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| Question | Answer |
| Fate and Free Will | A central theme of Antigone is the tension between individual action and fate. While free choices, such as Antigone's decision to defy Creon's edict, are significant, fate is responsible for many of the most critical and devastating events of the trilogy. |
| Rules and order | Antigone contrasts two types of law and justice: divine or religious law on one hand, and the law of men and states on the other. Because of the centrality of fate and the rule of the gods in the lives of the main characters of the play, religious rites and traditions are elevated to the status of law |
| Determination | Determination is a nearly universal character trait amongst the cast of Antigone. Despite the important role of fate in the lives of the characters, Creon, Antigone, Ismene, and Polyneices are all driven, at times stubbornly, to pursue their goals. |
| Power | Power both corrupts and metaphorically blinds characters in Antigone. The clearest example of power is King Creon of Thebes, who is arrogant, unperceptive, and downright mean to people around him. |
| Women + feminity | Antigone explores a contrast between the behavior expected of women and the reality of their role in society. Creon expects men to be the primary actors in society and women to take a secondary and subservient role. |
| Mortality | Self-injury and suicide are almost universally prevalent among the main characters in the Oedipus trilogy, and particularly in Antigone. Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice each commit suicide; Polyneices and Eteocles willingly take actions that result in their deaths. |
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