Roles of Women in Greek Tragedy Antigone Despite the male-dominant society of ancient Greece, the women in Sophocles' play Antigone all express capacities for powerful influence and each individually possess unique characteristics , showing both similarities and contrasts. The women in the play are a vital aspect that keeps the plot moving and ultimately leads to the catharsis of this tragedy. Starting from the quarrel between Antigone and Ismene until Eurydice's suicide, one male takes his own life and another loses everything he had due to the acts carried out by these women. The women all put their family members above everything else, but the way they walk around shows that affection separates them from many other things. In one of the opening scenes, the fluctuating emotions of the heated dialogue between Ismene and Antigone take place. The two sisters take turns evoking passion and subjectivity about their roles as people in this world, but more specifically as civilians of Greece. Antigone has the mindset that it is her duty to be an obedient member of the family (Johnson 370). Likewise, Ismene fears for her sister's life and tries to convince her that her loyalty may be too strong in the wrong place. Both women ultimately value family, however, they are torn between who they are more caring about and immediately makes the audience take sides. Antigone, the protagonist of the play, has what is apparently the most powerful female role. From the beginning of the plot he foreshadows his end but expresses it through his stubbornness and inability to realize man's great power. It is possible that he was aware of Creon's abilities as a leader, but nevertheless he reacts by going to... middle of paper... on the plays of Sophocles. SIU Press, 1991. Web. April 4, 2014. Johnson, Patricia J. “The Third Face of Woman: A Psycho/Social Reconsideration of Sophocles' Antigone.” Arethusa 30.3 (1997): 369-398. Network. April 4, 2014. Kirkpatrick, Jennet. "The Prudent Dissident: Unheroic Resistance in Sophocles' Antigone." The Policy Review 73.03 (2011): 401-424. Network. 4 April 2014. Lyberaki, Antigone. "The crisis and women's economic independence: some warnings from Greece". Journal of Critical Studies In Business & Society 3.1 (2012): 12-39. Business origination completed. Network. April 4, 2014. Rosenfield, Kathrin H. “Entering the Mind of Sophocles through Holderlin's Antigone.” New Literary History 30.1 (1999): 107-127. MUSE project. Network. 4 April 2014.Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Pietro Bagg. The world literature of the Norton anthology. 3rd ed. vol. ANp: W. W. Norton &, 2012. 747-83. Press.