Antigone: List 3

by Sophocles
After defying her uncle, the king of Thebes, Antigone is sentenced to death. This classical tragedy, translated from the Greek by Francis Storr, explores the tension between duty and family.

"To me, unless old age have dulled wits"—"Wisdom brings to age at last."

Here are links to our lists for the play: List 1, List 2, List 3

Here is a link to our list for Oedipus the King by Sophocles.
15 words 102 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. prudence
    discretion in practical affairs
    What, would you have us at our age be schooled,
    Lessoned in prudence by a beardless boy?
  2. consort
    keep company with
    Think not that in my sight the maid shall die,
    Or by my side; never shalt thou again
    Behold my face hereafter. Go, consort
    With friends who like a madman for their mate.
  3. bane
    something causing misery or death
    Mark ye the cruel laws that now have wrought my bane
  4. heinous
    extremely wicked or deeply criminal
    Thus by the law of conscience I was led
    To honor thee, dear brother, and was judged
    By Creon guilty of a heinous crime.
  5. succor
    assistance in time of difficulty
    What ordinance of heaven have I transgressed?
    Hereafter can I look to any god
    For succor, call on any man for help?
  6. puissant
    powerful
    My fatherland, city of Thebes divine,
    Ye gods of Thebes whence sprang my line,
    Look, puissant lords of Thebes, on me;
    The last of all your royal house ye see.
  7. presentiment
    a feeling of evil to come
    Thy words inspire a dread presentiment.
  8. augury
    an event indicating important things to come
    Sitting upon my throne of augury,
    As is my wont, where every fowl of heaven
    Find harborage, upon mine ears was borne
    A jargon strange of twitterings, hoots, and screams
  9. abominate
    find repugnant
    Therefore the angry gods abominate
    Our litanies and our burnt offerings
  10. obstinate
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
    To err is common
    To all men, but the man who having erred
    Hugs not his errors, but repents and seeks
    The cure, is not a wastrel nor unwise.
    No fool, the saw goes, like the obstinate fool.
  11. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
    For that thou hast entombed a living soul,
    And sent below a denizen of earth,
    And wronged the nether gods by leaving here
    A corpse unlaved, unwept, unsepulchered.
    Herein thou hast no part, nor e'en the gods
    In heaven; and thou usurp'st a power not thine.
  12. impenitent
    impervious to moral persuasion
    Vengeance of the gods
    Is swift to overtake the impenitent.
  13. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    We offered first a prayer
    To Pluto and the goddess of cross-ways,
    With contrite hearts, to deprecate their ire.
  14. supplicate
    ask for humbly or earnestly, as in prayer
    When the King saw him, with a terrible groan
    He moved towards him, crying, "O my son
    What hast thou done? What ailed thee? What mischance
    Has reft thee of thy reason? O come forth,
    Come forth, my son; thy father supplicates."
  15. chastisement
    a rebuke for making a mistake
    Swelling words of high-flown might
    Mightily the gods do smite.
    Chastisement for errors past
    Wisdom brings to age at last.
Created on Tue Jul 15 15:00:04 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Jul 15 15:24:00 EDT 2025)

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