1. Eurydice:
Eurydice, the wife of Creon and the mother of Haemon, takes her own life after hearing about the death of her son Haemon. The news of Haemon's suicide devastates Eurydice, and she cannot bear the grief and decides to end her life. By having Eurydice die offstage, Sophocles creates a sense of tragic irony as the audience learns about her death indirectly, intensifying the emotional impact of her demise.
2. Haemon:
Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's fiancé, kills himself after finding Antigone's dead body in the cave where she has been entombed alive. His suicide is a desperate act driven by his love for Antigone and despair at the unjust treatment she has suffered at the hands of his father. Haemon's death offstage allows the focus to remain on Antigone's character and the consequences of Creon's actions, rather than shifting to Haemon's individual tragedy.
3. Antigone:
Antigone's death is also reported indirectly through a messenger who describes the circumstances of her passing. The messenger recounts how Antigone, facing her inevitable fate, chose to hang herself rather than succumb to starvation inside the tomb. This offstage death maintains the play's focus on the central themes of personal integrity, familial loyalty, and the struggle between human and divine laws, without distracting from the emotional weight of Antigone's tragic end.
By keeping these crucial deaths offstage, Sophocles heightens the emotional impact of the events and allows the audience to focus on the overall themes and consequences of the characters' actions. It reinforces the idea that their deaths are integral to the tragic outcome but does not overshadow the central story involving Antigone's defiance and Creon's disastrous choices.