Betrayal In Medea

Revenge is one of the few drives which pushes humans to perform the extreme. The central drive which Medea’s actions are constantly revolving around is revenge, the action of inflicting suffering to the cause of previous suffering. Medea gains suffering from her actions of revenge. Euripides, through Medea’s actions of revenge, illustrates the suffering which it is accompanied by. Medea is unwilling to compromise the revenge she desires to inflict on Jason, regardless of the suffering she will face in return.

The mistreatment that both receive from Jason and Agamemnon despite all that they do for them contributes heavily to their vengeful actions as well. Medea used her magical powers, defied her father, and killed her brother to devote herself to Jason, is still treated coldly and is neglected by Jason, who abandons her and their two sons and leaves her for Creon’s daughter. She realizes that “to annihilate the past is not possible: but its fruit in the present” can be used at her disposal to fulfill vengeance (Medea 1.364-5). She decides to channel the woe she

Firstly, Medea is someone with very wicked intentions who is a villain only to an extent because

First, we will look at the motive in this case. What could have possible motivated Medea to murder her children? Medea has been scorned by her husband, Jason, who left her for another woman (Puchner 529). You see, Creon has arranged for Jason to marry his daughter (Puchner 529). Jason, believing this would be the best decision he could make for his children, accepted Creon’s offer (Puchner 543). Medea could be heard wailing and crying out in rage from this betrayal (Puchner 532). So, Medea decides to break her husband’s heart, as he had broken hers, by killing their sons (Puchner 548). She could have easily left, after being exiled by Creon, and started a new life for herself and her children (Puchner 535). In a time where Medea could have

From the beginning of the play the conflict between good and bad where Medea and Jason are concerned has been ambiguous. Both characters have done terrible things in order to attain what they want. Nothing could stand in the way of them including Medea’s father, whom Medea betrayed and to pile on the grieve she kills her brother and drops parts of him into the sea so as to delay her father thereby ensuring that Jason and his Argonauts could fulfil their quest to attain the Golden Fleece. When Jason betrays Medea and walks away from their marriage we immediately identify him as the villain, yet the reader fails to understand that during that time when this play was written it was still socially acceptable for the man to walk away from his marriage provided he gives back the dowry he attained from the wife’s father. In this case Medea did not bring any such items so it was even easier for him to leave her so as to empower himself. It was Medea’s role as a woman belonging to that age to accept Jason’s decision however she feels betrayed that he would break a vow made in front of the gods, and apparently she was not a regular woman even by the standards of that time as she had an intellect that could rival that of scholarly men. So to exact her revenge she destroys everything Jason loves leaving him to regret ever betraying the marriage.

Internal conflicts within Medea shed light on her true character and her difficulties to make decisions. Throughout the play, there are many cases of Medea contemplating her

Medea’s version of justice is taking matters into her owns hands. She wants to take revenge on Jason by murdering his fiancee and his children. Medea killed her children to make Jason pay for his wrongdoing. Though she did feel regret, she still carried on and committed sacrilege against her children. Her actions was not justified in the court of law and in the eyes of men and women. She also not only killed her children, she killed Jason’s fiancee. The Corinthian princess, Glauce, died a brutal death by the gifts that Medea had given her. “She changed colour, staggered back and sideways, trembling, then fell into her chair again, almost collapsing on the floor” (Euripides 43). The messenger who went to Medea gave in full detail, a vivid description of the what happened to the princess of Corinth. Medea held no remorse for Glauce or the

but it then converted to wanting revenge. She was overcome with emotions and she didn't know how to control herself which is what led her to make illogical decisions. Medea would have never done such a thing had she not been shot with the arrow that Hera had sent. Under the influence of the arrow Medea felt as if the only way to get back at Jason for breaking her heart was to kill the princess and her own two children to make him suffer the way she did. Medea never meant to harm anyone but under the influence of the arrow and the rage built inside of her she lost control of herself and her ability

Commonly considered one of Euripides greatest pieces, Medea is an insightful depiction of how a woman’s love for her husband, churns into a gruesome revenge scheme against him. This tragedy illustrates a tale of a woman who challenges Greek societal norms. In the era that the story takes place; women are often seen in submissive roles. However, the play’s main character, Medea, challenges their customs through her actions against the Kingdom of Corinth and Jason.

In Euripedes’ play Medea, he depicts Medea as a woman who is consumed with vengeance and hatred after being betrayed by her husband Jason. This betrayal sparks a series of “unholy, horrible” murders. Medea’s actions can be justified through justice and revenge. Medea was motivated by Jason’s actions to pursue her own actions against Jason. Medea wanted revenge toward her husband for leaving her after she fully dedicated herself to Jason - and she also wanted to seek justice for the pain that he caused her. However, Medea went too far by killing her two children who were innocent in this matter. Ultimately, Medea’s final deeds are justifiable and outweigh Jason’s betrayal of his family.

Euripides also carefully reveals the elements of Medea's past that demonstrate her readiness to violate solidarity of family ties in order to pursue her intractable will; Jason and Medea's original tryst, for example, required that she kill her own brother, thus choosing marriage ties over blood ties. Secondly, Medea's selfishness provides power to her fatal flaw. Medea's selfishness and lack of humanity is displayed through the act of killing her own two sons. Medea understands that the slaying of her children will make Jason miserable. During this time, the chorus recognizes her self-worship and states, “But can you have the heart to kill your flesh and blood” (Euripides, The Medea, 816)? Medea does not stop to think what pain she may cause to herself by murdering them. She is only concerned about her happiness that will be derived from Jason's grieving. Medea comes to the conclusion that it is worth the suffering just to see her ex-husband unhappy. Medea states, “Yes, for this is the best way to wound my husband” (Euripides, The Medea, 817). This exhibits Medea's selfishness by the slaying of her sons just to cause sorrow to Jason for her own pleasure. Medea's rage also leads to her fatal flaw of excessive passion. Her excessive passion, fed by rage, leads Medea to do uncalled-for acts of violence and murder.

Medea's identity as a weak woman is emphasised at the very start of the play. It is made very clear that she has come to misfortune through no fault of her own and is powerless in her problem ("her world has turned to enmity"). Being unable to change her situation is an example of her portrayal as a weak woman figure. We are told that she has been

In this day, women want their husbands to be left broke if they had anything to give to begin with. Their revenge is a cruel, but not as a harsh as Medea’s revenge. In some cases, women have killed their children to get back at the father. I don’t understand what could possess you to kill your own child. In my opinion, Medea’s actions are not justified.

To conclude, Medea’s actions can be seen an act of desperation from her side, as she realises that her functional life in Greece is practically over: she is a woman with no man, therefore no rights. Although through her barbaric background and natural cunningness, she forges a plan to escape this miserable prospect of her life, her actions, as terrible and inhumane as they are, empower her to free herself from her discriminating

Medea was a troubled soul once Jason left her for a younger princess. When the nurse says “Rulers are fierce in their temperament; somehow, they will not be governed;”, it rings very true of Medea (Puchner 531). Someone so accustomed to getting her way will by no means let anyone, including her beloved Jason, treat her with any disrespect. She not only felt dejected by Jason, but she felt she could do nothing to change her circumstance but take out deadly vengeance against those that committed such a hiatus act towards her. With all things considered, Medea felt Jason took everything from her when he left. Jason became her everything. When she