Sophocles, one of the greatest Grecian playwrights, argued in his Antigone that women were not incapable and weak as the culture believed them to be through the character Antigone. Contrastingly, he portrays Antigone's sister, Ismene, as a typical Athenian woman.
The character Antigone shows many distinctions and personality traits that can help relate her to a modern feminist. When Antigone chooses to stand up and challenge a powerful male of that time, her uncle Creon, it shows her strong will and independence. She is the only one who has enough strength and bravery to speak back to a man. Antigone takes a strong stand, representing the highest ideals of human life - courage and respect for the gods. She had such strength and excessive pride that she disobeyed Creon's law by burying her brother, Polyneices, with honor. It is said by the king that whoever resists his laws will die, but whoever doesn't resist will live on. To an ancient Greek audience, this may serve as a warning, but to those of the modernity, it shows that Antigone died only for what she believed in. By refusing to be obedient to these laws, she is violating one of the primary rules of her culture. However, both the audience and the reader see at a very early point in the play that she is determined to carry her mission to bury her beloved brother to the grave with her. Antigone says about the punishment of death in Prologue, lines 55-58 "But I will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down, With him in death, and I shall be dear, To him as he to me." In these lines, she shows no fear over disobeying the king. She feels that burying her brother will be an honor for her and her brother. In addition to relieving the curse, she also claims to be upholding God's law. This is another explanation that shows her independence and willingness to stand up for herself. When Antigone speaks to Creon, she speaks her mind without a second thought or the consequences that might result for her words.
As ancient Greek history has played such a pivotal role in subsequent cultures throughout time, that to learn about women in this society enhances our understanding of western civilization. Ancient Greece was not a united nation, but a collection of individual sovereign communities with a common lan...
