How do you think Sophocles felt about the role of women in Ancient Greece? Do you feel the drama support’s society’s view of women? Or, do you feel that Sophocles was making a bold statement against Greece’s view of women by making Antigone the heroine? Use the text to support your answer and same writing criteria applies.
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I think that Sophocles was trying to make a bold statement about how women were treated in Greek society. What was originally thought was that women were supposed to be just wimpy and lazy. They stayed in the house all day, doing chores and cleaning up after the men like slaves. They were rarely supposed to go out and do something heroic, and men were always supposed to beat girls in everything. However, Sophocles puts a different view to things in his play and disagrees with society. Antigone was what he used for his point. While no one else would try to bury Polyneices’ body, she did, like no woman was supposed to do. Creon did not want to be bested by a girl, so he exiled her to a cave and kept the body out in the open. Sophocles uses the gods to imply that Creon had been wrong. The gods had caused the birds to go crazy, and there would be a plague of misfortunes to come, as Teiresias said. The gods had been trying to tell Creon that he shouldn’t have punished Antigone, which happened mainly because of sexism. Sophocles hated this discrimination, so he tried to imply it through this play.
I think he thought women were equal to men. In other Greek stories/plays men are the main character and here a women is the main character. Also, he shows Antigone as a respectful and devoted sister/follower of the gods. Next, she was somewhat able to give Polynesius the proper burial rights and almost got away with it. By doing this, he showed that women were smart and brave.
Matt, good job! You supported your point very well and used great information.
I agree with Matt that Sophocles was trying to make a bold statement about the treatment of women. In certain parts of the book, however, he says that Creon would be considered lower than a woman if he did not prosecute Antigone. Even though that statement says that woman were considered lower than men, Antigone is not the cowardly woman that woman in her time were meant to be. Antigone does not back down from her death and she is not afraid of even death. So, in a way, she is even braver than the men, and definitely stands out in the book.
I think Sophocles was supporting the sexist view of the Greeks at the time. In the play the head strong courageous woman, Antigone, ends up dying a horrible death. Ismene, the wimpy stay at home girl gets to live. As horrible as it seems, I think that Sophocles was warning women against going against the will of a man. Antigone was a hero by modern standards, but according to Sophocles her actions were foolish.
I think Sophocles was trying to bring women’s terrible treatment to light. It is a very complex matter, but he presented it in clever ways. Society expected women to do this, and back then there was nothing wrong with it. All that was needed from women was to do exactly the few dull things they did. They obeyed and for the few that didn’t, they seemed extremely out of the ordinary. I don’t think Antigone really did what she did for women’s rights and such. She didn’t think to herself “men think we can’t do anything, so I’m going to prove them wrong!”. She might have, but I think her thoughts mainly revolved around doing the right thing.
Sophercles was sexist by standards of the modern world, but back then it was not strange to treat women these ways it was just a different time and that was just the way it was.Women did not have the same opportunity’s that men did in these times. He was not a crazy women hater he was just in a completely different time.
In my opinion Sophocles was trying to prove that women were treat in a sexist matter. Why do I say this it’s because he is trying to prove that men are better than women. I think that this does support the point of view of women because as Ismene is telling to Antigone that women were lazy and men could over power them. Back then as Ismene states this was when women were treated as nothing but slaves and were sometime beaten by men if the woman did not listen to the order by the man. I also have another opinion about this. I also think that Sophocles was kind of trying to show a small point of view against woman even though he was very sexist. He makes Antigone the heroine rather than Creon, showing that he was a little bit for the women. Even though he was showing a sexist way he portrayed a little bit for the women.
Ian, even though I disagree that Sophocles was supporting a sexist view, you used good points and defended your statement well. Good Job.
I believe that Sophocles was trying to show people how unfairly women were treated in Ancient Greece. When Creon and his son were talking about who was right, Antigone or Creon, the son was defending women and saying that Antigone was doing the right thing in the long run by pleasing the gods. However, Creon was so power-hungry that he did not think that anyone other than himself could be right. Antigone was a noble and brave person who voiced her own opinion. And Sophocles showed how women were seen as inferior by showing how she was treated by doing the right thing. To me, it almost seemed like Creon was harsher towards Antigone because she was a women. Instead of simply having her executed, he decided to have her killed more slowly and painfully. By making Antigone the “good-guy” Sophocles let his audience become more connected to her; therefore, showing her in a positive light. He made us think that what she had done was the right thing to do, so we were able to see how unfairly she was treated. By simply writing the book with Antigone as the heroine, Sophocles showed the unfair treatment of women in Ancient Greece.
Drew, though I agree that times have changed since the writing of Antigone, it seems like Sophocles was almost ahead of his time. I felt that he was showing the unfair treatment of women; therefore, calling for a change. But I like your point about the times now versus then.
Greta, I agree with your statement about how Antigone was (in some ways) stronger than the men of the time. Her actions most certainly showed more courage than anyone else’s.
I think Sophocles was making a statement about women’s treatment in ancient Greece. Antigone stands up for what she believes in even when it would easier to do nothing. She’s not only breaking Creon’s rules, but society’s rules too. By the standards of today Ismene seems almost laughable, but she seemed like much more of the normal women of that time. She was talking about a women’s place and how she could never stand up to men, but Antigone was brave. She was willing to help her dead brother even when she knew the consequences could be horrible. I think Sophocles definitely wanted to put her in the role of the heroine and show the audience that she was on the side of “good.” He made her out to be brave and wise, instead of foolish, for breaking the rules.
Casey, I definitely agree. Antigone was portrayed as someone good and made it seem that Sophocles respected her breaking the rules. Ismene seemed to be portrayed as the foolish one, for doing nothing and following her place in society.
Chris, I think you’re right. Antigone didn’t seem to be doing what she did to prove that she could. She just wanted the right thing for her brother.
Chris, I definitely agree with you. I don’t think that Antigone was specifically trying to prove men wrong; she just wanted to do the right thing. Creon was more of the person who implied the sexism. You might remember that vital quote when he said, “Now she would be the man, not I, if she defeated me and did not pay for it” (Sophocles 17). Antigone did not have this sexism in mind, but Creon most certainly did.
Maile and Casey, I agree about the fact that Sophocles put Antigone in a good light in order to make a statement. Not only was she the main character, but she also was portrayed as wise and brave, as you said. When this happens, the point can be announced more easily. However, Oedipus was the main character too, in his play. Why would Sophocles have done this even though he put Oedipus in a bad light? I don’t know the answer, but it would be nice if someone could tell me.
I think Sophocles was feeling that women should be equal. The problem was that he did not know how to show it without being opposed by everyone. His solution to this problem was to wright plays about it that he could easily save his skin by telling people that any under themes were unintentional. if he had been around 60 years ago, there were movements and groups he could have joined but at the time he was seemingly alone in his thoughts. he was like the one who made it out of the cave but on woman’s rights.
Chris, I agree that Antigone was not doing what she did because of woman’s rights.
Drew, I agree and disagree. At the time women were treated poorly, that does not mean their were not some who tried to change that.
I think that Sophocles felt that women were treated differently than men but in Antigone he tried to show that women had voices of their own. When Creon and his son were arguing his son was saying that Antigone was doing the right thing by giving her brother a proper burial. He also believed that there was a higher law that man that there was the law of the gods. I don’t think the drama supported the society’s views of women because it showed them as independent people instead of women who have to have a man controlling their lives at all times. I think Sophocles was making a bold statement in society by making Antigone the heroine, Antigone was a very free spirit that did not let the simple law of one man override the laws of the gods. Antigone believed that even though her brother was said to be unworthy of a proper burial she thought that it was against the will of the gods not to give him one. She thought that it was better to go against man and have a better life afterwards than to go against the gods and not be accepted by the gods. Antigone was a very free spirit that did not let being a woman stop her from what she believed in.
I agree with Matt because Sophocles was trying to make a statement about women in Greece. I agree with you about that Creon did not want to bested by a girl he thought if a girl got the best of him he might as well be a women too.
Drew I agree with you that times have changed since then but I think that Sophocles was supporting women to make a stand in society. I think that he wanted them to stand to stand up for themselves, and fight for what they believe in.
At the time women were thought of as subservient to men, but Sophocles cleverly shed light on this matter to show a different view. One where women and men are equal in some ways, but different and unique in others. I believe Sophocles tried to show a different side of women but also society’s view of them. He shows the societal view through Ismene thoughts ,such as, “I do them no dishonour, but to act against the city’s will I am too weak” (Sophocles 5). Antigone’s contradictory outlook to her sisters is demonstrated when she boldly defies the kings decree. It shows how some women stood up for what they believed, not caring what others did or thought about it. Unfortunately no one really took them seriously.
I believe Maile has a good view and she supported it very well.
In the time of Sophocles in Ancient Greece, women were obviously thought of very poorly. They had little freedom and almost no rights compared to men. This is apparent because of how both Ismene and Creon act. In the beginning, when Antigone wishes to bury her shunned brother, Ismene expresses her fear of getting caught by the men and what they will do to them, and she points out to Antigone how they are only women, and don’t stand a chance against all-powerful men. Creon also makes it clear when he catches Antigone and yells at her for undermining the power of men, and he tells his son that if they let her go it will send a message that women are also powerful. I think that Sopohocles was trying to show that women were also important, and that even back then the only reason they were thought of poorly was because people did what there king said, and if he said to shun women, thats what they did whether they believed in it or not. Sophocles shows that he thought much more of women than most back then, and shows that they were also intelligent, courageous beings.
Kendra, I agree with your statement about how Sophocles was trying to prove that not everybody thought of women as inferior back then.
Jess, I also agree with your statement that Sophocles thought men and women equal. I aslo like how you kept it short and to the point.
I think that Sophocles was trying to make a very profound statement about the role of women in Greek society. The common belief was that women were supposed to have children, and take care of the house hold. They weren’t supposed to stand up for what they believed in. I think he was trying to show that women could do whatever they wanted to. I think his statement was supposed to be perceived in a good way because he wanted women to be treated as equals. Atigone’s actions could have also been interpreted as irrational and illogical because she was trying to get an enemy of Greece a proper burial. I think that Ismene has the personality of the “good” girl because she accepts the dominance of men instead of defying them like Antigone does. Sophocles also shows how Creon reacts to his fiancé’s actions. He wants Antigone to be put to death. He doesn’t even care about her. Sophocles wrote that the gods didn’t like what Creon was doing, and they thought that Polyneces should have a proper burial. I think Sophocles wanted women to b equal to men, so he often put reasons for equality into this play.
I think that Sophocles was trying to support women. Women were only allowed to attend half of the plays. Now a play where a women is the main charater was probably a new thing. In the story Antigone is very brave when she disobeys Creons orders, and goes and buries her brother body anyway. Sophocles makes Antigone to be a very strong and smart person. She is a powerful person who can do anything a man vould do. I think that he’s trying to show how women can do more than clean their homes.
I agree with Drew. Back then women had about no rights. It was common for someone to talk about women like that.
Kendra I agree with you. Sophocles shows a completly different view of women. He shows how women like Antigone can be brave to.
I agree with Drew. Before women had equal rights they were always treated in a sexist way. Back then they were slaves, of their husbands and even sometimes they were considered outsiders of the men.
As much as I agree that Sophocles was very sexist, I also agree with Will. Why? It was because that back then women had strict rules of doing activities. Also they had a female as the heroine not a male which showed that he was for the women.
I think that Sopholces was trying to show that the women were not treated very well during that time. He proves his point too. He shows that even though women are discriminated against they still stay strong. He shows this thought Antigones fighting against Creon. Antigone displays a vibe that says I don’t care what you think I’ll say what I want to thank you very much. She proves the opinion that “women can do anything a man can do, better”.
Maddy, I agree that Sophocles was trying to show that women can do anything that they want, and the men should let them.
Women were obviously not treated very well in these times. It seemed that Women were just wives of the men and that as it. Although Antigone turned out to be a hero. Creon and his son were discussing about Antigone and the son was fighting for her saying that she did the right thing but Creon thought “well she’s just a girl so she could not possibly do something right over me”. It seemed also that girls were never doing anything very important, and how they would just commit suicide when they got sad.
Harjap I agree with your point when you say Sophocles was attempting to show that men are better than women, because in an example all the kings were men and there were no omen in a position of power.
Matt, answering your question, I believe Antigone and Oedipus were actually not portrayed in a bad light. They were both actually portrayed in a positive way. Both believed in following the God’s will and risking everything in order to follow the Gods. Although both dies, they were not bad people nor did they do anything considered wrong on purpose. Oedipus did kill someone, but he tried to make amends for it at the end of the book.
Kim,
I thought you did a great job explaining your thoughts. I also thought it really helped your statement that you used exact examples from the book involving Ismene, Creon, and Antigone.
I think Sophocles respected the role of women. He was making a statement against Greece’s view of women because he called Antigone a heroine which makes a reference to her being a hero. I also agree with Will that the women were only allowed to attend some plays but she was the main character. ( to be continued )
I feel that in ancient Greece women had barely any rights. Men were much more favored and Sophocles knew that. Apparently women were made to make babies and take care of the household. Yet at the same time, I feel that Sophocles Specifically was trying to make a statement that even though women weren’t supposed to have their own opinion, they do. Also that they should be able to share it.
Sophocles was trying to increase the power that women had in ancient rome by representing them in this play as being more intelligent then men. He did this by making them the sane mind instead of the man. This is a very surprising role reversal.
I feel like Sophocles knew that society looked down upon women. However through this play, I believe Sophocles showed that he believed that gender played no role in the “crime” that had been committed. He showed this by allowing Antigone to get away with crossing him. When in a normal situation, would have most likely just killed her for defying his word. I think that Sophocles is trying to say that whoever committed the crime is irrelevant and all that matters is what the crime was. In this case Creon realized that his law was defying that of the gods, therefore he revoked it.
I don’t think that he was increasing his power, however I think that he believed they should have equal rights.
I think that Sophocles quite possibly thought of women more highly than was the norm. I also think it was awesome making Antigone the heroin. I think it may have told people like hey you know we aren’t as stupid and worth nothing as you may think.
( Continued )
I also think Sophocles was showing that women can do almost whatever they want. Also he was trying to bring how women are treated to realization.
Casey,
I agree with you that Antigone respected Sophocles for obaying the gods rather than respecting a man.
Matt, I think that Sophocles portrayed Oedipus in a bad light because he tried to defy the gods, but with Antigone, she was supporting the will of the gods, so he put her in a good light. Creon was the one who was trying to defy the gods, so everyone he loved committed suicide.
I believe that Sophocles supported the sexist veiws of the greeks, but he hinted that it wasn’t always right. In many parts of the play, his characters insult women. They talk about them like they don’t have minds. Although, in parts of the play, like the uprising of the people against Antigone’s death, Sophocles shows that this isn’t always the case. In generall, many of the greeks were extremely sexist, and Sophocles was supporting this by the behavior of Creon as a king.
I think that Antigone did everything she did out of a good heart, not to punish the people who treated her poorly or differently. I also think Sophocles was making a successful attempt to reveal the way women were treated. He clearly showed they were treated very badly. I think he was also trying to show women’s place in ancient Greek society and culture.
Davis: I like your ideas, but if he were trying to show that, then why did he make the king, a very important figure, come across as someone who did not care as much about women?
Hunter: Good thought about the crime. He was showing that gender didn’t always matter.
Jack,
I thought your entry was very good. Many of the words you used made your statement very discriptive and strong.
Sophocles, as we all well know, is very hard to analyze and discover what he is thinking. This indicates to us that we cannot be exactly correct in what we say. However we can make assumptions about what we are thinking. So, in my mind, I think that Sophocles was trying to subliminally make a bold move and shed a good light on women. Sophocles made Antigone brave, courageous, proud, persistent, and mentally strong. Now, Sophocles could have made the heroine a hero. He could have easily made it a male hero. Why did he make the hero a heroine? Was that not a crazy thing to do? Maybe because he wanted to prove that all humans were equal. But would that even cross their minds in those times? Difficult questions, but I still believe that Sophocles was making Antigone look good. On page 5, the first line from Antigone says that she is much happier to break the laws of man than of gods. This shows her courageousness. She also said, on the same page, that if Ismene did not denounce her, she would be mad. This is a sheer sign of bravery. Creon attacked Antigone for being a female and breaking the law. Here, Creon is despicable to Antigone. Creon said things like, “This girl, she breaks the law. A girl? How could this be? She should be where she belongs, below everyone else.” Creon was shed with the same bad light that Oedipus was shed with. This signifies that Sophocles was in favor of Antigone. In the end Sophocles makes Creon make a fool of himself. Creon then sees the light but is too late and cannot help anyone, including himself. So, Sophocles boldly makes a point that women are not inferior to men. And on this, I agree with Sophocles.
Matt,
I very much agree with you. Sophocles did in fact make it vivid that females had more of a part in life than just being a slave to the men. And yes Trieresias’s prophesy said that there would be a plague, which happened, and Creon received the worst of it.
Alex-
I agree with you %100. You make a good statement on how Sophocles’s mind worked while writing. Great job!
During the time of when Sophocles wrote his book, I’m sure as we all may know he based some of it off modern like back then. I personally thought he did a good job detailing the pains points and ideas on the difference of women and men. Women, even back then, didn’t have a say in anything. For example- women couldn’t vote against a law that was being passed. Anyway, I do believe the drama support’s society’s view of women because the book explained many situations of the women and their everyday lives unlike men.
Damon,
You make an excellent point. He wrote the play as a background for his main point. He was trying to let all the people know that women were just as important and equal to men. However, he could not blatantly say that. So, he wrote the plays while still secretly getting his point across. That is exactly what I meant in my paragraph when I said … subliminally make a bold move and shed a good light on women.
First, I thought Sophocles shows the families brotherly but as soon as I think Sophocles made Antigone into heroine. And, he made bold statement against Greece’s view of women. In the story, Antigone means very strong woman against the country’s power. I think Sophocles wanted to criticize for country’s power for rich men and he wrote Antigone. Becuase when you see this story, Antigone’s older brother Polynecies died for same reason as Polynecies’s younger brother, Etocles. But, the king of country Creon just had a funeral with Etocles and gave Polynecies to wild animals and said every people shouldn’t had a funeral with Polynecies and if he or she do it, I’ll punish that people. And, that wasn’t right against natural force. Because when people died they should get funeral and that force is such as god’s power. Because of that, I think Sophocles wrote this tragedy, and finally Creon’s son Haemon, Creon’s wife, Creon and Antigone all died. Finally, I thought Sophocles criticized that period’s political institution and also emphasis natural forces.
Aaron Wgt: Aaron, I agree with you with some stuffs and also Sophocles wanted to show women and men are equal.
Hunter G.: I agree with you that Sophocles wanted to make men and women are equal. And, in that Greek period, that wasn’t happen. By the way, I like your statement.
I think that Sophocles was making a bold statement about Greece’s view of women by making Antigone the heroine. Sophocles create a character that displayed a female with a defiant attitude, that was practically unheard of during this time period. Antigone tried to bury her brother even though she was not suppose to. This resulted in Creon sending her away. Knowing that she would get in trouble did not stop her from doing what she felt was right.
Will, I agree with you. I think that making a woman the main character surprised alot of people and made a strong statement.
I believe that women were treated unfairly in the novel. Sophocles wanted to show how women did not have respect or rights back in the olden times. Although he showed how women were disrespected back then I believe he was really showing how low they were and in stead of sending the message that this was the right thing he was showing that this was wrong. I think he showed that this was wrong because in the end the women were right and the men should have listened to them. Sophocles was a logical man and he wanted to introduce new things to the society, and I think women rights was one of those things.
Sophocles did not treat women as fairly as they are treated today. I don’t think that he meant to be mean to women, I think that that was the normal thing back then. I think that the sexism demonstrated in the play is wrong, but it would not have been taken that way back then
Sophocles was a man, so he naturally wanted men to be able to do more. He wrote plays that showed how he felt. Plays could influence people a great deal in these times. Plays were a big deal; people were let out of jail to go see plays, so people listened to the plays because they were so important. This is why the people listened to the little details. Gavin is awesome bitch