Sophocles draws attention to various problems in his tragedy Antigone. The themes of justice, traditions, and family are still actual in society nowadays. One could also notice the huge role the women characters play in the tragedy and the overall morale of the piece. Hence, this research will analyze the three major women roles in the tragedy, what they have meant to the author, and what themes the author explored in the character’s motives and actions.
The three major roles include the strong-willed protagonist Antigone, her weak sister Ismene, and Eurydice, Creon’s wife. The character of Antigone comes from a background of a family that already had multiple traumas in its history. However, although the protagonist and her actions seem heroic and rightful to the reader, the poet portrays them as unattractive. In fact, plenty of Sophocles’ protagonists are doomed to fail in these aspects.
The whole motive of the story implies that Antigone had a great bond with her brothers that died in a war over their father’s throne. Despite one of the brothers, Polyneices, betrayed the country, Antigone stays loyal to him when she is told that the traitor’s body would not be properly buried and much of the body, torn by dogs, still lay “unpitied” (Jebb 213). The author states that Antigone was never afraid of her uncle and always stayed true to herself while contradicting him. She secretly buried her brother herself despite the rule of the King.
The decision to secretly bury her brother herself lays the foundation for the clash of the ruler’s laws and family traditions and respects. Although Antigone’s loyalty might appeal as an attractive trait to the reader, Sophocles emphasizes that Antigone is stubborn in her loyalty to the point of extreme that becomes her big mistake. Here the poet contradicts the good and the bad; while commitment to the family is considered good, Antigone is loyal to the point of stubbornness, which is regarded as a bad trait. The other emphasis the poet has put on the character is her devotion to die just for the proper burial of her brother.
Various questions might come up to the reader regarding whether one should be punished for paying respects to his relatives or are traitor’s relatives in danger of being punished for just their family connection. Sophocles asks the reader if one that chose his family, in the end, should be ready to face the punishment, or is the government not capable of interfering between relatives. The questions are still as actual even after more than twenty centuries later.
Additionally, Antigone has stated that she is not obedient to the laws and will of her uncle Creon, but she follows the will of the Gods and Heaven. The author implies that the Gods in the story also favor Antigone’s actions throughout the story. At first, there are no footprints left near the body of Polyneices when Antigone puts dust on him. After the soil that Antigone dusted on her brother’s remains is wiped away, she is portrayed standing in the center of the raging storm, praying to the Gods to destroy whoever disturbed her brother’s body. The Gods acknowledge the character’s actions as righteous, which hints at the author’s opinion on the subject.
The character of Ismene emphasizes the differences between a regular woman shelled by her femineity and a woman that is not afraid to explore the power and energy of feminine discontentment and revolt. Ismene warns Antigone in the prologue that she fears women are weak and cannot stand on par with men. Ismene lives in fear and shade of legacy left by her father’s mistakes. Ismene shares Antigone’s visions regarding family priorities and laws made by gods, but her level of courage is not yet on Antigone’s level. As a strong female leader, Antigone acknowledges the fear that Ismene is supposed to live with, but she would rather die than live and bear that fear.
The other female character is Eurydice, the wife of Creon. While Euridice’s character is not as prominent in the story, the author has used this character to show Antigone’s impact on the people from the story. Eurydice as a wife follows her husband and supports his decisions without second thoughts. Her agreements continue until the end, where her husband’s actions lead to the suicide of her son. Eurydice faces the fact that her being a weak, fearing woman and her inaction resulted in a tragedy that she could not fix. Just like Antigone, Eurydice decides to die for the love of her family rather than continue living in this world of injustice.
Sophocles’ use of women characters in Antigone stands all sorts of questions for the reader. The reader must ask himself the questions of power in femininity, government, laws, and family, and what should come first for the people. The author hints that acting by personal beliefs might be the answer by giving the character of Antigone favor from the Gods.
Work Cited
Jebb, Richard. Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments with Critical Notes, Commentary, and Translation in English Prose. The University Press, 1891.