bought into the men's ideas that they are the only ones capable of ruling. Ismene thinks women are weak, and she thinks it is important to live up to the expectations set for her by the men who rule.

Over the course of the play, we see Antigone make the decisions she feels are right while both Ismeme and the men fight her for it. Ultimately, this play is a critique of sexist ideas. This play condemns the sexism of men, and Sophocles upholds Antigone's actions as passionate and just.

Throughout the play, Sophocles depicts women as being marginalized and subservient to men. However, Antigone defies the cultural context of Thebes by openly challenging Creon's decree. When Antigone declares her plan to bury her dead brother, Polyneices, and asks Ismene for assistance, Ismene immediately responds by calling her sister mad. Ismene's reaction to Creon's decree reveals her subservient nature and marginalized status in Thebes. Ismene is a docile, submissive female, who fears Creon and his wrath. She refuses to corroborate with Antigone and says,

We are only women, We cannot fight with men, Antigone! (Sophocles, 47).

Ismene is represented as a powerless female, who refuses to disobey Thebe's dominant male leader, Creon. Essentially, Antigone is Ismene's foil and is portrayed as a fearless, heroine, who is not intimidated by Creon. Despite Antigone's independent, courageous decision to bury her brother, she is still subjected to Creon's harsh treatment and is unable to survive his sentence. Overall, Sophocles portrays two types of females but clearly favors Antigone's determined, independent nature over Ismene's cautious, submissive disposition. 

In his play Antigone, using the two sister characters Ismene and the title character Antigone, Sophocles portrays women in two different lights. However, in general, he presents women as being oppressed but as also handling their oppression in two different ways.

Using the character Antigone, Sophocles portrays women as being strong and able to fight against the restraints of society. Antigone is restrained by Creon who decreed that their brother Eteocles shall be given proper burial but not their other brother Polynices. Creon's decree is significant in that it breaks laws already made by the gods but also in that it denied one of the few essential rights granted to women. Based on Ancient Greek beliefs, only when a person was buried could the person's soul be released into the Underworld to find rest. Therefore, burial was a very significant ceremony, and it was primarily women who oversaw the burial. According to the article titled "The Importance of Burial in Greek Religion," women underwent significant ordeals in the burial ceremony including "provid[ing] the tomb with liquid offerings (libations), and [leading] the mourning, a loud and violent process in which women tore their cheeks with their fingernails, ripped out their hair, and poured dirt over the heads and clothing" (eNotes.com, "Antigone eText--The Importance of Burial in Greek Religion"). Hence, in denying both Antigone and Ismene to bury their brother, he is denying them a "chance to do one of the few important things society allowed women to do" ("Antigone eText--The Importance of Burial in Greek Religion"). However, Antigone rises above Creon's restraints by burying her brother in secret, showing her strength of character.

In contrast, Ismene gives in to what she feels is her hopeless role as a woman. She begs her sister to reconsider her plan, feeling instead that they should be content submitting to their lot in life as women, knowing it's their role in society to be ruled by others:

Rather, consider that we were born women, proving we should not fight with men, and that we are ruled by powerful people and must obey them, even in more painful things. (61-64)

The simple answer is no. Let me explain.

Let’s assume that by “feminist” you mean an adherent or follower of feminism. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, feminism is the “advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” Nowhere in Sophocles’s tragedyAntigone does the titular character advocate, promote, or sacrifice for women’s rights. Rather, Antigone martyrs herself for the right to offer traditional burial rites for her dead brother Polynices.

To quickly recap the relevant plot points of the play, Polynices was killed in battle when he betrayed his city-state and attacked Thebes with a foreign Argive army. This act of treachery led Creon, the newly appointed king, to issue a decree forbidding the burial of the traitor, declaring that “he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds.” He declares that the supreme loyalty every citizen of Thebes owes is to the state by saying, “Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot” and that anyone who breaks his command will be promptly executed.

Antigone puts Creon, her uncle and future father-in-law, in an awkward situation when she disobeys the proclamation, buries her brother, and is caught red-handed in the crime. Although Antigone’s death sentence is commuted, Creon banishes her to a cave. Antigone hangs herself in the prison before stubborn Creon, who finally accepts the advice of his son and the prophet Tiresias, can release her from the cavern. There is not a single moment in Sophocles’s play where Antigone strives for gender equality or women’s rights. She nobly defends her family, but there simply isn’t enough evidence to confidently declare Antigone a feminist as we understand the term today.

However, that doesn’t mean that Sophocles’s Antigone can’t be viewed from a feminist literary lens. Ancient Thebes is a staunchly patriarchal society. This can be seen in Creon’s attitude toward Antigone when he advises his son Haemon to “never lose your sense of judgment over a woman” and tells him to forget Antigone because “there are other fields to plow.” The insinuation is that women are worthless and viewed as sexual objects by the powerful in Theban society. Haemon, in his response, abuses his father by calling him “a woman,” one of the worst insults he could muster. Even the women understand their lowly position in Thebes. Ismene, in her attempt to dissuade her sister Antigone from burying their brother, encourages her to “remember we are women; we’re not born to contend with men. Then too, we’re underlings, ruled by much stronger hands.” Thebes is basically a feminist’s nightmare!

However, Antigone rebels against this patriarchy in ways that would have been shocking for ancient Greeks. Unwilling to be cowed by powerful men, Antigone courageously adheres to her values by burying Polynices even though she understands it might result in her execution. Even when caught, Antigone remains defiant, declaring that she is “not ashamed for a moment.” This courage, particularly from a woman, gains the approval of the Chorus and wins the popular opinion of the Theban citizenry. In this sense, the character of Antigone models feminist values of courage, independence, and a willingness to defy male authority.

In short, although Antigone cannot be called a feminist, because she does not fight for women’s rights or gender equality, she does embody many of the qualities of feminist philosophy.