Questions:

Chat:

• Why does Antigone bury her brother Polynices twice?  If her only motive in burying her brother was to aid him in the next world, so that he could rest in peace instead of being a hungry ghost, the first burial would have sufficed.  This accelerates the plot by quickly forcing Antigone to answer for her crime, but this does not explain her motive.  Why does she risk her life to unnecessarily bury her brother a 2nd time?
• What do you think of Creon's point:

755    the great mass of them [citizens]
         owe their lives [& the quality of their lives] to discipline
         [specifically obeying the law even they are inclined not to].  Therefore
         we must defend the men who live by law.
• Is Creon entirely to blame for Haemon's death & then Eurydice's death?  Is Antigone complicit?  How much in love with Haemon can she be when she prefers to die "on stage" as a public figure rather than seek some consolation & support in a life with him?  Like so much of Greek theater, do we see a teenage rebellion against dad rather than adult problems, e.g., between spouses?
• Hopefully you read Medea before reading the explication.  Did you initially feel sorry for Medea or even feel that her acts were justifiable?  If so, why?  I am supposing that you do not still wish to defend her.  Perhaps you do.  Do we find it irresistable to read contemporary American notions of gender equality & equal employment opportunity &, perhaps, forgiveness for early childhood trauma -- do we project our concerns unto Medea, changing her from an illustration of vice into nearly a virtuous marter?
• How about Jason?  How much blame does he have?  Early in the play the chorus says:
  244    to punish Jason will be just.
  By the end of the play, stereotypical gender roles have been reversed.  Jason is the solicitous mom.  Medea is the unfeeling & power-hunger abuser.  Do you accept Jason's rationalizations?  If not, what punishment might have been appropriate?  How realistic are such notions?  Cf. Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, or anyone else who seems to illustrate that power, influence, & money are better choices (or at least they pay explicit results) than morality.

1. _____ --  show me a greater crim in all the earth!
   She, she  destroys cities, rips up houses.
   Fill in the blank.  What is this worst crime?
2. In the first question above, the worst crime is definitely female ("she" is repeated). Why?  The gender association is not gratutious.  It is in harmony with one of themes of the play.  Hint.  Males error on side of violence, discipline, & over commitment to public social organizations (military, politics, professions).  What is the opposite typical female error (obviously illustrated by Antigone)?
3. One of the themes in Medea is "the battle of the sexes."  Medea says:
   I'd rather stand 3 times in the front line [of the army in a battle] rather than . . .
   What?
4. Jason asks about Medea's motive for murderng their children:
   You though that reason enough to urder them?
   To what does he refer?
5. What was Jason doing when he first met Medea?
6. All men make mistakes, it is only human
   But once the wrong is done . . .
   you can minimize the tragedy or suffering, if you recognize what?