Antigone by Sophocles is an example of an ancient piece of feminist literature set in Greece. The play revolves around a woman named “Antigone,” who defies the directives of Kreon, the Thebes’ emperor (Wiersma, 1984). The woman defies authority by burying her late brother’s body against a decree requiring such bodies to be abandoned. The female character demonstrated that women can follow their principles and show members of their families love at the expense of the seemingly more powerful whims and aspirations of a ruler. Such conduct was unusual in the early Athenian world, where the female gender had restricted rights compared to men. As per the tradition, society expected women to remain submissive to and wholly reliant on men. This is because society ranked men on a higher social pedestal within the family setting and at the level of society. The boldness of women against established social norms is at the center of Sophocles’ play. Arguably, the protagonist’s bravery in her attempt to project her beliefs is akin to the courage with which contemporary women struggle to safeguard their interests to bridge the gender gap. This paper will discuss the role of women in Antigone.
The role of women is a significant part of Antigone. Sophocles assigns different female characters different roles to give a clearer picture of the role of women in ancient Greek society (Owoeye, 2012). The playwright interweaves women’s roles with various ancient Greek mythologies, cultural values, and behaviors. The role of women closely resembles the social roles of gender in contemporary society, where gender parity is an integral part of most conversations. The play discusses the roles of women in ancient society from the axis of two sisters, Antigone and Ismene. The two women work hand in hand to reverse various stereotypes that have worked against women for a long time. Their contributions in the story concerning the overall role of women as the agents of change become particularly interesting when a third female character in Eurydice joins the fray. The storyline depicts women gradually and determinedly defying their labels as the lesser sex by exposing the weaknesses of related traditions, beliefs, and values and accurately arguing their case for a change.
Throughout Antigone, Sophocles delves into the ancient Greek society in which male chauvinism was the order of the day (Wiersma, 1984). Like other ancient societies, the play distinguishes the society based on sex and gender roles. As such, women occupy a lower social pedestal than men. While Greek society treats men as courageous and uncompromising, women play secondary roles where bravery and aggressiveness are not required. Such is the storyline in Antigone. Ismene, Antigone’s beautiful sister, represents the beauty of women in society. However, beauty is not a priority among members of society, especially where courage, toughness, or physicality is needed to safeguard the society’s traditional values or interests. The lower social status of women in society emerges in Ismene’s argument with her protagonist sister over the interment of Polynices, their brother whom the ruler killed for collaborating with the enemy.
About her sister, Ismene says that both of them must recall they are mere women born with a lesser physical and mental capacity to rival men in the burial job (Andújar & Nikoloutsos, 2017). Ismene resigns herself and her fellow women to the status of lesser beings whom the more powerful men in society rule. Ismene adds that she and her sister are used to hearing statements degrading their societal status. These utterances depict women in Antigone as second-rate citizens. As such, women are portrayed in the play as unable to accomplish some duties because of their self-belief that those obligations are intended for men. Manly duties in society include planning burials and respecting authority. Interestingly, men continue to take more proactive roles in the planning and implementing burial programs in many modern societies. Similarly, despite significant gender parity achievements, women remain on a lower social pedestal than men in both family and societal settings in ancient Greece.
Antigone portrays women as symbols of submission to authority. Unlike men, women are too respectful of authority to question bad laws and policies (Wiersma, 1984). To women, laws and policies do not matter a lot whether they treat everyone equally or satisfy the interests of a section of society. For instance, the Thebes king proclaimed a policy denying all people opposed to the beliefs, values, and whims of the Thebes Empire a decent burial. When Antigone’s brother passes on after collaborating with foreign soldiers in Thebes, the law renders his female siblings powerless regarding giving him a decent burial. Though the new decree violates the burial rites based on Christian values, Ismene obeys the authority nonetheless. The decree violates not only Ismene’s religious rights but that of other Christians within her community as well. Ismene portrays women as believers in authority, irrespective of its excesses.
Despite the underdog status of women in Antigone, there are glimpses in the play depicting women as agents of caution and change (Andújar & Nikoloutsos, 2017). On the one hand, Ismene tells her sister to contemplate the repercussions of disobeying Creon’s law. In that respect, Ismene portrays women as cautious and somewhat uncomfortable with the potential backlash that action might precipitate upon the womenfolk. Ismene’s character, therefore, symbolizes caution. On the other hand, Antigone represents women unbowed by change’s potential negative impacts. She is the face of change. The play portrays Antigone as a mighty woman capable of solving various issues women face without kneeling for men. She represents well-informed women who can rival men in effective decision-making. As such, she represents change. Antigone defies Creon’s decree and gives her brother a decent sendoff. Antigone organizes the burial because she considers her failure to do so as being a passive supporter of the amoral policy. Antigone symbolizes women determined to go against the odds to fight male oppression. She depicts the brave impact of women committed to fighting societal injustices and delivering a more just and fairer societal system.
Conclusion
Antigone portrays women in different lights, including women as the weaker sex, women as agents of indecision, women as law-abiding members of society, and women as champions for change. Ismene represents women cautious and undecided about the potential impacts of drastic efforts to bring about change. She also represents the group that obeys the laws of the land. By contrast, Antigone is portrayed as a symbol of change.
References
Andújar, R., & Nikoloutsos, K. (2017). Sophocles’ Antigone. In Portrayals of Antigone in Portugal (pp. 11-26). Brill.
Owoeye, O. K. (2012). Gender Pride as Tragic Flaw in Sophocles’ Antigone. Journal of Research in Gender Studies, 2(1), 101–114.
Wiersma, S. (1984). Women in Sophocles. Mnemosyne, 25-55.
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