Transcript Antigone - cosenglish10

Antigone
History & Background
Sophocles
 496?-406?
B.C.
 Born in Athens to
a wealthy family
 One of three great
playwrights along
with Aeschylus &
Euripides
Sophocles
 In
468 B.C., he was the top dramatist
when he won the Athenian drama
contest twenty times.
 He wrote more than 100 plays.
– Only seven complete plays have survived
 Antigone
was written 441 B.C.
– It is a masterpiece.
Sophocles
 Dramatic
Inventions:
– Balanced symbolism & realism
– Increased number of actors from two
to three to complicate the plot
– Created the concept of juxtaposition
– Wrote trilogies as three separate units
– Used themes concerning the nature of
man, his problems, and his struggles.
Greek Social Classes
 Upper
class
– A unemployed citizen
– Free of economic tasks
– Used to slaves to conduct business
– Devoted time to education
– Allowed to vote
– Worth at least 20 talents
– Only about 300 families shared this
status.
Greek Social Classes
 Middle
Class
– Non-citizen of foreign birth
– Couldn’t own land or vote
– Urban professionals
– Managed the city
– Worth between one to three talents
Greek Social Classes
 Freemen
– Freed slaves who obtained their freedom:
• Family or friend paid ransom
• Worked a second job
• Fought in a war for the city
• Their master died
• The job that they were bought for was
over
• Not allowed to vote
Greek Social Classes
 Slaves
– Prisoners of war, victims of slave raids,
abandoned infants, or criminals
– Cost between $50 & $1,000
– Even the poor had a slave or two
• Upper class families had as many as fifty
– Used for government jobs
– Mostly women
– Treated kindly by their owners.
Literary Elements
Chorus
Greek Drama
A group of dancers or
singers who comment on
the action of the story.
They relate events
outside of the play or
what happened before the
play.
“Imitated human action”
The chorus divides the
play in five acts. Acts are
composed of scenes in
logical order
Literary Elements
In Medias Res
Juxtaposition
Latin for “in the middle
of things.” A literary
technique in which the
story starts in the middle
of the action.
Comparing and
contrasting two objects,
people, or ideas by
placing them together in
a text.
Literary Elements
Realism
The truthful treatment of
an event within a text.
Tragedy
A play that culminates in
an unhappy catastrophe,
marked by sadness,
misfortune, & death.
Literary Elements
Trilogy
Versimilitude
A literary work in three
substantial parts, each of
which in itself is a
complete unit. Usually
written against a
historical background
The semblance of truth.
Oedipus
The Crossroads
The Sphinx
Antigone
Antigone
Polynices