Antigone characters

Like all Greek tragedies, Antigone takes place long ago in the mythic past, drawn from a legend that had been told and retold many times before.  Because the story was so familar to his audience, Sophocles makes no effort to explain the events leading up to the main action of his tragedy. This means that it is vital for modern readers, who have not hear the story before, to learn certain basic facts about the characters and their background before approaching the play.

Oedipus: Antigone is set in the city of Thebes, and even though he is not a character in the play, many references are made to the city's former king, Oedipus.  Oedipus was the father of the play's heroine, Antigone, as well as her two brothers.  Although he had been a good king for Thebes, Oepidus ws the victim of a terrible curse: he unknowingly murdered his own father and married a woman that he later discovered was his own mother.  Once Oedipus discovered what he had done, he punished himself by gouging out his own eyes; his mother committed suicide shortly after this.  Antigone and her siblings are the children of Oedipus and his mother, and they are all haunted by the tragic history of their family.

Eteocles and Polyneices: After the death of Oedipus, power fell to his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices.  The two brothers ruled together at first, but eventually Polyneices grew tired of this arrangement, and he raised an army to attack Thebes and win the city for himself.  During the fighting, both brothers were killed; Polyneices died attacking the city and Eteocles died defending it.  The controversy over what to do with their bodies provides the subject matter for Sophocles' play.

Creon: With both sons of Oedipus dead, the uncle of Oedipus, Creon, became the new king of Thebes.  Creon sets the tragedy in motion by decreeing that the bodies of the two brothers will not receive the same treatment.  Because Eteocles died defending the walls of Thebes, Creon says that he will be honored with a burial worthy of a king.  But Creon refuses to give the same honors to Polyneices.  Because Polyneices died a traitor to his city, Creon decrees that he will not be buried, and that his body will be left on the battlefield, to be devoured by birds and dogs.  For the Greeks, who believed that every person must be buried properly, this was an appalling punishment and even an insult to the gods.  It is because Antigone will not let this happen to her brother that she comes into conflict with Creon.

Antigone: As the sister to both Eteocles and Polyneices, Antigone is heartbroken by her brothers' deaths.  She is also furious that her uncle, King Creon, will not bury her brother Polyneices.   Antigone defies Creon's orders gives her brother the burial that she feels he deserves.  When Antigone is caught, she defies her uncle's authority and insists that what she did was right.  Creon responds by locking her up inside a tomb, leaving her to die of hunger and thirst.

Haemon: The son of Creon.  He was engaged to marry Antigone, and when Antigone is locked inside the tomb, he goes to rescue her, only to discover that she has hung herself inside.  When he discovers this, Haemon kills himself as well.

Eurydice: The wife of Creon and the mother of Haemon.  She commits suicide when she hears what has happened to her son.

Ismene: The sister of Antigone.  She refuses to help her sister bury the body of their brother Polyneices.