Antigone Role Of Women Essay

The roles of women in Sophoclean Tragedy. Women who lived during the ancient greek times dealt with a very male- dominant society. These women tended to follow all rules and commands given by those men seeing that there were dire consequences if they chose not to do so.

Sophocles’ work Antigone shows two feminine characters, both sisters and daughters of the late king Oedipus. Ismene was wrote as a typical woman of her time, following all the orders of the new king, Creon, who is the sister's uncle. On the other hand her sister Antigone was one of the few who backlashes against the king. Sophocles wrote these two characters to contrast the women of ancient Greece, and to show the effects caused by women defying the higher power.

She felt she needed to follow all orders no matter what they were protecting her from doing. In this instance the order was that her brother, one of two killed while battling each other, was to not have a burial or to be mourned. She even tells her sister, Antigone, that “ we are women; it is not for us to fight against men; our rulers are stronger than we, and we must obey in this. May the dead forgive me, I can do no other but as I am commanded; to do more is madness” (Antigone, pg. 128).

Even she believes women are less capable of men. This order is going against her own brother yet she still won’t defy the law set. This is like typical women of this time, they are told what to do their entire life and even who to marry and feel as if this is just how life is and Ismene is one of them. Antigone, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of her sister Ismene. She is very strong willed and determined that if she feels as if she can do something than she will, even is it’s against the king's order and may result in punishment or even death.

When she is notified of her brothers death and the orders placed against his burial