Antigone lived in a patriarchal society where women were subordinate to men. Women had only a limited amount of freedom and were expected to conform to the ideologies of society. Antigone's gender is a crucial part of this Greek tragedy, her gender affects the meaning and perhaps even the consequences of her actions. Ancient Greeks viewed the role of men as more significant than the role of women, though it is interesting to note that this play is entitled "Antigone," the name of a female character.
             Antigone and her sister, Ismene, were two very different women. Ismene was the perfect Greek woman. She was the complete opposite of her sister, Antigone. She accepted that men were the stronger sex and Creon frightened her. She believed that authority should be obeyed. She accepted her servitude to men and had no desire to push the limits. Even if Ismene had wanted to bury her brother she would not have done so. Her loyalty and fear were much too strong to be overpowered by her wants. She argued with her sister that women could not fight against men or the laws of the state. Ismene told her sister, "Remember we are women, we're not born to contend with men." (Lines 74-75).
             Antigone chose to act with her heart and disregard the stipulations imposed upon her by the Greek society. She acted on her own feelings and beliefs rather than the orders of a man. By choosing to obey gods law over mans law she refused to conform to society's guidelines and therefore upset the gender roles and by disobeying the law of the state she upset one of the fundamental rules of society. The fact that Antigone is female makes the story what it is. Antigone is a story about gods law vs. mans law and woman vs. man. Today most people would think of her act as honorable and respectable and it would make no difference if she were a man or a woman. When arguing with Creon about her reasons for breaking his law, ...