Euripides Support of Women’s Rights

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Euripides Support of Women’s Rights One can hardly deny that in Euripides’ plays women are often portrayed as weak, uncertain, and torn between what they must do and what they can bring themselves to do. Other women appear to be the root of grave evils, or simply perpetrators of heinous crimes. In a day when analysis of characters and plot had yet to be invented, it is easy to see why he might have been thought to be very much against women. However, when looking back with current understanding of what Euripides was doing at the time, armed with knowledge of plot devices and Socratic philosophy, this argument simply does not hold up. In fact, a very strong argument can be made to the opposite, that Euripides was in fact very much in support of women’s rights, and thought they were treated unfairly. To begin to understand what Euripides was doing, it is best to understand the medium of his art: the Greek theater. Theater was a competitive art among playwrights, with several competitions throughout the year, the greatest of which was at the Dionysian festivals in the spring. Greek drama, tragedy in particular, had little in common with modern acting productions. There was little or no suspense as to the outcome of the play; most all were based on Homeric tales from The Iliad and The Odyssey. The skill, therefore, was not in creating a fascinating plot, but in the subtle changes the playwright could incorporate to increase the dramatic effect. Changing the reasons for conflicts, dialogue, order of events, and sometimes even the outcome of the play were all ways to do this. With all these devices available to the fifth century playwright, what made Euripides so special that he was almost exclusiv... ... middle of paper ... ... Euripides. Medea. Trans. Paul Roche. New York: Norton, 1974. Euripides. The Bacchae. Trans. Paul Roche. New York: Norton, 1974. Euripides. Andromache. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Hippolytos. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Trojan Women. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Electra. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. Trans. Clifton Fadiman. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Perseus Encyclopedia. Revised 1999. Tufts University. www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia?entry=Euripides>. Powell, Anton, ed. Euripides, Women, and Sexuality. New York: Routledge, 1990. March, Jennifer. “Euripides the Mysogynist?” Euripides, Women, and Sexuality. Ed. Anton Powell. New York: Routledge, 1990.

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