Comparing Women In Antigone And Medea

Out of all the stories we have read so far, the two stories that immediately come to mind are, Antigone and Medea. Although both of these stories show how woman were treated during this time, both woman go against the status quo and think, and act for themselves. In Medea, she gives a speech that emphasizes the way woman were supposed to act, “If a woman leaves her husband, then she loses her virtuous reputation. To refuse him is just not possible. When a girl leaves home and comes to live new ways, different rules, she has to be a prophet, learn somehow the art of dealing smoothly with her bedmate”( ). Both of these stories show how restricting it was to be a woman during this time, however, both Medea and Antigone break away from those

Although Antigone’s take is much less extreme, it is still very efficient. Antigone is angered that Polyneikes cannot be buried properly, “The city is forbidden to mourn him or bury him, no tomb, no tears. Convenient forage for cruising birds to feast their fill”( ). Therefore she decides to bury her brother herself, “I’m going to bury my brother, your brother! with or without your help. I won’t betray him”( ). Her sister Ismene reminds Antigone of their lack of power as woman, “Remember, we’re woman. How can we fight men. They’re stronger”( ). However, even after being reminded of this, Antigone still decides to properly bury her brother. After, she was questioned by Kreon, she confesses her actions without showing fear, or regret, “I did. It wasn’t Zeus who issued me this order. And justice, who lives below, was not involved”( ). This also shows that her actions were hers and hers alone. It wasn’t some else’s orders, she did what she needed to do according to her. Overall, the reason why I choose these two stories to show the concept of free will is because they went against how people thought woman should act and think. Although they were portrayed differently in both stories, they both defied how they were supposed to act. In Medea, she thought for herself , and acted for herself, and in Antigone, she she thought for herself and her deceased brother, and acted on those