Set in a city named Thebes, somewhere in the 20th century, the play is introduced by a militia sergeant named Miletus and two child soldiers under his command, Scud and Megeara. They discover the body of Polynices, a warlord in the recently-ended civil war and brother of Antigone and Ismene. Meanwhile, Ismene and the new female president of Thebes, Eurydice, widow of Creon get ready for the arrival of Theseus, fi rst citizen of the powerful democratic state of Athens, to discuss rebuilding Thebes after the civil war.