Oedipus, the king of Thebes, is dead.
For a short time, his two sons - Eteocles and Polynices - attempted to share the throne, alternating from one year to the next. Greed got the better of them.
When the time came for Eteocles to step down from the throne, he refused, forcing his brother into exile. Polynices retaliated. He returned to Thebes with a small army from Argos, and a civil war erupted within the city.
Polynices and Eteocles challenged each other to a duel. Both were killed.
Now, it is your turn to take the throne.
You are Creon, current king of Thebes, bound by the duties of rule. In the span of a year, Thebes has seen three tragedies, fought a battle, and been betrayed by one of their own kind. The city is an open wound. They look to you for hope.
[[Next page |It is morning]] It is morning. It’s time for you to speak to the Theban elders. You must choose your words carefully - the future of your time as the king may depend on it. You plan to announce what will be done with the bodies of Eteocles and Polynices.
[[Next page |E + P considering options]]
Eteocles and Polynices were both kings in their own right, so they should each receive a hero’s burial rites - to be anointed in costly oils, honored with a wreath of laurels, and given a coin to pay the ferryman of the dead, that they might pass safely across the river into the other world.
But Polynices betrayed your city. He killed the king. He’s a *criminal*. You ought not to give a criminal the respect worthy of a hero. What an act of weakness - it would betray the city’s trust!
And yet - didn’t Polynices have a *right* to attack? He was the rightful owner of the throne, and Eteocles was attempting to overthrow his brother’s power. Wouldn’t that make Polynices a hero, and *Eteocles* a criminal?
[[Next page |Speech begins]]You leave the palace, accompanied by your guards, and you approach the elders of Thebes.
You assure them that the enemies from Argos are dead, and the city is safe. You are the next of kin from the brothers, and now you are the king. You will uphold the laws of the city to the letter, no matter what. And, concerning the sons of Oedipus…
[[Bury Eteocles]]
[[Bury Polynices]]
[[Bury both]]You say:
“Eteocles died fighting for our city. He will receive a king’s burial, crowned with a hero’s honors.
Polynices died trying to burn our city to the ground, slaughtering its citizens, murdering the king. He is a criminal. His corpse will be treated as a criminal’s corpse. I have put a law in place that forbids anyone from burying him, and I have posted guards near his corpse, so that this law may be upheld.”
[[ Next page | Elders' response]]You say:
“Polynices died while upholding a rule that was set for the city. He was the rightful owner of the throne, and he was merely trying to reclaim the power that should have been his. So, he will receive the burial of a king.
Eteocles stole the throne when it was not rightfully his. He is a criminal, and his corpse will be treated as such. I have set a law in place that the people of Thebes are forbidden from burying him. He will be left out to rot. Guards have been posted near his corpse, so that this law may be upheld.”
[[Next page|Elders say nothing]]You say:
“Eteocles and Polynices may have had differing morals and wishes for this city, but they were still our kings, and we should respect them. They will both receive the burials of kings and be honored as heroes.”
[[next page|Elders are chill]]The group glances at each other silently. Then, the leader of the elders steps forward and says, “If it is your will to treat the corpses of our kings this way, then I suppose… the power is yours to do so.”
Unsettled by his tone of voice, you speak again to drive your point home: “See that you never side with those who break my orders.”
[[ Next page | The first Guard ]]Just as the elders are preparing to leave, your eyes catch movement approaching. It’s someone running towards you - the First Guard! He stops in front of you, trying to catch his breath. He looks terrified.
“Someone has buried the body of Polynices,” he says. “Last night - they covered him with some dirt, gave him the proper rites. We don’t know who did it… but it wasn’t me.”
“It’s the work of the gods”, says the leader of the elders.
*Ridiculous*. The gods wouldn’t bury a criminal.
You tell the First Guard to go uncover the body, search out the culprit, and bring them to you.
He has the audacity to insult your intelligence.
You shout at him. When he insults you further, you shout at everyone. They all just watch you, quietly, as if they don’t understand the language you speak.
[[ Next page | Returning to palace ]]Returning to your palace, you contemplate the disorderliness of Thebes.
You merely gave out simple instructions, but everyone was so quick to oppose them. Eteocles should have kept a firmer hand over the city. It’s obvious that he did not. You must tidy the mess he left behind.
Surely, Polynices would have been even worse. Bold and violent actions, without forethought or remorse. Thebes would fall to pieces under his rule - it is a blessing he did not live to take the throne. His death was fitting, and the treatment of his corpse, more so. Any clear-sighted person could see that.
Why did someone risk their life to *bury* him?
[[ Next page | Antigone is caught ]]When the First Guard returns, he brings a young girl with him. You recognize her as Antigone, the sister of Polynices and Eteocles.
The First Guard says: “We caught her burying the body of Polynices.”
“You mean… *again?*”
“Yes.”
When you question Antigone, her reasoning defies logic. She says she knew it was against the law to bury Polynices. She did it anyway. She says she knew she would die because of her choice. *She did it anyway*. She seems totally calm and of a clear conscience. She has no remorse. She has no *fear*.
She is glorifying crime.
You must never allow such rebellious actions under your rule. You should make an example of her, so that nobody will ever attempt to copy her disobedience.
But she’s a part of your family, and the citizens may be growing tired of watching this family slowly kill itself. Would *she* be their breaking point? Would they turn on you?...
What will you do with Antigone?
[[Execute her]]
[[Let her go]]You proclaim that Antigone will be executed for her crimes.
She was betrothed to your son, Haemon, but that is no matter. She’s proven herself unfit for such a role.
Now, your son will marry someone better.
The guards take Antigone away.
[[Next page|Haemon visits]]You choose to let Antigone go free. She leaves your palace alone and walks out into the streets of Thebes.
[[Next page|Sycophant ending]]Later, Haemon visits you. You ask him what he thinks of your decision.
“You are my father,” he says. “You are more important to me than any marriage. I trust that you know what is best.”
You are about to commend him for his honorable mindset, but he continues to speak.
“-there is something you should know. There is a *reservedness*, which the citizens hold in your presence, that they do not keep in mine. I've heard how they truly feel about Antigone. The city… *mourns* for her,” he says.
You laugh. “You’re mistaken, I’ve heard them say no such thing.”
“That’s because they say it in places where you can’t listen. The truth is, they say Antigone does not deserve to die - in fact, they don’t think she should be punished at all.”
“What do *they* suggest should be done with her?”
“They want her to be honored as a hero.”
You narrow your eyes. “What do *you* suggest should be done?”
He takes a moment to choose his words carefully.
“I think there is no shame in learning from others,” he says.
[[Next page|Haemon argues ]]Your own son - the one who you raised to always trust in your guidance - has decided to set up his will against your own!
Haemon argues with you. He says that the law is false. He calls you incompetent and insane. He sides with Antigone. The woman. The *criminal*.
He’s been manipulated. His mind is ruined.
You begin to shout at him. He does not shout back; he goes silent. He draws back with calm decisiveness. His last words to you are this:
“If you kill Antigone, you will kill another. You’ll never see my face again.”
*Good riddance*, you think. He’s no longer your son. If he wishes to side with criminals, then he is one too - and he deserves the same fate.
[[Next page|convo with advisor]]“Let them take her into the wilderness”, you tell your advisor. “Lead her to a place where man has never before set foot. Then wall her up alive.”
“Will you be there to watch?”
“It is only for the guards to see - them and the gods. My hands are clean of this. But tell me - what do you think of her death? Is it fitting?”
“It is… fitting for her crimes,” the advisor ventures.
“Yes. My thoughts exactly. If she wants to glorify the worthless dead - to worship the god of Death- then let her pray when she’s trapped alive in her tomb. See if Death saves her then.”
[[Next page|Time for A to die]]The time has come for Antigone to die.
The guards bring her out of the palace. Some people of Thebes are gathered outside, knowing that this is the last they’ll ever see of her. You walk towards the group.
Antigone is speaking to the crowd, asking for their pity. She’s trying to manipulate them. You cannot allow that to happen, not now, when half the city is already rotten. You stop her mid-sentence and order the guards to take her away.
[[Next page|Trust Nobody]]As you watch the guards leave with Antigone, you feel… isolated.
You think of how the elders reacted when they learned Polynices would remain unburied. The exchanging of glances, and the skeptical expressions on their faces - they were so quick to doubt their ruler.
You remember the way that the First Guard insulted you.
And Haemon’s blatant disrespect.
You realise - you don’t know who to trust anymore.
[[Next page|Tiresias]]A small voice behind you says, “there he is!”
You break away from your thoughts and turn around. The crowd is gone, dispersed to go about the rest of their day. In their place is Tiresias, the old blind prophet, and a boy leading him by the hand. The boy serves as his eyes, and in return, Tiresias cares for the boy.
Tiresias says: “I’ve come with a message for you. You must listen and learn. You must open your mind.”
[[Next page|You can trust him]]You don’t know what magic Tiresias does to gain his knowledge, but you do know this: he has never failed you before. His premonitions have always saved your family from destruction. He is trustworthy.
“I’ve never strayed from your advice before,” you tell him. “I will not do so now.”
“Very well, then, this is my message: you are standing on a great precipice; you are about to fall and break upon the rocks below; your life is about to come crashing down into madness and disarray.”
“What do you mean by this?” You ask. “What precipice?”
[[Next page|Sacrifice story]]“I went to perform a burnt sacrifice on the hill”, he says in a low voice. “And as I stood preparing the animal, there were birds all around me, fighting each other in the air, killing each other. And before I lit the flames, I heard the meat begin to cook.”
He turns to the boy at his side. “Tell him what you saw,” Tiresias says.
The child’s voice is quiet. “The flesh sloughed off the bones. It all burned away. The bones were left charred and black - but there was no fire or smoke.”
Tiresias thanks the boy and continues. “Our sacred places have been cursed by the rot from Polynices’ corpse. You refused to respect his death in the way that the gods instructed you to, and now they are deaf to us - because you won’t admit you were *wrong*.”
[[Next page|Realize you're wrong]]Lies. The gods do not love traitors. The gods do not love Polynices. They don’t care about his corpse. If Tiresias was truly a prophet, he would know that. He’s past the age of wisdom, his mind has become twisted with age. He’s a liar.
He *must* be. There’s nothing else this could be. It’s only lies.
“You forced an innocent life down into the land of the dead”, says Tiresias. “You forced a dead soul to stay up here in the land of the living. Now, the gods will take what you owe them - they will take from your own flesh and blood.”
Dread overtakes you.
“One for the girl whose life was stolen. One for the boy who cannot rest in death.”
“I’ll fix it,” you cut in. “I’ll open the crypt. I’ll bury the body. I can fix this.”
Tiresias looks at you for a long moment, then lowers his head, as if the words he just spoke to you are physically weighing him down. He quietly asks the boy to lead him home.
[[Next page|Decision]]There’s still time. You can stop this, if you hurry.
That’s what you want to believe, anyway. If the gods have decided your fate, who are you to fight against them?
[[Stop this]]
[[It's not worth it]]You need to give Polynices the proper burial rites and free Antigone from her crypt. Time is of the essence. Who will you go to first?
[[Antigone]]
[[Polynices]]You go into your palace and wait for whatever doom is headed towards you.
You sit alone in a shady, quiet room. You do nothing.
An indeterminate time passes. There is some sort of commotion outside. You don’t care to see what it is, but you watch from a window and see your wife Eurydice walking out to them. She does not leave often. It must be important.
She returns, her quick footsteps darting into an adjacent room.
You can hear her sobbing.
Then you hear something *awful* happening to her.
[[Next page|Defeatist ending]]
You rush out into the wilderness, towards Antigone’s crypt.
The rocks blocking the entrance are thin and poorly placed - terrible work. You easily make a gap and continue to claw at it until it’s large enough for you to crawl through.
[[Next page|RIP Antigone]]You rush to the place where Polynices’ corpse lies.
Some pieces of it have been torn apart by wild dogs. You try your best to arrange the parts back together, in a parody of how they looked in life.
You take a coin from your purse and place it in what’s left of the mouth, reclosing the jaw.
You claw dirt from the ground and scatter it across the body. Grains of dust and sand wedge themselves under your fingernails as you work. By the time you’re finished, your hands are numb and shaking.
You fill your hands with water from a small pool nearby, and pour a libation onto the ground for the gods that live below, speaking a brief prayer as you do so.
Then, you continue on your way.
[[Next page| Antigone's crypt]]When you tell Eurydice that her son is gone, she says nothing. Her face is dead, like stone. She turns and walks away into a different room. You hear her sobbing. Then you hear… something worse.
You decide to go check on her. When you do, you discover that she’s slit her throat.
You sit on the ground and cry to the gods, begging them to kill you, that you might escape the overwhelming guilt and sorrow. They do not oblige your wishes.
You hide yourself away in the darkest corners of the palace. You never want to show your face again.
(text-color:red)[Autosaboteur ending]
When you reach Antigone’s crypt, you see that the stones blocking its entrance have been dragged back, leaving a gap. There are two shapes in the darkness. You draw closer. It’s Antigone, hung by the neck with her clothes, suspended halfway from the ceiling, dead - and Haemon clinging to her, sobbing.
You enter the crypt. Haemon looks up at you. The expression on his face is one that you’ve never seen before, wild and animalistic; it sends a bolt of terror through you.
He draws a dagger from his side and lunges at you. You dodge instinctively, not willing to fight back, but not ready to die. His attacks are wide and clumsy. Soon, he gives up and stands still.
Haemon aims the blade underneath his own ribcage, and shoves it through. He turns back to Antigone and dies embracing her.
In death, they may find what they wished to have in life.
You stare at them for a long moment, then turn and walk back to the palace.
[[Next page|Autosaboteur ending]]The elders say nothing. They watch you with an unreadable expression.
Unsettled by their silence, you speak again to drive your point home: “See that you never side with those who break my orders.”
[[next page|Trust or disgust?]]Later in the day, you realize that their expression was one of mistrust - or disgust? …Both?
You wonder just how far those sentiments will carry.
[[Next page|Contrarian ending]]That night, you are awakened by the feeling of someone cutting your throat.
You try to shout for help, but there is no sound. Your larynx has been damaged.
Then you realize that doesn’t matter: nobody is coming to help you.
The man holding the knife is one of your own guards.
(text-color:red) [Contrarian ending]The elders speak quietly amongst each other. Then, the leader of the elders steps forward and says, “If that is what you wish us to do with the remains of our kings, then it will be done.”
[[Next page|Theban dispute]]In the following weeks, the city falls back into stability once more, continuing to rebuild everything that was broken by the recent events.
You learn of an ongoing dispute between the citizens of Thebes - about which king deserved to be buried and which did not. Normally, you would pass off such things, knowing them to be brief and superficial. However…
[[Next page|Mediator ending]]…Your son, Haemon, will soon be married to the sister of Eteocles and Polynices. You hope that the citizens’ differences will be laid to rest before the wedding comes. The wedding is intended to be a celebration, not only of the couple in question, but of peace and victory. It will show the world that Thebes is still triumphant, favored by the gods, a place of prosperity, a symbol of *safety*.
You begin to loathe the very real possibility that it could become a symbol of conflict instead.
(text-color:red) [Mediator Ending]As time passes, you learn that the people of Thebes love Antigone for what she did. They don’t know her as a criminal. They know her as a martyr. They celebrate her.
And they forget about you.
You hear that Polynices’ corpse is once more covered in dirt. You let the matter alone, you try to forget about it. Maybe Antigone did it, or maybe someone else did it in her honor. Your halfhearted attempts to care about the situation are increasingly unsuccessful.
You let the people have their martyr and their buried corpse. You keep them happy.
You feel safe.
(text-color: red) [Sycophant ending]
You rush in and find that she’s slit her own throat. You try to stop it, but it’s happening so quickly - it’s over in only a few minutes.
You stay with her corpse for a moment, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles in her hair and clothing.
The noise outside ramps up again and people begin shouting your name. You go outside. They tell you that Haemon is dead. Losing Antigone was too much for him; he took his own life.
You sit on the ground and beg the gods to give you a similar fate, that you might escape the agony you’re experiencing. When you do not die, you go back into your palace, unable to face the world anymore. You never want to leave.
(text-color: red) [Defeatist ending]
Antigone is suspended halfway between the ceiling and the floor, hung by the neck with her clothes. There is not enough space under the ceiling for her neck to break; she is suffocating. You can tell she hasn’t been like this for long. You reach for your dagger, intending to cut her down, but someone shoves you aside and gets to her first. It’s Haemon.
[[Next page|Penitent ending]]He cuts through the fabric and carefully lays Antigone down on the floor. At best, she’s unconscious. He places the back of his hand close to her nose and mouth, trying to sense breath. He listens at her chest. He begins to weep.
You don’t know if he weeps out of relief, finding a sign of life - or out of sorrow, finding none.
You don’t have time to ask. He turns on you with a wild expression, dagger in hand. He shoves the blade under your ribcage.
Before your vision fades, you get a glimpse of Haemon as he turns back to Antigone and sits down next to her, cradling her head in his hands.
(text-color: red) [Penitent ending]