Curated set · answers marked
What motivates Antigone to go against King Creon's order and try to bury her brother Polynices?
Rationale
Antigone makes it clear that the eternal, unwritten laws of the gods are more important than Creon's human decree. She is willing to face death for honoring her religious and familial obligations, which creates the main conflict of the play between divine law and human law.
At the beginning of the play, why does King Creon deny Antigone's brother Polynices a proper burial?
Rationale
Creon declares that Polynices, who marched against Thebes with the Argive army to take back the throne from his brother Eteocles, will not receive burial rites because he is deemed a traitor to his homeland. This decree creates the central conflict that drives the entire play forward.
At the start of the play, what reason does Creon give for forbidding the burial of Polynices?
Rationale
Creon states that Polynices, who attacked his own city with an Argive army, must remain unburied and unmourned as punishment for his betrayal. This decree sets in motion the main conflict of the play, as Antigone chooses to defy it in order to honor her brother.