n Antigone, Sophocles alludes to many Greek myths in order to accentuate how Antigone views the situation of her being punished by Creon for giving her brother the proper burial he deserved by the law of the gods and the importance of her words.
Creon has decided to sentence Antigone to death for going against his words and following the laws of the gods by burying her beloved brother Polyneices. Creon’s tragic flaw is recognized when Antigone says, “How often I have heard the story of Niobe, / Tantalus’ wretched daughter, how the stone / Clung fast about her, ivy-close; and they say / The rain falls endlessly / And sifting soft snow; her tears are never done” (Sophocles 994). Niobe, queen of Thebes, was turned to stone for her belief
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The story of Danae relates to the story of Antigone’s father, Oedipus, and how it was his destiny to kill his father, Laius. “All Danae’s beauty was locked away / In a brazen cell where the sunlight could not come:” (Sophocles 997). The princess Danae was locked away by her father due to the curse that her son would kill him. Princess Danae’s story relates to the story of Oedipus because of the similarity between the curses.
Furthermore, King Lycurgus, song of Dryas, is similar to Creon and foreshadows that Creon will most likely be punished for his tragic flaw. “Bore the god’s prisoning anger for his pride:” (Sophocles 997). King Lycurgus and Creon both have much self pride in what they do and are overconfident with their power believing they are better than the gods themselves. “For he had profaned the revels / And fired the wrath of the nine / Implacable sisters that love the sound of the flute” (Sophocles 997). King Lycurgus was punished by the Muses because of his pride and because Creon’s behavior is very similar to King Lycurgus, it foreshadows that he may be punished for his big ego as