After Oedipus is persecuted, he leaves
the throne of Thebes to his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, who must take
it in turns to rule.
Eteocles rules first but the two become enemies after Eteocles refuses to give
up the throne, and Polyneices is exiled. He returns, to attack in the Seven Against
Thebes campaign. At the beginning of the play, both brothers are dead, each
apparently slain by the other''s hand.Antigone, a daughter of Oedipus
and the sister of the dead brothers, believes this proclamation to be against
the will of the gods (which she describes as "...the unwritten and unfailing
statutes of heaven. For their life is not of today or yesterday, but from all
time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.") She confides her plan
to bury Polyneices herself to her sister Ismene, but Ismene, being more timid, refuses to take
part. Ismene admits to her fear, but agrees
with Antigone''s motive.
When Creon is informed that someone is trying to bury Polyneices, he orders
the body to be uncovered. Antigone is caught returning to her brother''s body,
and brought before the furious king. She proudly accepts her
death as she sees
no wrong in honouring her "...unwept, unburied" brother. Ismene claims that she
also took part in the crime, however Antigone
tells her to stay out of the
matter since she chose to have no part in the actions.
Antigone''s cousin and fiancé, Haemon
(also Creon''s son), arrives talking about
how the whole city thinks Antigone did the right thing. Although he claims to be
''neutral'' on the matter himself, he tells his father that he is on the side of
the state. Creon responds by accusing Haemon of selling out to a woman. Finally,
Haemon states that Antigone''s death will cause another. When Creon scoffs at the
seeming threat on his own life, his son tells him it is not Creon who will die.
Enraged, Creon decides to let Antigone starve to death in a sealed cave. The
chorus persuades him to let Ismene go, as she is innocent.
The blind prophet Tiresias then
tells Creon that his actions are not right. Creon sneers, mocking Tiresias with
how prophets have always loved gold. Tiresias tells him that soon he will pay
"corpse for corpse, and flesh for flesh", and his actions are causing a miasma (pollution). Faced with this
terrible prophecy, Creon is torn but comes to the conclusion that Polyneices
must be buried and Antigone must not be killed.
He finds that his anagnorisis (discovery) has come too late. Antigone
has already committed suicide in the cave, hanging herself as her mother Jocasta did (in Oedipus the
King). Haemon makes his way to save Antigone, but finds only her dead
body in the cave. Creon also makes his way to Antigone but is confronted by the
sight of Haemon leaning over Antigone''s body. Haemon threatens Creon, before
stabbing himself and taking his own life. Creon''s wife, Eurydice, also
kills herself in grief over the death of her son.
Creon, having lost his family, lets himself be taken away. His hamartia (tragic mistake or flaw) has
come back with a vengeance, taking from him all that he loved.