Are the women in Greek tragedy less interesting than the men?

In Greek tragedy, both the women and men play an important role in shaping the development of the plays. However, it could be considered that one gender creates more interesting characters than the other. In order to address this statement fully, the idea of an interesting character needs to be addressed. I will consider an interesting character to be one which develops throughout the narrative; is involved in the main action of the play; has several layers to their character; and evokes strong emotions in the reader. Electra in Euripides' Electra develops considerable throughout the narrative, whereas her brother Orestes does so to a lesser extent. She begins by being extremely determined to murder her mother in order to avenge her father. However, by the end, she regrets her decision. Orestes, on the other hand, is doubtful about the murder throughout the play so develops very little. Furthermore, although it was conventional that most of the action was carried out by men, in Medea, the narrative effectively centres around Medea's actions, while in Electra, the eponymous character is still able to help her brother during the murder. So it's clear from these few examples that women are not less interesting than men.

LP
Answered by Laura P. Classical Civilisation tutor

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