The beautifulness about Greek mythology adaptations is that they can be understood and reinterpretted into modern times and their situations. Cherrie Moraga’s The Hungry Woman is an adaptation of Euripides’ Medea. This story takes place in the future during which Aztlan goes through an anti-homosexual revolution. In this adaptation of the myth, Medea, her husband, their son Chac-Mool, and Medea’s girlfriend live near the border of Aztlan, in Phoenix (Moraga, ‘Setting’). Jason wants to leave Medea and take Chac-Mool back to Aztlan because he wants to “spare [himself] humiliation” (Moraga 76). Jason wants to leave for Aztlan because it is there that he holds some power in society. Just like the original Medea, Moraga’s Medea is furious at Jason …show more content…
Back in ancient Greece, Medea was considered a minority because she was both a foreign and a woman. Because of this, she was excluded from the only right that was available to her during that time - being Jason’s wife and bearing legitimate children. In The Hungry Woman, Medea is portrayed as a bisexual Latina. Because there were (and still are) controversies, violence, and unwelcomeness to the LGBTQ+ community and to many Latin Americans in the United States, it is essential that Medea was portrayed the way she was. It greatly helped to bring the success in this adaptation. Moreover, because the Chicano movement was incredibly popular during the time in which this adaptation was written, the audience of the play can see through a different lense how the Latino community was extremely discriminated against. During this time, the Latinos were discriminated everywhere by everyone; they were viewed and treated as second class citizens. By portraying and identifying The Hungry Woman’s Medea with these minority group identities, the audience can greatly see the mistreatment that was and is still presently happening in our …show more content…
This adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone is set in 2005 during which Western born people went to go fight in Syria, a pre-Islamic state. The main characters of this adaptation are of Pakistani descent. Aneeka (Shamsie’s adaptation of Antigone) and Isme (modern-day Ismene) are sisters of Parvaiz (present-day Polyneices) who “went to Syria, to Raqqa” in order to be part of the “media unit” of the extremist group (Shamsie 97). Just like in Sophocles’ version, Aneeka is more sympathetic to her brother. To Aneeka, mourning her brother’s absence is more important than banishing him from her and her family’s life. To her, it does not matter that he is rebellious and joined an extremist group (Shamsie 43-44). Moreover, it is likewise important that the main characters in this adaptation were of a minority group identity. With the present day conflicts and discrimination of Pakistani people (and other Middle Eastern people as well), Shamsie was able to grealy illustrate their point of view. Because Parvaiz’ actions are considered to be wrong and treasonous, this story is even more greatly similar to the original myth. Sophocles’ version portrays the treasonous brother as part of a minority, which is likewise the identity of Parvaiz. If this story would have contained people from a dominant identity, it might have been easier for the audience to be sympathetic to Parvaiz and his situation. With
A brother lies dead on a battlefield unburied. A culture unknown to a child screams for discovery. Two girls with two different fates will go through difficult trials to accomplish contrasting goals. Antigone and Pai were two young girls who disobeyed respected and authoritative figures. Antigone challenged the King of Thebes’ edict and Pai ignored the chief of her local townspeople’s order. Antigone was sentenced to death while Pai was punished with expulsion of chief in-training activities and scorn from her grandfather. The differences and similarities between Antigone and Pai’s actions and punishments as well as their wrongdoings in their cultures are striking and clear.
In the beginning of the play, the nurse discusses the horrible deeds Medea delivers to her own family in the following lines “my mistress Medea would not have sailed for the towers of the land of Iolcus, her heart on fire with passionate love for Jason; nor would she have persuaded the daughters of Pelias to kill their father, and now be living here in Corinth with her husband and children” (1). Ironically, before Jason leaves Medea, he needs her help in a great mission. By admitting that he needs her help, Jason falls short of the idea that a man is in control of the situation.
Medea accomplished that by giving birth to two children for Jason. As the play slowly unraveled, it plainly displayed that she was faithful towards her husband, but being an ideal Greek wife was not her factual nature. She was independent and her qualities made her different from the Corinth women. In the opening sequence, the nurse introduced Medea as a frightening woman when someone wronged her. “Her temperaments are dangerous and will not tolerate bad treatment. For she is fearsome. No one who joins in conflict with her will celebrate an easy victory”, the nurse presented (page 2, line). From this, the reader can envision how ordinary other Greek women were. How they didn’t have a mind of their own and were defenseless towards those shabby treatments from men. These women were submissive and didn’t have any control over their lives. However, the protagonist Medea did. She took matters in her own hands when her husband betrayed her.
On January 24, 1848, a discovery in a river near Coloma, California changed the course of that territory forever. While building a saw mill, James Wilson Marshall found a golden nugget by accident. All though the mill owner tried to keep the secret, news of the discovery soon started what is known as the “California Gold Rush” by 1850, so many people live in California that it became the 31st state of the United
Once he began manipulating Medea, this made him realize, that he can manipulate anyone he chooses to. After he had captured the Golden Fleece, he abandoned Medea and married the princess of Corinth hoping to stable his wealth and gain more power. He, in turn, manipulated the royal family only to have the consistent power he needed and desired. This had then begun to escalate. Jason is now displaying a pattern of his manipulation. As Jason begins to free himself from his “evil” ex-wife, Jason manipulates the past into a lie and much bigger problem from his side of the story. His dishonesty makes his side of the story more believable and by doing so, his manipulation skills had become more deceivable. Jason is in denial of the many things Medea had done for him and when he told his story, he used omission in order to deceive his listeners. Jason then says, “Dark threats cast out against the majesties/ of Corinth, count as veriest gain thy path of exile.” (27). He then blames Medea and having Creon ban her from Corinth.
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
This story is marked by tragedy after tragedy; Antigone and Ismene are presented with a father, that dare to killed his father to married his own mother. Two brother that followed the similar example, and consequently killed each other to for throne to have power. We don’t know what age they were when her parents died, but by inference we can argue that they were young. Although, Antigone and Ismene experience some life-hard moments together, their view on certain situation are shaped differently throughout the play. Antigone, see the situation with her brother Polynieces as outrageous offense to her and her family values, especially after being an active member of leadership in the city of Thebes. Antigone, experiences had made her a stronger than other women, she doesn’t fear man, and is
She feels that if she left her children with Jason they would not be treated properly and mocked since they are part barbaric. Medea is a woman of pride and does not want to give her enemies a reason to mock or laugh at her in any circumstances (781-782). She would rather not leave them with Jason as she feels he would still have someone around him he loves and she feels like there is no place for barbarian children in the Greek city: “Children, there is none who can give you safety” (793). Since she needs to move quickly to Athens after she commits the murders of the royal house she decides it would be difficult to take them with her as they will slow her down and endanger her escape. For these reasons, Medea sees it fit to best kill her children to get revenge on Jason.
this way because of how Jason lacked respect for her and drove her to do the horrendous actions. Medea lashing out on Jason further proves the fact that she is her own woman, and becomes the first symbol of feminism in the Greek culture. Another example of Medea’s
In pursuit of greater social status within the Greek community, Jason betrayed Medea “for a royal bed” by marrying Glauce. Medea has a hard time coping in society, as the role of women is very low compared to men. They are forced to become their husband’s possessions in marriage. Once Medea was betrayed, she was left with nothing and forced by Creon “to leave this land and become an exile” as Creon was afraid Medea would “do some irreparable harm to [his] daughter”. Her psychological state
In Jean Anouilh’s version of the play, Antigone, the protagonist, Antigone, is interpreted as a member of the resistance to despotism that parallels the antifascist French resistance against the Nazi occupation. Anouilh’s controversial play was performed in 1944 under Nazi-controlled Paris, so when Antigone sacrifices her life to defy the oppressive ruler Creon, Anouilh makes Antigone not only a heroine, but also a symbol for resistance. Anouilh based his playwright on Sophocles’ version, which was originally written in 442 BC in Ancient Greece. However, Anouilh uses different literary devices such as anachronisms, allusions, similes and symbolism to relate the story to the most disturbing dilemma during his time in the 1940’s. He writes his play to show the importance in joining the French resistance, but he must also make his play acceptable to the controlling Nazis. As such, the play Antigone can be interpreted as a political allegory of Vichy France.
Is the killing of anyone ever justified? Is the life of one individual more important than another? In Euripides, Medea, Medea kills the princess of Corinth, the king of Corinth, Creon, as well as her own children. Are her actions the actions of an insane, distraught person or those of wise, foreign, barbaric woman trying to protect her children? Through the story of Medea, Medea justifies the killing of others while several other characters portray the injustice of her killings. Can a person show a justifiable reason to the killing of others or is the killing of others justified under certain circumstances?
What did you contribute to the class? Specifically, what did you do? How did you make Medea a better place for all the students here?
In Medea, a woman betrays her homeland because of her love for a man. Jason is the husband that she ferociously loves and makes sacrifices for. They have two children together: Antigone and Ismeme. In Jason's quest for the golden fleece, Medea assists him in multiple ways. One of the things she does to help their cause is bring
Rebellion stems from oppression, while the potency it has to change norms varies from context. In Anouilh’s Antigone, the protagonist fights against a ruler to create change. The main idea evoked through the play is that rebellion is an ideology rather than a set of physical actions, and like all ideologies, naturally spreads through society. Antigone rebels for herself, but never completes her goal. Her rebellion affects others, like Haemon and Ismene, changing their perceptions and actions. Additionally, her struggle did not bury her brother, but rather unveiled the intricate workings of dynamic characters. Accordingly, Anouilh’s Antigone explores the causes, consequences, and value of rebellion in regard to character change.