Gender Inequality In Antigone

In Antigone by Sophocles (406-496 B.C.) there were many instances where gender inequality was present. I have decided to write my paper on the second option, which asks us to analyze Antigone’s defiance and to also explain gender representation in Antigone. First I will discuss whether or not I felt that Antigone’s defiance was political or just an act of love for her brother. I will discuss how women were treated and viewed during this time especially Antigone. If there were any instances where there was a gender conflict I will also examine this and provide evidence of when it happened. My focus is going to be to discuss with detail what motivated Antigone’s actions, and to analyze how each gender was represented.
Even though king Creon publicly announced that anyone who tried to bury Polyneices would be punished Antigone still disobeyed him. I do
Antigone tells Creon “ it was not God’s proclamation. That final justice that rules the world below makes no such laws” (Sophocles, 406-496 B.C., line 58-59). No god has ever created a law that stated that an enemy must not be buried; therefore her crime according to Creon was no crime in the eyes of the gods. I don’t think that Antigone disobeyed Creon as a political move, she was not trying to prove a point. She also was not trying to make a gender statement, that women can also be brave and defiant. Antigone simply wanted to give her brother a proper burial, and she wanted to honor the laws of the gods when it came to the dead. There was no secret agenda behind her actions, she loved her brother and was willing to die for him if she need to. Even Ismene thought that her sister’s actions were honorable, she was just too afraid to join her when Antigone asked her for help. Antigone went to her grave believing that even the men at Thebes would have praised her for her actions if it weren’t for the fear they had of Creon