Medea And Antigone Comparison

Antigone and Medea are both strong women who end up in conflict with the law. These two Greek plays, Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides, are centered around two women fighting back and responding in a manner they think is right. Antigone and Medea take place in ancient Greece, Thebes and Corinth, respectively. Antigone will do anything possible to achieve her goal, regardless if it hurts those she loves or breaks the law. By comparing and contrasting these main characters, we are able to gain more knowledge about their motives, and thus, we can better understand why they behaved the way they did. Both of these women are strong, yet manipulative characters, and they have differing levels of morality, which control what they do. Both women are determined to accomplish what they want, and love clearly plays a motivating role which defines their actions. These leading ladies also show the place of women in Greek dramas. A woman's place was in the home, and her purpose in life was to be subordinate to her husband and to the care for the children. Medea’s and Antigone’s goals, irrational behaviors, and motivations are where their similarities lie; their personalities, actions, and destinies are what differentiate …show more content…
Medea rides off unharmed in a chariot pulled by dragons and Antigone dies. Antigone kills herself, and Medea leaves without being penalized for her actions. After Creon finds out it was Antigone who performed the burial ceremony, he instructs the guards to, “Wall her up in the tomb, you have your orders. Abandon her there, alone, and let her choose” (Sophocles 972-973). She then proceeds to hang herself. This results in Haemon and Creon’s wife also killing themselves out of despair, leaving Creon in pain and mourning. While Antigone unintentionally causes multiple deaths, Medea purposely killed many people; including her own sons and a princess, in spite of her cheating