Editing Antigonae (section)

==Synopsis==

The opera begins in the early morning following a battle in [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] between the armies of the two sons of [[Oedipus]]: [[Eteocles]] and [[Polynices]].  King Kreon ([[Creon of Thebes|Creon]]), who ascended the [[throne]] of Thebes after both brothers are killed in battle, decrees that Polynices is not to be buried. Antigonae, his sister, defies the order, but is caught. Kreon decrees that she be buried alive in spite of the fact that she is betrothed to his son, [[Haemon]]. The gods, through the blind prophet [[Tiresias]], express their disapproval of Kreon's decision, which convinces him to rescind his order, and he goes to bury Polynices.  However, Antigonae has already hanged herself rather than be buried alive. When Kreon arrives at the tomb where she was to be interred, his son, Haemon, attacks him and then kills himself. Finally, when Kreon's wife, [[Eurydice of Thebes|Eurydice]], is informed of Haemon's and Antigonae's death she, too, takes her own life. At the end of the play, and the opera, Kreon is the only principal left alive.