Diction

In the first few stanzas of Ode #1 from "Antigone", Sophocles uses diction to create a tone of amazement towards man and man's accomplishment. "Numberless", "wonderful", and "high" are the words used to describe how great man is. There are "numberless" wonders in the world, but man is the most "wonderful" out of everything and this lifts man "high" above everything elses and conveys the tone of amazement. the words "holy", "inexhaustible", and "shining" to further convey the tone of amazement. The word's "holy" and "inexhaustible" describe the Earth. The word "shining" is what the Earth looks like after man made the Earth even better than holy. The image that man has tamed Earth and the fact that man has made it better than holy adds to the tone of amazement. Later in the Ode words such as "lithe", "tamed", and "resign" show how amazing man's achievments are. These words show the ability of man to take control of animals. These words show that the free animals can be captured and tamed by man which further adds to the tone of amazement. "Good", "skill", and "secure" are used in the 3rd paragraph to convey the tone of amazement. these words show that man was very good and that man used their resources wisely and that they were very skilled in what they did. Man was also secure with himself. Through diction, the reader can see that the tone conveyed for man's accomplishments is amazement. Aside from the amazement man's accomplishments brings, a second tone, fear, is conveyed because of man's limitations. "Death", "fate", "good", and "evil" convey the tone of fear from man's limitaions. Even though man is great and they have conquered many things, they also have one limitation and that is death. Although man has choices, they also have fate which is both good in letting man tame animlas, but it is also bad in the fact that man will die in the end. No matter how great man's accomplishments are, and no matter how many things man has conquered, man will never conquer death and it is awaiting every person at the end of their life. The fact that man cannot conquer death conveys a tone fear. It is also fearful that man can loose control and a state of anarchy can occur. The fact that man has limits shapes a tone of fear. The fact that man starts at a high place in the first stanza foreshadows that man must fall, such as a ball thrown up in the air falls when it reaches its highest point.

Imagery

Diction in the Ode also adds to the tones. In the first stanza the fact that "the storm grey sea" is used shows how harsh the Ocean can be and how furrocious it can be, yet man can still conquer it is amazing. Also the fact that "stallions" is used rather than a goat shows how amazing man is because they can tame such a strong and powerful animal and make it do whatever man wants it to do. "Light-boned birds and beasts cling to cover" show that man has conquered the wak and the ferrocious and everything in between. "Lion" and "mountain bull" are also used to show that the kings of the environment have also been captured and the fact that the most wild animals can be tamed conveys a sense of amazement. "When the laws are kept, how proudly his city stands, but when the laws are broken, what of his city then?" conveys a tone of fear in the fact that one day man can be great and have complete control over his city, and the next day a state of anarchy can occur and all man's achievments can be lost.

Synytax

In the ode, syntax is also used to convey the tones. In the first two paragraphs the fact that the paragraphs are just one big sentence each, convey the tone of amazement, because the words flow smoothly with just a couple of pauses. The third paragraph also is one big sentence, but this is the paragraph where the tone switches from amazement to fear. The sentence flows sommothly, but there is a double dash which causes a stop and transition in the paragraph. this double dash indicates a transition in tone. After this double dash there are 3 exclamatory sentences. Theses sentences show a definite amazement in the fact that man cannot conquer death which conveys the tone of fear. All of the sentences in the 4th stanza are short, choppy, and about the same size. This shows uncertaintity and fear in man's limitations.