EuripidesMedea, Hippolytus, And Electra

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

In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason’s new bride that also kills the King of Corinth.

Euripides was interested in how culture affected things. He was not the typical writer and his characters confirm this. In Medea, Euripides wanted his characters to participate in a culture that was under extreme stress, perhaps the same stress that his culture was experiencing. He exhibited this by writing as if his characters were transplanted into a different culture, unique from their own, as if to use the unfamiliarity as psychological strain. Therefore the strain would immortalize or distort them. The way in which Medea meditates the murder of her children is much admired, however Euripides' interest is in the collapse or derangement of culture that makes the murder both possible and necessary (Arrowsmith 357).

Medea’s conflict with Jason proves to be the main conflict in the play, which really sheds light into the fact that Euripides created this play to challenge the notion of feminism. After Jason’s betrayal, Medea decides to take control. It is evident in the way she manipulates other characters within the play, and how she handles situations she is in, that she is quite intelligent. Her motivation and will to accomplish her own goals, portrays Medea as the complete opposite of a typical patriarchal woman who embodies the norms of patriarchy in Greek society. In the play, Jason says, “I married you, chose hatred and murder for my wife – no woman, but a tiger…” (1. 1343-44) This quote shows the misogyny with Jason, because he is saying that him and the society have made Medea this way. But maybe Medea started acting

Euripides was one of the most well-known playwrights of ancient Greece. He was known as a modern playwright because he wrote with realism, and had a doubtful way of portraying the gods in his plays. Euripides’s plays had women as the main character because he had a sympathetic way of portraying women. The women were mainly strong and are passionate in their motives for their actions. Although Euripides is well known now, during ancient Greece Euripides wasn’t an appreciated playwright. When there were play performances men would be the audience since women weren’t allowed to take part in or watch the plays. So with the focus of women in his plays, he gave them a voice, which would throw men off, mainly because they would be terrified if their wives did and said the same things. Euripides supplied a philosophical thought to the women he has written about.

Furthermore, they were only expected to perform more womanly (wifely) duties. For example in Kim Becnel’s Literary Contexts in Plays: Euripides' "Medea", Becnel discusses that the only expectation of a woman consisted of having children for the male. Moreover, she states: “the male-dominated culture considered women's primary function to be the production of heirs for their husbands. And, even in such a constrained role, women often found that they still could not please men” (Becnel). This quote depicts that unlike today, the concerns for women is not having an education. Becnel continues to state, “Of course, an unmarried woman fared no better; legally, she shared the same rights and privileges as a child and therefore relied entirely on the protection of a male guardian — father, brother, or other nearest male relative — for her existence” (Becnel). Moreover, this quote shows that men had superiority by controlling a woman’s rights. Overall, King Creon’s fears of Medea’s education separated her further as being an outsider to

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.

When Medea's quest for revenge leads her to slaughter innocent beings, and some call her justified, but there are many reasons why this is not the case. Those who believe Medea was just in her murders agree that Medea was betrayed by Jason in his breaking of marriage oaths, and in order to bring justice, feels the need to bring suffering to him. Kim Zarins refers to Medea as ¨a victim of Jason's false love¨ (Zarins 2) Medea loved him so passionately and then hated him so much that she was unaware of except her desire for vengeance. David Allsop said,¨ Medea's love of Jason stems from an oath made in the Argonautica, 'in our lawful marriage-chamber

Medea is the tragic story of a woman desperate for revenge upon her husband, after he betrayed her for another woman’s bed. It was written by Euripides, a Greek playwright, in 431 B.C. Throughout the play each character shows us their inconsistent and contradicting personalities, in particular, Jason and Medea. The play opens with the Nurse expressing her anxiety about Jason betraying and leaving Medea for another, wealthier, woman. Our initial reaction is to feel empathetic towards Medea, who has been abandoned so conveniently. But towards the end of the play, when Medea takes revenge on

In the play Medea, the author Euripides emphasizes that the harsh treatment the main character, Medea, receives throughout the play reflects how women are treated in Greek society. The hardships of women in Greek society can be mainly seen by Medea passionate soliloquies. Medea speaks about how looked down upon, due to the fact that she a woman from a foreign country that holds more intellect than most men in the city where she currently resides. Even Jason, her husband, betrays her trust by marrying another woman because he deems her as useless to him. Though it causes Medea great despair, the people who surround her do not frown upon Jason for finding another woman even though he already has one.

Amongst Euripides' most famous plays, Medea went against the audience's expectations at his time. Indeed, the main character of the play is Medea, a strong independent female who neglected moral and . She was therefore in all ways different to how women were perceived in Ancient Greece. This essay will explore how Euripides' controversial characters demonstrate that his views were ahead of his time.

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

The interactive orals presented and discussed in class on Medea gave me a further understanding of the different roles of men and women during the time period. The question of how Euripides revealed this in his play using a variety of characters was also answered. We had stated that Euripides had been drawn to such an unfamiliar view on gender roles. This is evident through his plays, particularly in Medea, where we focused on characters who painted a better picture of the culture.

Euripides’ Medea is a play that focuses on Medea, first wife of Jason, and her path to vengeance when he abandons her for another woman. We can sympathize with some of Medea’s actions and feelings while others we despise.