The Role of Women in Greek Society: Ismene, A Coward, or Not?
Ancient Greek was a misogynistic society that believed the woman’s place was in the household taking care of her children and her husband. It is in this society that “Antigone” is set. While Antigone was ready to break the misogynistic chains to fight for her brother’s burial, her sister Ismene preferred not to disobey the decree of the King, not even to save her brother’s memory. Ismene is a coward because she believed in the patriarchy that diminished women, and she was not willing to challenge it even for her brother’s sake.
Case in point, when Antigone requests Ismene to help her bury their brother, Ismene points out that they should consider what happened to their father and brothers as a warning because they were strong men. Still, by breaking the law, they were murdered, so what chance would they (mere women) have of survival if they broke the law. Further, she emphasizes that they should remember that they are women, and it is not in their nature to fight men as they are more robust and more powerful; therefore, it would be fruitless (Sophocles, p2, lines 50-65). This statement indicates that Ismene had bought into the image that the men in the Greek society had of women. Because the men had considered women as weak, Ismene believed that she was weak. She also had the portrayal that men were powerful, which fueled her fear of opposing them, especially those with authority.
According to Bamanie (p1-4), in Ancient Greek women were disadvantaged both legally and politically. They were expected to stay separately from the rest of society, whereby they would have minimal contact with men, and most of their time was spent in taking care of the household. Male domination was further revealed by their choice of the image of their god as by creating the image of a male god. They were disputing the femininity of the goddess Athena. The men were intent on making all women fit in this image of powerlessness and subservience. However, some women, mainly from wealthy backgrounds, sought out education as a sign of fighting for their independence from the male-dominated society (Katz, p70). Therefore, while the community was demeaning to women, as Ismene explains, it was not a new concept for women to fight for more freedom, more authority, and to have a voice. As such, Ismene was just afraid of following suit of such strong women; hence, she chose to use the misogynistic gender roles as an excuse for not helping.
Comparatively, research on the Ancient Greek society shows that the men were threatened by the strength of women, which is why they insisted on crippling their authority. For example, they came up with a law that women should not lament in funerals as it was irrational and weak. Also, they claimed that lamentations disrupted the order of society and threatened the survival of the people. Notably, this law fed into their plan to make women suffer in silence (Dunham, p11). These rules evidence that the Greek men believed that if women were able to stand up for themselves, they could gain as much authority over the society as the men, and they did not want to share. Therefore, they chose to disempower them by creating erratic laws. From the play, it is notable that Antigone understands this, and she is ready to fight for her rights, but Ismene is too cowardly and wants to remain in the captivity of the patriarchal norms.
In conclusion, Ismene is a coward because she recognizes that men in society are forcing women into subservience. Yet, instead of joining her sister in the fight against unfair rules, especially for her brother’s sake, she chooses to use these laws as an excuse for not acting. Just like Antigone, women all over Greek were beginning to stand up to the men in authority, claiming their rightful place and independence. Still, Ismene is one of those who appeared comfortable with the way things were and did not want to change the status quo due to cowardice.