Creonte
In Thebes, Eteocles and Polynices kill one another in a struggle for the throne, and the people make Creonte ruler. He honors Eteocles but leaves Polynices unburied. Antigone secretly buries her brother and is sentenced to die sealed in a cave. Creonte’s son Haemon, who loves Antigone, enters the cave to share her fate. The people rebel against Creonte’s cruelty and proclaim Antigone queen. Freed, she forgives him, and the opera ends with hope for peace in Thebes.