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In the characters of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Antigone and Medea, the ancient Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides offer four distinctly different views of the roles which women played in Greek society. While women definitely played a role which was subservient to the one played by men, it is obvious from these characters that women were seen by the ancient Greeks as capable of being strong, intelligent, resourceful, loyal, and heroic. These characters also show the …

…t rage puts it on a par with an elemental force of nature. There seems to me to be an implied warning here that women should be treated with respect. Indeed, whenever the women have been treated poorly, retribution comes against those who have misused them. In the case of Medea and Clytemnestra, this retribution comes from their own hands, but those around Jocasta and Antigone suffer as well.