First arriving as obedient to King Creon, the Chorus gives opinions about events that occur in the story and recalls events that have occurred in the past. He declares that Eteocles is a hero because he died defending Thebes from enemies.Ĭhorus of Theban Elders: A group of Theban citizens.
Polyneices kills him in battle, and his body receives a full burial at the order of Creon. Although Polyneices is next in line to rule Thebes, Eteocles claims the throne for himself with the support of Creon and exiles his brother. Later, realizing that he is mistaken, Creon buries Polyneices in the ground, and his spirit is laid to rest at long last.Įteocles: The youngest son of Oedipus. His body rots in front of the city until Antigone performs burial rites by sprinkling dust over it. He dies in battle, and Creon declares him to be a traitor, forbidding burial upon penalty of death. After his younger brother Eteocles unjustly claims the Theban throne for himself, Polyneices assembles seven armies to attack the city and regain the kingship. Antigone comments that she had herself wrapped her mother in her funeral clothes. When she discovers that she has married her son, Oedipus, she commits suicide by hanging herself in the palace. Iocasta: The former queen of Thebes and Oedipus' mother. Oedipus later murders King Laius on the road to Thebes, just as the oracle had predicted he would.
To avoid being killed by his own son as was prophesized, Laius sent Oedipus to die in the wilderness as a baby, but the son survived. Laius: Oedipus' father and former king of Thebes. Arrested and sentenced to death, Antigone thus follows the same tragic footsteps of her father Oedipus, treated as a criminal by the city of Thebes. Then Oedipus' sons Polyneices and Eteocles battled for the Theban throne, killing each other Creon forbids burial for Polyneices, but Oedipus' daughter Antigone performs burial rites on his body because she loves him. After later discovering that he had indeed killed his father and married his mother, a grown Oedipus was exiled from Thebes and wandered for many years until he died an outcast. He wanted to avoid the prophesy that that his son Oedipus would one day kill him. His name in Greek means 'limping foot' (oido = to swell, pous = foot) because his father Laius sliced his ankles when he was a baby so that he would die in the wilderness, disabled. Oedipus: The former king of Thebes and Antigone's father. Creon is left humbled but heartbroken, incapable of even walking without someone to support him. Antigone, his son Haemon, and his wife Eurydice all commit suicide. He is not a wise ruler and as a result, he suffers for his ignorance after realizing his mistakes too late. His first edict forbids burial to Polyneices or any of the other soldiers who attacked Thebes after Antigone disobeys this law he sentences her to death and at first plans to kill Ismene as well, until the Chorus reminds him that she is innocent. After the deaths of both Theban princes, Polyneices and Eteocles, Creon claims the throne for himself because he is the former queen's brother. She is a follower, unlike her bold sister.Ĭreon: Iocasta's brother and King of Thebes. Throughout the play, she is the obedient, willing citizen easily dominated by tyrants such as Creon. Antigone tells the truth that Ismene had no involvement in the burial at all, and Creon releases her from custody without punishment. After Antigone is captured and sentenced to die, Ismene insists that she helped commit the crime, because she wants to die with her. She tells Antigone to obey Creon's decree, but her sister does not listen.
Her name in Greek means 'to linger towards' (eis = towards, mene = linger). Ismene: The youngest daughter of Oedipus. Antigone has already committed suicide by hanging herself from a rope. Realizing that the Theban king has made a terrible mistake after speaking to Teiresias, Creon unseals the cave too late to save the girl. As a result, Creon sentences Antigone to death by starvation in a cave in spite of his son Haemon's pleading, since he is engaged to marry her. Pitying him, Antigone disregards the advice of her younger sister Ismene to obey Creon's decree and covers Polyneices' body in dust, declaring that religious laws of burial are more important than a city's law. After Antigone's brothers die in battle, Creon forbids burial for the elder Polyneices because he dared to attack Thebes. Her name in Greek means 'one who is of the opposite opinion' (anti = against, gnomi = opinion). Antigone: The oldest daughter of Oedipus.