Moral Lessons in Antigone

The play Antigone was written by Sophocles around four hundred forty B.C.E, in the height of the golden age of Greece. Theater was then, as it is now, a medium through which to implicate the outlooks of its writer and to examine moral issues, whilst providing entertainment. The subjects discussed through theater were often deeply rooted in the dialogue of the characters in the plays and struck the chords of the audience such that enlightenment could take place, and in that day and age this purpose was valued. Each episode and stasimon was laced with nuances of whatever message the author wished to convey; political themes were common, particularly regarding the foundations of democracy that were being laid, as well as themes of fate and honoring the gods. Sophocles' Antigone is no exception. The conflicts within the script of Antigone address many larger moral issues, including women's position in society, reverence for the gods, loyalty to the state and to family, and the dangers of absolute power and pride. The characters of Creon and Antigone represent opposites concerning these topics, and Sophocles adeptly utilizes them to debate the arguments in question. Neither Creon nor Antigone is in the right, rather both have impure motives- Creon is not completely solidified in his position, and although Antigone persists in hers, her reasoning is unclear- that are corrupted by excessive pride.

The women's inferiority question was alive in ancient Greek theater. Woman did not have rights in that time period: she could not participate in government, she had no claim to property or belongings, etc. Many playwrights wrestled with this issue, creating characters such as Clytemnestra, Cassandra, Medea, and Antigone that embodied courage in the midst of a man's world. Ironically, these female heroes would have been played by male hypokrits, as women were not allowed to act in the theater. Sophocles hints at the irrationality of the principle that "one rules, the other