Antigone: Understanding Political Duty and Family Obligation - Essay Sample

Throughout ancient Greece, a majority of males believed in the domination and oppression of women. The gender disparity originated from the numerous legislative restrictions that highlighted women’s inferiority in contrast to the Greek male. In the play, ‘Antigone’ gender roles are made clear through the conflict that is apparent between Creon and Antigone. According to Greek customs, women and males have different roles whereby the women’s role is centered around domestic and household functions while men are obligated to societal functions. These gender roles are evident even among the ruling class (Calder, 1968).

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In the Antigone, the demands between duty and family amplify the gender inequality whereby Creon believes that men should be the ones to rule while women’s role is to submit and be obedient. The Greek's main objective of marriage was aimed at procreation whereby the purpose of women to bear children. The family unit was mainly aimed at fulfilling the biological need for procreation and nurturing legitimate children as opposed to any social or cultural concepts. Additionally, men were allowed to marry pursue adulterous relations while women were allowed to serve faithfully within the household. Women were married at an age of between fourteen and nineteen years in a ceremony arranged by their fathers. Within the ceremonies, the girls’ fathers highlighted that the purpose of the marriage union was solely for reproduction purposes. Similarly, women were denied any property ownership rights as they were only preserves for the male (Collins, 2015).

Within the Greek household, love and blood were not essential features of a family. Therefore, the roles and responsibilities of individuals within the society were predetermined according to their gender. Due to the unmistakable dominion of women through legal restrictions, unmarried women were expected to conform to certain personality traits. Women were not allowed to hold any public position and the only women allowed to work outside the household comprised of peasant women. Women were only allowed to travel when in the company of a man or when they were attending cultural and religious functions. Thus, women did not gain any pleasure from marriage and only assumed certain personality traits to perform their matrimonial obligations (Calder, 1968).

It is evident that the gender roles characteristic to women were to a large extent an element of performance whereby they complied out of the need for self-preservation. This is manifest when Antigone who is a female sibling finds herself torn between her duty to society and her duty to family when Creon declares that their brother, Polyneices, is a traitor and therefore denied a proper burial. Antigone finds herself in a conflicting situation when she defies Creon and is thus accused of committing a crime (Collins, 2015). When Antigone realizes that her brother would be left unburied outside the city gates, she resolves to bury her brother despite Creon decreeing a law against it.

Antigone’s duty to society and family rival each other as she is torn between burying her brother according to their Greek custom and religion or following the political decrees that prevent the burial of traitors. Antigone acknowledges the governments’ principles as legitimate, however, she has the freedom to pursue what she wants and is not willing to compromise. Antigone’s social and cultural perspective makes her approach the problem with exceptional self-assurance and firmness (Collins, 2015).

However, Creon is obligated by his leadership position to set a precedence and make choices that emphasize his duty to society above those to his family. On one hand, gender customs demand that Creon being the male sibling is responsible for the social, legal, and political welfare of Thebes. Being a public official, Creon’s first responsibility is towards his formal duties associated with the public office he holds (Collins, 2015). Therefore, he has to promote his citizens’ interests. On the other hand, despite Antigone being the sister of Creon, she is not conflicted between serving societal or family duties. Her attitude towards leadership is contrary to Creon’s as she would rather fulfill her kinship role by rebelling against her political obligations as her attitudes towards attaining public leadership is voluntary. Therefore, on account of her gender, Antigone rejects the concept of political duty on account of her family (Collins, 2015).

Gender plays a significant role in influencing how Creon’s executes his public role within society. When he learns of Antigone’s defiance, he views it as an attack on his masculinity and political leadership position (Collins, 2015). Upon hearing that his sister defied his orders, Creon takes the defiance personally by claiming that he is no longer a man, but rather Antigone is the man and therefore she has elevated herself to a higher hierarchy in comparison to him. He further argues that if he alters Antigone’s punishment for disobeying his decree, he will no longer be the king and would therefore have lost control of his kingdom to a woman. The gender roles are so fixed that Creon would rather condemn his blood sister to death than letting a woman be in a position to challenge him. He goes on to emphasize that Greek men must never allow women whom they love or are associated with blood to challenge or even attempt to outsmart men. He concluded by suggesting that he would rather be challenged and beaten by a man than disobeyed by a woman, if only for the gender roles to be maintained (Collins, 2015).

Creon’s actions highlight the precedence which political obligation has in comparison to family obligations. Throughout this play, it is evident that the different forms of obligations are viewed through distinct lenses thereby they are classified according to an individuals’ gender (Calder, 1968). Despite, Creon and Antione being siblings they are in total disagreement about the welfare of their brother’s body. This conflict is highly personal to Creon who sees it as an attempt by his sister to grab power. Creon is unwilling to compromise his moral duty but is prepared to elevate his perceived duty to the whole of Greece even if it means killing all of his siblings. The attainment of power has overshadowed Creon’s individuality making his intentions and devotions to the city rival those he has towards his family. Creon believes that his political position necessitates him to unconditionally uphold civil order even if it means denying religious customs to his deceased brother and executing his sister for civic disloyalty. Therefore, he believes that obligation to his family can be compromised for the greater good, however, his political obligation cannot be compromised irrespective of the personal cost he incurs (Collins, 2015).

References

Calder III, W. M. (1968). Sophokles’ political tragedy, Antigone. Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 9(4), 389-407.

Collins, J. (2015, August). Jebb’s Antigone - Queen's University. https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/handle/1974/13503/Collins_Janet_C_201508_MA.pdf;sequence=1.