raditional imagery. Yet no non-virgin was a part of Artemis’s coterie which excludes the majority of women. However independent, even the legendary Amazons were defeated by a man. In the labors of Hercules, one of his tasks was to fetch the girdle of the Amazon Queen. Hercules was received unusually well by the Amazons. However, he finished by killing their Queen by misjudgment after he obtained her girdle. Thus a man crushed even the Amazons.Most of the Greek myths reinforce this idea of male superiority. In the myth of Cupid and Psyche, it is Psyche’s feminine curiosity, which drives Cupid away. Only by enduring hardships is Psyche allowed to be reunited with Cupid although it was Cupid who drove Psyche to investigate as to who her husband was. This myth implies that women must not question the will of men even though what they do is nonsensical. Sophocles further examines this point in the play Antigone. Antigone, daughter of the incestuous Oedipus is the protagonist is punished for merely trying to give her brother a burial. Commonly speaking, a burial is the only decent thing a sister can do for her brother, yet she is forbidden for doing so. She then commits suicide whereupon her fiance the king’s son also commits suicide. The play Antigone explores two different attitudes taken by Greek women. Antigone is the fiery woman who insists on doing what she believes is right which she gets punished for. Ismene is submissive and frightened, yet she ultimately suffers also. In other words, no matter what a woman does, she will suffer- yet the more rebellious one will be directly squelched. In addition to the idea of masculine superiority is the principle of the male protector. In the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, a snake bites Eurydice and she dies. Orpheus then attempts to rescue her from Hades and almost succeeds but ultimately fails in the end by looking back. Despite the failure the point remains that the Greeks deci...
