Question

You there—you snake lurking in my house, sucking out my life’s blood so secretly. I’d no idea I was nurturing two pests, who aimed to rise against my throne.

Creon speaks these lines to Ismene. Which literary device does Sophocles use in this passage?

Answer 1

The correct answer should be a metaphor. He's not really talking to a snake, but rather to Ismene, who he believes is behaving like a snake. Therefore, this is a metaphor.