Antigone tells Ismene that Kreon has forbidden burying Polyneikes, threatening execution to any who defy the order.

Ismene refuses to help Antigone bury Polyneikes, arguing women cannot go to war against men.

Antigone resolves to bury Polyneikes alone, declaring it noble to perform the act and die for it.

Kreon announces his decree before the Chorus, framing Polyneikes' lack of burial as duty and loyalty to Thebes.

A frightened guard tells Kreon that someone secretly covered Polyneikes' body with a thin layer of dirt overnight.

The guard returns with Antigone in custody, having caught her in the act of reburying Polyneikes.

Antigone defends herself to Kreon by arguing that divine law supersedes mortal decrees, and she accepts death fearlessly.

Kreon orders both Ismene and Antigone imprisoned to await execution after assuming they conspired in the burial.

Haimon argues to Kreon that the people of Thebes privately believe Antigone acted honorably in burying her brother.

Haimon storms out of the palace, declaring Kreon will never see him again, after Kreon orders Antigone brought forward.

Kreon decides to seal Antigone alive in a cave with minimal food instead of executing her outright.

Teiresias warns Kreon that the gods are refusing all prayers from Thebes because Polyneikes' body remains unburied.

The Chorus implores Kreon to free Antigone and bury Polyneikes, and Kreon finally agrees, rushing away to act.

Kreon arrives at Antigone's cave to find Haimon clutching Antigone's hanged body before Haimon falls on his own sword.

A messenger tells Kreon that Eurydice has killed herself inside the palace, cursing Kreon with her last words.

The play begins with Antigone learning of Kreon's decree forbidding the burial of her brother Polyneikes, and her immediate decision to defy it alone despite the threat of death. She is captured and brought before Kreon, where she boldly defends herself by invoking the laws of the gods above any mortal rule. Kreon responds by sentencing her to be sealed alive in a cave, dismissing even his own son Haimon's plea for mercy. The blind seer Teiresias finally forces Kreon to recognize his catastrophic error, but his change of heart comes too late. Antigone and Haimon both die, and Kreon's wife Eurydice takes her own life, leaving him utterly destroyed. The tragedy ends with Kreon begging for death, the victim of his own stubborn pride.

The major events driving Antigone's conflict with Kreon from first defiance to final tragedy.

Antigone and Ismene meet secretly outside Kreon's palace before dawn, standing beyond the protection of the city walls.

Antigone shames Ismene for choosing civil law over family duty before departing alone to bury Polyneikes.

The Chorus sings about Polyneikes' failed assault on Thebes, portraying him as a bloodthirsty eagle struck down by Zeus.

Kreon asserts his right to rule Thebes before his council of elder advisors, citing his bond to the royal line.

The Chorus leader suggests to Kreon that the secret burial of Polyneikes may have been an act of the gods.

Kreon furiously rejects the Chorus's suggestion and accuses discontented Thebans of bribing the guards to allow the burial.

Guards uncover Polyneikes' buried body, and a sudden whirlwind rises before Antigone appears and begins reburying the corpse.

Ismene arrives and falsely confesses to helping bury Polyneikes, hoping to share in Antigone's punishment.

Antigone publicly rejects Ismene's false confession, refusing to let her claim credit for the burial.

The Chorus sings an ode comparing the endless troubles of Oedipus' family to a ship battered by a relentless storm.

Kreon delivers a speech to Haimon on the supreme value of obedience to rulers, comparing disobedience to the ruin of cities.

Antigone laments before the Chorus that she will die without ever experiencing marriage or bearing children.

Antigone compares herself to Niobe, and the Chorus rebukes her for likening her fate to that of a divine figure.

Antigone delivers her final words onstage, urging all witnesses to remember her suffering for honoring the dead.

The Chorus sings a joyful paean to Bacchus after Kreon agrees to release Antigone and bury Polyneikes.

Pool 2 captures the texture and atmosphere surrounding the main conflict: the secret pre-dawn meeting of two sisters outside the city walls, the Chorus's songs placing events in mythological context, and the council scene where Kreon establishes his authority before his advisors. Significant secondary moments include the dramatic whirlwind portent at Polyneikes' grave, Ismene's false confession of guilt, and the Chorus's extended lament over the doomed house of Oedipus. Kreon's speech on obedience and Antigone's heartfelt lament about her lost future deepen the human stakes of a conflict that is otherwise framed in terms of law and duty. The pool follows Antigone through her final public moments onstage before she is led away forever, and closes with the Chorus's misplaced joyful paean after Kreon appears to change course. Together, these events illuminate the emotional and thematic landscape that surrounds the play's central tragedy.

The supporting moments that reveal character, context, and consequence throughout the play.

Antigone tells Ismene she will commit what she calls a holy crime, honoring the gods' law even as she breaks the king's.

Kreon threatens to have all the guards hanged if they cannot identify who buried Polyneikes.

Kreon accuses Antigone of two outrages: burying Polyneikes and openly glorying in her defiance before him.

Kreon and Antigone argue over whether Polyneikes, as a traitor who attacked Thebes, deserved burial or family loyalty.

Kreon orders Ismene fetched from inside the palace, convinced she secretly plotted the burial alongside Antigone.

Haimon approaches Kreon with outward deference before carefully shifting to challenge his father's reasoning about Antigone's sentence.

Kreon and Haimon trade open insults, with Kreon calling Haimon cowardly and Haimon calling Kreon arrogant and childish.

Kreon orders Antigone brought out to be killed in front of Haimon during their heated confrontation.

Kreon chooses to spare Ismene from the death sentence, focusing all punishment on Antigone alone.

The Chorus sings an ode to Eros, declaring that love's power bends even just minds toward injustice and ruin.

Kreon enters during Antigone's lamentation and orders his guards to immediately take her away to the cave.

Teiresias arrives and commands Kreon to listen, warning that the king's fortunes stand on a razor's edge.

Kreon refuses Teiresias' counsel and vows to leave Polyneikes unburied even if Zeus' own eagles were to carry the corpse away.

Teiresias predicts the Furies will come for Haimon because of Kreon's actions against divine law, then departs in disgust.

A messenger announces to the Chorus that both Antigone and Haimon are dead, confirming Teiresias' prophecy.

Pool 3 focuses on the pivotal moments of decision, confrontation, and discovery that determine the tragedy's outcome. Beginning with Antigone's framing of her act as a holy crime that places divine law above mortal rule, the pool follows Kreon's escalating aggression: threatening his own guards, accusing Antigone of double insolence, and clashing violently with his son Haimon in an argument that turns openly hostile. Key turning points include Kreon's order to bring Antigone before Haimon mid-confrontation, his decision to spare Ismene while hardening his sentence against Antigone, and his catastrophic refusal to yield even to the prophet Teiresias after Teiresias predicts Haimon's death. The Chorus's ode to Eros offers a moment of reflection on love's power to override reason, while Kreon's entrance into Antigone's lamentation scene marks her final removal from the world. The pool closes with the messenger's grim announcement that confirms the prophet's every word has come true.