Prompt: Antigone and Antony in Cleopatra both present their narratives through not only what the audience sees happen on the stage but also what characters report happening off stage. Write one of the scenes that the play implies but does not explicitly present. Your scene should comprise at least 150 lines of poetry or 1000 words (the minimum is whichever is less). You may either a) write the scene in the style of the original or b) forge your own style (e.g., a novelistic depiction or a stand-alone poem). 

(It is past midnight and Antigone scurries outside the city walls. Antigone has a cloth to cover her face, with a flat shovel she did in her cloak. The chorus of old women see Antigone sneaking out)

CHORUS (whispering amongst themselves): At what price do you offer your life for such senseless danger?

ANTIGONE (says to herself): It is just that my brother, Polyneices, should not be subject to the dogs of the woods and the vultures of the sky.

CHORUS: Creon shall have you killed upon counts of such treachery.

ANTIGONE: Creon knows nothing of what is proper in the eyes of the powerful gods.

ISMENE (calling out): By Zeus, Antigone, don’t take another step! Where are you going? How could you endanger yourself so?

ANTIGONE (hushing Ismene): I am going to do what is proper for our dear brother.

ISMENE (visibly frustrated and distraught): I have told you many times, yet still you do not listen. It is not proper for us women to defy the blessed orders of Creon!

CHORUS (to Antigone): Why not beseech Creon regarding a burial for Polyneices?

ANTIGONE:  Creon knows not the binding laws, that he spits upon with shameful blasphemy.

CHORUS:  Ismene can advise you with how to deal with Creon’s stubbornness.

ANTIGONE (shaking her head):  Ismene wouldn't understand. I am alone in my agony.

CHORUS: By the fate of the gods, let us assist in aiding so destitute a spirit, which knows not peace!

ANTIGONE: (whispers and motions a location far off to the chorus) I will go run there to get dirt to cover my dear brother’s body. Distract the guard!

(The chorus approaches the guard)

CHORUS: Has Creon ordered you to be here?

ANTIGONE: (runs to the body and partially covers the body of Polyneices with fresh dirt) May the gods allow your soul to be free in the underworld…

CHORUS (whispering): Now is the critical hour to distract the eyes of the guard.

(the women clamor, causing the guard to leave their posts to rush to them)

GUARDS: What’s happening?! Who made that sound?

CHORUS: We saw the Muse, angry, bloodthirsty with vengeance for the ill treatment of Polyneices, son of Oedipus!

GUARDS: Who dares disobey the edict of Creon? Scatter yourselves at once!

ANTIGONE: (freezes and lies flat on the upheaved earth near Polyneices) The hour of suffering for following the gods has thus arrived…

GUARDS: (The head guard smacks the guard on the head) It is probably one of the dogs feasting on the body of that horrid traitor, Polyneices. Back to your posts!

CHORUS (whispering among themselves): It is good for us to help Antigone bury her dear brother’s body by deceiving the guards.

ANTIGONE (whispering and trying to stifle her own weeping and sniffles): How could I allow this to happen to you, my beloved one. O one who shared the womb of a mother with me, how could I fail you so?

CHORUS: We beg you to allow us to help cover your brother with the dirt of the ground and anoint him with what is proper according to our customs.

ANTIGONE: I am immensely grateful for your offer. Indeed, let us work with haste, for dawn rapidly approaches. At once, help me excavate the fresh earth so that my dear brother receives a fitting burial

(The Chorus of women and Antigone slowly but surely gather dirt to cover the body of Polyneices)

ANTIGONE: Let us offer up prayers and sacrifice for my brother, Polyneices. May the gods smile upon our cause with good fortune. May Fate watch over us forever with great felicity at justice secured

ANTIGONE: (sprinkling dirt over Polyneices) You did your duty with justice, wrong in the eyes of men, but right in the hearts of gods

CHORUS: Let his spirit be freed in the underworld, and come to rest in the Elysian fields. May the gods strike down the injustices of Creon, for favoring his crown over the divine crown of Zeus!

ANTIGONE: (covering his body fully) I have done what I can. Let us quickly depart from here. First, let us ensure the body of my dear brother does not know the shame of the sun once more. (Antigone sprinkles dirt over the body of Polyneices thrice)

CHORUS: (piling the mound higher) Let us depart, Antigone. Dawn’s hour peeks at us with judgment.

ANTIGONE: Let us run back quickly now. Do not let it be known among anyone who helped bury the body of Creon’s enemy. For such was the order that was made, it defies all sacred bonds between the gods and man.

CHORUS: Not one of us shall speak of the events that have passed in this dark night. The night is dark, but the soul of Polyneices may have been darker, were it not for your bravery. We pray the gods watch over you.

ANTIGONE: With gratitude I take this multitude of words, and I know that the scales of justice shall weigh in your favor on the day of your very own judgment. For the gods favor greatly those who choose to do what is good and proper, when what is evil and improper has become the commonplace state of action.

(Antigone and the women of the chorus run back to the gate of the city, in an area the guards seldom stood. The distant sun glows the dark sky)

ANTIGONE (entering by herself into her bed chamber, looks out the window in the direction of the body of Polyneices): May my shining love for you, Polyneices, which brims at my heart, overshadow the dark evils that lay siege to the state of your spirit.