Saying and Identifying the Names in Antigone
Objective for this Page: To present the pronunciation,
definition and/or history of key names and words in the play.
Credits
(adapted from Lewis Stiles [University of Saskatchewan] to fit Robert Fagles’
translation)
(photo at left is from the Danish National Theater production of Antigone
in 2002: http://www.den-nationale-scene.no/ny/index.php3
)
For paragraph-length notes on some of these words, see the alphabetical list
at http://nauvoo.byu.edu/TheArts/Theater/studypackets/Lesson11/Glossary.htm
See also the Classical Mythology glossary online, which includes family
trees, at
http://www.classicalmythology.org/glossaries/character_a.html
Pronunciation guides are included in a somewhat different format than the one
used below.
Notes by Line
1 Antigone /ann-TIG-uh-knee/: elder daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta; she and
her sister are both younger than their brothers, so they would have looked up to
both of them. Antigone is the girlfriend of Creon’s son, Haemon /HAY-mahn/.
Bertolt Brecht and Jean Anouilh both used Antigone in their own WWII-era plays
as a symbol of resistance to Fascism.
14 Ismene /IZ-muh-nay/: Antigone’s younger sister, but also a grown woman
19 Argos: /ARR-goss/ a Greek city
Polyneices /pol-uh-NIGH-sees/, the exiled brother,
raised his army there against Thebes.
27 Creon /KREE-ahn/: brother-in-law (and uncle) of Oedipus /ED-uh-puss/,
brother of Jocasta /joe-CASS-tah/, the mother (and wife) of Oedipus. In the
prequel to Antigone, Creon claims to have no ambition to the throne. Some
15-20 years later, however, he has just pitted Oedipus’s sons against each
other in a civil war and emerged as the ruler of Thebes /THEEBZ/.
28-32 Eteocles /eh-TEE-uh-cleez/: it is essential to remember that Eteocles,
the younger brother, was fighting for Thebes; Polyneices was therefore regarded
by the city as a traitor of the worst sort.
117 Chorus = elders of Thebes. The choral passages are basically songs; that
means they are more poetic (full of metaphors and allusions to various gods),
often filled with religious (pagan, but religious) piety. For more on play
production and the competitions among playwrights that took place each year, see
http://nauvoo.byu.edu/TheArts/Theater/studypackets/Lesson11/Dionysia.htm
121 Dirce /drr-SEE/: a river near Thebes.
138 dragon = the enemies of the Thebans (probably in allusion to Theban
descent from the teeth of the dragon slain by Cadmus).
140 Zeus /ZOOSS/: prime (king?) among the Greek gods; sometimes referred to
as God (capital G); sire of the other gods (with his wife-queen, Hera). Zeus was
said to change into other creatures, e.g. a swan, in order to mate with human
women.
137 and 154: "the god of fire" = Ares /AIR-eez/: god of war.
171 Dionysus /die-oh-NIGH-suss/ = god of wine and ecstasy.
185 King Laius /LAY-uss/: father of Oedipus, whom Oedipus killed—as
prophecy had predicted. Former husband of Jocasta who ruled Thebes before
Oedipus did. So he was grandfather to Polyneices and Eteocles, Antigone and
Ismene, though he never saw or knew of them.
668 "sorrows of the house": Labdacus /LAB-duh-cuss/ father of
Laius, grandfather of Oedipus, according to one commentator on the play, brought
the curse on his family by introducing homosexuality into ancient Greece. I don’t
know how Labdacus died, but Laius /LAY-uss/ was killed by his own son—whom he
and Jocasta, his wife, had ordered killed because prophecy said the baby would
kill his father and sire children by his mother. That child was Oedipus. Now
Oedipus’s uncle/brother-in-law Creon orders the death of his (O’s)
daughter/half-sister, Antigone.
894 Aphrodite: /AF-ro-Die-tee/ goddess of love/passion
906 Acheron: /ASH-er-ahn/ one of the rivers of the underworld
916: Niobe: /NIGH-oh-bee/ Tantalus's daughter punished for arrogantly
comparing her children to the gods (the children were then all killed); she
became the archetype of grief in mythology.
936: Dirce: See 121, above.
984: Persephone /purr-SEFF-ah-knee/ wife-queen of Hades /HAY-deez/ god-king
of the Underworld (sort of a cross between a fireless hell and limbo, a place
where the dead existed and remembered their earthly lives)
1036 Danae: /duh-NAY-uh/ mother of Perseus /PURR-see-uss/; she was kept
chaste in a dungeon by her father, but Zeus came to her as a shower of gold.
1053 Lycurgus: /lye-KURR-gus/ male mortal who refused to worship Dionysus
1066 Muses: /MEW-zez/ 9 goddesses who inspired nine different arts
1091 Tiresias: /teer-EE-see-uss/ blind prophet who has never been wrong about
the will of the gods
1074 Fury: creature with the form of an eagle that carried out punishments
willed by the gods, especially Zeus. The story in this section is about the
children of Phineus, king of Salmydessus, who had children by a woman named
Cleopatra, daughter of the north wind (not the later one who knew Caesar); these
children were blinded at the instigation of Phineus' second wife, for whom he
had abandoned Cleopatra.
1240: Dionysus /die-oh-NIGH-suss/; also called Bacchus /BACH-uss/ (line
1246). The whole choral ode is in his honor. He is also the god for whom the
festival was held every year at which playwrights competed with a set of 3
tragedies and one, often very earthy, comedy.
1248: Ismenus = /IZ-muh-noos/
1254: Castalia = /cuh-STALL-ee-uh/
1255: Nysa = /NIGH-suh/
1265: Parnassus = /par-NASS-uss/
1272: Iacchus = /ee-YACH-uss/
1302: Eurydice = /you-RID-uh-see/ wife of Creon, mother of Haemon
1306: Athena = /uh-THEE-nah/ protectress of Athens; the temple on the
Acropolis was built to honor and worship this goddess.
1322: Hecate = /HECK-ah-tee/: a goddess associated with night, the
underworld, ghosts, crossroads, hellhounds and witches
1323 Pluto: /PLU-toe/ = Hades /HAY-deez/, king of the underworld
1429: Megareus = /muh-GAIR-ee-uss/ Creon's other son had died in the same
battle as had Oedipus's sons (Polynices and Eteocles, brothers of Antigone and
Ismene).
Assessment: Practice reading this list aloud.
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