The twin sons of Oedipus have come of age and are fighting each other for the control of Thebes. The exiled Polynices has returned home with 7 armies to back his claim, while Eteocles would rather see the city destroyed than hand over power. The twins' mother, Jocasta, and sister, Antigone, seek to intervene, forcing a parley, while their uncle, Creon, works behind the scenes to avert disaster--but only if that work won't cost him personally. Thrust into the heart of this tinderbox is a group of Phoenecian women. Fleeing war and upheaval in their home country, they have come to Thebes seeking refuge among their distant relatives only to find themselves caught between the brother's indomitable wills and subsequently forced to choose a side. After only just repelling a first wave of attack on the city, the brothers agree to face each other in single combat. Jocasta tries one more time to force them to a peace, but she comes too late; the brothers kill each other and in her grief, Jocasta takes her own life. The Phoenecian women make one more appeal to Creon to be allowed to stay in Thebes, but Creon, his attention on repairing and rebuilding his own city, turns a deaf ear to their pleas and casts them out.