Barbarian In Medea

To the Greeks the term "barbarian", was meant to refer to anyone whose race was not of Greek origin, specifically it was meant for those races that endangered Greek civilization and culture. Since most "strangers" or "other" frequently attack Greek cities, "barbarian" became a crude term referring to a person seen as subhuman, uncultivated, a practitioner of all things unsavory and ruthless as humanly possible. Clearly, like the women of ancient Greece, a "barbarian” was not considered a member of Greek society. Most Greek plays only have women as non-essential characters or they don't have them at all. That is why Euripides' Medea, a tragedy where the woman is the main character, is intelligent because she is a "barbarian", is unexpected and

In his article, ‘The Polis In Medea: Urban Attitudes And Euripides Characterization In Medea 214-224’, Charles Lloyd States,

Though Medea is a foreigner, her first few lines (214-224) present us, nevertheless, with an arresting flexibility and adaptability to the Greeks and to their unique social and political creation, the polis. Similarly, her language reveals the kind of adroitness that is characteristic of the sophistication born out of the town life of the fifth-century Greek aristocrat. (115).

Meaning that she is deemed as civilized enough to be counted as one of them. He goes on to say that, "when Medea steps outside… she presents a cool and calculated affect, and in her speech she, as a woman, discloses a remarkably astute assessment of the essentially male attitudes that make the Greek polis "(115). Implying that she was accepted because she had not fail to uphold the standards of the polis, the community of Corinth. It was Jason’s estrangement from her that reminded the people of Corinth that Medea was in fact not one of them. Consequently, Medea’s division from the people of Corinth is because she is the victim of Jason’s