The Social Context Of Antigone

1. What do we mean by the social context?
The social context is the circumstances surrounding the story. For example, what was happening in society when and where the story took place that could have influenced how it was written.

2. How did people live at the time Antigone was created?
Greece during the 4th Century was described as 'The Golden Age'. Many people had access to the theatre, music, art and poetry. There was also a lot of philosophy and politics in Greece. Society was male-dominated as they could be citizens and get an education. However, women were expected to be housewives and raise their children. A quarter of the population consisted of slaves and prisoners. There was also an uprising against Athens on the Island of Samos in 441 B.C.

3. Who was the target audience for the piece?
Men would have been the target audience for plays such as Antigone during the 4th Century as it was only men who were allowed to go to the theatre and watch plays. They would have been able to enjoy the play and also understand the messages Sophocles wanted to get across to the audience. It would have been recommended that you know the story of 'Oedipus' when watching Antigone, as it was the third part of the Oedipus trilogy. Greek plays represented Greek life in a more extremist way. Therefore, many audience members could relate to the core storylines and morals.

4. What were the needs, values and beliefs of the target audience?
As the Greeks were very religious, they believed that it was incredibly important to respect and honour the Gods. The men also thought that women were the inferior gender and that males were meant to dominate society. They valued the luxury of having entertainment that they could enjoy.

5. How did this influence the themes and characters of Antigone?
Like any other playwright, Sophocles would have had kept the audience in mind when planning and writing 'Antigone'. The audiences needs, values and beliefs would have been incorporated into the play, wether it supported or went against them. Men would have been shocked at what happened in the play as 4th and 5th Century Greece had a male dominated society. The themes and characters in the play are heavily exaggerated reflections of life in Athens. Therefore, the audience would have been able to relate to the play in some sort of way.

6. What have you found out about the social context of Antigone?
From the research that I have done into the social context of Antigone, I have learnt more about how events and people in real life many have inspired Sophocles to write Antigone. I now also know how Greeks lived in the 4th Century and the type of audience that Sophocles targeted his plays at. This research has given me more knowledge on why the play was originally written.

7. Who went to the theatre?
Men were permitted to perform and attend plays at the theatre. It is believed that women were not allowed to watch the plays, but they had their own separate festivals. Wealthy men were most likely to go to the theatre. Priests and Officials would have also attended and sat in the front rows.

8. What was the relationship between theatre, politics and religion?
Religion and politics are strongly highlighted themes throughout many Greek plays. Many plays were written to show the advantages and disadvantages of politics and religion and what happened if you went against them. Plays were performed to worship the God of Theatre, Dionysus. Current events were acted out on stage to show how different perspectives and how different opinions can be perceived as right or wrong.