Examine this painting which depicts the scene from the first half of Antigone in which Antigone comes upon her brother Polyneice
s. How does the picture add depth to what you read in the play? How does the play add depth to what you see in the painting? What role do you think the scene depicted here will play as you read the rest of Antigone? Use textual evidence from the first half of the play to support your response. (image below)
THIS IS PLATO ANSWER: The painting gives us a concrete, visual image of the horrible conditions in which Polyneices’s corpse was left to rot. It also shows us the conditions in which Antigone stepped out of her home to give her brother an honorable burial and is testament to her courage and her determination to do the right thing. Greek women lived very sheltered lives, and for a Greek woman to step out of her house all by herself in what appears to be the dead of the night was quite noteworthy.
The play provides a context for the painting. It fills in background details and tells us why Antigone has to take such extreme measures to bury Polyneices. It gives us the reason for Polyneices’s death and also tells us why he was denied a rightful burial.
This scene is pivotal to the play because it sets in motion a series of fatal developments. The main conflict of the play is Antigone’s defiance of the king’s orders to bury her brother. In the painting, we see Antigone coming upon the corpse of her brother, with the likely intention of burying him. This act of hers seals her fate and condemns her to death, as required by Creon’s order.
