ipl-logo

The Roles Of Women In Oedipus Rex

961 Words4 Pages

Many different school systems and universities across the nation use this extremely moving story as a teaching tool to show the roles of women in the specific time period in which this work was written and to also discuss how many people can and will sacrifice their own lives for the ideas or morals that they believe will accomplish something that is morally correct. In my own school career, I have been asked to read this magnificent work on three different occasions, all of which I have loved researching the life of Sophocles and studying the different aspects of this work along with the ones of a few others that Sophocles created. This particular work is based upon the lineage of another of Sophocles’ writings, the Oedipus Rex trilogy. Overall, Sophocles does an amazing job depicting the moral and social standards of this time while also demonstrating the well-known myth that is the story of Oedipus. Sophocles was an extremely wise and educated man and is considered one of the most famous tragic story writers to have ever lived, and even though he lived in ancient roman times, his works are still increasingly present in today’s society and are used to teach and tell how life during the time that Sophocles plays were first being performed and demonstrate how exceptionally different the times are now. Many different other ancient writers have also used pieces of Sophocles works to help establish their own stories and portray their own ideas. For example, Aristotle used

Show More
Related

  • Roles Of Women In Homer's The Odyssey

    231 Words  | 1 Pages

    The role of women in The Odyssey is to exhibit the many roles that women perform in the lives of men. There is a quote that states that behind every successful men there is a woman; to which homer would probably agree. As it was stated before, we can make reference to such quote by picturing The Odyssey without woman in the epic. Without woman, Odysseus would probably make it faster to Ithaca or would probably die in many of the obstacles that Zeus was putting in his way. Men’s position or respect, in ancient Greek mythology, was determinate by the things had successfully fulfilled in their life but no men had ever recognize that such success is part of the role that woman have in their lives.

    Read More

  • Comparing Homer's Iliad And The Code Of Hammurabi

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    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”.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Homer's The Odyssey

    954 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, there are many female characters who play the role of a villain. Calypso, Scylla, Charybdis, and the sirens are among the women with the largest, negative impacts on Odysseus’ journey home. Though some women, such as Athena, Eurycleia, and Penelope, are loyal to Odysseus throughout the poem. With such a wide range of female characters, they all contribute different things throughout the book, whether the impact of their actions is negative or positive. Regardless of the outcomes, Homer has quite a modern view of female representation in his poem.

    Read More

  • Women's Role In The Odyssey Essay

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Odyssey,” written by Greek poet Homer is an epic tale depicting the brutally enduring quest home of the Greek hero, Odysseus. Within this heroic story, women play a very large and pivotal role in Odysseus’s trip home from the Trojan War. In his attempt to get back to his wife, Penelope, Odysseus’s progress is constantly hindered by the intervention of women who will do anything in order to either convince the heroic figure to stay with them or have him killed. The intentions of the women in the epic are all very different but one of the most prominent roles lies in the seductresses and the alluring women who will deeply influence Odysseus. Most importantly, Penelope plays a large role in portraying the importance of women’s roles in the story.

    Read More

  • The Odyssey Essay: The Role Of Women In Homer's Odyssey

    1255 Words  | 6 Pages

    In spite of the fact that Homer’s Odyssey is an epic story of a man’s gallant journey, women play a huge part throughout. Their unique yet controversial personalities, intentions, and relationships are vital to the development of this epic and adventurous journey of Odysseus. The poem by Homer was written at a time when women had an inferior position in society, yet that didn’t stop them from being any less influential. All of the women throughout the Odyssey possess different qualities, but all of them help to define the role of the ideal woman.

    Read More

  • Essay On Gender Roles In Medea By Euripides

    799 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Geek society had may guidelines concerning the way men and women were treated and the roles they played within society. “The concept of gender was an integral aspect of this social hierarchy; power was not evenly distributed and only men were allowed to participate in prestige activities such as politics, law, or the military” (“The Ure Museum”). The values of gender roles within the Greek society are expressed in the play Medea by Euripides. Though Euripides tried to show the disparities of how women are treated compared to men, he still uses some of the same stereotypes exhibited within Greek society. Some issues that will be discussed are the way the women are portrayed in Greek society.

    Read More

  • Women In Oedipus Rex

    1175 Words  | 5 Pages

    Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, women are not treated as poorly as women are in Candide. Women are still treated like their objects. When Jocasta was offered as a reward to the man who could solve the riddle of the sphinx. Jocasta was beautiful and was put in with the reward for motivation for men to solve the riddle. This portrays women as objects and that they are something to be owned.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Lysistrata By Aristophanes

    1568 Words  | 7 Pages

    Introduction The purpose of this essay is to investigate the women’s role in Classical Greece society and literature (5th/4th century b.C.). Therefore, I decided to discuss and analyse one of the most controversial comedies of that time, “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. This text shows how women, sick of their submissive and powerless position in the political scenario of Athens and Sparta, come on the scene and, through a smart stratagem, achieve their expected result.

    Read More

  • Women's Roles In Athens And The Hellenistic Era

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women’s roles has changed dramatically throughout history. By looking at the lives of women, it would be possible to tell how the civilians at that specific period of time were living. In this paper, women’s lives in mainly three civilizations would be discussed, the Sparta, the Athens, and the Hellenistic era. In Sparta, women were needed to live at home, while their husbands remained in military barracks until the age thirty.

    Read More

  • Sophocles Impact On Greek Theater

    912 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sophocles had an enormous impact on Greek theater due to three theatrical innovations he made: the addition of a third actor, ending the custom of presenting tragedies as linked trilogies, and the increase of the chorus from twelve to fifteen. The three greatest classical tragedians are Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, but Sophocles is known as the greatest dramatist in Western literature. Due to innovations he made to Greek theater and the plays he wrote, Sophocles is a more successful dramatist than Aeschylus and Euripides. He wrote 123 plays during his lifetime and of those, seven survive to this day. Sophocles surviving tragedies are still known to this day because of “Sophocles' technical skill as a dramatist, unforgettable characters,

    Read More

  • Powerful Women In Homer's Odyssey

    1355 Words  | 6 Pages

    However, these contrasts between their personal thinking built most of valuable points in Odysseus' epic journey, and making a more intense story. To some extent, these women are not foolish at all because at least they are successful at leading people to believe that waiting is meaningful. The whole story happened during the dark centuries of women in Greece, when their value was limited behind men. However The “Odyssey” gives an opportunity to horror their role, also rejecting all erroneous preconceptions about the woman. Penelope -- a typical woman who represents for an image of a devoted wife, a mother of family and she is also an image of how women was treated at Greece.

    Read More

  • How Does Oedipus The King Reflect Greek Culture

    824 Words  | 4 Pages

    It can be seen as a trend throughout history that stories reflect a society’s culture and values. One of the most memorable and inspirational civilization that made a substantial contribution to literature was Greece. Sophocles, a renowned Greek playwright, is beloved for his dramatic and action-filled plays that effectively satisfied the ancient audience. In Sophocles’ tragic play, Oedipus the King, the main character, Oedipus finds difficulty proclaiming his purpose against the fate bestowed upon him by the gods. Alongside his struggling, the values and cultural aspects of the Greeks emerge, reflecting their views on society during that time period at which the play was produced.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Oedipus Rex And Antigone

    1002 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many times, people lead themselves to their own downfall. Their demise is often a long and arduous one where they find themselves alone at the end. This truth is frequently depicted in novels, plays and other forms of entertainment. The isolation that occurs in these narratives is one that makes any human with a beating heart fear making the same mistakes that the characters do. In Sophocles weaves this theme of alienation into the plot of his plays, Oedipus Rex and Antigone, to tell a story where both Oedipus and his daughter, Antigone, are cut off from the rest of the world because of their misdeeds.

    Read More

  • Women's Role In Euripides The Trojan Women

    805 Words  | 4 Pages

    Euripides’ The Trojan Women expresses the disbelief and hope of ancient Greek women during the Trojan war. The characterization and dialogue between Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, shows the role of women in society during that time, as well as their different prerogatives towards the war and its consequences. Likewise, The Odyssey by Homer uses the main female character, Penelope, to convey the role of women and their opinions towards the social changes from the war. Both texts, collectively, use dialogue to develop hopeful and hopeless ideas within the women of ancient Greece. Euripides’ The Trojan Women tells the story of three women, Hecuba, Andromache, and Cassandra, who struggle with their lives after the murders of their husbands

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Comedy And Comedy

    1824 Words  | 8 Pages

    “Life is a mixing of all kind of things: comedy and tragedy going together” (Alejandro Jodorowsky). Comedy and tragedy have been two popular forms of entertainment for people throughout the ages. From Greek performances to contemporary plays, the art of theatre is well and thriving. While the styles of playwrights and the way theatre is experienced changes through time, the messages these plays gaves have more or less stayed the same. Drama can, for the most part, be classified as either tragedy or comedy.

    Read More

More about The Roles Of Women In Oedipus Rex

Open Document