Victor Soares R. Bombard English 2111 28 September 2015 Medea vs Justice In Medea, the ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, the main character Medea is shown as a double personality character in this tragedy. Upon reading Medea, one finds that Medea has many untraditional characteristics for a woman. Medea started her marriage as the perfect loving wife who gave and sacrificed so much for her husband. After Medea’s husband betrays her by marrying another woman, Medea accumulate so much hatred against Jason and every one involved with him. Half-way into the reading Medea becomes a villainous murderer that demands respect and sympathy even after all she has done. By the end of the play, Medea has killed every one that has crossed her …show more content…
path of revenge, including her own two children, but Euripides didn’t kill her off in the end of the play because she now had to live with the fact that she killed her children because of revenge and hatred for Jason.
As it said in the play “I loathed you Jason more than I loved them the children.” (Euripides 813) Medea’s jealousy consumes her to a point that she started to kill people with no remorse. Medea starts by killing the princess Glauce, then Glauce’s father Creon, and she ends with the murder of her own two children. So if the question “Is justice served in the case of Medea?” I believe not. Medea was judged by two sorts of justice. The fist is Human Justice, which are the people of Corinth, that wants Medea to pay for all the murders she committed. Perhaps before addressing human justice, it is necessary to look at the definition of 'Justice', which is, “The quality of being (morally) just or righteous.” In society we see many horrifying crimes such as wives killing husbands, parents killing children, and etc. In some of these cases the justice system …show more content…
doesn’t give the right punish to the people who commit these horrible crimes. Two main reasons are because of self defense or insanity. In Medea’s case, justice was certainly not served. Medea knowingly and willingly committed those murders, as She states, "I know that what I am about to do is bad” (Euripides 810) all in the impulse of revenge. Due to first degree murder, she should’ve been charged with death, which she was, till she was saved by the sun God Helios, Medea’s grandfather, which take us to the second justice. The second justice is Divine justice, which its definition is a justice carried out by God. Since God isn’t bound by time and humans perceive each judgment as distinct, it is believed that only God can put forth divine justice. Euripides characterized Medea as the granddaughter of a God, which give her an enormous advantage at the end of the play. Towards the end of the play, Medea is miraculously rescued by a divine justice, her grandfather, the sun God Helios. He sends her a chariot pulled by dragons and rescue her from her prosecution. In spite of Medea committing murder, it is still argued that Medea should not be punished for her actions.
Medea's most valuable argument for her innocence, was her psychiatric condition. An example of her situation happened many times in the past and continue to happen to this day. 1994 Susan Smith drowned her two children in a lake. 1998 Kathleen Folbigg suffocated her only child. Many things come to mind when hearing about these horrible acts. What sane mother would do such a thing to her own children. But that’s just it, no sane mother would kill her own child. If looked closely both Susan and Kathleen had psychological issues that led them to committee these dull acts. Susan Smith was rejected by her husband, Kathleen Folbigg’s father murdered her mother in front of her. Medea suffered most of those acts, she was not only rejected by her lover, but she also had her pride taken away from her. Revenge considered one of the most ancient and brutal human impulses. When a person is threatened by another, the fist thought that comes to one’s mind is revenge. But its when these thoughts become reality that society
suffers. By taking a closer look on the text of the play, its clear that Medea struggles with an inner conflict; she makes a thorough thinking about the consequences of her actions. At a point, Medea thinks with a rational mind, and dismisses the idea of killing her children, but soon after, she is so driven with revenge for what Jason has done to her. She states, "Why should I, in harming them to give their father pain, make myself suffer twice as much?” (Euripides 817) This show how Medea is able to see, logically, that murdering her own children will not give her the revenge she demands, but will only bring more pain. When she states, "Do I want to make myself ridiculous, letting my enemies go unpunished? I must go through with this. What a coward I am, even to admit soft words into my mind,"(Euripides 813) it proves that Medea is incapable of controlling her emotions. With many others quotes by Medea, it becomes clear that she cannot use her psychiatric condition, since she is able to reasonably acknowledge the killing her children. Someone who is insane is unaware of their actions and unable of plotting such a detailed plan such as Medea’s, however, in Medea's case, she is well aware of her every move. To conclusion Medea’s case in a more logic way, Medea is guilty simply because of all the murders she committed, and because of her self-interest she commits these horrible crime, and blames others for her actions and searches for pity in her defense. If Medea’s grandfather hasn’t sent her the chariot, she would have suffered the proper punishment that she deserved. Even by taking her side of the story into consideration, she still committed crimes that are severe punished
Medea was wronged by Jason, she was a loyal wife and mother who was betrayed by her husband and reacted in a way...
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,
With no husband, no country to turn to, and no one she can really depend on for rescue, Medea is trapped by her circumstances. Instead of becoming crushed, however, Medea turns it against those she hate. She attacks the weaknesses in her enemies’ character. Knowing Jason would feel guilty about his abandonment, Medea sent her own children to deliver the poisoned gifts, despite the certain death her children would face being involved in such a plot. Knowing the princess would not resist flashy gifts, she cursed the dress and crown. Knowing the king’s love for his daughter would cause him to rush to her aid, Medea formulated the curse to spread to those who touched the daughter as well. As each facet of her plan had to be executed perfectly to succeed, Medea demonstrated the full potential of her capabilities. She proves that when a society completely scorns and devalues women, everyone will pay as women are incredibly strong.
Medea is often very demanding in getting what it is that she wants; Antigone, will do what she need to do in order to get what she wants. With Antigone she is defies the law of a king to uphold the law of her spiritual belief. In the middle of the night she lives the house and sneaks into a field to bury her dead brother. Medea killed many people, including her own sons and a princess, in order to only spite her unlawful and cheating husband. The two women are like alligators, waiting motionless for the right time to strike. In the case of Medea, swift, violent strikes. And with Antigone, a cool collected precise one. These women are always determined to get what they want.
By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes. In Medea, a woman betrays her homeland because of her love for a man. Jason is the husband that she ferociously loves and makes sacrifices for. They have two children together: Antigone and Ismeme. In Jason's quest for the golden fleece, Medea assists him in multiple ways.
Under the virtue ethics category, Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ theories will be used to analyze Medea’s deeds. Medea sought “justice” for Jason’s wrongdoing. She wanted revenge by harming Jason and Glauce. However, Plato in the Republic rebuked the idea that is is right to “do good to a friend, provided he is good, and to harm an enemy, provided he is bad.” (Plato, p. 14) Plato’s counterargument was that it is possible to misinterpret who is a friend or is an enemy, and that bringing harm is against the nature of a
Charlotte Bronte once said, “Women are supposed to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel. They need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do. They suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow minded in their more privileged fellow creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags” (Bronte). In the play Medea, Euripides diverged from the traditional role of Greek women through Medea’s characteristics and response to her plight. In delineating the role of women, Medea was unlike any other Greek character. Medea was portrayed as capable and resilient woman who would refuse to back down no matter the obstacles. Nevertheless, women in the Greek culture had very few rights. Housework and bearing children were their main obligations. They were basically no better than slaves. In the ancient Greek society, Medea would not fit well among fellow Greek women. Her role as a woman in the play was downtrodden. However, her determination and courage caused people to fear her. She was a woman who turned her back on her family and killed her own brother in order to help her husband.
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.
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.
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.
As she is "Faced with her husband's cold pragmatism, Medea responds according to her nature." Euripides really stresses the "otherness" of Medea's nature: she is "of a different kind", described in terms of nature and animals: she is "a rock or wave of the sea'", "like a wild bull", "a tiger". Yes, she is a little dangerous, but she is driven by her hear; that vital force which distinguishes the body from the corpse and has been crushed by Jason's betrayal.
One of the Greek values embodied in Medea is the value of wit . Although one could argue that Medea’s behavior is rather impulsive and the result of an unstable state of mind, the fact that was able to cause the damage she did in the matter of one day could only add to the argument of just how quick Medea really was. The first example of
... takes matters into her own hands and doesn’t wait for a man to handle things for her. Also, her internal conflict that is visible throughout the entire play signify that she actually thinks for herself, and is strong enough to need to make serious decisions on her own, regardless of her gender. All of this goes back on the traditional Greek society, and helps make Medea into a play that is ahead of its time. With Euripides challenging the notion of misogyny, he creates Medea to show how powerful and dangerous a woman can be in a story, even though it was never heard of in the modern eras.
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.
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.