as inevitable: 

  • “I’ll die in any case, of course I will” (line 461)

What is Sophocles’ intention?

• He emphasises the influence of fate, divine will, and inherited curses on human life

• He suggests that some suffering cannot be avoided, no matter how careful or virtuous someone might be

What is the effect on the audience?

• The audience is motivated to reflect on human limitations, the unpredictability of life, and the balance between free will and fate

Sources

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

Sophocles (trans. D. Franklin and J. Harrison) (2003), Antigone, Cambridge University Press

Sophocles (trans. R. Fagles) (1984), The Three Theban Plays, Penguin Classics, London