Theme Of Sacrifice In Medea

The constant deliberation within ourselves determines our voluntary movements in life. When actions are deemed necessary, our body performs them without conscious thought. On the other hand, we are constantly making decisions, big and small, that are constantly shaping the way we live our lives. The stupidity of some is mind-blowing to others, when in fact it may be that person’s smartest or most rational thought. Euripides’ Jason in the historic play, Medea, makes a plan which seems rational and prosperous, but instead creates a plan that will ‘kill (his) own children’ under the power of a ‘foolish woman’. This filicide in fueled by misjudgment on Jason’s part and revenge produced by Medea. The play focuses on the mistreatment of woman in

400BC, as men believe ‘there should have been some other means for mankind to reproduce itself, with the need of the female sex’. Euripides’ spotlight on the issue of gender equality stimulated controversy and therefore became of very few plays still depicted today.

The ‘evil’ protagonist, Medea, is depicted as a sorceress who is persistently plotting ‘deadly routes’ and ‘determined to make troubles for the people of Corinth.

Creon, king of Corinth, decrees Medea to exile to protect his family and himself from the powers of Medea. In this ironic decree, Medea utilises her banishment to seek revenge without consequences and actually causes Creon’s death. Creon’s death is brought upon himself as he takes one of the only things Medea still possesses; a land to live on. Medea seeks the help of Aegeus, King of Athens, to ‘never expel (her) ever from (his) land’ and creates a helpful ally in Aegeus and the blessing of the Corinthian women who believe her punishment is another act as a result of ‘ill-repute’ in women. As Medea plots to kill Jason’s new bride with a ‘finely woven gown and a coronet of beaten gold’; two gifts that the princess would not be able to ‘restrain herself’ from, and her father is also taken in a desperate clamber to save his young daughter from her agonizing death of ‘mortal doom’. Creon may not have known how powerful and deceitful Medea could be, and let this lapse in knowledge end catastrophically for his family, his land and himself. Not only did Creon and Corinth lose their beloved daughter at the hands of the ‘wicked’ Medea, Jason lost his bridegroom and goals of

‘prosperity’.

Jason however does not fear Medea, alas his decision to marry Glauke, to ‘ensure (his) prosperity’ is by all means as a result of reasoning for the best possible outcome for his sons and himself. Although Jason does not fear the ‘evil’ and ‘bad-tempered’ woman to which he married, Medea is still capable of great harm and strives to drown Jason in a ‘sea of troubles’ with plans of great revenge. This revenge is necessary in Medea’s eyes as she is still ‘transfixed by desire’ for her lover and will stop at no end to allow him to feel the pain and suffering she experienced as a result of his secreted marriage to a young royal bride. Medea can be identified as unhinged and ‘wicked’, but her actions are of those of a troubled woman and her way of dealing with the torment of adultery committed by her husband. These selfish and horrific acts were, and still are today, seen as the actions of an ‘arch-criminal’ and someone who would be described as ‘abominable.’ But these actions are just a reflection of her selfishness and what she believes is equal payback for Jason’s ‘wretched’ and adulterous behaviour.
Medea has been filled with vengeance ever since she left her homeland and travelled with Jason in order to capture the ‘Golden Fleece’; even murdering her own brother as sacrifice for the prized object.

Her personality is full of extremity and ‘savage temperament’, and could be characterized as sociopathic, but was ammunition to Jason’s fight for triumph. However Jason’s foolishness and forgetfulness allows him to become victim to Medea’s ‘monstrous’ deeds, rather than the victor. Jason’s thoughts to become king overshadow the logic analysis of what his wife, ‘transfixed by desire for (him)’, would do in response to his controversial marriage for the crown. Euripides’ produces Medea’s plan of filicide as purely for her own benefit; to hurt the ‘traitor’ yet she lost any respect she held on to and became a ‘contemptible creature, killer of children’ with no admiration by any other being other than herself. The once pitied woman fighting for ‘recompense’ is now an enemy of women and the battle for gender equality, as she murders her own family and destroys many other lives in the process, which shows how Euripides understood the constant battle for women. This portrayal of selfishness represents how many people cannot believe in something completely unless they see something to gain out of it. Medea’s manipulation as she wept before the chorus not only support her intentions, but also tip her over the edge between extreme revenge to unfathomable murder as she rationalizes her

actions with white noise transmitted from the once-supportive onlookers, before it’s too late.

Medea’s actions are indeed of passion and selfishness, as she is betrayed by her true love and must now not only care of herself, but also cause harm to those who could harm her. Jason may have not been scared of Medea, but after such ‘evil’ and ‘monstrous’ acts, his rational judgement is invalid and incorrect as his two sons die in reaction to his infidelity and disloyalty with and to a newly deceased wife. His reasoning was blind-sighted by the opportunity to reign over Corinth and leave Medea to live a humble uneventful life whilst he passed the reins of King of Corinth after his father-in-law dies (of natural courses). This manifested in Medea’s fury building as the children cried ‘Where can I escape my mothers hands?’ after Medea loses touch with her maternal ways and commits filicide to ensure maximum grief for Jason. This play is just as relevant today as it was in 400 BC, and the ideas of careful judgement and passion still clash and passion can rule over the smallest or largest of things.