We’ve all watched the Disneyfied version of Hercules and seen those three ugly creatures with the scissors all sharing one eye. Yeah, it’s the Fates! Greek Mythology speaks of the Fates, who are these three sisters also called The Moirae. Well, the Greeks believe in a higher power that was in control at all times, some brave souls have tried defying them despite knowing what happens eventually. In Antigone, the characters all succumb to the sweeping decision of fate.

Poor Ismene mourns her “two brothers, both butchered/ in a single day—that ill-fated pair/  with their own hands slaughtered one another/and brought about their common doom”  (69-72). She grieves at what fate has brought upon her life. She cannot help but feel overwhelmed, thinking “we’ll die far worse than all the rest,/ if we defy the law and move against/the king’s decree, against his royal power” (74-76). Women did not hold a lot of power and rebelling would not result in any change. Ismene could not bury her brother and has to come to terms with abandoning his uncovered body.

Antigone recgonizes her own end, yet she cannot help but feel obligated to her loved ones. The King Creon has spoken and Antigone will be executed. “And so for me meeting this fate/ won’t bring any pain” (526-527). In this tragedy, we see the characters acknowledging the presence of fate and its effects of mankind but it still attempts to break free of the mold and even go beyond fate’s restrictions.