Argumentative Essay On Medea

I started reading Medea, by Euripides, on March 6, 2015, on a Nook, and then I purchased, Medea and Other Plays by Euripides. I have had my downloaded version with me everywhere to read during my free time, or as distraction to not worry about my critically ill infant nephew. Euripides created Medea about 2500 years ago, 431 B.C., in ancient Greece, and first produced this for the Greater Dionysia. During this time period, Euripides witnessed the rebuilding of the Athenian walls after the Persian Wars. He was considered one of the most influential dramatists, as well as, the last in classical Greek culture. Only 19 of the 90 plays Euripides wrote have survived. According to bio.com, Euripides left Athens in 408, when Archelaus, king of Macedonia,

The protagonist, Medea, is heartbroken and angry, with a multitude of thoughts racing through her mind making it difficult to decide what to do, or so it seems. Medea plays an oppressed victim vying for the sympathy of the chorus and audience as part of her scheming. She is faced with obstacles due to the betrayal of her husband, leaving her family, murdering her brother along with a string of other unsavory acts, in an era that civilized life meant control, no excess; and women buy their husbands in hopes of finding a good one. Medea says, “When, for an extravagant sum, we have bought a husband, we must then accept him as possessor of our body.” Even when mistreated, it’s dishonorable to repel your

There are several themes to this Medea. There is revenge, because Medea is so passionate about her desire to exact revenge on her husband, that not only does she murder his new bride, but she also murders their children brutally with a sword. Murder and death is a theme, because there was a string of them in her path, including her brother and she believes the only true revenge against Jason would be to murder their sons. Poison is her murderous way of choice because it’s untraceable, but by the end their children die by the sword in her hands. Betrayal comes into play as a theme with Jason bringing on another wife, and Medea turns her back to her own family. Manipulation, with Medea is the “master” manipulator, although this was going on with other characters as well. Feminism portrayed in the play, because she showed strong qualities that weren’t the norm for women of ancient Greece. Finally, even with all the tragedy, love was a theme, because I believe it started off as a strong love bond between Medea and Jason or there wouldn’t be such a strong feeling of revenge. Medea and Jason’s sons were a strong symbol. They symbolized the beginning of a love, while their murder symbolized the end of a marriage that turned into the raw emotions of betrayal, anger, and vengeance. I also think Medea killing her children shifted the pity for