Question

In typical Greek dramas, the prologue is the opening scene that provides background information about the play and sets up its conflict. Which two excerpts from Antigone successfully achieve that goal?
ISMENE:
To me, Antigone, no word of friends
Has come, or glad or grievous, since we twain
Were reft of our two brethren in one day
By double fratricide; and since i' the night
Our Argive leaguers fled, no later news
Has reached me, to inspirit or deject.

. . .

ANTIGONE:
Such is the edict (if report speak true)
Of Creon, our most noble Creon, aimed
At thee and me, aye me too; and anon
He will be here to promulgate, for such
As have not heard, his mandate; 'tis in sooth
No passing humor, for the edict says
Whoe'er transgresses shall be stoned to death.

. . .

ISMENE:
If in defiance of the law we cross
A monarch's will?—weak women, think of that,
Not framed by nature to contend with men.
Remember this too that the stronger rules;
We must obey his orders, these or worse.
Therefore I plead compulsion and entreat
The dead to pardon.

. . .

ANTIGONE:
Sister, forbear, or I shall hate thee soon,
And the dead man will hate thee too, with cause.
Say I am mad and give my madness rein
To wreck itself; the worst that can befall
Is but to die an honorable death.

Answer 1

Answer:

The first and the second excerpts

Explanation:

The first excerpt explains what has happened between two bothers of Antigone and Ismene, how they fought and killed each other on the same day. It also points out how no one has since contacted two sisters to reach out to them in troubling times, which points out how they are ostracized from society because of the happenings.

In the second expert, Antigone explains to us Creon's edict that is aimed at Ismene and Antigone. This part explains how sisters will be stoned to death if they chose to disobey Creon's orders and bury the brother that they have lost. It is an important plot point for the whole story.