Euripides 'Medea': Character Analysis

707 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Aristotle on nobility

 In Euripides play, Medea the Character of Medes fit the Aristotelian Arc of character development because the arc state that a character must be of a high social standing. His or her actions must fit with that standing, and last the must be humanistic and relatable." Behavior must be in keeping with their social rank, and consistent Protagonist must be a person of high rank or stature We must be able to identify with them – we must recognize we ourselves would do the same in a similar situation" [Darbey slide2].
 Medea is a princess in her home country Colchis where her father King Aeetes meets her soon be to be husband Jason of the Argonauts. Ateetes Gives Jason three impossible task in order to get the Golden Fleece which he was after."

Show More
Related

  • Stereotype And Reversal In Euripedes: Article Analysis

    153 Words  | 1 Pages

    Shirley Barlow centralizes her article, Stereotype and Reversal in Euripedes’ Medea, on the idea that Medea goes back and forth between the normal social stereotypes of a Greek man and woman. Medea holds very heroic qualities, qualities of which are supposed to belong to a man. Barlow makes a point in the article that even though Medea is exposed to the same environment and circumstances, the way in which she thinks and carries out action is completely different than that of a normal Greek woman. While trying to convince the reader of Medea’s unusual heroic characteristics, Barlow points out that she Medea also holds the feelings of a mother who has love for her children. Barlow

    Read More

  • Euripides Medea Vs. Greek Prejudices And Gender Roles

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    *Although Medea is arguably the most intelligent character in Euripides’s piece, shown in her dialogue with Creon, she has become ridiculed, and viewed as barbarous and less desirable following her separation from Jason. She is no longer a wife to a Greek man. She is simply an outsider, and a burden on a prosperous

    Read More

  • Comparing the Characters of Lysitrata, Penelope, and Medea

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Courageous, powerful, and reckless, Medea left her home without her father's blessing to accompany Jason to the land of Corinth, after using her magic powers to slay the dragon that guarded the golden fleece. She also killed her own brother to slow Jason's chasers. For a while, Medea and Jason lived in harmony in Corinth where they had two children. Later, Jason left Medea for Kreon's daughter. She became grief-stricken at her loss and filled with rage at Jason's betrayal. This, is explained by her nurse during the prologue in World Literature Volume A (pg697), "she'll not stop raging until she has struck at someone",

    Read More

  • Ovid And Medea

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Thousand And One Nights Vs Medea Analysis

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    Euripides shows his views on female power through Medea. As a writer of the marginalized in society, Medea is the prime example of minorities of the age. She is a single mother, with 2 illegitimate children, in a foreign place. Despite all these disadvantages, Medea is the cleverest character in the story. Medea is a warning to the consequences that follow when society underestimates the

    Read More

  • Anti-Hero Protagonist in Euripide´s Medea

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    An anti-hero is the protagonist of a story who lacks some attributes almost always present in a hero, such as selflessness and mercy. Where the hero will save the antagonist at the end of the story if such an opportunity presents itself, the anti-hero will most likely leave his or her foe to rot and choose to forgo saving the life of an enemy. The anti-hero might go as far as to hasten the humiliation or death of said enemy to further her or his own agenda. In Euripides’ play, Medea, Medea shows aspects of an anti-hero in how she deals with her problems, such as manipulating others to save her own skin, cursing those who have wronged her and destroying them, and scarcely ever displaying heroic characteristics such as mercy and sympathy; even as she takes Jason’s only hope for solace away.

    Read More

  • Women, Outsider and Barbarian in The Play Medea by Euripides

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many students who have taken general English at Saint Leo University have been taught that personal development is a change that greatly influences the transformation of character. In Medea by Euripides, the protagonist Medea was considered as an outsider in three crucial ways: she was viewed “as a woman in a male-dominated world; as a foreigner or “barbarian” in a Greek city; and as a smart person surrounded by fools,” (Euripides 527). At the beginning of the play, the reader takes Medea’s side. She is in the wrong relationship with Jason, the play’s villain; she e...

    Read More

  • The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    Euripides created a two-headed character in this classical tragedy. Medea begins her marriage as the ideal loving wife who sacrificed much for her husband's safety. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a murderous villain that demands respect and even some sympathy. By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes.

    Read More

  • Medea as a Heroine in Euripides

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • medea

    455 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Euripedes Medea versus Aristotlean Poetics

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aristotle, a philosopher, scientist, spiritualist and passionate critic of the arts, spent many years studying human nature and its relevance to the stage. His rules of tragedy in fact made a deep imprint on the writing of tragic works, while he influenced the structure of theatre, with his analysis of human nature. Euripides 'Medea', a Greek tragedy written with partial adherence to the Aristotelian rules, explores the continuation of the ancient Greek tales surrounding the mythology of Medea, Princess of Colchis, and granddaughter of Helios, the sun god, with heartlessness to rival the infamous Circe. While the structure of this play undoubtedly perpetuates many of the Aristotelian rules, there are some dramatic structures which challenge its standing with relevance to Aristotle's guidelines, and the judgment of Medea as a dramatic success within the tragic genre.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Medea by Euripides

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Greek society, the role of women was considered to be insignificant compared to the Greek men. The women had very few rights, no room to voice personal opinions, and a very bleak future with few options for a better life. According to Moses Hades, professor of Greek studies, women in ancient Greek plays are known to be the main characters and take the role of the villain, victim, or the heroine. In Euripides’ play Medea, Medea, the main character, plays all these roles. She represents the heroine by helping her husband secure the Golden Fleece prior to their marriage, and then portrays the victim by being betrayed by her husband, and finally the villain by murdering her loved ones. Therefore, Euripides follows the standard format for a Greek tragedy.

    Read More

  • Aristotle’s Poetics

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Medea, Medea gives up her home, murdered her brother and tossed the pieces of his corpse and betrays her family to escape with her lover Jason. Against her father's wishes she helps Jason recover the Golden Fleece. Afterwards, Medea and Jason fall in love, get married and Medea gives birth and raises two sons. Unfortunately, Jason abandons Medea and marries King Creon's beautiful daughter. Medea alternates her role from a lover and partner in crime to an obsessive prideful monster. Me...

    Read More

  • Euripides's Medea Vs. Buttrey

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Theodore V. Buttrey defended the role of character Aegeus in Euripides's Medea as being instrumental in helping progress the story from the play’s first and second act. This defense of Euripides, comes in response to critics, including Aristotle, who, having taken poorly to Aegeus’ underdeveloped character and rather suspicious entrance in the play, have gone and criticized the entire structure of Medea. Buttrey, on the other hand, credited Aegeus for providing a noticeable distinction between the play’s two acts; acting as the principal red herring that ends up throwing the audience’s attention away from Medea’s intent on committing filicide until the horrible reveal of the play’s climax. Hence, it is with the king of Athens that Euripides

    Read More

  • The Character Medea's Revenge in Euripides' Medea

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Finally, the play opens with Medea's Nurse indirectly giving background information to the story about to unfold. It is quickly understood by the audience that Jason, the husband of Medea, for whom she disowned her family and had killed for, has left her for the King of Corinth (Creon's) daughter - a beautiful princess. Medea is outraged by this and is set on seeking revenge on him.

    Read More

More about Euripides 'Medea': Character Analysis

Open Document