Comparison of the Role of Women in Sophocles’ Antigone and the Hellenic Period

Comparison of the Role of Women in Sophocles’ Antigone and the Hellenic Period
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Most of the time, especially in history, women are considered as pathetic because of being forced to assume only two roles in the society, which is to bear a child and to take care of the home where her child and husband belong. However, the Hellenistic period challenged this ideology. In fact, various playwrights were able to visualize and illustrate the differences in women’s roles in history. One of the realistic plays that proved that women can carry out more defiant functions in society is Sophocles’ Antigone.
The death of Alexander the Great marks the Hellenistic period, which led to the rise of the Roman Empire. This is accompanied by the drastic changes in the society that allowed open trading and the variations among the freedoms of the citizens, especially among women and emigrants (Fiske, 2008). This is evident in the play where Antigone, the protagonist, is an adamant believer of capabilities. The girl is not afraid to question laws and policies and, even more so, to disobey them. During that time, the systems are mainly formed by men, and they often neglect the needs of women. Antigone believes otherwise and pursued her ambitions of fighting for her beliefs to obtain freedom and...