5. Women in Greek Theatre

1. How were women viewed in Greek Theatre? Why?

Typically in Greek Theatre, the female characters were who the audience would sympathise and relate too most. Even In a society that saw women as the underclass, you would find it peculiar that the characters written for the stage, such as Antigone, Electra and Medea, were strong, empowering females. And even though plays were written by men, performed by men and watched by men, there would be no females in sight. This is because women were not allowed to view the performances. Women were occasionally seen but not heard and were deemed of lesser importance than men. Their absence from the theatre left the plays to be influenced by male eyes only. This can be shown throughout Antigone as King Creon has all of the power and is left to rule Thebes, whereas Antigone has to fend for herself in a mans world.