Essay On The Role Of Women In Antigone

What is worth mentioning in Sophocles’ play is that he not only showed the weak side of women but also the strong ones. For example, Ismene is the traditional role of women in ancient Greek—coward, fear of men power and feeble. For Ismene, "we must remember we were born women, not meant to strive with men" (Antigone). She even chose to die with Antigone while hearing her sentence, for she was afraid that she would be alone, she could not be able to fight against Creon, this men-dominant society. In contrast, her sister Antigone presents the “women power”.

An Annotated Bibliography on Antigone Reed, Valerie. " Bringing Antigone Home. " Comparative Literature Studies (2008): 316-340.

In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, a woman’s individual conscience trumps state law when Antigone displays time and again that she values her divine motives higher than those of the state throughout the tragedy. Her continued defiance of the state’s authority marks the importance of her individuality through various scenes in Antigone. Knowing full well her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, Antigone goes beyond the powers of the common man to carry on morals of herself and family exceeding beyond immortality and death. Engulfed in the menacing misogyny King Creon set forth in the state, Antigone is determined to thrive and keep the sacred deeds of herself and family in tact despite the fate it bears. The character of Antigone exhibits

Greek tragedies are known for their predictable endings and characters, whose character traits almost always stereotypically reflect those of the archetype they have been assigned. Sophocles’ play, Antigone, is no exception to this. Despite having been written around 441 B.C., his play does present newer controversial topics such as feminism in his play, along with more common themes such as integrity and loyalty. By establishing and associating Antigone’s character with heroic archetypes as the martyr and the tragic heroine, Sophocles could utilize her actions and characteristics as such roles to better demonstrate and convey his messages throughout his work.

Gender roles play a significant part through ought the play Antigone due to the fact that men are treated on a higher scale than women. Sophocles portrays women as people with no rights nor freedom. Antigone is on a destiny for burial rights of her brother Polyneicis. Gender roles are expressed throughout the play Antigone by disrespecting women and men having power and freedom.

Antigone emphasized the importance of religious law compared to man-made law putting the truths of men and women against the truth of the gods. This story shows the diversity of opinions and beliefs between the powerful and the morally

Antigone and The Importance of Gender in Ancient Greek Culture In Ancient Greece, there was a social hierarchy onto which everyone fell in one category or another. There were the free and the enslaved, the Greeks and the foreigners, the rich and the poor. Gender was an important aspect in this hierarchical society in which Sophocles’ Antigone (Sophocles) takes place. The men had their roles as the leaders of society, participating in politics, law, and the military.

n Sophocles’ play “Antigone”; written in 441 B.C., Antigone is a woman of impact, and her choices as a upstander affect the other characters. She was righteous in her pursuits to restore justice with her choices, that are taken because of Kreon unjust ruling. The first move was his, when she lawed the burial of Polyneices, whom is unhonored for being soldier of the enemy. Her choice to secretly bury him affected not only her life, but also Kreon and his family. She impacted her own life with her choice also to kill herself, and the lives of others.

Through our classes discussion and presentations of our interactive orals, we discussed the cultural context of Sophocles’ play “Antigone.” In our discussion my cultural understanding was developed about the role of women in Ancient Greece and how Antigone challenges those roles, and the importance the importance of proper burial . We also discussed the life of the playwright Sophocles. After the presentations of the interactive orals it was clear that Antigone defied her culture, in that she did not always take her social status as a woman seriously.

Would you follow a law if it serves no purpose to you or others? or if you felt that it was wrong to a certain group or ethnicity? Many people know the story Antigone by Sophocles, a kingdom set in ruins as two brothers end up killing each other over a land given to them by their father. As said in lines 165-175 Creon states “Polyneices, I say, is to have no burial: no man is to touch him or the least prayer for him; he shall lie on the plain, unburied.” Being as how both brothers fought fighting for their beliefs they should both get a proper military honored burial as believed by their sister Antigone. Antigone being the one to fight for her beliefs and obeying the god's laws attempts the burial of Polyneices and goes against Creon’s law to prove to him that he’s in over his head that he has too much pride in himself, in lines 15-35 Antigone claims that she is going to go

Sophocles play “Antigone” introduces a lot of debatable topics such as Human law vs Divine laws, pride, but most importantly the topic of woman’s movement for empowerment. Long before 442 B.C.E, women were belittled because of their gender however, after the birth of “Antigone” it demonstrated a strong outreach towards women and their roles in society ”Antigone, a woman who defines King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades” (Söderbäck). Birth from a respected bloodline, Antigone doesn’t feel respected at all within her town, especially from her uncle Creon who became entitled as the King after Antigone’s blood

Throughout one’s lifetime, conflicts between justice and reputation often arise. Due to this, one must be able to realize the consequences when standing up against an oppressive power. In the play Antigone, Antigone is motivated and acts upon justice as seen in her defiance to the law, love for Polyneices, and her persistent moral compass. Antigone’s fight for justice shows just how powerful she can be with her words and actions. Antigone realizes she may have to risk her reputation in order to accomplish justice.

The search for justice is never ending. Justice may be delayed, denied, or postponed, however, the search is timeless. To be just is to argue for fair rights for all. It is to be someone that will help the people of the community. However, many times justice is not sought and not given to those who need it most. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, he demonstrates the many ways an unjust leader can overpower those who fight for what is right (Adams 1). In Antigone’s case, she fought for the just treatment of her brother in his afterlife and for giving him a proper burial. In her fight for justice, Antigone exhibits strong beliefs of fairness to her community regarding family, rights and morality in her battle against a seemingly unjust leader, Kreon.

The famous feminist, Gloria Steinem, once said,”Women are not going to be equal outside the home until men are equal in it.” This central idea of equality is relevant to the story Antigone by Sophocles. Considering the circumstances of the story, the minor character, Ismene, is conflicted with standing by the beliefs that men are overall rulers and powerful over women. Ismene’s emotions and mood fluctuates through the story in a horrible manner. To tragedy unto despair is a major theme in Sophocles most famous tragedy, Antigone.

Sophocles’ Antigone, is a classic Athenian Greek play that discusses questions about the importance of following the law when one does not agree with it, and whether divine laws or man-made laws have more importance in society. While these themes are worth exploring, another interesting aspect of the play is the cruel treatment and punishment of the title character, Antigone, by her uncle and future father-in-law Creon, the king of Thebes. Creon’s harsh punishment, a parallel to the treatment of women in Greek society, can be seen in many of the dialogues of the play. Antigone is determined to provide proper burial for dead brother, Polynices, against the orders of the king, and goes to her sister Ismene for help. However, Ismene is distraught at the idea of defying the king (104).