Plot Summary - Anitgone

Authors Avatar

Etocles and Polyneices, brothers, have killed each other over their lust to be king of Thebes. Their uncle Creon is the new king. It is his opinion that Polyneices is a traitor and should be shamed by leaving him unburied. Etocles however, is seen as a valiant nephew and will be given a burial ceremony. 

The play opens with a distressed Antigone appealing to her sister, Ismene, to help her bury Polyneices. Ismene however does not wish to disobey her uncle as this was treachery of the highest order in ancient Greece. However, it was also a family’s obligation to bury relatives who had passed away. The burial of the dead was a requisite to enable a peaceful afterlife of the recently deceased. Any unburied dead would be shamed and their souls would not rest.  Evidently, this puts Ismene in a difficult situation of choosing what to do.

Ismene would like to bury her brother but is too afraid of disobeying her uncle, the King. Ismene is worried about what might happen to Antigone. She advises her not to bury their brother as Creon has said that Polyneices be shamed. The rebellious Antigone is undeterred by her sister’s advice and leaves upset that her sister will not join her.

The Chorus enter playing the roles of the Council Elders. The Council Elders were the voices of normal people from the city. The Elders had an influence on the King and his running of the city. The Chorus gives an example of a man who has too much arrogance, known in ancient Greek as Hubris, which leads to his downfall. Ironically, this is also what causes Creon’s downfall.

Creon enters and announces he is the new ruler of Thebes as he is the closest male relatives to the deceased. He continues by setting out his future plan as king of Thebes. He says that he will not discriminate between “family and friends”, not make friends with enemies and will tell the people about any problems the city could face. The speech portrays Creon as patriotic to his city, loyal and a man of good intentions. Creon then says it is illegal to bury Polyneices.

Join now!

A Watchman from the burial site enters with some bad news: Polyneices has been buried and the perpetrator is unknown. The watchman speculates that it was a man who buried Polyneices when actually it was Antigone. This highlights how out of the ordinary Antigone’s actions are. Creon tells the watchman to find whoever is responsible or he will be killed. The innocent Watchman leaves.

The Watchman returns after the Chorus’ first stasimon, with Antigone in tow. The Watchman is very anxious to leave Antigone with Creon. Creon however wishes to know every detail of Antigone’s capture and it ...

This is a preview of the whole essay