Women In Sophocles Oedipus The King

In the early ages of drama, women were portrayed as anything but equal to men. The plays during the c. 496 – c. 406 BCE diminished the value of women, while these plays helped shape the idea of empowering men. In the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles tells the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who has been told a mortifying prophecy that he will be the one to kill his own father and marry his biological mother. In the idea of saving his family, he then proceeds to run away from home only to run into the fate of the blind seer Tierisas. In Dulcitius, Hrosvitha tells the story about Governor Dulcitius and the three virgins named Agape, Chionia, and Hirena who Dulcitius is infatuated with but has no respect for the beautiful women. Dulcitius idolizes these woman as nothing more than a

He sees them like they are the pots and pans, hallucinating. “Place them under guard in the inner room of the pantry, where they keep the servants’ pots” (1.73). Dulcitius mistakes the three women for dirty pots and pans. He is exhibiting the use of mistreating women, being only captivated by their body and for their own sexual satisfaction. He is domesticating women’s body’s into being objectified. At one point, he even goes as far as attempting to fondle the three girls, yet unknowingly finds himself at the mercy of the servants’ pots and pants. “Into his lap he pulls the utensils, / he embraces the pots and pans, giving them tender kisses” (99-100). The pots and pants illustrates the odd way the governor visualizes the women. The women are degraded by Dulcitius telling the Soldiers to place the ladies in a hidden place, exhibiting that women should be not seen or not heard. Also, the soot on the governor’s clothing exemplifies the paralleled judgment that he had on the women that they were basically “crazy” and this made him look even more “crazy” than he describes the women to