Sophocles’ Antigone – The Voice of Ancient Greek Women

Fifth century ancient Greece, a time when society was dominated by men and women hidden away in the shadows of men. Publicly, women had no life.  Women were given restricted rules in society under the rule of men, such as listen to their husbands and fathers, cater to their children, stay indoors, performing household chores, remain silent in public affairs and marry at a very young age. If women did have influence, they most likely had power behind the ‘throne’. Additionally, Ancient Greece was a time when men created theatre for male audiences, where ironically the most iconic strong female characters were formed such as, Medea, Antigone and Electra.  The protagonist character ‘Antigone’ from Sophocles play of the same name defies all notions of ancient Greece society. Antigone is probably one of the strongest female characters Sophocles has ever written. In Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction, even David Wiles states that it is impossible to find out how much women resented a political system which reduced them to non-persons, because their voices are loss. So why did Sophocles choose a female to feature as the main anchor in a time when women were on a tight leash? Was Antigone the voice of ancient Greek women? Was it intentional?

Sophocles (496 BCE - 406 BCE) was an ancient Greek poet and playwright. Born in Colonua, a village outside of Athens. He passed away, aged 90 in Athens . Sophilus, his father was a rich armour manufacturer, thus Sophocles was born into a wealthy family and received a good education. Furthermore, from an early age Sophocles showed interest and ability in music and gymnastics (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). In fact, Sophocles composed his own music for the chorus in his tragedies and often acted in his own plays, although due to his weak voice, Sophocles gave up performing and settled on being a writer. His popularity grew when Sophocles participated a tournament where he defeated Aeschylus. Sophocles was admired for his good looks and charm. Additionally, he was able to uphold good relations with politicians and influences such as Pericles. He is known to produce over 120 plays, only 7 tragedies have survived. In Sophocles plays, he wanted his audience to feel uncomfortable in what we feel was normal by challenging conventional customs. In writing Antigone, Sophocles sympathises lies with a girl whose lost all her male figures, for example, Antigone loses her father King Oedipus and her two brothers Eteocles and Polynices. She is fatherless and brotherless. Antigone reflects all the Athenian women who experience helplessness by lacking male protectors.

Antigone follows the story of Antigone as she rebels against Creon by disobeying against his new rule and insists on finding a proper burial for her brother Polyneices.  Creon only blames Polyneices for the conflict between the two brothers for the throne and thus refuses to give Polyneices a proper burial. The play begins with the lead vowing to bury her brother, against all warnings from her sister Ismene she succeeds, but is caught in the act. Sticking to her moral views Antigone is sent to be walled in a cave to die by Creon. By the end of the play, not only does Antigone die, but so does Creon’s wife and son. Whichever way you want to look at Antigone, this play holds so many contrasting themes and conflicts, such as family vs state, divine law vs human law and man vs woman. It is within these themes Sophocles is exposing the right and wrong of both sides of the argument. He does not choose a side because both characters meet their punishments after not being able to compromise. On the other hand, one could argue Sophocles had to kill off Antigone to please a male dominated audience. That women in plays such as Medea and The Bacchae might be viewed as cautionary tales, designed to spread the message that if women dabble in masculine areas, it will only bring misfortune and chaos to their family and community.

Playing with the idea that the play was a cautionary tale, was Creon the actual tragic hero? Let that sink in for a moment, Sophocles wanted his audience to feel uncomfortable. He achieved this by making a female overpower male authority. Zeitlin states women are not being represented for their own sake, but because what they divulge about the male character (Zeitlin, 1985: P80). Creon undergoes on an emotional journey as does Antigone, but it does not seem as one note. After a conversation with Tiresia, he realises his stubborn mistakes and tries to rectify this by allowing Antigone to walk free, but he is too late. Thus, he must live with the guilt of knowing his choices killed his wife and only son. Maybe Sophocles carefully wrote this play to highlight the flaws of the state. Antigone was simply a device, which later, over centuries became the underdog and the feminist icon in modern society.

The relationship between Antigone and Ismene is a fascinating dynamic to investigate regarding the roles of women during ancient Greece.  From the onset, the audience is introduced to two very contrasting female characters. Ismene represents what women should be in ancient Greece. “We are helpless women, Antigone, not made to fight against men. We are ruled by the more powerful; we must obey this order and if necessary even worse.” Her unwillingness to participate in burying her brother highlights Ismene’s obedient and submissive nature to male authority. Furthermore, Ismene only seems to act on fear, for instance, she fears the law and her sister’s death. Whereas Antigone is fuelled by loyalty, honour and love. Modern day audiences will side with Antigone, however spectators during ancient Greece would have sided with Ismene, because she is the norm.

Antigone represents the contemporary feminist in Ancient Greece. She is not fighting for female equality, instead she is holding the same ideology that many feminists advocate. The first feminist quality the audience sees in Antigone took place when she chose to challenge Creon’s authority. During Antigone’s first interaction with Creon, she is presented as Creon’s equal, as she holds a very firm tone against her argument with Creon. Even Creon feels his masculinity is being threatened, because he recognises her strength: “If she gets away with this, she is the man… not I.” (Blundell, 1995: P174).

Creon and Antigone constantly clash heads as they both show the same qualities. For example, both hot tempered, stubborn and loyal to their course. Even the Chorus compares Antigone to her father, for instance, “Unhappy daughter to an unhappy father.” and “Savage child of a savage father.”

This tragedy is very much relevant today, as there are still many women who relate to Antigone or Ismene within our society. For example, Syrian women are thrusted into the crossfire of politics, often created by men. Like Antigone, they still live in a society where women are victims of oppressive male behaviour (Blundell, 1995: P176). In a 2014 The Guardian article about Syrian refugee women performing a production of Antigone, the article brings up personal accounts from these extraordinary women. One woman mentions how she lost herself from the law that was built for men, how she found identity again from doing something other than focusing on the household and husband.

In the original production of this crisis drama, male actors portrayed women by wearing masks and costumes. The chorus is an essential part of all Greek tragedies. They are the audience and the storytellers. In the plays original context, the Chorus would have danced and sang their text.  It was Sophocles who moved away from the chorus explaining the plot but having them as the characters commenting of the actions of the main characters. This is shown in Antigone, as they are described by Coleman ‘Theban Elders’ or ‘Senators’, powerful and male citizens of the city. During the second Ode, the Chorus sings about the greatness of men after ears dropping on Creon’s outburst as the Guards tell him someone managed to perform a proper ritual burial for Polyneices body (Walton, 1996: P93). The Chorus continue to sing about how a ruler must respect both the law of state and Gods or suffer the consequences. For instance, in this Ode the Chorus describes man conquered the earth, sea, tamed animals, cured diseases and produced cities, but man cannot defeat death. Almost as if they were foreshadowing the ending. In the fourth ode, the Chorus is torn between Antigone and Creon, as they engage in an emotional dialogue with Antigone about love. “The sight of Antigone loosens the knot of loyalty. I cannot hold back the fountain tears…” The moment the Theban men set sights on Antigone, their loyalties waver, but their sympathy is limited as she acted above the law. Additionally, during the same scene, the chorus compare her to mythical heroic figures such as Danae, Lycurgus and Idaia, who were also imprisoned the same way as Antigone. This section elevates her influence and status, by allowing the audience to emphasize with her. Or audiences can interpret this section as the Chorus taking a step back by analysing the situation with no judgements. In the beginning of the play, the Chorus sides with Creon, although not completely, in fact, they seem to fear him. The Chorus concludes with the moral of the play, which is to respect the Gods, happiness comes from wisdom, while pride is punished by the Gods. To conclude this section on the chorus, Sophocles writes the Theban Elders as a tool to represent the citizens. They are characters who can be swayed and change opinions, they demand the audience to consistently revaluate.

Overall, women in Ancient Greece were a muted group in a very misogynistic society (Blundell, 1995: P128). Female oppression on such a huge scale is hard to ignore. For example, women in Greek tragedy are often driven in plays to do what people today would never think about doing, this reflects on the society at the time. Sophocles needed an individual to rebel against the state to show the issues of men taking the law into his own hands. Nevertheless, playwrights such as Sophocles and Euripides were not intentionally directly addressing the issues of women, however the balance of Oikos and Polis. Thus, the only tool Sophocles can utilise was ‘The female intruder’. I believe Sophocles and many other Greek playwrights had no choice and played upon this structure, because the theatre is a safe space where they could do so. To explain in more detail, Michael Shaw states that the female intruder acts in the interests of the Oikos. Athens was a society built on a divide between Oikos and Polis. Oikos are people outside of the public life, such as slaves and women. They make their decisions to protect the household and family. Polis is a group of people in public life, dealing with subjects such as politics and public affairs. Hence the Polis represent men. This makes sense as Antigone rebels for the household, whereas Creon multiple times mentions he is making his choices for the state. Male characters reacting aggressively and negatively towards female characters in referred to ‘The female intruder’. Shaw’s concept of ‘The female intruder’ is relevant in Antigone, as Antigone represents Oikos, although she steps outside of Oikos and into Polis. Dealing with politics in the male domain. Shocking the audience. Only over thousands of centuries did Antigone become the true protagonist.