An Essay on Antigone: Literary Devices and the Theme Explained
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…
