His name means ‘many troubles’, and he’s generally remembered as ‘the bad brother’, because he attacked Thebes with a foreign army. Polyneices is the brother of Antigone, Ismene and Eteocles. The two brothers fought and killed each other outside one of the city’s seven gates – and that’s when the real trouble began. He took control of Thebes after King Oedipus died, but then refused share the throne with his brother Polyneices. She too is a loyal sibling, but she’s more cautious than Antigone, and fears the consequences of defying their uncle Creon.Įteocles is the brother of Antigone, Ismene and Polyneices. Sophocles’ play begins at the point when Creon has taken over the throne of Thebes - ‘a city in chaos’. He is fierce and steadfast – some might even say arrogant – but will meet his match in his young niece Antigone.

Oedipus dies before the action of Sophocles’ play Antigone begins, but his memory and cursed existence loom over everything that happens to his descendants.Ĭreon is the brother of the dead queen Jocasta (the wife and mother of Oedipus). He is famous in Greek myth for unknowingly killing his father (Laius) and marrying his mother (Jocasta). Oedipus was king of Thebes, a city in central Greece. A loyal daughter, she guided the blind Oedipus into exile before he died, and she’ll be equally faithful to her dead brother Polyneices. The heroine Antigone is one of the four children of Oedipus (her siblings are Ismene, Eteocles and Polyneices).

Antigone full text