Have you ever been made to do something because of your gender? In Greek society, even women who were related to the king were valued less than the average male. In many ways, whilst the titular characters of Euripides’ Medea and Sophocles’ Antigone were both women related to noblemen, they are treated as less than any other man because of they were women living in a misogynistic society. This is illustrated through how women are thought of by others and themselves and how they are treated by the males of ancient Greek society.
Throughout both Plays the authors show how Greek society treats women, and in both plays the ways women are treated is less than equal to men. The authors show that women in Greek society must obey the orders of men
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The Greek society constrains women severely, as not only are they second class citizens, but society expects them to do as men say and women of high class are not allowed to leave the house without their husband's consent. Due to all of these fallacies that the Greeks believe to be true and the constraints of women in Greek society, ancient Greeks were surprised when women went against the decrees of men even when the women could justify their actions. When the idea that a woman went against an edict of the king was stated, Creon asked the Sentry “Do you know what you are saying?” because he could not believe that anybody especially a woman of antigone’s status would go against his edict (Sophocles 356). However when a man becomes tired of his wife society expects him to go “in for secret love.” or have an affair and the wife is stuck and there is nothing she can do about it, as the men of Greek society are always in the right and women will always be wrong when they arguing against a male. In both Antigone and Medea when it was revealed that it was a woman who had gone against the ruling of the king the men of society were shocked as a woman was expected to be seen and not