Antigone: Terms and Definitions
Tragic Hero: The protagonist in a tragic play who is faced with a dilemma and must make a decision. Based on their beliefs they chose to act in a certain fashion knowing full well that doing so will result in tragedy for themselves. (This definition is slightly different for Shakespeare who often has tragic heroes who don’t know that their actions will result in a tragedy for themselves and only recognize the error in their ways after the tragedy has occurred. They usually admit to the error of their ways, though they almost always die shortly afterwards.)
Dilemma: A predicament that must be resolved by making some sacrifice. It’s a no-win situation.
Character Flaw (Harmartia, Greek—to miss the mark [from archery]): this is the weakness in the prominent noble, or royal protagonist of a tragedy. (In Shakespeare it is not always something “bad,” as the word “flaw” seems to connote. It is an abundance of some belief, a rigid hard-headedness that won’t allow the character to see clearly, so their decision results in tragedy.)
Foil: A character whose presence offsets the traits of another character. They are, in a sense, opposites.
Chorus: A cast of 12-15 people who read, in unison, the parts of the chorus. They are meant to represent the populace, the consciousness of the society. It is a staple in Greek Drama, though it eventually disappears after the Greeks and may seem contrived to the modern reader/viewer. The chorus is like public opinion, like journalism today.
Profit: A seer; a person with direct connection to the powers of God, whatever god one so chooses to believe in. The profits in Greek drama are often people who live on the outskirts of civilization communing with one or several of the many gods in their polytheistic belief system.
Motifs: (These are Themes that are repeated throughout literature.) Themes:
-civil war and its aftermath
-performing ancient family ritual
-a pattern of family disintegration
2nd Quarter Writing Project:
Compare/Contrast Essay: You will need to choose one of the following options for a compare/contrast essay. The essay will need to follow the blue-print outline on the back of this sheet and should be 1000 words. As a class we’ll pick 5 suitable topics for five writing-workshop groups.
1) The tragic heroes in Antigone and Romeo and Juliet
2) Any two poems with a similar theme
3) Any two characters in ONE of the plays
4) Any two poems with a similar structure
5) Any two sections of between 20 and 40 lines in Romeo and Juliet
Class Determined Writing Topics: