1. What position has Creon just assumed as the play opens? How does this new position affect his behavior throughout the play?
2. As a woman, it is Antigone's role to prepare the dead in her family for burial. This role explains her first ritual 'burial' of Polynices in defiance of Creon's edict. But why does she return and and attempt to place more dust over the body and pour more libations?
3. The exposure of the corpses of enemies and traitors was a common practice in fifth-century Greece, so Creon's decree about the exposure of Polynices was not at all unusual. But what has Creon forgotten? Why does the flesh from this corpse foul the public altars and sacred hearths of the city? (lines 1124-30)
4. Why is Antigone so defiant in her interactions with Creon? What does she want? What goal is she trying to achieve? Pay attention to her speeches in lines 931-1021, particularly her explanation in lines 995-1004 of why she never would have buried a husband or a child of hers in defiance of the people's will.
5. Who is the tragic hero in this play, Antigone or Creon? Why?