Numberless Are the World’s Wonders

Numberless Are the World’s Wonders

  • Submitted By: alamo298
  • Date Submitted: 02/08/2009 5:41 PM
  • Category: Philosophy
  • Words: 776
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 1282

“Numberless are the world’s wonders”, but the most wonderful thing of all is man. In Sophocle’s Antigone, Ode 1, translated by Fitts and Fitzgerald, mentions how man can be powerful yet weak in the presence of gods. Like a train effect, without the submission of gods, there is no wisdom, and without wisdom, there is no happiness. Through figurative language, diction, and syntax, Fitts and Fitzgerald emphasize a tone of pride towards the power man has and a tone of hopelessness when facing death.
With Fitts and Fitzgerald’s use of figurative language, there is a comparison that creates a better picture in the mind. Phrases including, “thought as rapid as air”, “spears of winter rain”, and “late wind of death” clearly states how thoughts can flow by instantly, how man can use his skills to defeat the winter rain, and how death comes slowly but surely. Giving life to things that are of nature helps understand that it is the cause of the gods. With the idea that gods control the weather, there is a thought that man can defeat the gods’ wills. However, man cannot defeat the gods’ wills so the penalty for defeating the wills is death; that proves that man can be powerful yet restricted. Furthermore, there are things in which animals would fear but man would fear not including the “spears” of the rain or the “arrows of snow”. Nevertheless, things like the wind, where it can be calm and tranquil, can surprisingly overcome man. As a result, man is proud of their achievements yet they can not use their achievements to defeat the gods.
Diction supports the accomplishments and failures one man can make. Because Fitts and Fitzgerald used words such as “numberless” and “holy”, they point out that even with abundant wonders man can still be the best and that Earth is a property of the gods. Since there is an abundant amount of wonders, one would assume that there is nothing greater than the other; on the other hand, there is. It is man. Given that man is the most...

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