Sentry on Antigone

"...she cried out a sharp, piercing cry, like a bird come back to an empty nest, peering into its bed, and all the babies gone..." (p. 80) This metaphor is important because it compares Antigone to a bird, which has a great significance in greek literature.  Usually a bird is used to symbolize justice of freedom, and in this case, it would represent both.  Antigone represents justice in the way that she treats everyone equal and believes that the deceased should be honored no matter what they did when they were alive, this is also the law of the gods.  She represents freedom because she uses her free will to bury her brother knowing the consequences.  This reveals a lot about the strength of Antigone and what she will do for her family.  This also displays the theme of loyalty, because even though Polynices was bad when he was alive, she was still there for him because they were family.