Euripides' Medea
Medea is the tragic tale of a woman scorned. It was written in
431 B.C. by the Greek playwright, Euripides. Eruipides was the
first Greek poet to suffer the fate of so many of the great
modern writers: rejected by most of his contemporaries (he
rarely won first prize and was the favorite target for the
scurrilous humor of the comic poets), he was universally admired
and revered by the Greeks of the centuries that followed his
death('Norton Anthology';). Euripides showed his interest in
psychology in his many understanding portraits of women ('World
Book';). Euripides choice of women support characters such as the
nurse and the chorus is imperative to the magnification of
Medea's emotions. The very fact that the nurse and chorus are
female deepens Medea's sadness, impassions her anger, and makes
the crime of killing her own children all the more heinous.
Medea's state of mind in the beginning of the play is that
of hopelessness and self pity. Medea is both woman and
foreigner; that is to say, in terms of the audience's prejudice
and practice she is a representative of the two free born groups
in Athenian society that had almost no rights at all ('Norton
Anthology'; 739). Euripides could not have chosen a more
downtrodden role for Medea. Here is this woman who has stood by
her man through thick and thin. She has turned her back on her
family and killed her own brother while helping Jason capture the
Golden Fleece.
'Oh my father! Oh, my country! In what dishonor
I left you, killing my own brother for it.';
(Medea 164-165)
Despite all of her devotion to her husband he has fallen in love
with someone new, Glauke. The Nurse and the Chorus understand
and sympathize with Medea as only other women could. Euripides
develops the heart of Medea's character by the sympathetical
approach of the Nurse.
'...calling out on her father's name,
And her land, and her home betrayed when she came away with
A man who now is determined to dishonor her.
Poor creature, she has discovered by her sufferings
What it means to one not to have lost one's own country.';
(Medea 31-35)
The Chorus are sympathetic to Medea's heartache also, and offer a
more simple and acceptable approach to help Medea deal with her
troubles.
'Suppose your man gives honor
To another woman's bed.
It often happens. Don't be hurt. ...
... middle of paper ...
...And when I have ruined the whole of Jason's house,
I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my
Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed.';
(Medea 775-780)
The killing of Glauke and Kreon loses significance with the
Chorus who are dreadfully anticipating the harm of Medea's
children. Euripides uses a female chorus to signify the atrocity
of a mother killing her own children. The Chorus no longer
sympathizes with Medea, yet still blames Jason for the events
which have taken place.
'You too, O wretched bridegroom, making your match with
kings,
You do not see that you bring
Destruction on your children...';(Medea 964-966)
Euripides role of female characters to sympathize with
Medeas heartache in the beginning, and magnify the unscrupulous
murder of her children in the end is brilliant. The reason for
the female support is evident. If the Nurse or Chorus had been a
male servant or a mixed crowd in society the plot of the play
would have been lost. Medea is a woman suffering from a broken
heart, and it seems only fair that she be given sympathy and
judgment from peers who can relate. Hell hath no fury like that
of a woman scorned!
To begin comparing Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7, we need to look at three components: context, characters, and themes. Both Euripides and Ovid tell the story of Jason abandoning Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female protagonist’s traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to discrimination by beginning a battle to gain revenge all who harmed her, which she is prepared to follow through with even if it means resorting to the most despicable methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less severe figure whose modest goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these written differences, both of their Medea’s create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in undesirable situations. Euripides and Ovid present two different sets of motivations for Medea's behavior wh...
Euripedes tugs and pulls at our emotions from every angle throughout The Medea. He compels us to feel sympathy for the characters abused by Medea, yet still feel sympathy for Medea as well. These conflicting feelings build a sense of confusion and anxiety about the unfolding plot. In the beginning, the Nurse reveals the recent background events that have caused Medea so much torment: "She herself helped Jason in every way" (13) and now he "has taken a royal wife to his bed" (18). Right away we are angry with Jason for breaking his wedding vows, and we are building up sympathy for Medea as the Nurse describes her acts of suffering. When we first see Medea, she speaks passionately to the women of Corinth and convinces them to side with her. She evokes their sympathy by drawing further attention to her suffering and speaking in terms that bring them all to common ground. Aegeus becomes Medea’s first victim when he, unknowingly, provides the final building block in her plan for revenge against Jason. We sympathize for Aegeus in his ignorance. Medea now has confidence in her plan, so she reveals it to the women of Corinth. She is going to send her children to Jason’s bride with a poisoned dress that will make her die in agony. We are still compelled to sympathize with Medea at this point because she has justified her reasons for seeking revenge. However, the princess is oblivious to Medea’s plot; she will accept the gift for its beauty then meet an unexpected, agonized death. The image of pain and agony elicits our sympathy as well. Medea presents her most perverse speech when she explains how she will kill her own children then flee Corinth. Alone, these acts provoke pure disgust, but Euripides has developed Medea’s character as a coercive force; we still sympathize with her for her plight, yet we also hate her for her decisions. The women of Corinth try to persuade her away from this morbid choice, but their arguments are ineffective. Euripides employs stichomythia in the exchange between the women and Medea to show Medea breaking down boundaries between self and other, which prevent sympathy (811-819). Euripedes focuses on suffering, ignorance, and rhetoric to leave us torn in our sympathy for every character.
Euripides is a keen witness to the human character and the father of the psychological theater. His plays were modern at the time compared to others because of the way he focused on the personal lives and motives of his characters, in a manner that was unfamiliar to Greek audiences. His plays have often been seen, in simple terms, bad because critics have been unable to comprehend his visions. The ideas and concepts that Euripides developed were not accepted until after his death.
In Euripides Medea, Medea is the morally ambiguous character. In part, Medea can be seen as good because she wanted to live with Jason and her two children in Corinth as a family and enjoy a happy life. So it is understandable that Medea becomes devastated and an emotional wreck after Jason leaves her for the princess. He claimed by marrying the princess, he could bring the children up in a well-being and make more royal children. Medea became a distressed. Hateful, and a bitter woman at Jason. Medea mentioned, “we women are the most unfortunate creatures.” Medea acknowledges that the women don’t have much choice in the marriage and if they want a good life, they need a man to control them. And that woman would be much better off if they had
Euripides uses indirect/direct characterization of Medea, the plays antagonist, to help the readers understand a deeper reason for the things she has done, including kill her own brother and children. Through the use of the chorus, and other minor factors, we, as the audience, get to mentally interpret Medea’s side of the problems she and Jason undergo, and try to understand what she is going through and how she feels. Does she do it out of spite or out of revenge? Was she really in love with Jason, and was he worth killing all of these people she so deeply cared about? Although Medea is portrayed as the villain in the play due to her actions and rage, indirect/direct characterization from herself, other characters, and most importantly, the chorus, all reveal a deeper understanding as to why Medea did what she did and how she felt in the midst of all these problems she faced.
It is the reversal of “tradition, order” and “all things”. In her commitment to revenge, Medea defies the expectation of Greek society, transforming from the “poor Medea”, who is “scorned and shamed”, “[lying] collapsed in agony, into a “vile murderess”, who’s “rage will not relax till it has found its victim”. Medea is an anti-hero; she underplays the supposedly righteous and moral principles of society in demonstrating the contradictions of Jason’s character and generally men, who are themselves guilty of being “swayed by passion” and being “oath breakers, guest deceivers and liars.” As much as Jason is disloyal, Aegeus is equally loyal; he is so beguiled by Medea’s offer of being “granted fertility”, that he is willing to provide “sanctuary” in Athens for a “child killer”. Just as Medea is motivated by her personal passions in neglect of civilised laws, no less are the men in the play. Furthermore, the fact that the ending of the play unfolds in the manner that it does, where Medea evades punishment “in this chariot which the Sun has sent to save her from the hands of enemies” is a testimony to the idea that the constructs of society and their supposedly cultivated principles are arbitrary in the larger scheme of our existence. Through the deus ex machina ending of the play, Euripides condemns humanity’s fixation on contrived ideals and values that ultimately affect greater merit than is actually
Centuries of traditions has enabled men and women to define gender roles in society. Although some critics declare gender roles do not exist today, others believe they do. In society, men and women are defined by gender roles throughout their activities and emotions. A doctor is typically portrayed by a male while women rear the children and cook for the men. However, although still in existence, today these roles are less obvious but tend to have similar meaning when compared to the past. In ancient Greece, women suffered great hardships. Currently, females work, vote, and run for office. In comparison to ancient Greece, these activities are a phenomenal leap from being under the direct supervision of a male husband.
In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason’s new bride that also kills the King of Corinth. Medea then kills the children. Later, she refuses to let Jason bury the bodies or say goodbye to the dead children he now loves so dearly. Jason is cursed with many catastrophic flaws that lead to his downfall and that of others around him.
Eupriedes, Medea and Sappho’s writing focus on women to expose the relationships between a variety of themes and the general ideal that women are property. The main characters in both pieces of literature demonstrate similar situations where love and sex result in a serious troll. These themes affected their relationship with themselves and others, as well as, incapability to make decisions which even today in society still affects humans. Headstrong actions made on their conquest for everlasting love connects to sacrifices they made to achieve their goal which ultimately ended in pain. Love and sex interferes with development of human emotions and character throughout the course
In the story of Medea, the author, Euripides, addresses the topics of foreignism and female roles in the ancient Greek society. In the play, Medea, a foreign born woman, marries Jason, a Greek man, and moves to Greece to be with him after leaving her homeland with death and devastation. Then, when their marriage fails, Medea lashes out against Jason, causing her own exile and murdering her children, to which she has no love connection, and Jason’s new wife in the process. The main character, Medea, confirms many of the alleged Greek prejudices against foreigners and creates some prejudices of her own in return. Medea’s foreign roots and misconceptions, as well as her familial and societal atrocities,
The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
In Euripides' Medea, the main character of the same name is a controversial heroine. Medea takes whatever steps necessary to achieve what she believes is right and fair. She lived in a time when women were expected to sit in the shadows and take the hand that life dealt them without a blink of their eye. Medea took very radical steps to liberate herself and destroys the life of the man who ruined hers. She refused to accept the boundaries that a patriarchal society set upon her. Medea was a very wise and calculated woman who was brave enough to leave her homeland, along with everything she knew and loved, in order to follow her heart down the path of what she expected to be eternal happiness.
Medea’s illegitimate marriage and the betrayal of Jason drive Medea to extreme revenge. Medea chooses to act with her immortal self and commit inhumane acts of murder rather than rationalize the outcomes of her actions. Medea see’s this option as her only resort as she has been banished and has nowhere to go, “stripped of her place”. To create sympathy for Medea, Euripides plays down Medea’s supernatural powers until the end of the play. Throughout the play Medea represents all characteristics found in individual women put together, including; love, passion, betrayal and revenge. Medea’s portrayal of human flaws creates empathetic emotions from the audience. The audience commiserates with Medea’s human flaws as they recognize them in themselves. Medea plays the major role in this play as she demonstrates many behavioral and psychological patterns unlike any of the other Greek women in the play; this draws the audience’s attention to Medea for sympathy and respect.
The Chorus is very much an important part of Euripedes’ Medea, and indeed many other works written in the ancient Greek style. In this play, it follows the journey Medea makes, and not only narrates, but commentates on what is happening. Euripedes uses the Chorus as a literary device to raise certain issues, and to influence where the sympathies of the audience lie.
Medea was a very diverse character who possesses several characteristics which were unlike the average woman during her time. As a result of these characteristics she was treated differently by members of the society. Media was a different woman for several reasons; she possessed super natural powers , she was manipulative, vindictive, and she was driven by revenge. The life that Medea lived and the situations she encountered, (one could say) were partly responsible for these characteristics and her actions.