How Did Euripides Contribute To His Medea?

Socrates is known as one of the most famous philosophers from the early civilizations. He is best known for his own “Socratic method” which is the base for Westerns systems of logic and philosophy. Also to this day the “Socratic method” of Socrates is still known about today and used. Surprisingly the way we know about Socrates is not through his writing, because Socrates did not write his works down, but his disciples writing which include Plato and Xenophon. This is the only way we know about Socrates’ life is through the writings of Plato and Xenophon as well as the plays of Aristophanes. Since these writings had other purposes besides portraying his life they most likely aren’t one hundred percent accurate.

Euripides’s Medea is a Greek tragedy set in fifth-century BC Athens that depicts the plotting of Medea’s revenge, who herself was wronged and betrayed by her husband. Like other tragedies, we can see that emotions are at the heart of Medea. These emotions are resonant and altruistic such that we feel for other people who have no direct connection with us nor belong in the same world. This ability to evoke the outgoing emotion in the audience opposed to an introverted self-absorption view is characteristic of Greek tragedy. Similarly, Euripides handles the complexity of his characters, supplying an element of pathos to his audience in the process. From the cries of Medea lamenting on the injustice suffered by her, to her dilemma over the

In Ion Euripides describes a realistic plot that matches nowadays events as well. He focuses on the vicissitudes of human life that lead the characters to the brink of ruin, and that raise on top of happiness at the same time. The life full of ups and downs is depicted in the example of Creusa’s life story. In Ion there are scenes that are composed of big fear, sincere repentance, strong jealousy, and pure love of Creusa.

Oedipus, a play written by Sophocles, has become a staple in the study of a Tragic hero in classic literature. When this was written in the fifth century, theatre was more than a means of entertainment but almost a religious event. Robert Fagles goes even further by saying that”theatre was not only a religious festival; it was also an aspect of the city’s political life.” (Fagles) . Greek dramas were presented only twice a year during religious festivals that honored Dionysus, the god of wines and crops. The quality and message of the plays reflected the religious and social importance of the time. Sophocles, born around 496 B.C., was not only a very successful tragic playwright but also a priest, and for a short time, a general in the army. His unique and well rounded background gave him a perspective on life that other may not have seen. Out of the one hundred and twenty plays that Sophocles wrote only seven survived in their original full condition. Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus were two of the tragic works that survived. The fact that Oedipus survived allowed it to become one of the most important works that Sophocles produced. The plot and characterization of the main character have allowed it to stand the test of time. If one wants to study Greek, tragic literature, Oedipus is certainly a play that should be considered as a classic piece of work. . Perhaps that is because the main character of Oedipus clearly defines what a tragic hero is by his

Euripides is known as one of only three Greek playwrights specializing in tragedy, whose works survived until present day. He is traditionally credited with writing 72 works, but only 19 surviving complete plays have attributed to him. Euripides, like his contemporary, Sophocles, pioneered what are now common literary ideas and devices. Euripides is credited with being the first writer to portray powerful heroes as mere ordinary people, put into situations of extraordinary importance. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Euripides’s protagonists and supporting characters usually fell into the third category. Many more of Euripides’s works have survived than

The Greeks were the first to use theoretical thought to explore life’s big questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? What is right and wrong? And, what is the meaning of life? After the Persian Wars, Greece generated a new faith of optimism, proud self-confidence, and unity.

Euripide (Euripides (484-406 BCE), the undisputed protagonist of Euripides' Man and his universe, was set up in Athens

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.

The Big Three of Greek tragedy has always been Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. As a late comer to the stage of tragedy in comparison to the others, Euripides formed his reputation by building off the works of others. For instance, in Hekabe, Euripides incorporated already known characters and concepts from The Orestia written by Aeschylus. Despite the fact that Euripides appears to build off the work of others, Aristotle honors him with the title of the most tragic playwright. Euripides stood out by using a novel structure for tragedy. In a typical tragedy, the protagonist is the central character in the play and an antagonist brings about the suffering and downfall of the protagonist, which the audience is supposed to pity. Euripides breaks from this archaic model by producing tragedies without a clear antagonist. Without this pivotal character role, the play is able to take on a more tragic persona.

Sophocles was born in modern day Athens in 496 BC. His father was a wealthy merchant which enabled Sophocles to live life comfortably. He had the luxury of receiving a conventional aristocratic education. He would become well-known as a famous playwright throughout history. However there are different aspects of his life not as well-known. Experiences in Sophocles’ life influenced his written works which portrayed him as a politician and religious man (“Sophocles”).

With the times becoming more complex Euripides writings became a way of thought provoking situations of common themes such as: justice verse revenge, rule of law against the will of Gods, and the struggles between reason and passion. Some of Euripides plays became great successes, however, his plays were also criticized very harshly due to the critics believing the pieces were too pedestrian and were resolved too easily. His plays created a wide variety of entertainment for all audiences, because at the time Greek tragedies were based on societies elite and mostly about the state, but Euripides made it so there were high casted female leads and the ordinary roles had more significant parts. One of the biggest aspects of his plays that strung the audience in was the tragic inability for the main character to make the situation they were in any better. The social aspect of the time was yearning for success in all characteristics of life, so the squander of hard work put in his plays yet not receiving any praise or success interested the audiences. The overall complexity and diversity of his writings creates a new outlook of life for the time. The vulnerability created by making works out of the social standards enables critics to judge more harshly because Euripides was expanding the mindset out of their comfort

Probably the most significant Greek tragedian after Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Agathon is presented here as celebrating after his first victory in the dramatic festival. Agathon is presented as young, beautiful, and very clever with words. He is the passive partner in a life-long relationship with Pausanias. None of Agathon's plays survive todayThe greatest comic poet of ancient times, Aristophanes (445 - 385 B.C.) exercised a tremendous influence on the course of comedy in the Western tradition. Many of his plays survive, and in one, The Clouds, he presents a satirical attack on Socrates. Nonetheless, the two are presented as friends in the Symposium, despite what effect this attack might have had on Socrates' eventual execution.

His first choice was Euripides, but in the end he chooses Aeschylus. In his lifetime Euripides has stricken the traditional attitudes of Athens and helped to create the modern outlook. He had exceled in poetic techniques and eloquent speaking. Aeschylus, on the other hand, helped people develop moral qualities, such as courage, integrity, and justice. Without reference to its moral value the Athenians would not be able to adequately govern themselves as a united people. This method, in Aristophanes’ opinion, was much more beneficial because in the earlier times, great playwrights wrote and staged dramas that called attention to the flaws of society and taught the audience how to turn these weaknesses into successes. Aristophanes’ advice is clear: the success of Athens can by achieved by returning to a traditional way of thinking by keeping alive the old habits and

Although Socrates never wrote even one book in his life, his thinking and ideas produce an important impact on European culture. Socrates has always been seen as a saint who died because pursuit for truth. He claims that he is a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the God, and proud of it. Eventually, he was charged by Athenian democrats with "corrupt the Athenian youth" and other charges, and died by drinking poison in 339BC. In the trial, Socrates refused to intercede for himself. His words which he speaks in the court, record by his student, Plato. Then we know that he said: “An unexamined life is not worth living."

By analyzing Euripides’s and Aeschylus’s teachings and methods as well as who won the competition, we can give find more evidence as to what makes a good citizen. Their methods can be broken down into reasoning and examples. To Euripides, Aeschylus gave the line: “What I did was to teach the audience to use its brains, introduce a bit of logic into the drama (Frogs, 192). If we examine plays such as the Bacchae or Orestes, we can see specifically how Euripides did this. As he tried to teach his audiences reason, Euripides placed many contradictory statements in his plays and always did the unexpected. For instance, he has a character, like Dionysus or Orestes, start the play as a good person who the audience pities. By the end of the play, he shows them to be bad people, usually manipulative and murderous. Euripides never let the audience know what will happen and took delight in surprising them. In this way, he teaches them to always reason through things and distrust what seems obvious. On the other hand, Aeschylus encourages “the audience to identify themselves with these heroes” (Frogs, 194). He calls his characters true heroes that go on adventures and fight for what is right. He does not try to surprise the audience and actually uses the audience’s knowledge and anticipation of an event to build dramatic tension. We can see this in Agamemnon. The audience would have definitely known the myth of Agamemnon and his just death at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra. But