A Response On Antigone And Examples Of The Seven Elements Of Greek Theatre Within

 Antigone was an incredibly different play to watch than anything I have seen before. It was much more of a slow burn than other plays I have seen and almost had this foreboding sense of dread tied with its lack of action. It felt like everything would culminate into a terrible fate, with each of Creon's misguided actions adding to this feeling and finally coming into succession when these assumptions are confirmed by the prophet Tiresias. The climax forces you to look at an incredibly distressing situation where a mother is being told about the suicide of her son in disturbing detail and comes to head with her own suicide; this moment was very uncomfortable to watch as you could see Eurydice breaking with every detail she was hearing and forced you to look at the grief of a father and see him come to terms with his actions and how they caused the death of his entire family. 

1. Late point of attack - The deaths of Haemon, Antigone and Eurydice all take place within the final 15 minutes. 

2. Violence and death most often being off stage - The battle between Eteocles and Polynices is only talked about, their bodies nor any aspect of the battle is ever shown on stage. 

3. Frequent use of messengers to relay information - The death of the Creon's son and Antigone is told to us by the Chorus as they speak amongst themselves, his death nor Antigone's is shown to us in any way other than by the word of others and Haemon's body being carried in towards the end. 

4. Usually continuous time of action - There are no breaks, the play is continuous with the chorus breaking up dialogue with short monologues with moral quandaries. 

5. Usually all in a single place - The entire performance takes place in Creon's war room with characters only mentioning other locations. 

6. Stories based on history or myth but are varied - The story is based on the ancient Greek myth of Antigone, however this version uses more modern embellishments such as location and costumes. 

7. Focus on Psychological or ethical attributes of characters -  The play heavily focuses on Antigone speaking out against something she knows is wrong and unjust, she goes against the status quo of the people and isn't afraid on the horrific punishment that she will face because she knows that her actions are just and are the will of the gods. Unlike Creon who remarks multiple times about women being inferior and how he will enforce his rule through terror; his decree also goes against the gods as he is not honouring the dead and allowing them to travel to the afterlife by leaving the body above ground to fester and rot.