Differences And Similarities Between Medea And Sappho

Humans throughout history have constantly struggled in defining love, sex, and morality. Early texts such as Medea and Sappho introduce themes in relation to love, sex, and morality. For example, love can provoke emotions in their rawest form, evidently shown in both texts, as Medea murders for her lost love and Sappho mourns and rejoices over hers. In regards to sex, purity is a consistent theme, shown when Medea rages over her soiled marriage bed and Sappho over her lost virginity. As for morality, moral duties must be fulfilled and they can be used as a basis for guiding one’s actions, as Sappho follows and Jason from Medea does not. Constantly, humans struggle to find a set of guidelines for how to live their lives. Love is something most

Raw emotions evoked by passionate love are inescapable, no matter how much time passes or how humans evolve. Emotions are important; they are formed in the very core of one’s being. They are often a guiding principle in making decisions and perceptions. When formed out of love, emotions are especially influential. Sappho, for example, is very open in expressing her raw emotions, shown well in a poem she wrote; “Thank you, my dear / You came, and you did / well to come: I needed / you. You have made / love blaze up in / my breast – bless you! / Bless you as often / as the hours have / been endless to me / while you were gone.” Clearly, Sappho’s happiness is stemming from being deeply in love. However, love does not always guarantee positive emotions; Sappho says later, “Pain penetrates / Me drop / by drop” (Barnard 61). Medea experiences similar pains from love, after betrayal by her husband, Jason. Throughout the book, Medea rages over her husband’s actions, saying at one point, “But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury” (Euripides 35). This fury guides Medea to take the actions she does later in the book in her plot to exact revenge on her husband. While it is debatable whether or not Medea’s murdering

Despite this, the topics described above of love, sex, and morality are a solid foundation for guidance on how one lives their life. Out of these concepts and themes one sees right and wrong in the morality of the actions of the characters. Emotions stemming from love should be given thought, as in Sappho, but not allowed to overrule moral judgment, as in Medea’s case. The concept of purity and sex with connections to a woman’s worth and obligations to please the male and abide to patriarchy must be abolished. Sappho should not suffer due to her lost virginity, nor should Medea be concerned of her lost purity after Jason’s betrayal; men do not suffer the oppression of this culturally conceived concept as women do. Medea’s suffering from her lost love comes out of Jason’s neglect for his moral duties to love her back and be committed. The loss Jason suffers afterward because of Medea’s revenge justifies the betrayal she endured, and gives a clear example of how actions affect others and come back to haunt. Displaying a different moral duty, Sappho shows how her emotions from love and moral obligations guide and her society to a pleasant and virtuous life. Out of sex, we can see our flawed, society-constructed concepts of purity associated with virginity; and we can see their harmful and oppressive effects on women. From this, we can become aware of the injustice of