Question

Read the excerpt from "The Royal House of Thebes."

Some hours later, Creon in the palace was startled by a shout, "Against your orders Polyneices has been buried." He hurried out to be confronted with the guards he had set on the dead body and with Antigone. "This girl buried him," they cried. "We saw her. A thick dust-storm gave her her chance. When it cleared, the body had been buried and the girl was making an offering to the dead." "You knew my edict?" Creon asked. "Yes," Antigone replied. "And you transgressed the law?" "Your law, but not the law of Justice who dwells with the gods," Antigone said. "The unwritten laws of heaven are not of today nor yesterday, but from all time."

Which archetypes best describe Antigone? Select two options.

the sage
the coward
the tragic heroine
the rebel
the villain

Answer 1

- the tragic heroine
- the rebel

Antigone openly defies Creon’s edict to do what she believes is morally and divinely right, showing rebellion. Her actions are driven by higher moral law and lead to personal suffering and doom, fitting the tragic-heroine archetype.