Antigone Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which disturbing sign does Tiresias report to Creon?
An enemy army has crossed the border without being detected.
A spring beneath the palace has dried up after Antigone’s arrest.
The ghost of Oedipus has appeared beside Eteocles’ grave.
Birds are fighting and shrieking after feeding on Polynices’ unburied body, while sacrifices fail.
2. What does Eurydice do after learning of Haemon’s death?
She asks the Chorus to exile Creon and crown Ismene.
She takes her own life after condemning Creon for the deaths of their sons.
She travels to Antigone’s tomb to complete the burial rites.
She forgives Creon and withdraws permanently from public life.
3. What situation has just occurred in Thebes when Antigone begins?
Haemon has led a rebellion against his father’s government.
Oedipus has returned from exile to reclaim the throne from Creon.
Argos has conquered Thebes and installed Polynices as its ruler.
Eteocles and Polynices have killed each other in a civil conflict over Thebes.
4. Why does Antigone regard obedience to Creon’s burial ban as morally unacceptable?
She believes divine and familial burial duties outweigh Creon’s command.
She wants to strengthen her own claim to rule Thebes.
She believes royal decrees apply only during wartime.
She has been told that the Chorus will protect anyone who resists Creon.
5. What distinction does Creon make in his opening decree?
Eteocles is to receive honors, while Polynices must remain unburied.
Both brothers may be buried, but their families must perform the rites outside Thebes.
Polynices is to receive private rites, while Eteocles receives a public funeral.
Neither brother may be buried until the elders determine who was at fault.
6. A student says Ismene supports Antigone’s plan from the start but is physically unable to help. Which correction best fits the play?
Ismene proposes the burial but asks Antigone to perform it alone.
Ismene secretly helps and later denies taking part.
Ismene initially refuses from fear and powerlessness, then later offers to share Antigone’s guilt.
Ismene reports the plan to Creon in an attempt to protect Antigone.
7. Haemon describes trees that survive a flood by bending while rigid ones are uprooted. What lesson is he applying to Creon?
A ruler should conceal his decisions until public anger passes.
Political power depends mainly on military strength.
Family loyalty should always replace civic responsibility.
Refusing to adapt can destroy a person who mistakes rigidity for strength.
8. Creon eventually recognizes his mistake and changes course, yet the catastrophe continues. What does this outcome most strongly demonstrate?
The gods reject every attempt by human beings to correct an error.
Creon’s original decree was justified even though it produced personal grief.
Tragic suffering occurs because the characters never understand what has happened.
Recognition can come too late to reverse consequences already set in motion.
9. At the end of the play, what lesson does the Chorus most clearly draw from Creon’s downfall?
Family loyalty inevitably leads to disorder when rulers permit it.
Victory in war gives a ruler the right to set aside religious obligations.
Wisdom and reverence matter, while proud words and actions bring painful consequences.
Political stability requires rulers to ignore criticism from citizens and relatives.
10. After accepting Tiresias’s warning, what does Creon attempt to do?
He pardons Ismene and asks her to persuade Antigone to obey.
He abdicates immediately and transfers authority to Haemon.
He arranges Polynices’ burial and goes to release Antigone, but acts too late.
He orders the guards to consult the Chorus before changing the sentence.
11. Which comparison between Antigone and Creon best explains the tragic force of their conflict?
Both are primarily motivated by a desire to inherit Oedipus’s former throne.
Both cling forcefully to a claimed duty and leave little room for compromise.
Both privately reject the laws they publicly claim to defend.
Both rely on Tiresias’s advice before making important choices.
12. Why, according to Tiresias, are the gods no longer accepting Thebes’ prayers and sacrifices?
The city has neglected the annual rites honoring Oedipus.
Birds and dogs have spread remains from Polynices’ corpse onto altars and sacred spaces.
Haemon has entered a sacred place while carrying a weapon.
Ismene has falsely sworn an oath that she helped bury Polynices.
13. How does Haemon initially try to persuade Creon to reconsider Antigone’s punishment?
He begins respectfully, reports public sympathy for Antigone, and urges flexibility.
He argues that burial customs have no religious importance.
He threatens to seize the throne unless Antigone is released.
He claims Antigone did not perform the burial and blames Ismene instead.
14. How do Creon’s guards obtain direct evidence that Antigone has defied the decree?
Ismene leads them to a tomb Antigone constructed outside the city.
They find a written confession that Antigone left at the palace.
They uncover the body and watch Antigone return to perform burial rites.
Tiresias identifies Antigone after interpreting a sacrifice.
15. During Antigone’s confrontation with Creon, which concern most strongly shapes Creon’s response?
Preserving an alliance with Argos through Antigone’s marriage
Defending civic authority and refusing to appear defeated by defiance
Preventing the Chorus from discovering that he issued no formal decree
Restoring the royal authority of Oedipus’s surviving children
16. A director wants to emphasize the moment when Creon’s apparent certainty finally gives way to fear and reversal. Which scene is the clearest choice?
Tiresias’s warning and Creon’s decision to undo his orders
The guard’s comic anxiety about delivering bad news
The Chorus’s first celebration of Thebes’ victory
Antigone’s opening conversation with Ismene