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
wealth and be slaves?" she [Boadicea] asked. "And the
Romans take not only our freedom but our wealth.
How do the archetypes in these passages support the
universal theme that one's values are worth risking
one's life for?
Both Antigone and Boadicea are warriors who
decide to go to war for what they believe is right.
O Both Antigone and Boadicea are heroes who go to
battle against their enemies.
O Both Antigone and Boadicea are heroines who
choose their values over their lives, knowing they
may die in the process.
O Both Antigone and Boadicea are villains who
transgress the law in order to fight for their values.