# Antigone — Character guide

> Key figures in Antigone by Sophocles.

- [Creon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/creon.md): Thebes's new king, who stakes his authority on one edict—leave Polyneices unburied—and cannot imagine a law above his own.
- [Antigone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/antigone.md): Oedipus's daughter, who would rather die a 'sinless sinner' than let her brother Polyneices lie unburied and unmourned.
- [Haemon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/haemon.md): Creon's son and Antigone's betrothed, caught between a father who rules and a woman he loves, pleading for both.
- [Ismene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/ismene.md): Antigone's sister, who fears the family's bloody inheritance too much to defy the state—yet cannot quite abandon the one who does.
- [Eurydice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/eurydice.md): Creon's wife, who appears briefly and meets a tragic end offstage.
- [Messenger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/messenger.md): A herald who reports offstage deaths and tragic events to the chorus.
- [Oedipus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/oedipus.md): Antigone's deceased father, former king of Thebes, referenced as a tragic figure.
- [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/zeus.md): King of the gods, invoked in prayers and choral odes for justice.
- [Ares](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/ares.md): God of war, mentioned in choral odes and as a force in Thebes' history.
- [Fate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/fate.md): Personified force of destiny, referenced in choral commentary on human suffering.
- [Dryas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters/dryas.md): Mythological figure briefly mentioned in a choral ode as an example of divine punishment.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antigone_se/characters