Antigone of Troy (/ænˈtɪɡəni/ann-TIG-ə-nee;Ancient Greek:Ἀντιγόνη,romanized: Antigónē) is a minor figure in ancientGreek andRoman mythology. She is aTrojan princess, the daughter of kingLaomedon and the sister ofPriam. Antigone features in a little-known myth in which she incurs the wrath of the goddessHera by comparing herself to her, and then suffers the consequences via metamorphosis.
Antigone's story is only known through Latin authors, most notable among themOvid who included her myth in theMetamorphoses, and scholiasts. It might have originated from works of previous Greek writers such asBoios.
Antigone's name is derived from the ancient Greek wordsἀντι-, meaning "opposite" or "in place of" andγένος, which translates to "birth", "descent" or even "generation". Antigone's name thus could mean "in place of a mother".[1]
Antigone was the daughter of KingLaomedon ofTroy by an unnamed mother. She was thus (half-)sister toPriam,Lampus,Clytius,Hicetaon,Bucolion,Tithonus,Hesione,Cilla,Astyoche,Aethilla,Medesicaste andProclia.[2]
The common theme across all versions of the story is that the Trojan princess Antigone causedHera's wrath, who then transformed her into a stork.[3]
The earliest mention of Antigone and her myth comes fromOvid'sMetamorphoses around the first century. During her competition with the Lydian seamstressArachne,Athena wove a tapestry with scenes of gods punishing blasphemous people who were guilty ofhubris, or excessive pride against the gods. Athena included the story of the Trojan princess Antigone, daughter of kingLaomedon, who was transformed into a white stork by Hera for trying to compete with her.[4]
In a later account of Antigone's tale, preserved in the writings of theVatican Mythographers, the arrogant Antigone saw herself as better and prettier than Hera, the queen of the gods.[5] Hera then changed Antigone into a stork,[6] or alternatively Hera turned Antigone's lovely hair into snakes as punishment;[7] while she was bathing some time later, the gods took pity in her and thus changed her into a stork, thenceforth an enemy to snakes who preyed upon them,[8][9] but she remained ever hostile toZeus, the husband of Hera.[10][11]
TheThebaid scholiastLactantius Placidus wrote that Hera transformed Antigone into a stork for having slept with Zeus.[12]
Antigone's story is known only in Latin authors, Ovid chiefly among them, and several scholiasts.[13] It follows the themes ofBoios'crane myth, where a beautiful woman compares herself to Hera and is transformed into a bird (cranes and storks were often classified together). Antigone's snake hair is modelled after the myths ofMedusa andScylla.[13]
Other women who angered goddesses and were punished include:
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