Gender Roles In Sophocles Antigone

Paola Reyes-Duran

Mrs. McNicholas

English IV Period 2

02 November 2017

Gender roles have been embedded into societies throughout history. In many instances, men have been seen as powerhouses while women have been seen as aid, even submissive. These gender roles have been evident throughout novels. In the past, the division between gender roles was emphasized and stereotypical. Antigone has the theme of gender roles within the novel where the women have been overpowered and forced to be submissive by men.

Antigone presents men as the stereotypical strong leaders and fighters, but women are portrayed as dependent. Throughout the novel, the male characters hold positions deemed important in the ancient Greece society. For example, the King of Thebes and the prophet are both males. Although, the females hold no position within the society. For example, the women in the novel only hold roles as wife, sister and/or daughter. (Sophocles 20) This idea that men are the gender with the greater capabilities is detrimental to society in ancient Greece which is proven by the many conflicts that arise due to the suppression of women.

The siblings, Antigone and Ismene, were not allowed to give their brother a proper burial because the king, Kreon, decided that he would only bury one of the brothers. In the novel, Antigone states “ They say he has buried Eteokles with full and lawful honors due to the dead;but Polyneices … body will remain unburied.” (Sophocles 22) Due to the fact that a man was able to hold the position of king, he was able to use his power to force the women to follow his ruling. This skewed power structure highlights the gender roles in this ancient Greek