It is relatively easy, when analyzing a play or novel, to understand the relevance and significance of the major characters. Antigone and Creon loom larger than life in their pride and defiance, challenging kings and gods in language ringing with their epic stance. Even less obtrusive characters, such as Ismene, have their "big scene,"" revealing dominant character traits and, if nothing else, acting as a foil for the main character. What, however, does one do with a truly minor character, such as the sentry? He has only a few lines and doesn't contribute much to the action. Nevertheless, while he may seem relatively unimportant, the sentry does not lack significance. Within the play, Sophocles uses the sentry not just as comic relief, but also as a moral barometer of the common man, against which to judge Creon.
When we first see the messenger, his humorous babbling provides relief from the tension growing between Creon and the Choragos. His informal diction contrasts with the formality of Creon's speech as his thoughts tumble out, headlong. .
".[I]f you let someone else get the news to Creon first, it will be [bad] for you!- .
But good sense won out, at least I hope it was good sense, and here I am with a .
story that makes no sense at all; but I'll tell it anyhow, because, as they say, what's .
going to happen is going to happen, and " (701).
The sentry rattles on and on, amusing the audience, annoying Creon and failing altogether to actually tell his news. When told by Creon to "come to the point- (701), the sentry bursts out "I did not do it, I did not see who did it. You must not punish me for what someone else has done- (702). Repeatedly, he denies involvement with the crime, without ever actually saying what the crime is. Obviously, he's very afraid of being blamed, in a kill-the-messenger sort of way, and his descprition of an entire troop of fearless soldiers shooting dice in panic over who has to tell the king "and his own "bad luck- in losing the toss "both amuses the audience and annoys Creon (702).
