Mingjiunn Li
Prof. Raghinaru
CENG 201
9 December, 2014
Justifying Aeneas and Jason for their Betrayal
The theme of suffering, grief, and death following betrayal is most prominent in the two famous Greek works of literature, Euripedes’ the Medea and Virgil’s the Aeneid. These two books show just how the pain and suffering of a woman losing her love can lead to very destructive and deadly actions. Dido is betrayed by Aeneas, and Medea is betrayed by Jason. The betrayal of Aeneas and Jason to their lovers becomes the source of Dido and Medea’s grief, sorrow, hatred, and despair.
Dido from the Aeneid is betrayed by Aeneas to pursue his duty, while Medea from the Medea is betrayed by Jason to marry the king’s daughter.
Both Aeneas and Jason abandoned
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their lovers for a reason. Aeneas had duty to perform before he met Dido, which was a quest “for Italy to be [their] new fatherland”. ( Aeneid 1.456) Aeneas was forced Dido because of his duty. Jason betrays Medea to marry the King’s daughter so that his former wife and children will have a secure future. However, the consequences that follow are very severe. Dido takes her life, and Medea takes revenge by murdering her own children and Jason’s new bride. The two male characters who abandoned their lovers had a reason to do so, but were they justified? In comparing Aeneas and Jason, their reasons for betrayal, and the consequences of their actions; Aeneas justifies his reason because he was forced to follow heaven’s command, while Jason’s decision to marry another woman was selfish of him. Aeneas is the son of the Trojan mortal Anchises and the goddess of love and beauty, Venus.
He is the Roman hero whose destiny and duty is to become the founder of Rome. Aeneas had a tough choice to make; to either stay in Carthage and continue to have a romantic affair with Dido, or fulfill his destiny as founder of Rome. It is clear that duty is more important than passion to Aeneas as he eventually makes his decision to leave Dido for the land of Italy. However, the remorse he displays in Book 6 as he tries to soothe Dido’s burning soul in the Underworld demonstrates his sincere regret for having hurt her. He weeps as he tries to free himself of guilt for causing her death, desperately swearing “by the stars, by the powers above” (Aeneid 6.551), that he was commanded by the gods to leave. “I could not believe that I would cause you / Such grief by leaving” (6.557-58). He is unable to convince the soul of Dido to stay and hear his excuses. “With such words Aeneas tried to soothe / Her burning soul. Tears came to his eyes, / But Dido kept her own eyes fixed on the ground / As unmoved by his words as if her averted face / Were made of flint or Marpesian marble” (Aeneid 6.561-565), and she hurried off, hostile and cold, “into a darkling cove” (Aeneid 6.567) to the comforting embrace of her former dead husband. “But Aeneas, struck by the injustice / Of her fate, wept as he watched her / Disappear, and pitied her as she went.” (Aeneid 6.569-571) Aeneas truly regrets leaving …show more content…
Dido. His emotions contrasts with Jason in line 452 of the Medea, who doesn’t care if Medea hates him for marrying another woman: “The fact is that even if you hate me, I could never feel badly towards you.” (Medea, line 464) “This doesn’t matter to me. As far as I personally am concerned, you can go on for ever saying that Jason is an utter scoundrel.” (Medea, line 452) Jason cares more for his new royal family than Medea as he tells her, “But, as for what you have said against the royal family, you should consider it all gain that you are being punished simply for exile.” He calls Medea’s behavior foolish for speaking badly of them, and that’s why she is being banished. In Book 1 of the Aeneid, Aeneas is aware of his duty, He was up thinking the whole nigh through.
(Aeneid 1.373) He knows what he has to do and tells his mother who is disguised, “I am Aeneas, devoted to my city’s gods … My quest / Is for Italy to be our fatherland, and to found / A race descended from Jove most high. (Aeneid 1. 461-466) It is clear that Aeneas’ responsibility holds a greater importance than emotion for him, although he temporarily ignored his duty while in Carthage with Dido. It required the constant reminding from the god Mercury of his fate in order to get him back on track to find Italy. (Aeneid, 4.300) Before Mercury reminded Aeneas again of his fate, it seemed he was quite content with his life in Carthage, overcome with love for Dido and the comfort of permanence and stability away from the violent sea. His duty however, prevailed over passion in the end. Aeneas was forced by the gods to find Rome. Dido was an obstacle in his duty. She deflected Aeneas from his duties for a short while, but he had had to continue to Italy somehow. Aeneas, who was caught leaving, was unable to convince Dido. He stated too simply: “It is not my own will – this quest for Italy.” (Aeneid 4.415) There is no choice for him to make. Naturally, Dido will not be persuaded by these arguments. After cursing Aeneas, she hints at the suicide that she will in fact
commit: And when cold death has cloven body from soul, My ghost will be everywhere. You will pay, You despicable liar, and I will hear the news; World will reach me in the deeps of hell.” (4.445-448) Aeneas had already ruined Dido’s honor by “marrying” her, ruining her appearances and good name. Leaving would shame her even further. It is because of Dido’s lost honor that the Libyan warlords and her own Tyrians hate her. (Aeneid 4, 362) Even though Aeneas causes deep suffering and pain for Dido, he had no choice but to flee Carthage because he is a Trojan leader and his duty always comes first. Jason, meanwhile, marries betrays Medea for another woman, which is completely different from Aeneas’ pursuit of duty. One could argue that, his actions were acceptable. In Robert B. Palmer's essay "An Apology for Jason: A Study of Euripides' Medea , he defends Jason's many objectionable actions and claims that a 5th century Greek audience was more forgiving than more recent critics. What Jason is doing is perfectly legal. (Palmer, 51) Medea is a stranger and a barbarian. Because of this, Jason seems to look upon her as as someone who will bring him less respectability in his present position. Under the Periclean law of 451/450 B.C., Jason’s children are considered Illegitimate because they are the children of mixed couples. Jason is a Greek, but Medea is a barbarian. His children could not become citizens and were considered bastards because they are born form a citizen and a non-citizen. If Jason’s children are considered bastards, they cannot inherit or carry out the sacred rites of the family religion – the rites that perpetuate the continuity of the family, unless he can formally marry a Greek citizen. Jason is concerned with the problem of a legitimate son, and because of Athenian law, illegitimate children are not the responsibility of the father but go with the mother. (Palmer, 51) Palmer appeals to the reader to understand Jason's character as a 5th-century Greek would. Although Medea herself is not blameless, Jason is equally spiteful, and an apology to him is unnecessary. The reasons Jason gives for betraying Medea are selfish to some extent. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to marry a royal princess, as Medea is only a barbarian woman, but hopes to someday join the two families together and keep Medea as his mistress. Medea, and the chorus of Corinthian women do not believe him. Medea reminds Jason that she left her own people for him, she helped him kill the dragon guarding the golden fleece, betrayed her father, and reminds Jason of his wedding oaths to her. (Medea, lines 474-492) The characters of The Medea express disapproval over Jason’s decision to marry the king’s daughter. The nurse laments that “Jason has betrayed his own children and [Medea] and beds down in a royal match.” (Medea, line 17) Medea feels that Jason had wronged her. (Medea, line 27) The old tutor says in Medea’s house says “Old Ties take second place to new ones, and that man is no friend to this house.” (line 75) “Their father no longer loves these children because of his new marriage” (line 88) When Aegeus hears of Jason marrying another woman, he refers to it as a shameful act. The consequence of marrying another woman affects Medea so much that she wished she could die. (Line 98) Jason was everything to her because she left everything behind. She could no longer go back to where she was, and without Jason, she had nowhere else to go. She only desires for her to be the only spouse to Jason, and it shamed her for Jason to leave.
As such, he does not want the men to inform Dido of what is going on and wants them to hide the reason for these changes - “et quae rebus sit causa novandis dissimulent” (4.290-1) because he knows it will break her heart. He wants to tell her himself, at a “tender moment” which he can let her down softly, as seen as Virgil writes “temptaturum aditus et quae mollissima fandi tempora, quis rebus dexter modus” (4.293-4). He does not want to break their love because it appears he truly cares about her, and he refers to her with highest regard, calling her “optima Dido” (4.291). As such, Aeneas can be considered noble man. While he is still abandoning her, he is not doing it in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. It is extremely difficult to face someone you love and tell them goodbye, but he undertakes this task because he understands this is the only right thing to
For a year, Aeneas delayed his destiny and departure to Italy by settling down with queen Dido in Carthage. The gods deliver a message to Aeneas and to his dismay he must leave “the land of his love” and resume his destiny (Aen. 4.). Though his parting from Dido is emotional, and he leaves her broken and suicidal, Aeneas remains level-headed and strong-willed, a noble quality known as gravitas to the Romans. By Aeneas having to leave Dido, he is overcoming a very emotional obstacle; he is leaving despite a chance of stability and love, the first since the death of his wife.
In both characters loyalty and dutifulness is a central ideal that they stick to. In The Aeneid Aeneas’ loyalty and sense of duty is seen in many instances, such as when they arrive on the shores of Italy and takes refuge Dido’s city of Carthage. While there, Aeneas and his people feast and live well, and Aeneas has the opportunity
Euripedes tugs and pulls at our emotions from every angle throughout The Medea. He compels us to feel sympathy for the characters abused by Medea, yet still feel sympathy for Medea as well. These conflicting feelings build a sense of confusion and anxiety about the unfolding plot. In the beginning, the Nurse reveals the recent background events that have caused Medea so much torment: "She herself helped Jason in every way" (13) and now he "has taken a royal wife to his bed" (18). Right away we are angry with Jason for breaking his wedding vows, and we are building up sympathy for Medea as the Nurse describes her acts of suffering. When we first see Medea, she speaks passionately to the women of Corinth and convinces them to side with her. She evokes their sympathy by drawing further attention to her suffering and speaking in terms that bring them all to common ground. Aegeus becomes Medea’s first victim when he, unknowingly, provides the final building block in her plan for revenge against Jason. We sympathize for Aegeus in his ignorance. Medea now has confidence in her plan, so she reveals it to the women of Corinth. She is going to send her children to Jason’s bride with a poisoned dress that will make her die in agony. We are still compelled to sympathize with Medea at this point because she has justified her reasons for seeking revenge. However, the princess is oblivious to Medea’s plot; she will accept the gift for its beauty then meet an unexpected, agonized death. The image of pain and agony elicits our sympathy as well. Medea presents her most perverse speech when she explains how she will kill her own children then flee Corinth. Alone, these acts provoke pure disgust, but Euripides has developed Medea’s character as a coercive force; we still sympathize with her for her plight, yet we also hate her for her decisions. The women of Corinth try to persuade her away from this morbid choice, but their arguments are ineffective. Euripides employs stichomythia in the exchange between the women and Medea to show Medea breaking down boundaries between self and other, which prevent sympathy (811-819). Euripedes focuses on suffering, ignorance, and rhetoric to leave us torn in our sympathy for every character.
Out of the two heroes Gilgamesh was the one who was most aggressive and pursued the more ambitious goal, though it was one near impossible to achieve. Gilgamesh wanted to have a power that only the gods possessed. He wanted to be immortal. Aeneas never sought such an unachievable task, and was not as determined as Gilgamesh was. Aeneas only had to find a place where the defeated Trojans could settle and found a new city. Once in the story he even had to be reminded of his destiny by the Jupiter when he was distracted by his love for Dido.
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,
Thesis: Despite his accomplishments and the glory associated with his life, Aeneas only achieves the status of hero through divine intervention, and this god-given position causes him just as much grief as it does splendor.
In the poem, Virgil says that all Romans ought to have two certain virtues: he must remain a pious Roman citizen, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In Virgil’s poem, he uses Aeneas as a portrayal of not only a roman hero, but also as the ideal Roman citizen. For a man to be pious, he must do what he is called to do and follow his destiny. Aeneas is above all pious. He follows the will of the gods, even when it makes him suffer. Aeneas’ destiny is to lead the Trojan people to the new land of Rome. Although this is tough for him to do and he runs into difficulties along the way, he keeps on striving towards his final goal. Aeneas also, throughout the entire poem, remains loyal to the Roman race. there are times that it would be easy for him to go against the Romans, but he remains loyal and keeps on fighting for the empire. Aeneas is used to represent the ideal roman citizen and the ideal Roman hero, but these characteristics do not surface until the poem is nearly over. As the poem is coming to a close, Aeneas begins to explain how it is his duty to fight Turnus. He does not have the desire to have the battle with Turnus, but he has the desire to follow his destiny and do what he has been called to do. He says, “Hold back your anger! Now the t...
Despite the contrast in the characters of Euripedes' Medea and Aristophanes' Lysistrata, the two playwrights depicted how gender inequality can start a fire. As with Medea and Jason, the battle between the two lead to former's madness, leading to the death of the enemies she considered, and, unfortunately, leading as well to the death of her own children. Medea felt betrayed and left behind by her husband Jason, as well as continuously aggravated by Creon despite the fact that i...
... wife and home as well as his place in Carthage in the name of the gods, in the name of a quest that does not directly benefit him. From this pursuit, he does not stand to gain spoils, and the most that could be said of his fame would be drawn from his descendents. It is this moral stance, this understanding of universal placement, of purpose, that sets Aeneas apart from other heroes.
When discussing the fate of Aeneas, a thought provoking question is posed that is commonly debated. If Aeneas is commanded by fate, does he have free will? It is important to approach this question with a solid understand of fate. There are two common sides to the debate of whether Aeneas had free will or not. One view believes Aeneas had no choice but to follow his destiny because he was commanded by fate, and prophesied to found the race that will one day build Rome. The other side states Aeneas did indeed have free will, and even though his fate was set, room is available within his fate for events to change. One can argue Aeneas makes some of his own choices, but no particular detail of his life is untouched. Destiny determines that the Trojans will found a city in Italy, but it does not stipulate how that will happen. This is where room is left for free will. After much research and considering the views of many commentators and the proof they showed, the answer can simply be found by going back to the text of The Aeneid.
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.
To begin, Aeneas displays his ability to control his emotions when attempting to order his men to calm down and let him fight with Turnus. He believed he could gain glory and protect the lives of his men. “As Aeneas was saying these things, an arrow whistled through the air toward him in a long falling arch” (319, 387). Again, Aeneas controlled his emotions by choosing to flee the battle, rather than trying to achieve the glory. This is purely a Roman trait as a Homeric hero would have stayed and achieved victory or died in battle. Then, Aeneas is proven to be guided by obedience to his deific rule, when it was said, “Did any man or god compel Aeneas to make war on the Latins? “’He sought Italy at the call of the Fates.”’ Yes—driven on by Cassandra’s raving” (246, 75). Truly, Aeneas obeyed his gods and his command. Finally, Aeneas substantiated his dedication to his countrymen and not only unto himself when he proclaimed to Turnus, “Do you think you can get away from me while wearing the spoils of one of my men? Pallas Sacrifices you with this stroke—Pallas—and makes you pay with your guilty blood” (340, 1150). Honorably, Aeneas gives homage and claim on behalf of the fallen Pallas at the death of Turnus. Unquestionably Aeneas is the essence for the Roman Empirical
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.
Aeneas is often referred to as 'pious Aeneas', and this is also how even he...