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Gender Roles In Sophocles Antigone

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Sophocles’ Antigone takes place in the Ancient Greek polis Thebes in which women were expected to be entirely obedient to men. Before the start of the play, the characters Etocles and Polynices kill each other in a struggle for control of Thebes, and the new king Creon deems Polynices a traitor to the city and creates an edict banning his burial. The play begins when the sister of Polynices, Antigone, attempts to convince her sister Ismene to help her bury their brother anyway, but she refuses to break the law. Unfortunately, Antigone is caught in the act and Creon is excessively stubborn about not setting her free. Throughout Antigone, Creon is impacted by gender roles more than any other character because he wants to maintain authority and feels that he would be mortified if he lost to a female. The first reason for Creon's stubbornness towards Antigone is that he wants to establish order in Thebes by being “the man”, and Antigone is directly …show more content…

Antigone challenges the standards of women by not being submissive and meek as expected of them because she is rather devoted to familial loyalty. When Antigone attempts to convince Ismene to help her bury Polynices, she says “[Polynices] is my brother and--deny it as you will--your brother too. No one will ever convict me for a traitor” (55-7). This shows that Antigone feels that it is an obligation for her to give family members burial rites, so she is therefore only doing what is righteous. In addition, when she is later caught committing the crime, she responds to Creon’s criticism by saying “[I am] Not ashamed for a moment, not to honor my brother, my own flesh and blood” (573-4) which also shows that Antigone’s motivations were out of love for her brother, but not to take a stance regarding the status of

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Antigone chronicles the fictional events within the fabled Ancient Greek dynasty of Thebes, Antigone (daughter of the former King Oedipus Rex and late Queen Jocasta) and King Creon (brother of the late Queen Jocasta) after the war of succession between the late Eteocles and Polynices (Antigone’s brothers; Creon’s nephews). The play illustrates the complexities of autocratic rule with Antigone and Creon’s ideological clash, with Creon advocating for an absolute upholding of his own mandate of improper disposal of Polynices’ remains, which he justifies by his own proclaimed divine right. Sophocles portrays King Creon as not only a tyrant but a warning for the inevitable dangers of absolute rule within autocratic, absolute monarchies. This analysis

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(Ismene) My own brother and yours I will! If you will not, I will i shall not prove disloyal (Antigone) You are mad! When creon has forbidden it” (Ismene). Antigone is driven by a strong sense of morality and believes that it is her duty to give her brother Polyneices a proper burial, even if it means going against Creon.

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In the scene in which Creon will not allow her brother to be buried. This goes against her personal beliefs she confronts Creon when she says “if I had allowed my own mothers son to rot, an unburied corpse that would have been an agony.” Creon wouldn’t allow Antigone brother to be buried even tho Antigone felt it was the right thing to do. Antigone is talking to Ismene about burying her brother but Ismene tells her to keep the idea a secret but Antigone disagrees and says “But I know I’ll please the ones I’m duty bound to please.

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Antigone rebels against the norm of being a women and saying what she believes in because in this society, women had no say in their opinion. Ismene tells her sister “…since we are subject to stronger power we must hear these orders, or any that may be worse” (Antigone 63). Ismene knows that women have no power in their society because of their gender. But Antigone is not afraid of what Creon is going to do to her so she buries her brother anyway.

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When Creon made the argument for state and policy over family, he also placed a value of gender to home and state. For example, he doesn’t want Antigone to marry his son because she rebelled against his rules, but more importantly because she is a woman that disobeyed him. He will do anything in his power to disallow women from ruling Thebes, even if that means sentencing her to death. This is proven to be true when he says, Taken in the act I found her, all alone in the state, Rebellious. And I will not make myself false to the state.

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In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters of Antigone and Creon stand in opposition to each other. One man, Polyneices, the brother of Antigone and the nephew of Creon, has been declared a traitor of Thebes. Antigone would rather die than leave her brother unburied, but King Creon believes that civil law is absolute. However, it is only Antigone who is able to truly defend her ethics.

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In the play "Antigone" by Sophocles, Antigone rightfully decides to bury her brother, Polynices, but when the king, Creon, finds out, she does not repent for her actions. She is a woman that stands for what she thinks is right, which in this case is that Creon is wrong for condemning the burial of her brother. She shows braveness with her actions because not all people have the courage to risk their own lives so that their brother can rest in peace. For instance, Ismene states "What? You 'd bury him – when a law forbids the city?"

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In Antigone, there was two brothers who shared being the King and one of the brothers, Polynices, wanted to start a war with the kingdom because he wanted to be the main ruler. Polynices and his brother Eteocles fight and they both end up killing each other. Their Uncle Creon, who takes position as King when they are both killed, decides that only Eteocles will have a proper burial and Polynices will be left to rot. Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles sister, thinks that Creon’s decision is unfair and takes upon herself to give Polynices a proper burial. When their other sister Ismene finds out, she is stuck between helping her sister bury their brother and following Creon’s demands.

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Oedipus at Colonus, a play by Sophocles, offers insight into the customs and beliefs of the ancient Greek period regarding traditional gender roles. While Sophocles and Shakespeare did not necessarily flip the scripts of their respective periods in their works, they did challenge and subvert certain societal norms and expectations. The play is set within a society where men held positions of power and were expected to uphold the values of honor and bravery, while women were regulated to the domestic sphere and expected to be obedient and or submissive to their husbands. In the play, Antigone, Oedipus' daughter, is portrayed as a brave and strong-willed woman who defies the patriarchal norms of her society by insisting on accompanying her father

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Antigone believes she should have the right of her brother’s burial. Creon states, “No one shall burry him, no one mourn for him” (Sophocles 2) illustrating that Polyneicis is irrelevant in the city of Thebes. The law in Greek society is a female should not have power or freedom over any circumstance. Antigone demands rights over her brother and will not accept

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Antigone proves herself to be a strong-willed, determined woman who pushes to do things that she believes is just. The key word is “woman”. Since this drama takes place in ancient Greece and was written by a Greek writer, Antigone is exceedingly limited in terms of her rights and how she is viewed by the other citizens of Thebes. This exact reason is why her gender plays a tremendous role in the drama Antigone. Being a woman makes her seem to be more of a fool to the men, in some terms, since she tries to betray the king’s orders.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

Women are viewed as lower class, or “slaves”. So when Creon heard of Antigone’s actions, he is in disbelief and thinks her actions should be punished by death. In response to Creon ordering her to her death, she sneered, “Then I beg you: Kill me… I should have praise and honor for what I have done.” She has accepted consequences and is welcoming her fate of death. She is proud in the fact she buried her brother

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1735 Words | 7 Pages

Sophocles play “Antigone” introduces a lot of debatable topics such as Human law vs Divine laws, pride, but most importantly the topic of woman’s movement for empowerment. Long before 442 B.C.E, women were belittled because of their gender however, after the birth of “Antigone” it demonstrated a strong outreach towards women and their roles in society ”Antigone, a woman who defines King Creon’s edict without any fear, doubts, or regrets. This courageous woman, the fruit of incest, has fascinated philosophers in the nineteenth century, inspired playwrights in the twentieth century, and intrigued feminist thinkers and activists for decades” (Söderbäck). Birth from a respected bloodline, Antigone doesn’t feel respected at all within her town, especially from her uncle Creon who became entitled as the King after Antigone’s blood

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840 Words | 4 Pages

As Antigone is questioned by Creon about her act of burying her brother, she responds, “So my words, too, naturally offend you./ Yet how could I win a greater share of glory/ than putting my own brother in his grave” (Ant. 546-548). Antigone’s impactful words towards Creon’s exhibit her strong will power to stand up for what she believes in. With society’s unfavorable depiction on a woman’s power, Antigone breaks the law and tests Creon’s authority through the illegal burying of her late brother. Her behavior symbolizes that society cannot accept the views of others and their individuality.

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958 Words | 4 Pages

The drama Antigone places the culture of Greece on display by showcasing the many values that this culture held in reverence, including remaining loyal to family, honoring the dead, and honoring the gods. In Sophocles’ renowned drama entitled Antigone, one of the main values that Antigone chooses to honor is loyalty to family, even when that means that she has to forgo loyalty to her city and community. Even though her uncle the king, Kreon, forbade anyone to bury Polyneikes’ body because he had been on the opposing side in the battle, Antigone felt a duty to her brother to bury him. When speaking with her sister, Antigone says that Kreon’s command “…threatens our loved ones / as if they were our enemies” (Antigone 14-15).

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