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The character of medea
The character of medea
Greek tragedy media analysis
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The messenger’s description of the princess is particularly effective because he give us a vivid image of the pain the princess suffered. “Blood was dripping down, mixed with fire, from the top of her head and from her bones the flesh was peeling back like resin, shorn by unseen jaws of poison, terrible to see.” (Line 1185) I description show how vindictive Medea was. Medea did not just kill the princess she made sure the princess suffered.
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.
In Aristotle’s The Poetics, he states that the most important part of any tragedy is plot. Almost every example of a Greek play in this period begins with a setting scene. In it one of the main characters gives an outline of the current situation, and foreshadows on further events of the play. So does Medea, with the nurse saying, “She has turned away from the children and does not like to see them. I am afraid she may think of some dreadful thing, for her heart is violent. She will never put up with the treatment she is getting. I know and fear her lest she may sharpen a sword and thrust to the heart, stealing into the palace where the bed is made, or even kill the king and the new-wedded groom, and thus bring a greater misfortune upon herself.” (Euripides 696) This is a great example of setting the plot, making a path between the situation at hand and a future possibility. So in this sense Medea follows the guidelines in the poetics perfectly.
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.
Though she had a positive influence upon the women during her time, Medea is a true cynic. With her art of manipulation and her strive for vengeance, Medea becomes a killer who disregards even her children’s lives. In Ancient Greece, women were stereotypically regarded as weak and passive beings. But Medea, a woman during that era, contradicts what Greek society portrays women. She uses people’s feelings and lives as mere tools in order to push her agenda. A villain can be either a man or a woman, as gender is a mere shell of the true person inside.
Jason was expecting her to continue fulfilling her role as a woman, and Medea got so upset that she wanted to be the exact opposite of all that Jason wished for. The idea of a “powerful woman” is progressive in this time, and dissed by tradition. Jason is a good example of a traditional figure, just wanting a good heir to his kingdom. Medea, although portrayed by Euripides as thinking without a brain, could possibly be viewed as a hero. Maybe we only view her as a tragedy because she defies every premise that is set forward for women: have a healthy husband, a healthy bank account, and healthy children. Maybe Medea does not want these things and only wanted to prove her strength. It took a lot of strength to kill her children. It also shows women’s short temperament, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they need to be dependent on men, as this play shows the non-loyalty of men. In a way, Euripides levels out the desires of man and woman, as he makes both of their wishes
In Euripides' Medea, the main character of the same name is a controversial heroine. Medea takes whatever steps necessary to achieve what she believes is right and fair. She lived in a time when women were expected to sit in the shadows and take the hand that life dealt them without a blink of their eye. Medea took very radical steps to liberate herself and destroys the life of the man who ruined hers. She refused to accept the boundaries that a patriarchal society set upon her. Medea was a very wise and calculated woman who was brave enough to leave her homeland, along with everything she knew and loved, in order to follow her heart down the path of what she expected to be eternal happiness.
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.
Throughout the whole story, you are torn with emotions between the characters. At first, you feel sorry for Medea. Her husband, who she has saved from death, has left her for another woman. She has been "all/obediant" their entire marriage, transforming herself into the sort of wife required by society. You can't help but sympathize with her.
... poor innocent children to cut all ties and flee to a harbor of safety. Ignoring the will of the children, and their cries of help, she struck them from this world. “What can I do and how escape from my mother’s hands?” p41. Medea is a cold blooded killer that is capable of the unthinkable. Disposing anyone in her path, betraying her own family and home, and putting her duties of a mother to shame. “O your heart must have been made of rock or steel, you who can kill with your own hand the fruit of your own womb.” p41. I beg the Jury to show not even a drop of compassion when the name Medea is present. And do not pity the beast, for pity only fuels her bloodthirst. Medea is a living demon and must be put to death this moment. O fair citizens of the Jury, strike this hellish creature where it stands or the God’s themselves will intervene and purge her from this world.
Ironically, Medea’s actions are similar to a man when she takes charge of her marriage, living situation, and family life when she devices a plan to engulf her husband with grief. With this in mind, Medea had accepts her place in a man’s world unti...
Medea was a very diverse character who possesses several characteristics which were unlike the average woman during her time. As a result of these characteristics she was treated differently by members of the society. Media was a different woman for several reasons; she possessed super natural powers , she was manipulative, vindictive, and she was driven by revenge. The life that Medea lived and the situations she encountered, (one could say) were partly responsible for these characteristics and her actions.
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...
One of the major themes of Medea is the position of women. Medea herself constantly gripes about the treatment of her gender. Athens, the setting of this story and a city that prided itself as free, was nonetheless a city that depended on slave labor and the oppression of women. Medea is a woman who has suffered and has become cruel due to her suffering. The chorus of women, who too are being oppressed, join in on complaining and inevitably take part in the evil. Medea becomes not just a fight for a particular female, but as revenge for the whole gender.
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.