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Female Heroism in Greek Tragedy


            Women in ancient Greece were supposed to embody traditional gender schemas by staying in their homes, keeping quiet about most matters, and acting in a subservient and obedient manner. However, the tragic playwrights, perhaps eschewing feminist ideologies ahead of their times, did not seem to think it necessary to restrain the roles of the fairer sex in their works. The presence of strong female lead characters, such as the title protagonists in Sophocles" Antigone and Euripides" Medea, shows that women do not always have to remain passive and in the background of a plot. In fact, the aforementioned women have personalities that seem to grossly overstep the boundaries of typical ladylike behavior as they consistently act in ways that most would consider reserved for men, committing daring deeds and following their instincts. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate as such these laudable qualities embodied by Antigone and Medea, and prove that the two are, indeed, examples of brave, heroic females. .
             Antigone, which was written by Sophocles in 422 b.c., is the story of a headstrong young woman who refuses to listen to an edict of the king's, her uncle Kreon, that states that her dead brother Polyneices will not receive a proper burial as he was a traitor to Athens, his city. Unable to accept this decree, Antigone makes it a priority to bestow honor upon her deceased sibling, despite the fact that nobody is willing to help her, and the knowledge that she will most certainly be caught. Doomed from the start - she is the daughter of the accursed Oedipus - Antigone is pushed ahead by her sheer willpower and reverence for higher authority, she claims to be defending the laws of the gods (which, of course, supersede those of the king's). This is a noble stance taken on her part, and throughout the course of this play she remains true to her beliefs, seeming unafraid to embrace her destiny.


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