In ancient Greece, women were inferior to men, for they were expected to stay home all the time and keep the house. In fact, the only women who were ever outside of their house were usually courtesans or hereartas. The families of ancient Greece were

very strong, for the poleis consisted of many extended families. Gender issues are very apparent in Antigone, and these issues lead to why Antigone breaks Creon's man-made laws and followed the divine laws that Antigone felt was moral and just. The gender problems in ancient Greek society and Antigone's refusal to follow the man-made laws of the land are important aspects of the play, for the gender and class problems in her society were the reasons that she did what she felt was moral, ethical, and just and therefore lead to her death for the honor of being able to bury her brother.

Antigone's beliefs on what is moral, ethical and just and Creon's prejudice towards women can both be found in today's society. Although religion is decreasing in today's society, many people still feel they should honor the divine laws above the laws that the government sets, just like Antigone did. This causes conflict many times because the government, just like Creon, believe the governmental laws should be more supreme than people's religious beliefs. An example of this is when a Jehovah's Witness won't say the pledge of allegiance each morning in class, which is a governmental law, because his divine law says that he can't pledge allegiance to anything but God. As well as conflicts with what people believe to be moral, ethical, and just there are many conflicts involving gender. Creon and Ismene believed women were inferior to men, and still many people including both males and females feel the same way. Gender issues are a very big problem in today's society for many women are advancing in the workplace but men refuse to recognize women as superior to then, for example as their boss. This is the same way Creon felt about Antigone, he didn't want to appear inferior to her because she was a woman. The same conflicts exist in today's society as they did in Ancient Greece, and for the same reasons as well.

The similarities between today's society and Ancient Greece are astonishing, for the four questions that Athens to New York is based upon still have similar answers, although the times have created more advanced conflicts. Two significant questions that are clearly answered in the play "Antigone" are what does it mean to be moral, ethical or just and how do individuals and communities respond to differences in race, class, gender and ethnicity. Antigone remains morally undefeated at the end of the play. She was a very strong-powered woman who felt that burying her brother was the moral, just, and ethical action to take. She defied her people to follow the divine law that was in existence long before Creon's man-made laws. This to Antigone was what her belief of what a moral, just and ethical person should do in her situation. Creon showed

Some common words found in the essay are:
Athens York, Ismene Antigone, Creon Antigone, Antigone's Ismene, Creon I'm, Polynices Creon, Creon Ismene, Jehovah's Witness, Antigone Creon's, Ancient Greece, moral ethical, today's society, ancient greece, divine law, creon antigone, respond differences, towards women, race class gender, beliefs morals, gender ethnicity, creon's prejudice, respond differences race, class gender ethnicity, communities respond differences, prejudice towards women,
Approximate Word count = 1862
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)