Question

(a)            Antigone and Medea are both women who violate Greek social norms, but they have very different outcomes. What could explain why Antigone dies while Medea escapes? What might this tell us about how the Greeks viewed women in society?

Answer 1

Both Antigone and Medea are symbols of revolt against the societal norms of patriarchy. Medea revolted by taking life of her sons in revenge ,for her personal reasons with her husband Jason.and escaped. Antigone revolts against the established norm of patriarchy by giving up her life for a social cause. Women in Greek society were subdued under the rules and norms of the patriarchy.They didn't enjoyed an equal status with men , especially the foreign women and both our protagonist Medea and Antigone were foreign women.