One is compelled to recall in this context that the status of women in the Greek society was equivalent to slaves. At best these women rouse our sympathy for being the victims of the patriarchal cruelties. Medea on the other hand sends shivers down the spines of those who advocate the patriarchal model. She is out to rub shoulders with men because she can beat them at their game. She can snatch away from them what they have denied her. However, I postpone an in depth analysis of her character and situation to be done in the following pages.
I shall now examine both the textual as well as mythological references to ascertain how Euripides portrayed Medea and how his portrayal was different from the traditional mythology. A minute study of the text in the context of the Medea-Jason myth helps us to determine the reasons why Medea has to resort to an act, which is quite unexpected of a mother to perform. Several instructive references are made to Medea's background and the circumstances which pushes her to this impasse in the expository soliloquy of the Nurse and later in the various dialogues of Medea, especially the ones uttered at the occasion of her first and then the last encounter with Jason. Medea, a barbarian' in the eyes of the civilised' Greeks, was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis - an Asian land - and the granddaughter of Helios, the Sun god. Jason, a Thessalian hero, was the rightful inheritor of the throne of Iolcus by virtue of being Aeson's son. His uncle Pelias, the usurper of his throne, bade him to procure the Golden Fleece from Colchis if he wanted to be named as his successor. According to the legend , Hera asked Aphrodite to make Medea fall violently in love with Jason so that Pelias could be subsequently punished through her. There is a passing reference to this incident in Jason's speech. " I hold That credit for my successful voyage was solely due To Aphrodite, no one else divine or human.
