44
Read the excerpts from "The Royal House of Thebes"
and "The Story of a Warrior Queen."
Antigone and Ismene heard with horror what Creon
had decided. To Ismene, shocking as it was,
overwhelming her with anguish for the pitiful dead
body and the lonely, homeless soul, it seemed,
nevertheless, that nothing could be done except to
acquiesce [to accept without protest]. She and
Antigone were utterly alone. All Thebes was exulting
that the man who had brought war upon them should
be thus terribly punished. "We are women," she told
her sister. "We must obey. We have no strength to defy
The State." "Choose your own part," Antigone said. "I
go to bury the brother I love."
-"The Royal House of Thebes"
Is it not better to be poor and free than to have great
How do the archetypes in these passages support
universal theme that one's values are worth risking
one's life for?
O Both Antigone and Boadicea are warriors who
decide to go to war for what they believe is righ
Both Antigone and Boadicea are heroes who
battle against their enemies.
Both Antigone and Boadicea are heroines wh
choose their values over their lives, knowing t
may die in the process.
Both Antigone and Boadicea are villains who
transgress the law in order to fight for their va