Carmen Black

UHON 1010

Dr. McCarthy

December 11th, 2017

An Overview of Female Power In Antigone and Oedipus

In Sophocless two plays Antigone and Oedipus the King, Sophocles introduces two main

female characters, Jocasta and Antigone, both of these women are given power in these plays.

However, Antigone has a less powerful title, but is able to possess and harness more power than

Jocasta. Despite how much power either woman obtains, they both meet the same self-inflicted

end. This spreads a broad theme about how Sophocless society viewed women and their

capabilities to handle power, and overall negates the popular belief that Antigone is a work of

feminism.

In Oedipus the King, the audience is introduced to Jocasta, one of three leaders of

Thebes. Despite her equivalent title, Jocasta speaks much less than the other two male leaders in

the play. Most of her lines in the play consist of her denying her own fate, which the audience

later learns was inflicted by her trying to escape said fate. Jocastas moral integrity is further

questioned when she begins to make suggestions such as, And as for this marriage with your

mother- have no fear. Many a man before you, in his dreams, has shared his mothers bed

(p.215. 1073-1075). It becomes apparent to the audience that she is beginning to realize her fate

has caught up with her. However, instead of facing the truth she tries to hide it and keep

Oedipus in the dark. When she is questioned about the mystery of Oedipus birth she cries, Stop-

in the name of god, if you love your own life, call of this search! (p.222. 1162-1163). As a

leader of Thebes she should be able to put the needs and survival of her city above her own
desires. In contrast, noble Oedipus seeks the truth about his life for the good of his city, even in

the face of his own demise. After Oedipus finds out the truth, he is willing to accept full

punishment for unknowingly marrying his mother and having children with her; he even goes as

far to blind himself with Jocastas brooches and exile himself. Jocasta unable face her people,

because of shame, takes her own life before the play ends. By having Jocasta unable to handle

her shame or bear her duty to Thebes, Sophocles makes her a weak leader that overall reflects

how unaccepting ancient greece is of female leaders. Her weak leadership skills are even further

heightened by comparing her to the loyal Oedipus.

In Sophocles's Antigone, the story of Oedipus and Jocastas cursed children, a new heroin

is introduced. Antigone is a woman whom unlike her mother is not in any powerful role.

However, this does not stop Antigone from following what she believes is right by the gods.

Antigone shows women that gain power in a much more positive light than Jocasta. Unlike

Jocasta, Antigone serves as a moral beacon in the play, because her actions are fueled by a desire

to do the right thing for her dead brother and for the gods. Antigones character even questions

the social dynamic of ancient greece when she refutes her sisters statement, Remember we are

women, were not born to contend with men. Then too, were underlings, ruled by a much

stronger hands (p.62. 74-76). Antigone curses Ismene for her degrading remark about women.

This is why many people view Antigone as a work of feminism. As the play continues, it

becomes more apparent that Antigone the play is not feminist. Antigone even states herself that

she would not have fought for her brothers burial if, I had been the mother of children or if my

husband died, exposed and rotting- Id never have taken this ordeal upon myself(p.105. 995-

998). This ideology clearly does not align with the audiences definition of feminism. At the end

of the play, Antigone even takes her own life before she can be released from jail. By having her
commit this act willingly at the end of the play, it mirrors the story of her mother. The audience

is again confronted with the cycle of female leaders looking for an escape from shame, whether

that is the shame of facing their people or the shame of being killed by the hand of someone else.

Antigones death highlights the rashness of her decisions and her inability to deal with power

and shame. Despite all of the positive views of Antigone from modern readers, an ancient greek

audience would not have been accepting of a feminist hero. This is why Antigone is not and was

not intended to be feminist. Feminism was not even invented at the time of Antigones

conception; thus, this construct would never have come across the original audiences minds.

Sophocles, with the play of Antigone, again displays the theme that women are incapable of

properly handling power.

This theme is not only recurring in Sophocles's two plays, but in other works of literature

as well. In Virgils The Aeneid, the audience is introduced to Dido, the queen of Carthage. She is

first presented as a capable leader, but she inevitably faces the same self inflicted end as Jocasta

and Antigone. She is first viewed as an independent and strong leader, until Aeneas leaves

Carthage without telling Dido. Dido herself even says, I have built a handsome city, have seen

my walls rise up, avenged a husband if only the ships of Troy never touched our coast(p.643.

903-905, 907). Immediately after saying this, Dido leaps onto her sword and kills herself. The

strong, capable Dido that the audience is introduced to at the beginning of the play is a sharp

contrast to the weak lovesick Dido that takes her own life. As the lone queen of Carthage, Dido

has left her city unprotected with no ruler in exchange to escape heart ache, this reflects very

poorly on Didos leadership skills and heightens her own selfishness. Dido perpetuates the

ancient greek and social roman construct that women are weak, poor leaders that inevitably are

self destructive in their end. Dido is even a strong example for the opposite of a feminists text,
because her downfall as a leader was her own love and devotion to Aeneas and not of any other

volition.

There is a strong pattern of of women being unable to properly control and handle power

in ancient greek and roman text. However, there is an exception to this claim; women who are

goddesses in position of power can maintain and control power without facing the inevitable self

inflicted death. For example, in The Odyssey Circe, Calypso, and Athena are all able to maintain

and control power efficiently, but they are not mortal. All the mortal women in power, however,

seem to follow the same doomed pattern. Clearly, after the evaluation of other womens

leadership roles in ancient greek and roman literature their similarities are apparent. Antigones

story shares many characteristics with Jocastas and Didos stories, and a feminist text can not

coexist with one that follows a demeaning cycle such as these plays do. These plays also give

insight to the how important your gender was in ancient Greece or Rome, and a look into some

of the prosecution many women faced in these societies. It can also give you perspective on

prosecution women feel today by society with gender inequality and other women's issues.

Works Cited

Sophocles, and Robert Fagles. The Three Theban plays. New York: Penguin Group,

1984.

Virgil, and Allen Mandelbaum. The Aeneid of Virgil. New York: Bantam Classic, 1981.
 Reflection

This is my final and third paper I wrote for my UHON 1010 class. After my first two papers it

became apparent that I was making very similar mistakes. When writing my third paper my

priorities were to reduce summary to make my argument as clear and concise as possible,

checking my quotes and citations with MLA format, and most importantly develop a strong

conclusion that aligns with my papers thesis. As a writer one of my weakest points is grammar

especially comma rules, these are things I wish to get more comfortable with as I continue

writing. I have long way ahead of me, but in the past few months I have learned how to

efficiently state, develop, and follow an argument. I have made vast improvements from my first

paper written over The Odyssey and Odysseuss character development through chapter eight. It

however lacked a strong argument, an introduction or thesis, and a viable conclusion; It also had

a few grammatical citing errors, comma errors, too much summary, and lots of jumbled and

unclear thoughts. My second paper is about Isabellas downfall from virtue through Measure for

Measure. This paper suffered from many of the same problems as my first paper for example,

cluttered/awkward wording, quoting errors, grammar errors, repetition, and too much summary

causing my argument to need to be brought out. Overall, there was definitely an improvement in

my first draft of paper one to my first draft of my second paper; my argument was much clearer

in first draft of my second paper than in the first draft of my first paper. I hope to have taken

what I learned about these two papers and apply it to my last and final paper.