Arts of Resistance Tags
Introduction of who we are (Kieres)
We are a group from Bryn Mawr and Haverford and this is a reading and discussion group. This week we are all starting the play A Burial at Thebes written by Seamus Heaney and is a version of the classic play Antigone by Sophocles. We would like to go around the circle and ask that everyone share their prefered name, the pronouns they use, and for a fun tidbit- what would your ideal hiding spot be during a zombie apocalypse
Reflection Time (Riley)
We would like to take about 10 minutes to give everyone to refresh themselves with the play or to start to flip through it. This week we will only be discussing the first half of the book, because some major events happen in the last 30 pages please refrain from mentioning those plot points so that everyone can experience them on their own. If you would like to reread or read the text that would be fine to do during this time, you can write about your reactions or predictions to the play-even if you haven’t read it- or you can write about the passage on page 13 “Nothing’s going to stop you./ But nothing’s going to stop/ The ones that love you, sister,/ From keeping on loving you”
Summary (Joie)
Ask if anyone wants to give a summary up until page 35
Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, finds out that both of her brothers are dead, having fought on opposing sides of a battle. The one who fought for Thebes is given a proper burial, while the other is left, by decree of King Creon, uncovered and exposed, without his last rites. Antigone defies Creon’s orders, knowing she will be unable to live with herself if she allows her own brother to be treated in such a manner (summary from Erin reads)
Small Groups (Kieres)
We would like to break up into smaller groups so that we can break down this play into the universal themes and talk about how they appear in this play. You do not have to have read the play before hand to take part in groups, we have specific passages that you can look at. Feel free to bring in other passages that you also find as well as any connections you have.
Theme One-labels- Antigone "Are we sister, sister, brother?/ Or traitor, coward, coward?" (pg 8)
Theme two-justice-Antigone "I disobeyed because the law was not/ The law of Zeus nor the law ordained/ By Justice, Justice dwelling deep/ Among the gods of dead." (pg 29)
Theme three-listening- Haemon "Nobody can be sure they're always right./ The ones who are fullest of themselves that way/ Are the emptiest vessels. There's no shame/ In taking good advice" (pg 43)
Theme four-mistakes- Tiresias "Consider well my son. All men make mistakes./ But mistakes don't have to be forever,/ They can be admitted and atoned for." (pg 59)
we also can be flexible on the number of groups- if we have small group like last week then maybe we could have a large discussion and talk about them all
Check In (Riley)
We would like to move the course in the direction that you guys feel would be the best for you. If you would like to do more writing, less writing, more discussion, less discussion, different activities such as acting out scenes/visual arts/creative writing this would be the time to let us know. We would appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill these out so that we can construct the class as you all see fit. We’ll collect them and read them for our next class together, they will be confidential.
Closing (Joie)
Thanks so much for sharing your time with us and for joining us in talking about The Burial and Thebes for next time if you have started reading the book already please continue to read till the end, we will not be here next week so those of you who just got the book today will have time to read to the end.
- If we don’t have time to come back together at the end of our small groups have everyone reflect on a word/sentence that stuck with them during our small group conversations