The characters in Sophocles Antigone comport themselves in close minded and ultimately tragic ways. Often, this play, and the character’s inflexibility is interpreted as a conflict of legal legitimacy. This is true; after all according to Willner “any story in Greek mythology may have more than one set of messages”. But the  play also concerns itself with family issues.

Antigone was written in an age in which women were strictly relegated to the domestic sphere and devalued as nothing but vehicles to lengthen the human race. This inherent sexism is evident in the play; Ismene acknowledges it when she says “we are only women“ who “cannot fight with men". In Haimon’s arguments with Creon the inferiority of women is further expressed: “if we must lose, let’s lose to a man, at least! Is a woman stronger than we?“ 

Sexism is an undercurrent of  the characters arguments and causes them to stereotype each other. This sexism affects the minds of all the women, and the actions of the men. Because the society values women less than men, the characters do not assess each other as individuals and so stereotype each other, thus creating conflict.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines gender as “the state of being male or female as expressed by social or cultural differences rather than biological ones; the collective attributes or traits associated with a particular sex, or determined as a result of one’s sex.” In Antigone’s Thebes, the anti-female sentiments of Classical Athens are evident.

Classical Athens may well be the birthplace of democracy and philosophy, but its views on women are surprisingly misogynistic.The legal status of a woman was one of nonexistence. The woman was not recognized as a person, but as  an accessory to her closest male relative. An extension of this view inherently disqualifies  women for rule. Women were seen as indecisive and illogical. Logic was the sphere of men.The opposite of logic is illogic, commonly associated with emotion. Thus, the woman’s accepted role was as an advocate  of emotion.

According to Katz , in Greek society women were “regarded with contempt, secluded, uneducated, and unfree and unequal”. The women of Antigone believe the same things about themselves. Ismene admits her beliefs when she  says to Antigone  “we are only women“. Antigone never directly addresses or references her sex but her subconscious belief in misogyny is expressed through her actions. When, as in the society of ancient Greece, a woman's value was as an advocate of emotion,the natural expression was through ties of family. To be a good ancient Greek woman, one must be deeply devoted  to family.

The woman, since her value is derived from family, must value family above life. Antigone, in  her statement  to Ismene “prove what you are: a true sister or a traitor to your family” is truly asking her how deeply she is a woman as their society construes womanhood. Antigone’s response is one of  extreme devotion to family and thus of ancient Greek misogyny.

But the contrasting response of Ismene  is also linear with Greek femininity; as Willner states Ismene presents “the submissive attitude proper of a  Greek woman”. Overriding a devotion to family was an expectation for women to behave demurely and quietly. Ismene and Antigone are locked in a paradox which  they cannot  navigate by blindly following their societal construct of gender. 

Ismene is commonly interpreted as weak. And in the words of Kirkpatrick “the weak… are not eager to die”. Yet Ismene is eager to claim blame, and therefore death when Creon accuses her. “I am here to join you, to take my share of punishment “ she says to Antigone when Creon is interrogating them. But Antigone will not let Ismene have any blame;” (coldly) ….You have no right to say so …..I will not have you help me”.

Antigone’s words have little effect on Creon; in his mind, since Ismene is a woman, and therefore an extension of her family and not an individual, she has no autonomy. Only later does Creon repent of his stereotyping. Even though he spares her life, Ismene will always be suspected by Creon because of Antigone’s actions. Creon guessed  Ismene’s knowledge of Antigone's crime ; he says “her mind's a traitor”.

At the play’s conclusion, Creon and Ismene are the only relatives still alive: this is because, according to Kirkpatrick, Ismene “holds the potentiality for a new beginning". Ismene is not so much weak as confused. The claims of family and the claims of traditional  femininity are directly contradicting each other, and choosing a  path is difficult for her. Creon is very close to the truth when he says that Ismene “has never had a mind at all”. Ismene does not think for herself to break the psychological hold of her society and becomes a victim.

According to Kirkpatrick, “Antigone orients herself in relation to the  family“. Kirkpatrick continues to say that she “transgresses the foundational boundaries of gender and…...calls their limits into question”. While it is true that Antigone orients herself in her family relationship, she does not completely defy boundaries of gender. Since society expected her to mourn for her brother, and mourning is an important  part of the female role, her actions “ transcend the role given to women but …….do not  actually violate it “.

That is where Antigones true brilliance as a politician lies. Antigone knows it is impossible to totally break from her society without alienating future supporters (who would all be male), so she makes the crux of her insurrection a burial. If Antigones true purpose and concern was for the soul of Polyneices, the first burial would have sufficed.

But Antigone returns to the scene of the crime and makes no attempt to hide her actions, implying that she desires to be caught. Antigone is again inconsistent with her message of dedication to family in “hating“ Ismene.Antigone obviously disagrees with Creon’s style of leadership, and according to her “all these men here would praise me were their lips not frozen shut for fear of you”.Therefore, Antigone's actions are  mostly  politically motivated.

Antigone also behaves unecesarily belligerently. She says to Creon “I dared.It was not God’s proclamation.” These words are damning and unrepentant, like Antigone herself. In the same speech, Antigone says “Living as I live, with evil all about me, / Think Death less than a friend?”. Antigone ominously states to Ismene that “ I belong to Death”.

Throughout the play, Antigone fixates on her death. In every scene, she mentions death, usually her own. In the Prologue, Antigone says that hers will not be “the worst of deaths- death without honor “. If Antigone had waited a day rather than immediately “hanged herself “, she would have saved both herself and Haimon. But as the Chorus sings to Antigone as she goes to her tomb, “What woman has ever found your way to death ?”

In saying this, the Chorus perhaps means to ask what woman has died with such public honor. Antigone also says to Ismene that she cannot “lessen my my death by sharing it“. Antigone further reveals her sense of superiority to Creon: “I should have praise and honor for what I have done. / All these men here would praise me “. It  appears that Antigone wishes to defy her gender role and become a hero in order to  find personal  fulfillment. It is Antigone’s desire to be  a martyr that causes her to  behave belligerently ,thus ensuring  her death.

The third  female character in Antigone is Eurydice. Eurydice is a background character; she says few words and then commits suicide. But that is because Eurydice is a wife. According to Willner, “virtuous wives of Greek mythology submit to the male under whose tutelage she lives”. Since Eurydice is married to Creon, she cannot develop her own character because her wifely duty is to wholly submit to her husband. However the submission of Eurydice causes her to become a victim; again in the words of Willner “the women who do not act become victims”.

Eurydice’s only action is her suicide. This dramatic act proves that Eurydice believes the misogyny of her culture. While grief at the death of one’s last survivng  son is understandable, suicide is an  extreme reaction. In Greek culture, the value of a woman was closely connected to her ability to provide sons. Haimon is presumably  Eurydices last son; without Haimon, she has accomplished nothing. The death of Haimon is the death of Eurydice’s purpose.

The identity crisis causes Eurydice to “welcome the knife her own hand guided…….her last breath a curse….for… the murderer of her sons”. Ultimately, in her last words, Eurydice chose to defy the Greek stereotype of the loyal wife. Eurydice is no Homeric Penelope; Sophocles’ women are much more complicated.

Creon never progresses past viewing Antigone as an emotionally driven woman. According to Kirkpatrick, Antigone “urges Creon to kill her immediately and incites his wrath ….by…. making the implicit claim that she is his equal”. Giving respect to the words of Antigone would mean that women were capable of rationale, a revolutionary idea to one who has been ingrained with sexism. According to the patriarchal system of ancient Greece, Antigone, by virtue of her engagement to Haimon, is legally Creon’s to command. Creon perhaps loses some self-respect because he cannot control Antigone.

As a woman and his projected daughter-in-law, her duty is to submit to Creon. During their argument, Creon says “Pride? In a slave? This girl is guilty of double insolence” and “Who is the man here, She or I if this crime goes unpunished?”. Creon’s use of  “slave“ is revealing to the way he views Antigone.

Creon later says that “If I permit my own family to rebel / How shall I earn the world’s obedience? Show me the man who keeps his house in hand,/ He’s fit for public authority”.  It would seem that not Antigone’s actions are  most insulting, her rebellion against her social responsibility to submit is what angers Creon and blinds him to her desire for martyrdom. In killing Antigone, Creon reasserts himself as both king and master of his household, while also giving her exactly what she desires.

Love complicates misogyny.In Antigone this is exemplified by Haimon.Yet even though Haimon loves Antigone, he demeans her after his father insults him for loving her :
CREON ( completely out of control ): Fool, adolescent fool!Taken in by a woman!

HAIMON: You’ll never see me taken in by anything vile.

Even though Haimon loves Antigone  to the point that life is unimaginable to him without her, he does believe the prevailing view of women. The argument can be made that Haimon only uses “vile” to mislead Creon. However, nowhere else does Haimon bother to keep Creon ignorant of his intentions or directly mislead Creon. Indeed only moments after referring to Antigone, and women in general, as “vile“ he says “her death will cause another”.

Haimon believes women are inferior but his love of Antigone helps him see the value of her position.Since Haimon loves Antigone, he is the only character who might have discovered the true, political motives behind her actions. By abandoning the soceital preconception of a womans personality, Haimon understands and is perhaps complicit in Antigone’s rebellion by knowing her as an individual. One can never be sure; the two characters never interact and Antigone never speaks of Haimon or her marriage.

Ultimately Haimon’s efforts to rescue Antigone from herself fail because Creon places Haimon in another stereotype; the  “girlstruck  fool”. Creon cannot sympathize with Antigone or Haimon’s points because he  dismissively stereotypes them. When confronted by Teiresias, Creon recognizes the wisdom of admitting he is not infallible. Since Teiresias is not connected to Antigone, Creon can justify to himself  the wisdom of burying Polyneices. Teiresias, and later Choragos , gives Creon a chance to save face as a man and act intelligently.

Still, Creon admits it is “hard to deny the heart”. Creon desperately wants Antigone dead; perhaps because he knows she will be difficult to control. But when Teiresias speaks, Creon can admit to “destiny” prevailing. Antigone had made the same claim to supernatural forces, “I dared …the immortal unrecorded laws of God“; but since Antigone preceded her claim to Creon with “all your strength is weakness itself “, Creon dismisses her as presumptive.

If Antigone had  been able to approach Creon as an equal rather than use, in the words of Kirkpatrick,” secrecy, violence and deceit “, their differences could have been effectively reconciled. But Antigone behaved unnecessarily belligerently to ensure for herself a  noble death, and Creon dismisses her ideas as those of a  woman, and therefore illogical. 

Patriarchal societies only work when all the participants perform their roles exactly.What this means for the characters of Antigone is that they can never follow patriarchy; earlier events had already skewed the dynamic. Antigone makes this point just before her death :

You have touched it at last : that bridal bed  

Unspeakable, horror of son and mother mingling:

Their crime, infection of all our family!

Oedipus and Jocasta had  indeed been the “ infection of all our family“. When the characters attempt to follow their normal roles, mayhem results. Antigone  is the final play in Sophocles ‘trilogy depicting the struggles of Oedipus, and in this last play the characters are seeking normalcy. But the struggles of their history are not yet expunged, and all too tangible. Creons tenuous claim to the throne is a fact he is all too aware of, as evidenced by his suspicious behavior and statement to Haimon “me...to show myself weak before the people”. Creon’s erroneous stereotyping of the protagonist is what causes him to close his mind.

Antigone, acting out her expected gender role, causes Creon to  misogynistically stereotype her, and he fails to see the ulterior motives behind following her expected role. Creon then accuses Ismene because his misogyny  does not permit him to believe Antigone could act in solitude. But Ismene is confused in her gender role and wishes to join Antigone in her overt defiance. Creon is then  simply amused by the argument of Ismene and Antigone, missing the Antigone’s quite obvious innuendo of her wish to die nobly.

When Haimon pleads for Antigone, Creon again negatively stereotypes him and dismisses his points. At last, when confronted by a man, Teiresias, who defies stereotypes, can Creon acknowledge the value of honoring Antigone’s actions. But then it is too late; Antigone has fulfilled her wish for an honorable death, and Haimon has allied with her. In the final scene, Eurydice loses hope for society and breaks out of her gender role by killing  herself.  Ismene and Creon are left to either redefine the gender roles or practice the existing ones.Throughout the play, Creon’s stereotypes multiplicate. If Creon had discovered Antigone’s desire for martyrdom, the tragedy of the play would have been averted.