An Essay on Antigone: Literary Devices and the Theme Explained

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In the play Antigone, Sophocles creates the theme that men should submit to the gods’ will, and no man should place himself above the law of the gods or he will be punished for his excessive pride. Three literary terms in Antigone that help show this theme are metaphor, irony, and foreshadowing.

Metaphor

The first example of a literary device helping to reinforce the theme of the play is metaphor. A metaphor is something used to represent something else, or a comparison of two things that are not usually alike but are similar in some way[1]. An example of a metaphor in the play is in Episode 1, when the chorus is chanting the second ode. They are talking about man, human nature, and the limits of man. The chorus says:

“Many are the wonders, none is more wonderful than man. This is it that crosses the sea with the south winds storming and the waves swelling, breaking around him in roaring surf. He it is again who wears away the Earth, oldest of gods, immortal, unwearied, as the ploughs wind across her from year to year when he works her with the breed that comes from horses.” (368–376).

The chorus is stating all the things man can do that make him like a god and that nothing is as wonderful as man. They state that man is the oldest of gods, immortal and unwearied. This is a metaphor because the chorus is saying men are gods when they aren’t actually, but since men use the Earth as if they were gods — ploughing it and controlling the animals in it — it shows that men are as powerful as gods when compared to the land and other animals. But the chorus also states that their downfall comes when they don’t honour the laws of the earth and the gods. They say, “If he honours the laws of earth, and the justice of the gods he has confirmed by oath, high is his city; no city has he with whom dwells dishonour prompted by recklessness,” (404–408). This reinforces the theme of the play by showing that if you go against the gods, you will be punished.

Another example of a metaphor to support the theme is in Episode 2 when Creon is describing Antigone. He says, “I would have you know the most fanatic spirits fall most of all. It is the toughest iron, baked in the fire to hardness, you may see most shattered, twisted, shivered…