Compare And Contrast Roosevelt And Antigone

Strong willed females are not only found in Greek mythology but also in our country's history. For example, Athena the goddess of wisdom could be compared to astronaut Sally Ride and Artemis goddess of the hunt could be compared to Serena Williams winner of the U.S. Open in tennis. Like these examples, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt parallels the Greek character Antigone from demonstrating altruistic characteristics to standing up for what they believe in. Antigone was a character in Greek mythology who led a life filled with complications. In the story, her father King Oedipus ignorantly marries his mother Jocasta and had four children. Jocasta killed herself when she realized what had happened and Oedipus blinded himself. Antigone's

Polynices and Eteocles fought for control of the kingdom and died by each other's hand in war. On their travels, Antigone's father had died and she returned to find her brothers dead. Her uncle, Creon, had taken the throne and because he favored Eteocles gave him a proper burial while leaving Polynices' body out to rot. She respected her brother and she went out to bury her brother. She was caught and sentenced to death. Her uncle trapped her in a cave with a little food and water. Creon's son, Haemon, was engaged to Antigone and begged for her release. There are two variations to the end of this story. The first is, Haemon was told to kill Antigone but instead they left and lived together. Their son was killed by Creon and then both parents killed themselves. The other ending is that Creon ordered Polynices to be buried and Antigone to be released,

Antigone knew that trying to bury her dead brother was against the law and against what her uncle, the king wanted. Even so, she buried him because she believed that he deserved a proper burial just like her other brother. She knew that if she was caught, there would be serious consequences but she continued on. When Eleanor Roosevelt's husband was the governor of New York, she was very active in women's rights. She had a radio series called “Women in Politics” and she became a legislative advocate for the Women's Trade Union League in the New York state house. Even though she was the governor's wife, most of her actions were for her personal interests and beliefs. During her husband's presidency, she continued to be an influential figure. To fully support the employment of women reporters, she would hold press conferences with only female reporters. This forced newspapers to hire female reporters. She voiced beliefs that many people did not agree with at all. She believed that women should be given equal military training and equal pay. She was also a strong supporter of African-American rights. People thought her beliefs were radical and there were many racist comments against her. She was very outspoken with her actions for example, “...she came to the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in November of 1938, in Birmingham, Alabama and moved her chair into the aisle, between the “whites-only” and