What happens to Ismene?
Fifteen years after the death of her brave sister, Antigone, Ismene sat the table watching her son, Polyneices, writing out his work from school. A slave played music for their entertainment nearby.
Ismene gazed out the small window, thinking of how Antigone had been locked up in that cave and never saw the daylight again. She hadn't thought about Antigone very much in the past few years, because it caused her a lot of pain still. Today, though, she remembered everything that had happened since her beloved sister's tragic death.
When she heard that news about the dead Antigone and Haimon, she had promptly fainted. Regaining consciousness, she was told of the death of Eurydice. This was almost too much for her to bear. She had run, sobbing loudly, to her chamber and didn't allow anyone to see her for a week. She ate very little, too upset to really think. Finally Creon had come by and spoken to her, saying how horribly he felt about it all, and that it was his fault. Ismene couldn't control her anger anymore, and she reached out to hit Creon in the face. He looked shocked as her hand left a red mark, but she didn't care, just started running out of the house and never wanting to come back. There was nothing left for her there.
She had run for over an hour, past the city gates, until she found herself in the middle of a wooded clearing. She collapsed on the ground and cried harder than ever. After what felt like eternity, a gentle hand shook her shoulder. She quickly turned around to see who had followed her here. But the man standing there with kind eyes was no one she had ever seen before. Before she could form a coherent sentence, the man spoke.
"I heard your cries from across the river," he pointed out. "I thought I should see if you were okay or if someone was harming you. Sorry to sneak up on you like that. My name is Jason. Is everything all right?" he asked her.
His concern took her by surprise. "I…no. Everything is not all right. My sister, her husband, his mother, my parents and brothers are all dead! And it's all my uncle's fault. I don't know what to do," she blurted out, bursting into sobs again.
"There, there. It will be okay. I can help you," Jason said. "I'm so sorry to hear what happened. Why don't you come to my house and I can get you something to eat?"
"That would be nice. Thank you," Ismene answered shyly. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and followed him to his small house at the edge of the forest. They were quiet on their walk, but both knew that this day would be the start of a new life for both of them. Jason's name meant "healer", and Ismene knew he was just the person she needed to heal her heart and her losses.
As the weeks passed after the initial meeting, Ismene and Jason grew to love each other. A few years later, Jason left the house alone to deliver a message to Creon. He knew Creon must be very worried, so he wrote him a note saying that Ismene was his bride-to-be and there would be a child as an addition to the family in the next two years.
Neither Jason nor Ismene knew of Creon's reaction, but it didn't matter. They had each other.
Ismene found herself back in the present, just looking out a window. How she missed Antigone! But she had a good life for herself now, and she knew Antigone would have wanted that.