The Fate of Powerful Women in Sophocles’ Antigone, Euripides’ Medea, and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

It was common for ancient Greek heroes to be portrayed as powerful men fighting for their honor and glory. On the other hand, it was hard for women to be strong, powerful figures in patriarchal Ancient Greek society. Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus explore instances of powerful women in their plays. Antigone, Medea, and Clytemnestra in many ways mirror the Ancient Greek heroes in how they fight relentlessly to protect their honor. Antigone gives up her life defying Creon’s order to bury her brother, Medea kills her own children to make sure the love she honors cannot be ridiculed, and Clytemnestra triumphantly kills her husband with her own hands. On the surface, though the powerful women are portrayed as heroines and are in many ways similar to the Greek heroes such as Achilles, in the end they are categorized as threats to society and are thereby unable to escape their limitations as women. Antigone and Medea fight for women’s rights but their selfish approach ultimately causes destruction to the state and family and lead to their own demise in the end. Though Clytemnestra attempts to justify her own motive behind her murder, she fails to convince the Chorus and her own affair with Aegisthus makes the audience lose any sympathy they have left for her.
This symbolizes women’s limited role in Greek society. Unlike Achilles whose return to the battlefield reestablishes his glory, none of the powerful women characters are able to earn the same amount of honor. Antigone commits suicide, Medea kills her own children, and Clytemnestra has to attribute the cause of her actions to an avenging spirit. Not only do the women fail as individuals in regaining their honor, their actions result in devastating consequences. Antigone’s suicide leaves the state in ruins; it leads to the deaths of Haemon, as well as Haemon’s mother, which breaks down the royal family. Medea also leaves the state in shambles as she leaves the king, princess, and even Jason’s sons dead. Clytemnestra’s murder and affair forebodes yet another bloodbath as the Chorus expect the return of Orestes. Greek plays were performed in front of men. Portraying powerful women as threats to the state may have allowed men to validate women’s submissive stance and strengthen patriarchal values. The powerful women outlined in this paper illustrate the limitations women faced when fighting for their autonomy; their efforts only yielded a partial success at most.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Sophocles’ Antigone - Antigone’s Suicide
• 3. Euripides’ Medea - Medea’s Loss of Humaneness
• 4. Clytemnestra in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon
• 5. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• [Abstract]