Examples Of Justice In Medea

344 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Euripides play analysis medea character

Although Medea is seemingly about a woman who faces gender oppression, we must also take into consideration how her status as a queen impacts her perception of justice and revenge. Aristotle says that an insult is an action that causes shame to the victim, but is not done out of the need to advance oneself or for fun. According to Jason the marriage between him and his new wife is a gesture to provide a better life for his children. In this instance Aristotle understanding of the way an insult unfolds into revenge does not equate to the way it is portrayed in Medea. We must then question Medea's idea of justice and revenge as it relates to her status as a queen. Aristotle's understanding of belittlement as it regards to people with

Show More
Related

  • Euripides Medea Vs. Greek Prejudices And Gender Roles

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Women in Uruk and Greece: Wives, Noble, Whores, or Evil?

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Medea we have the Women of Corinth; more complicated women who act only as the Chorus and have little power to alter plot. They flock around Medea, pleading and sympathizing with her. They stay inactive and only speak with emotions and ideals fitting superficial levels of their status as women and wives. At the beginning, when Medea was only a wronged woman, they chastise Jason (as it would be proper to do if a man committed adultery): “Still I think... You have betrayed your wife and are acting badly.” (Euripides, 19). However, later in the play, when Medea discloses her plan to kill her children they simply plead with her: “I both wish to help you and support the normal Ways of ma...

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Essay on Medea and Antigone

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    While both women do wrong by the law of man, and Medea against the law of the gods, they do it for different reasons.  In the beginning Medea kills many people and monsters with little or no concern of the consequence. When the story deals with modern times Medea kills out of pure revenge and spite for Jason.  She plots for weeks to kill Jason’s new bride and poisons her, and then before she leaves the country she murders her two sons, she had with Jason, before she rides off in her bright white chariot.

    Read More

  • The Gendered Struggle: Comparing and Contrasting between Masculine and Feminine Perceptions of Honor in Two Cultures

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    The comparisons between Medea and Hamlet are numerous. Both are stories about revenge that end in the controversial main character sacrificing everything in order to preserve one of the most important markers of identity of their time: honor. Medea was a controversial character in ancient times not only because of her filicide, but because she asserted that women have honor, an idea that was not the norm in Greece. In sharp contrast to her is Hamlet, the tragic hero that was honor-bound by his society to avenge his father’s death, yet only does so at the expense of his entire kingdom. The difference in how society treats Hamlet and Medea in their quests to preserve their honor result in tragedy for both characters, as Hamlet lets the masculine values of honor in his society come in the way of his sanity and Medea draws honor, in a society that does not acknowledge her efforts as valid, out to its very limits, causing Jason pain at the expense of her own children, despite social pressures such as duty and gender roles deterring them from completing their vengeance. Both sacrifice almost everything in their quests, breaking societal norms and bringing into question the validity of their revenge.

    Read More

  • The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Evil Character Medea in Euripides' Medea. Euripides created a two-headed character in this classic 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.

    Read More

  • Medea as a Heroine in Euripides

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Jason left Medea to marry Glauce, Medea was plagued with sadness and then with anger. The man she loved, the man that she gave up her life for, had betrayed her. In the patriarchal society that Medea lived in, it was not acceptable for a woman to protest any decision made by her husband. Medea went against all social standards and took revenge on Jason for the wrongs that he had committed. She was willing to take any chance and sacrifice even her most valued possessions. Medea knew that the best way to avenge the wrongs of Jason was to kill Glauce and the children. It was a huge sacrifice for Medea to kill the children that she loved, but she allowed herself to look past that love and only see her hate and contempt for Jason. Medea was willing to go against every rule that society set, so that her husband wouldn't get away with leaving her for political reasons.

    Read More

  • Jason Brings His Own Downfall in Medea, a play by Euripides

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • medea

    455 Words  | 1 Pages

    The problem set at the beginning of the play is that Jason has decided to marry another wife, Glauce. Medea is angered and will not let Jason off without punishment. The loss of Jason is not only a matter of passion; Medea has been completely humiliated by Jason's decision to take a new bride. Her pride shows again when she refuses Jason's aid. Though her situation is difficult, she would rather destroy all than accept help from one who has wronged her so horribly. Living as a barbarian among Greeks has made her more defensive, more full of hurt pride. To punish Jason, Medea had her children deliver poisoned gifts to the new bride, to kill her children, Glauce, and Creon. . Medea is not without feeling, nor is she a sociopath. She comprehends the difference between right and wrong, but chooses to follow the dictates of rage.

    Read More

  • Representation of Womens Roles in Society- Medea

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Justice in Euripides' Medea

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    How do we define reason as just? When asked this question, it really makes you begin to wonder how to depict what one might think is just. In the story of Medea, reason is what drives many of the characters actions. For example, the reason that Jason leaves Medea for Creon's daughter is for his own benefit. Is that just? Medea then kills Creon and his daughter for revenge against Jason. Is that just?.

    Read More

  • Feminism and its Role in Medea

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Medea, by Euripides, conflicts play a major role in the creation of the play. Some examples of these conflicts are with Medea and Jason, Medea and herself, and Medea and Creon. Medea is shown to be a strong, independent woman who does what she wants as well as doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She shares qualities of a traditional male at the time, and the qualities of a traditional female. Euripides makes this clear in the play by creating conflicts to prove women can be a powerful character and that the play in general challenges the idea of misogyny.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Medea by Euripides

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even in today’s society, gender roles play a part in how people view the world. Although more important than the gender roles are the emotions that antagonize the psyche of the human. Medea shows how jealousy can lead to revenge and influence bad decisions and ruin or even end lives. Ironically, the decisions she makes to kill her children, leaves Jason helpless much like a Greek wife during this time. She removes the opportunity for him to voice his opinions, needs, and desires. This flip of traditional gender roles shows how gender roles are not a reliable way to view a society.

    Read More

  • The Character of Medea in Euripides

    368 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although Medea killed and did things that people felt were wrong it is evident that through out the play that along with her other characteristics, she was a caring and loving person. The first time we are shown this is when we discover everything she did for Jason. If she did not love him she would not have done those things. We are also shown that Medea can be a caring person by the love that she had for her children. Although she killed them in the end during the play she was a mother to her children, she showed affection to them, and she did think twice before she killed them. It is because Medea was a caring and loving person that she did what she did. Her feelings were hurt and her heart was broken; and she did what she felt she had to do to hurt Jason for hurting her.

    Read More

  • The Importance of the Role That the Chorus Plays in Euripedes’ Medea

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    This mutual suffering between Medea and the Chorus raises issues such as the treatment of women at the time when this play was written. When Medea married Jason, she married herself to him for life. She was expected to be totally obedient and to accept whatever her husband willed. For her to look upon another man other than her husband would have been totally unacceptable. Whereas Jason marries another woman while he...

    Read More

  • The Character Medea's Revenge in Euripides' Medea

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Medea is a tragedy of a woman who feels that her husband has betrayed her with another woman and the jealousy that consumes her. She is the protagonist who arouses sympathy and admiration because of how her desperate situation is. I thought I was going to feel sorry for Medea, but that quickly changed as soon as I saw her true colors. I understand that her emotions were all over the place. First, she was angry, then cold and conniving. The lower she sinks the more terrible revenge she wants to reap on Jason.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Justice In Medea

Open Document