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Euripides' "Medea"

And by the final scene it is with Jason whom the audience shared the feelings Aristotle proclaimed so essential to drama as he learns of not only the deaths of his new bride and father in law, but also the deaths of his own two sons and the hands of their mother.
             One of Euripides" trademarks was to take an ancient myth as his subject matter and infuse it with the current social and political trends of his day. Palmer terms these "conscious anachronisms" and cites them as underlying conflicts in Euripidean plays. By introducing these anachronisms he is able to turn the characters into his audience's contemporaries. Therefore, the attitudes and ideals of the 5th century are prominent throughout his plays. It becomes increasingly hard for the audiences of later centuries to understand Euripidean plays in the context they were written. Palmer ascertains that although Medea has always been understood to be "a 5th century woman in revolt" , Jason must be perceived to exist in the same context. Jason's struggle stems not from his heroism but rather from his being a Greek citizen who must conform to Athenian laws. Because he became a "fallen hero" he longed to "crawl back into the sheltering anonymity of the Greek patriarchal system" .
             Jason's legacy could only live on through his heirs; such was the social structure of 5th century Greece. And although he had two sons, they were disqualified because they were considered bastards, or noithoi. Because Medea had killed her father and brother, she had no one to "carry out the legitimate acts of engue and ekdosis" and therefore their marriage was not recognized. Due to the seeming lack of dowry as well, Medea appeared to be nothing more than a partner of Jason's, unrecognized by the polis as his wife. Medea, however, refuses to accept this narrow categorization of her and "much of the play concerns itself with her fight to maintain herself as the only mate Jason shall ever have.


Essays Related to Euripides' "Medea"

1. medea

... the wildest aberrations by which men are controlled, or troubled, or destroyed In Euripides' Medea, as we learn from the nurse in the opening scene, Medea and Jason have lived together as husband and wife in Corinth since fleeing, first Colchis, where Medea betrayed her father King Aaetes, and then Iolcos, where Medea was indirectly responsible for the death of King Pelias. 1. When Jason landed ... Jason have had two children during their life together, but at the opening of Euripides' Medea, Jason and his father-in-law-to-be, Creon, say Medea and her children must leave the country so ...

  • Word Count: 7698
  • Approx Pages: 31
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Euripides & The Medea

... -artists who will stop at nothing and let no one get in the way to get what they want. In the case of Medea, as stated in, The Review of Politics by Cambridge University, Euripides "sharpens the two-edged character, Medea" by doing so you are not sure throughout the succession of the play whether you should like the character or loath her ... inner struggle a person has throughout the entirety of their life. The struggle of good vs. evil within a person's being. It is also discussed in Palmer's article how some analysis of Euripides plays; Medea in particular may not even fit the criteri...

  • Word Count: 1606
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Medea - A Feminist Perspective

... a marked shift from the predominant patriarchal trends of his times. In an attempt to materialise such a shift, he has departed from the various mythological versions of Medea's life, which were prevalent in his age. Hence, Euripides manages to expose the chauvinistic trends of the Greek society and uses his artistic genius to lay bare the inherent imperfections in the supposedly perfect' Greek ... Civilisation. Let us scrutinise how Euripides manages to portray Medea as the first notable precursor of the feminist perspective. A keen reader of the Greek Tragedy may argue that there are ...

  • Word Count: 3814
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Medea: Passion vs. Reason

... ll do anything to get it. This is the foundation of the riveting tale of Medea by Euripides. This saga deals with murder, passion, vengeance, deception, pride, and that all these qualities can emerge in everyday human activity. Euripides" dramatic piece shows us many faces of humanity and expresses several significant characteristics for ... 325). Here she declares that the feeling of passion is so strong, she has no will or power to stop it. Euripides explains through Medea's pain that we as human beings can succumb to our emotions and loose control. Her thinking is not rational, even t...

  • Word Count: 862
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. medea is a sympathetic charact

... )! She also exclaimed "Come, flame in the sky, pierce through my head! What do I gain from living any longer" (Euripides 21)? These outbursts display the agony Medea experienced. Medea deserved sympathy. Medea loved Jason, and sacrificed everything for him. She gave up her homeland and family for Jason and in return he left her abandoned and unwed with two sons to take ... "trials are yet to come for this new-wedded pair; nor shall those nearest to them get off easily" (Euripides 28). Medea poisoned Glauce and Creon. When Jason ran to Medea he found that she had stabbed both of his sons...

  • Word Count: 737
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Revenge Rather than Justice:Euripides Medea

... experience, however to let it overwhelm our every emotion, and block out your sense of reason, is to embark upon a moral downward spiral. This emotional journey is seamlessly captured in Euripides "Medea", whereby the struggle against a passionate heart and a mind riddled with despair destroy a once contempt women. Her story is timeless in demonstrating the effects revenge and cruelty can have upon a being ... of nursing a "vengeful heart", and while doing so will also seek an explanation as to why her actions became subject to cruelty. There are two types of cruelty featured in Euripid...

  • Word Count: 2228
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Medea

... of sight and sound, expressed these ideologies to his audience through the use of symbolic context as well as elegant literary techniques found in the text of Medea. I think Euripides suggesting that a human being is unsuccessful if he or she allows himself to be governed by only emotion or by reason. Instead, one must learn to maintain a balance of these ... and has a dangerous reputation for cleverness. This is unusual in a society that is male under enemy control and women are considered to be weak. Medea makes her decisions based upon her passions, her emotion. The play by Euripide...

  • Word Count: 957
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Is Ibsen's A Doll's House patterned after Medea?

... and women has always existed in society. Examples of this are expressed through literature. Henrik Ibsen's play entitled A Doll's House is very similar to Euripides play Medea. Both plays portray these factors and how women are forced to cope with such positions in society. Each play exhibits a separation of family due to its ... on them. For myself I do not mind if I go into exile. It is the children being in trouble that I mind." (Euripides p. 12) She plays upon Creon's weakness for children. Medea uses the time he allows her to plot revenge against Jason and his new royal family. The ...

  • Word Count: 1911
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Medea - Text Response

... that follow which are a result of passion, reason, and selfishness. The key decisions made in Euripides' play is Jason's choice to leave Medea and his children to marry Glauce, and also Medea choosing to kill her children. Medea is a vengeful and manipulative woman who bases her decisions on passion, revenge, selfishness and reason. ... children to the mockery of [her] enemies'' as she believes that leaving them to live they will be frowned upon and made fun of. Euripides presents Medea's excuse as genuinely thinking and caring for her children and what the consequences may be if she is ...

  • Word Count: 493
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography

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