What did Sophocles say about women?
Sophocles said that silence confers grace upon a woman, meaning the best thing a woman can do is be quiet. This Greek philosopher, who lived before Paul's time, expressed an attitude prevalent in the pagan and Hebrew world when Paul was dealing with early Christian people.
Les explains that Sophocles, a Greek philosopher back even before Paul's time, said it like this: “...silence confers grace upon a woman.” Les interprets this to mean the best thing a woman can do is be quiet. He stresses he is not promoting this view but showing the attitude that was prevalent when Paul was dealing with those early Christian people in Corinth. Les also notes the Talmud contained a similar negative view of women, listing the talkative widow and the virgin who wastes her time in prayers as plagues of Israel.