Antigone recap

After the sons of Oedipus kill each other in a civil war, Creon honors Eteocles and forbids burial of Polynices. Their sister Antigone secretly covers Polynices' body with earth and is arrested when she returns to perform the rite again. Creon tries privately to save his niece, arguing that rule is practical work and revealing that neither brother deserves her idealized loyalty. Antigone nearly accepts life but rejects the compromised happiness he offers and insists on owning her act. Creon condemns her to be sealed in a cave. She hangs herself before he can reverse course; her fiancé Haemon, Creon's son, kills himself beside her, and Creon's wife Eurydice takes her own life after hearing the news. Creon survives and returns alone to governing while the indifferent guards carry on with their routine.

After civil war in Thebes, the brothers Eteocles and Polynices have killed each other. Their uncle Creon becomes king, gives Eteocles an honored funeral, and orders that the supposed traitor Polynices be left exposed on pain of death. Antigone has already scattered earth over Polynices and returns to complete the burial despite her sister Ismene's refusal to help. Guards catch her and bring her to Creon. Hoping to avoid a scandal and save his son's fiancée, Creon questions her privately and offers to conceal the crime. He argues that governing requires imperfect choices and tells her the brothers were both corrupt, their ruined bodies so alike that the official distinction between hero and traitor was arbitrary. Antigone briefly wavers but refuses the modest, compromised happiness Creon describes. She insists on accepting the consequence of her deliberate act. Ismene then asks to share her fate, but Antigone refuses her late claim. Creon has Antigone sealed in a cave. She dictates a last message to Haemon and then removes the words that express doubt. The Chorus persuades Creon to free her, but he is too late: Antigone has hanged herself. Haemon kills himself beside her, and Eurydice takes her own life after learning their fate. Creon, stripped of his family, resumes the work of ruling, while the guards return to their cards.

Creon orders Antigone sealed in a cave, then belatedly goes to release her after the Chorus warns that he has pushed the punishment too far. He arrives after Antigone has hanged herself. Haemon, found holding her body, rejects his father and kills himself. A messenger brings the news to Eurydice, who quietly withdraws and cuts her throat. Creon is left alive after losing his wife, his son, and his niece. He returns to the administrative work of the state because, unlike Antigone, he has accepted the duty of continuing. The guards resume their card game, untouched by the royal family's destruction, and the Chorus closes the play on the silence that follows tragedy.