Antigone (daughter of Laomedon)
Antigone of Troy (/ænˈtɪɡəni/ ann-TIG-ə-nee; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη, romanized: Antigónē) is a minor figure in Greek and Roman mythology. She is a Trojan princess, daughter of king Laomedon and the sister of Priam. Antigone features in a little-known myth in which she incurs the wrath of the goddess Hera by comparing herself to her, and then suffers the consequences.
Etymology
[edit]Antigone's name is derived from the ancient Greek words ἀντι-, meaning "opposite" or "in place of" and γένος, which translates to "birth", "descent" or even "generation". Antigone's name thus could mean "in place of a mother".[1]
Family
[edit]Antigone was the daughter of King Laomedon of Troy by an unnamed mother. She was thus (half-)sister to Priam, Lampus, Clytius, Hicetaon, Bucolion, Tithonus, Hesione, Cilla, Astyoche, Aethilla, Medesicaste and Proclia.[2]
Mythology
[edit]The earliest mention of Antigone and her myth comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses around the first century. During her competition with the Lydian seamstress Arachne, Athena wove a tapestry with scenes of gods punishing blasphemous people who were guilty of hubris, or excessive pride against the gods. Athena included the story of the Trojan princess Antigone, daughter of king Laomedon, who was transformed into a white stork by Hera for trying to compete with her.[3]
In a later account of Antigone's tale, preserved in the writings of the Vatican Mythographers, the arrogant Antigone saw herself as better and prettier than Hera, the queen of the gods. Hera then changed Antigone into a stork,[4] or alternatively Hera turned Antigone's lovely hair into snakes as punishment;[5] while bathing sometime later, the gods took pity in her and thus changed her into a stork, an enemy to snakes,[6] but she remained ever hostile to Zeus, the husband of Hera.[7][8]
See also
[edit]
Other women who angered goddesses and were punished include:
Notes
[edit]- ^ Harper, Douglas. "Antigone". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Bell 1991, s.v. Antigone (3).
- ^ Ovid, Metamophoses 6.93
- ^ Second Vatican Mythographer 87
- ^ Wright, M. Rosemary. "A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations". mythandreligion.upatras.gr. University of Patras. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Grimal 1987, s.v. Antigone 2.
- ^ First Vatican Mythographer 176
- ^ RE, s.v. Antigone (4)
References
[edit]- Bell, Robert E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. ISBN 9780874365818.
- Grimal, Pierre (1987). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
- Ovid, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Pepin, Ronald (2008). The Vatican Mythographers. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 9780823228928.
- Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band I, Halbband 2, edited by Georg Wissowa, Stuttgart, J. B. Metzler, 1894. Online version at Wikisource.
Further reading
[edit]- Michael Grant, John Hazel: Who's Who in Classical Mythology. Routledge 2001, ISBN 0-415-26041-8, p. 56 (restricted online version (google books))
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