Excerpts from "Antigone"

The tragedy of Oedipus Rex does not end with his death. It extends to his whole family. Bury your nose in this list to feel the pain portrayed by Sophocles.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 10 Unit 4's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Romeo and Juliet, A Sport of Nature, Julius Caesar, Les Miserables, Oedipus Rex, Antigone
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stem
    grow out of, have roots in, originate in
    All that misery
    which stems from Oedipus?
  2. suffering
    feelings of mental or physical pain
    There's no suffering,
    no shame, no ruin--not one dishonour--
    which I have not seen in all the troubles
    you and I go through.
  3. perish
    pass from physical life
    But as for Polyneices, who perished
    so miserably
  4. lament
    a song or hymn of mourning as a memorial to a dead person
    He's to have no funeral or lament,
    but to be left unburied and unwept,
    a sweet treasure for the birds to look at,
    for them to feed on to their heart's content.
  5. resolve
    find a solution or answer
    Oh my poor sister, if that's what's happening,
    what can I say that would be any help
    to ease the situation or resolve it?
  6. disgrace
    bring shame or dishonor upon
    Consider
    how our father died, hated and disgraced
  7. destroy
    do away with; cause the ruin or undoing of
    Then that woman,
    his mother and his wife--her double role--
    destroyed her own life in a twisted noose
  8. slaughter
    kill, usually for food consumption
    Then there's our own two brothers, both butchered
    in a single day--that ill-fated pair
    with their own hands slaughtered one another
  9. defy
    resist or confront with resistance
    Think how we'll die far worse than all the rest,
    if we defy the law
  10. agony
    intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
    Since those who rule are much more powerful,
    we must obey in this and in events
    which bring us even harsher agonies.
  11. loathing
    hate coupled with disgust
    I'll hate you if you're going to talk that way.
    And you'll rightly earn the loathing of the dead.
  12. gorge
    overeat or eat immodestly
    Before his jaws had had their fill
    and gorged themselves on Theban blood
  13. wretched
    deserving or inciting pity
    all but that pair of wretched men,
    born of one father and one mother, too--
    who set their conquering spears against each other
    and then both shared a common death
  14. dispose
    make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude
    Anyone who's well disposed towards our state,
    alive or dead, that man I will respect.
  15. contravene
    go against, as of rules and laws
    Don't yield to those who contravene my orders.
  16. hedge
    avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
    You hedge so much. Clearly you have news of
    something ominous.
  17. avert
    prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
    It was lightly covered up with dirt,
    as if someone wanted to avert a curse.
  18. profane
    grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred
    Money teaches men to live as scoundrels,
    familiar with every profane enterprise.
  19. shun
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    There's no event his skill cannot confront--
    other than death--that alone he cannot shun.
  20. distress
    psychological suffering
    She was shrieking--
    a distressing painful cry, just like a bird
    who's seen an empty nest, its fledglings gone.
  21. tribute
    something given or done as an expression of esteem
    She lifted up
    a finely made bronze jug and then three times
    poured out her tributes to the dead.
  22. affect
    act physically on
    For it's a joy
    escaping troubles which affect oneself,
    but painful to bring evil on one's friends.
  23. benefit
    something that aids or promotes well-being
    When someone has to live the way I do,
    surrounded by so many evil things,
    how can she fail to find a benefit
    in death?
  24. obdurate
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
    But you should know the most obdurate wills
    are those most prone to break.
  25. tempestuous
    characterized by violent emotions or behavior
    I'm well aware the most tempestuous horses
    are tamed by one small bit.
  26. lurk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    You there, you snake lurking in my house,
    sucking out my life's blood so secretly.
  27. mock
    treat with contempt
    If I am mocking you, it pains me, too.
  28. envy
    feel desirous of another's advantages
    Save yourself. I won't envy your escape.
  29. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    for when the gods
    shake a house to its foundations,
    then inevitable disasters strike
  30. sorrow
    something that causes great unhappiness
    I see this house's age-old sorrows,
    the house of Labdakos' children,
    sorrows falling on the sorrows of the dead,
    one generation bringing no relief
    to generations after it
  31. frenzy
    state of violent mental agitation
    For now the light which has been shining
    over the last roots of Oedipus' house
    is being cut down with a bloody knife
    belonging to the gods below--
    for foolish talk and frenzy in the soul.
  32. grieve
    feel intense sorrow, especially due to a loss
    Is he grieving
    the fate of Antigone, his bride,
    bitter that his marriage hopes are gone?
  33. prerogative
    a right reserved exclusively by a person or group
    You're not honouring that by trampling on
    the gods' prerogatives.
  34. regret
    feel sorry for; be contrite about
    You'll regret parading what you think like this
  35. demean
    reduce in worth or character, usually verbally
    I'll have you know
    you'll be sorry for demeaning me
    with all these insults.
  36. piety
    righteousness by virtue of being religiously devout
    I'll set out provisions,
    as much as piety requires, to make sure
    the city is not totally corrupted.
  37. restraint
    discipline in personal and social activities
    When I look at her I forget my place.
    I lose restraint and can't hold back my tears
  38. excruciating
    extremely painful
    I've heard about a guest of ours,
    daughter of Tantalus, from Phrygia--
    she went to an excruciating death
  39. compensation
    something given or received as payment or reparation
    perhaps your agonies are paying back
    some compensation for your father
  40. allot
    give out
    I'm the last one, dying here
    the most evil death by far, as I move down
    before the time allotted for my life is done.
  41. invoke
    request earnestly; ask for aid or protection
    Which one can I invoke
    to bring me help, when for my reverence
    they charge me with impiety?
  42. defile
    spot, stain, or pollute
    In the city
    our altars and our hearths have been defiled,
    all of them, with rotting flesh brought there
    by birds and dogs from Oedipus' son.
  43. intransigence
    stubborn refusal to compromise or change
    All men make mistakes--that's not uncommon.
    But when they do, they're no longer foolish
    or subject to bad luck if they try to fix
    the evil into which they've fallen,
    once they give up their intransigence.
  44. denigrate
    attack the good name and reputation of someone
    I have no desire
    to denigrate a prophet when I speak.
  45. stench
    a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
    It won't be long before in your own house
    the men and women all cry out in sorrow,
    and cities rise in hate against you--all those
    whose mangled soldiers have had burial rites
    from dogs, wild animals, or flying birds
    who carry the unholy stench back home
  46. provoke
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    Like an archer,
    I shoot these arrows now into your heart
    because you have provoked me.
  47. unintelligible
    not clearly understood or expressed
    He went to tell our master Creon,
    who, as he approached the place, heard the sound,
    an unintelligible scream of sorrow.
  48. conscious
    having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts
    While still conscious he embraced the girl
    in his weak arms, and, as he breathed his last,
    he coughed up streams of blood on her fair cheek.
  49. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    To me her staying silent was extreme--
    it seems to point to something ominous,
    just like a vain excess of grief.
  50. dreadful
    exceptionally bad or displeasing
    You there--
    you bringer of this dreadful news, this agony,
    what are you saying now? Aaiii...
Created on Wed Oct 15 12:55:08 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Oct 15 15:46:28 EDT 2014)

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