A chorus enters and calls forth a story from the ages: one of a king’s self-imposed exile, a city plunged into civil war, and four siblings torn apart by forces beyond their control.

After Oedipus handed over the crown, his sons, Polynices and Eteocles, became the shared rulers of Thebes. When Eteocles refused to give the throne back to Polynices as promised, a war broke out, and the brothers killed each other in battle. As the play begins, their mother, Jocasta, and their sisters, Antigone and Ismene, are left behind to pick up the pieces of a shattered family.

The kingdom is now ruled by their uncle, Jocasta’s brother Creon. Creon decrees that since Eteocles was the honourable brother, he will be given a proper burial, ensuring the salvation of his soul. As punishment for rebelling, Polynices is to be left in the sand outside of the city limits to rot in the sun, and anyone who attempts to bury him will be sentenced to death. However, without the proper funeral rites, Polynices’ spirit cannot cross over into the afterlife.

Antigone asks Ismene if she will help bury their brother, but Ismene does not want to take part in her family’s tragic story. Antigone will have to bury Polynices on her own. But Antigone has always known she would need to act alone. In fact, she has already buried Polynices that morning. By the time she reaches home, Creon’s forces have already undone all of her work. Antigone must cover Polynices again, but this second time, the guards catch her at the body with her hands in the sand.

Antigone is brought before Creon to face punishment. Creon wants to let his niece go, but Antigone vows to continue trying to bury Polynices because she knows that it is the right thing to do. Creon asks Antigone to think about his son, Haimon, to whom she is engaged, and how heartbroken Haimon will be if she dies. But she stands firm. Antigone tells the new king that he will look weak if he goes back on his first order, and that he has no choice but to sentence her to death.

Creon delivers the news of Antigone’s sentencing to Haimon, as Jocasta visits Antigone in prison. Finally, exiled to a cave in the desert to starve, Antigone confronts her impending death, hoping those left behind will be changed by her choices.