The Sentry and Antigone

"And wails aloud, shrill as the bitter note of the sad bird, when as she finds the couch of her void nest robbed of her young," (Sophocles 133 Dover-Thrift edition). During his speech to Creon, the sentinel refers to Antigone as a bird multiple times. This metaphor shows us that Antigone is trying to fight for rights for women and for all against tyranny. This metaphor shows this because birds represent freedom because of how they are able to fly around the world and now that she has been caught by Creon, she has lost her freedom. This part in the play is important to her character development because she has gone through the main conflict by defying Creon and she is now starting to go through her tragedy. Also, she is starting to meet more and more of the criteria for a tragic hero because in this part of the play, she has now made her tragic flaw. With this in mind, in terms of plot development, this is where Socrates makes it clear that Antigone is a tragedy. There are other themes also shown here, like standing up for what you believe in is shown throughout Antigone because it is clear that Antigone knows she is going to be harshly punished but she is willing to do whatever it takes to stand up for what she believes in. Overall, this is one of the most important parts of the play because the plot starts to climb fast and starts to reveal all of the key themes involved in tragedies. This is how the Sentinel's speech to Creon starts to show character development and how the bird metaphor was perfect for Antigone.