Roles Of Women In Oedipus The King, Antigone, And Medea

For centuries men have been finding ways to gain control over everything and everyone. One group that has been oppressed by men throughout history are women. Men have placed rules and regulations upon women making them seen as unequal and inferior. Was it fear? Was it the hunger for power? Was is the highness of superiority? Whatever the reasons were, men had to be seen as the highest being next to whom they worshiped. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the audience is exposed to the roles of men and women in an ancient Greece society known as Thebes. Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society where women had as much freedom as a slave, Sophocles’ main character in the play, Antigone, is an example of a brave, strong-minded woman who goes against the limitations that were unfairly set upon women during that time to do what she believes is right. In this play, gender roles assists in the process of portraying the story since it affects some of the decisions of the characters and helps lead the story into the climax.

Despite being written in a period of time in which women were considered “Third class” citizens, and being considered expendable, the portrayal of women in ancient Greek literature is consistently rebutting societal norms through the roles of intelligent mortal women such Penelope from the Odyssey, or Antigone from the aptly named “Antigone”. These women, whose intelligence and blatant bull-headed stubbornness is displayed rather early in these stories, both rebuke the societal norms explained by the stories, and consistently proves that women are not just ancillary characters literature, and are capable of besting their male cohorts in challenges of wit and loyalty.

In this paper I will be discussing how both males and females were portrayed in the book The Odyssey. While reading the story I was not surprised to see that men were treated as being superior to women. First I will discuss the roles of Odysseus and Telemachus as strong male roles throughout the story. Secondly I will discuss the role of Penelope and the goddess Athena. I will provide examples showing how males were seen as superior to women. I will do my best to paint a picture of how a model Greek male and female would of behaved during this time. If there were any instances where either a male or female violated the rules of behavior according to those times, I will discuss the situation that caused them to act differently. Lastly I will

Ancient Greek text describes women as the ‘secondary’ characters. Secondary characters are not the focus of the story, but remain in the background. Women supplement the men of their respective stories. They are written as people without personalities. They lack substantive information to develop their characters. They are treated like property, used but not heard. Ancient Greek culture depicts women as loyal wives, mother figures, and objects of desire; however, Greek poets, Homer and Sappho, defy that stereotype by depicting woman as subversion of their typical gender roles.

He ended up in Thebes because he went to the oracle at Delphi just like his

The book is intended for an academic audience that is already familiar with Greek history and mythology. The book is also valuable to those who are interested in women’s studies, and the role of women in ancient cultures. I found the author’s descriptions of women in ancient Greece to be interesting because she integrates portrayals of women in art, mythology and literature from two eras that depict how women lived and were perceived in early Greek civilization. Understanding how women were portrayed in ancient society helps one to understand the progression of women’s roles in society through

In Oedipus the King by Sophocles the mother Jocasta spent years married to her biological son, and bore his children. The play was written as a Greek tragedy in which the characters have a fatal flaw, and this applies to Jocasta. Right after King Laius and Queen Jocasta have their son Oedipus they receive startling news from the Oracle in which it is predicted that one day their son will rise up to kill his father, then marry and sleep with his mother. In order to avoid this King Laius decided to kill their son, and Jocasta willingly agrees. After years pass by, King Laius gets killed by a passerby, Jocasta is to marry the riddle solver, and life continues as normal. Almost all at once Jocasta’s life shatters, she finds out that her husband was killed by her son, she married her

Women in Ancient Greece were shown to be treated unfairly and less superior to men in homes, as wives, and in society as shown in Sophocles's play Antigone. They were looked down upon and thought of as less intelligent, as if they weren't really needed except for reproducing, doing housework, and taking care of children. Also, women were considered dangerous due to their emotions as they could hurt themselves or someone else. Antigone presents a variety of these ideas of how Women's roles played out in Ancient Greece.

Historical records show the rights that women had in ancient Greece. They clearly state that women did not have the legal right to vote or own property, two important privileges of citizenship. On the other hand, poetry and prose from the time period are the primary resources today’s scholars study to determine the exact role that women held in society at the time. Two insightful works for this purpose are Homer’s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey. Females in The Iliad and The Odyssey display the three main roles that women play in the lives of men: goddess, caretaker, and

"When you say Man," said Oedipus, "you include women too. Everyone knows that." She said, "That's what you think." These lines, from the ending of Muriel Rukheyser's poem "On Oedipus the King, Myth," comment on the significance of women both in the play and in society. Though the character of Oedipus suggests that women are equal, the issue of the true role of women is brought up in the poem, and is raised in Sophocles' play.

The duty of women portrayed in Greek society is a major subject in Euripides Medea. In old Greek society, ladies are delicate and compliant as per men, and their social position is viewed as exceptionally mediocre. Feminism is the hypothesis of men being viewed different in contrast to women and the male predominance over ladies in the public eye. Women's lives are spoken to by the parts they either pick or have forced on them. This is obvious in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the medical attendant. During the day and age which Medea is set ladies have exceptionally restricted social power and no political power by any stretch of the imagination, despite the fact that a ladies' maternal and residential power was regarded in the protection of the home, "Our lives rely upon how his lordship feels." The constrained power these ladies were given is diverse to present day society yet parts are as yet forced on ladies to acclimate and be a devoted spouse. Ladies have dependably been dis engaged because of their sex in present day and antiquated circumstances alike. In Corinth they are required to run the family unit and fit in with social desires of an obedient spouse. Medea, being an eternal and relative from the divine beings has a specific power in insight and guileful keenness. Being an outsider, Medea's wayward nonsensical conduct was normal in this play as she was not conceived in Greece and was viewed as an exotic foreigner. She goes over to the group of onlookers as an intense female character regarding viciousness. Some of Medea's responses and decisions have all the earmarks of being made a huge deal about as creators for the most part influence characters to appear to be overwhelming; this makes a superior comprehension of the content and the issues which are produced through the characters. Medea's ill-conceived marriage and the double-crossing of Jason drive Medea to outrageous vengeance. Medea acts with her immortal self and confer coldhearted demonstrations of murder instead of legitimize the results of her actions. Medea see's this choice as her lone resort as she has been exiled and has no place to go, "stripped of her place." To make sensitivity for Medea, Euripides

Gender inequality plays a large role in Antigone affected women on this time period. Although Greece was at one time a male controlled society, Antigone represents

For this informative report I will attempt to point out the roles women and how they are viewed in ancient Greece. I will then show how these views are present in Homer’s "The Odyssey." How are women, goddess or mortal, conveyed in "The Odyssey?"

The role of women in ancient Greek life was insignificant compared to that of Greek men. A woman's job was to take care of the children and to cook and clean unless she had servants or slaves that would do it for her. Yet, in Greek mythology, women were often written as major characters. Well-known Greek plays contain many well-written, complex, female characters. Female individuals in Greek mythology were often seen as very powerful and fierce and were depicted by “her wits, her beauty, or her bad deeds.”

Amongst Euripides' most famous plays, Medea went against the audience's expectations at his time. Indeed, the main character of the play is Medea, a strong independent female who neglected moral and . She was therefore in all ways different to how women were perceived in Ancient Greece. This essay will explore how Euripides' controversial characters demonstrate that his views were ahead of his time.