This paper explores the phenomenon of female suicide in the tragedies of Sophocles from a sociological perspective. Focusing on the plays Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Women of Trachis (among all seven extant Sophoclean tragedies), we analyse the self-inflicted deaths of Antigone, Jocasta, Deianira, and Eurydice. Drawing on Émile Durkheim’s theory of suicide, feminist theory, and structuralfunctionalism, the study examines how these dramatic suicides reflect and reinforce ancient Greek social values. We consider the cultural context of 5th-century BCE Athenian society – including the restrictive roles of women, the honourshame ethos, and religious expectations – to understand why Sophocles portrays women choosing death. Across Sophocles’ works, female suicides emerge as responses to social pressures: acts of honour and protest, reactions to shame or anomy, and displays of grief and loyalty. Rather than subverting the social order, these tragic deaths often uphold communal norms (such as “death before dishonour” or family duty). At the same time, they provide a rare avenue for female agency within a patriarchal culture, as women “through violence, master their own fate”. The paper concludes that Sophoclean female suicides are multifaceted events steeped in social meaning – simultaneously personal tragedies and reflections of collective cultural values.