An Analysis of the Play Medea by Euripides

Euripides’s plays often featured uncanny insight into the human condition and the struggle that his characters bore due to their expected roles within society.

Both Fifth century B.C. playwright Euripides and Roman poet and dramatist Ovid tell the story of Jason ditching Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female matron's traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to injustice by beginning a crusade to avenge all who harmed her which she is prepared to see through even if it means resorting to the most contemptible methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less extreme figure whose humble goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these differences, both Medeas create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put

As is archetypal to all Greek tragedies, ‘Medea’ by Euripides chronicles the downfall of a noble hero, Jason, as a result of a combination of factors like fate, hubris and the will of the gods. In ‘Medea’, the hubris of the main character, Jason, was his pride. This drove him to betray his wife Medea’s trust and defy moral parameters set by the gods. Euripides employed the hubris of Jason and his act of disobedience towards the gods as a reflection of Athenian society of the time and used this as an attempt to correct the progressively immoral ways of society. This piece focuses on pride as Jason’s hubris and its contribution to his imminent downfall.

In this paper I will be discussing how both males and females were portrayed in the book The Odyssey. While reading the story I was not surprised to see that men were treated as being superior to women. First I will discuss the roles of Odysseus and Telemachus as strong male roles throughout the story. Secondly I will discuss the role of Penelope and the goddess Athena. I will provide examples showing how males were seen as superior to women. I will do my best to paint a picture of how a model Greek male and female would of behaved during this time. If there were any instances where either a male or female violated the rules of behavior according to those times, I will discuss the situation that caused them to act differently. Lastly I will

Euripides created a two-headed character in this classical 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. By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes.

The three heroines of the plays have reasons for their actions and doing what they do, so it can be explained why they are in the right. Their crimes in Greek culture include Medea killing her children, Antigone burying her brother while disobeying a ruler, and Lysistrata condemning sex from men in war of their wives. Medea is the wife of Jason, who she has supported all through her life by killing her brother, betraying her father, and making her own homeland hate her. All of this for the benefit of her husband, giving him fame and success.

The characters in Medea by Euripides have no free will; the gods control all. Consequently, the concept, “Divine Double Bind,” described by the author Ruth Padel in Whom Gods Destroy as “Divinity issues prohibitions (do not kill your mother), forces you to break them, then punishes you for doing so” (215) explains perfectly the actions and ultimate fates of Medea, Jason, King Creon and his daughter, the chorus leader, and the two sons.

Not a Goal Worth Fighting For Jason the Argonaut displays many of the same traits in both Euripides’ Medea and in the tale of the quest for the Golden Fleece. We first meet Jason as he is forced to go on a long arduous quest to reclaim the kingdom that, by his birthright, should have already been his. During this quest, Jason ventures out to rob a nation of its greatest treasure and uses Medea along the way to achieve his goal. In Medea, Jason takes another bride even though he is already married to Medea, fails to protect Medea against exile, and even places the blame for the banishment on her. The methods Jason used to become royalty and live in the castle of Corinth ultimately caused him to suffer and lose everything at the hands of

She helped him in every way possible in his quest for the Golden Fleece, “Her heart on fire with passionate love for Jason... But now there’s hatred everywhere. Love is diseased.” (1) However, in a tragedy, the hero is supposed to make a single mistake which ultimately leads to their downfall. In this case, Medea is not a heroic character as she is a sorceress, murders her brother, and her own children. The hamartia is intended to bring down a character of high morality, but Medea can be viewed as a wholly evil character who is not guided by any moral principles. She is also manipulative and deceptive in the way that she treats the men around her, Creon, Aegeus, and Jason, while involving them in her plan for revenge. Euripides has shown this aspect of her personality through lines such as “Do you think that I would have fawned on that man unless I had some end to gain or profit in it?” (12) and “by a trick I may kill the king’s daughter” (25)

Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides are two plays whose main characters are their namesakes. Antigone is a play based on Antigone’s response to the death of her brothers and Medea is a play based on Medea’s response to her husband Jason leaving her to marry the daughter of a king. Both Antigone and Medea are women fighting against oppression by directly disobeying the law. However, they use different tactics in their battles, and they have different reasons for fighting. In the end, both make their point by bringing down the royal households. These women effectively fight oppression in their own ways.

The Chorus delivers these final lines of Euripides’s Medea, “…the end men look for cometh not, / And a path is there where no man thought; so hath it fallen here.” (Euripides, 80) This quotation not only signifies the events, which have transpired in the plot of Medea, it also shows the recognition of a very curious aspect of Medea: that the protagonist of the play, Medea, is not the tragic hero. A tragic hero by Aristotelian standards is one who possesses a driving aspect– or hamartia – which causes his or her downfall, who endures a reversal of fortunes leading to immense suffering – called peripeteia, and who undergoes an anagnorisis: a profound change or realization. Medea does not have any of these attributes. Instead, it is

Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.

Medea, a classic play by the Greek writer Euripides explores the Greek-Barbarian dichotomy through the character of Medea, a barbarian princess from the land of Colchis. As the story progresses, it becomes noticeable to the reader that Medea is not a traditional woman by Greek standards, this comes as no surprise as she is not native to the region. Central to the play’s plot are Medea’s barbarian origins and characteristics. These are related to and may indirectly influence her to perform acts such as misleading the King of Corinth, Creon and murdering her own sons. Despite these terrible acts, Medea still behaves heroically, as she breaks traditional and cultural barriers thus freeing herself from a doomed and lonely life.

As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides

Marriage – the amalgamation of two imperfect souls to form an affectionate and beautiful relationship – is exceptionally intricate and delicate. Two different people with different insights come together to form a harmonious relationship. Power, or control, is a chief concept that can “make or break” the relationship. Distribution of the ruling is frequently divided into males versus females. This partition leads to many conflicts and tribulations. In the catastrophic Greek play Medea, by Euripides, the liaison between Medea and Jason demonstrates how both males and females assert power in the relationship and how incorrect usage of this supremacy leads to dilemmas.