When Ismene says to Antigone, in Sophocles' Antigone, "Remember we are
women. We're not born to contend with men", she is reflecting the "mainstream"
view of women in early Greece, one that was shared by many and opposed by few.
Women were treated as possessions, and thought to be greatly inferior than their male
counterparts. Within such early Greek works as Pericles' Funeral Oration, Oedipus the
King, Antigone, and The Last Days of Socrates: the Apology, this popular opinion is
displayed. Among those who would agree with Ismene's statement are Creon in
Antigone, Pericles in his Funeral Oration, and Socrates in The Last Days of Socrates: the
Apology. Those who would oppose it include both Antigone's father, Oedipus, and her
fiancé, Haemon, and also Sappho, in her poetry. The majority of Greeks in those days,
though, would agree with Ismene's statement about women.
While Creon would strongly agree with Ismene's statement, Antigone obviously
differed in opinion, and did not let the comment stop her from completing her act of
devotion to her family. Antigone's response to her sister was,
"I won't insist, no, even if you should have a change of heart, I'd never
welcome you in the labor, not with me. So do as you like, whatever suits you
best-I will bury him myself. And even if I die in the act, that death will be a
glory. I will lie with the one I love and loved by him-an outrage sacred to the
gods! I have longer to please the dead then please the living here: in the
kingdom down below I'll lie forever. Do as you like, dishonor the laws the
gods hold in honor." (Marra, Zelnick, and Mattson, 64-65)
Even though she did not directly respond to Ismene's statement about women, Antigone
did make it clear that she would not let it hinder her attempt to bury her brother. She
would much ra...