Representation of Society in Euripides' Medea Essay

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

Euripides’ Medea and Seneca’s Medea are the two surviving ancient tragedies of Medea. Both versions are drastically different and contrast in several aspects. Euripides portrays Medea as more human. She is the epitome of the oppressed housewife and only after her suffering is she capable of the crimes she committed. Seneca’s Medea is even more vengeful than Euripides’ and she is angry from the very beginning. Seneca’s version also portrays Medea as a vengeful sorceress whereas in Euripides’ version, though she is known to be a witch and have remarkable skill in poisons and potions, that aspect is not as crucial and significant as in Seneca’s Medea. The two poets offer contrasting depictions and characterizations of Medea, the most

Medea’s strength is portrayed as her madness as she takes control and decides the fate of her enemies. She is a strong character and Euripides allows Medea to have a voice by allowing the audience to witness her break from the norm of what a woman of her time is expected to do. After giving up her family and former life to be with her husband, Jason, he decides to marry a younger princess while still married to Medea. Medea realizes that women are left to face the most miserable situations and says, “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (229). Jason feels that Medea is to be grateful for what he is doing by marrying into royalty as it will afford all of them a better life. The representation of Medea by Euripides is powerful, manipulative, and extremely smart, yet because she is a woman she has limited social power.

In “Stereotype and Reversal in Euripides’ Medea,” Shirley A. Barlow argues that the protagonist refuses to play the customary role of an ancient Greek woman, except when it benefits her, which shows that Medea is a reversed stereotype (158). This is further shown when the Tutor states, “Take heart! You too, will, journey back with children’s help” (1015). In this circumstance, the Tutor is declaring how the children will be able to help their mother come back home, yet this is an example of dramatic irony because Medea ultimately kills her children at the end for revenge. Euripides uses dramatic irony to convey Medea’s strength and power. The characters mistakenly assume that Medea is weak, yet her will-power and desire for revenge is shown when she kills her sons. Next, Jason is expected to be strong and powerful, yet is weaker than any female. Rabinowitz also speculates that Jason’s role has feminine aspects: “Jason would seem to be the perfect example of a woman with a man” (152). For example, Jason exclaims, “I have come, however, to save my children’s lives, to keep the king’s family from making them pay for the foul murder committed by their mother” (1303-5). Jason hastily runs back to the house to save his children from a masculine

The duty of women portrayed in Greek society is a major subject in Euripides Medea. In old Greek society, ladies are delicate and compliant as per men, and their social position is viewed as exceptionally mediocre. Feminism is the hypothesis of men being viewed different in contrast to women and the male predominance over ladies in the public eye. Women's lives are spoken to by the parts they either pick or have forced on them. This is obvious in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the medical attendant. During the day and age which Medea is set ladies have exceptionally restricted social power and no political power by any stretch of the imagination, despite the fact that a ladies' maternal and residential power was regarded in the protection of the home, "Our lives rely upon how his lordship feels." The constrained power these ladies were given is diverse to present day society yet parts are as yet forced on ladies to acclimate and be a devoted spouse. Ladies have dependably been dis engaged because of their sex in present day and antiquated circumstances alike. In Corinth they are required to run the family unit and fit in with social desires of an obedient spouse. Medea, being an eternal and relative from the divine beings has a specific power in insight and guileful keenness. Being an outsider, Medea's wayward nonsensical conduct was normal in this play as she was not conceived in Greece and was viewed as an exotic foreigner. She goes over to the group of onlookers as an intense female character regarding viciousness. Some of Medea's responses and decisions have all the earmarks of being made a huge deal about as creators for the most part influence characters to appear to be overwhelming; this makes a superior comprehension of the content and the issues which are produced through the characters. Medea's ill-conceived marriage and the double-crossing of Jason drive Medea to outrageous vengeance. Medea acts with her immortal self and confer coldhearted demonstrations of murder instead of legitimize the results of her actions. Medea see's this choice as her lone resort as she has been exiled and has no place to go, "stripped of her place." To make sensitivity for Medea, Euripides

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

Medea questions the firmly held belief in Greek society that women are weak and passive. Wanting revenge on Jason for his betrayal of her, Medea must take control of the situation, a stereotypical masculine quality. Though she cannot become a man or take power like a man, she perceives her

Euripides’ Medea is a tragic play that takes place in Corinth, Greece. It was first produced in 431 BC. It was during this time that Corinth and Athens were rivals, fighting to have the upper hand. In fact, Corinth and Sparta teamed together against Athens during the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. Like most literature, Euripides’ Medea incorporates the period in which it was written along with a timeless theme. Euripdes uses the literary devices of setting, irony, and symbolism to depict the theme of identity in relation to marriage.

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.

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.

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

Typically, throughout history a tragedy has been defined by containing a male hero who goes from happiness to misery. Medea is just one example of an Ancient Greek play which actively rejects this trope. Written in 431 BC by Euripides, Medea is based on the Greek myth of Jason and Medea wherein Medea is rejected by her husband and resorts to killing their children in an act of vengeance. It can be argued whether her actions were justified or whether she was acting out of passion as a ‘fickle’, emotional woman. Worthen argues that woman are seen as “creatures of passion” whereas men represent the “organizing principles of the Greek state: Reason, the law and legitimate society.” This argument is based on the idea that passion and emotion are

Euripides Medea is a play that largely embodies themes of sex and gender within Greek life, marriage and society. Lars Von Trier, Danish Screen writer, controversially took on and altered Euripides' classic Medea in the form of film. Although complex and compelling, Von Trier's film fails to capture major themes and qualities presented in the text version of the infamous Medea and relay them to an audience. Through the use of close reading and comparison, it can be proved that Lars Von Trier's film depiction of Euripides' Medea does not allow an audience to see the complexity and major themes of gender and masculinity that Euripides originally portrays to his audience, but rather depicts a story of lost love and femininity within the protagonist.

Moreover, Euripides incorporates Medea into the relationship to convey the idea that females also possess power in an alliance, but the form of their authority is different compared to that of a male’s. Medea elucidates that even in arduous times, she assists Jason and supports their marriage. In a direct conversation with Jason, she tells him, “…after I’ve done all this to help you, you brute, you betray me…” (27). She explains that although she took care of Jason and supported him whenever he needed her help, he disabuses his power to overpower her and abandon her. Even after Jason abandons Medea, she thinks day and night of him. Medea demonstrates that the power females possess is not physical and totalitarian like the males, but rather is emotional and mental. She tries to keep the family together and in trying to do so, she does whatever Jason asks her to do. She is the important woman behind every successful man. Without her command, Jason would not be the person he is. Therefore, she can destroy Jason whenever she desires with her power. She can be a femme fatale and reduce Jason’s life to rubbles. Similarly, after Medea finds out that she is being cheated on, she quickly creates a malicious plan to obliterate Jason. She assassinates his new wife and his heirs. Although her love is “greater than

The language in this piece is very evident that it’s from the classical period which was known as the golden age of literature. This period was known for art, philosophy, architecture, literature and monuments. Socrates was the main philosopher known in that time due to his teachings to his student Plato that consist of dialogues. In the work, whether Euripides was trying to show women that they did have a voice and go against Ancient Greek culture or not, his piece showed women that they control their own body, and actions. The work doesn’t mention Medea and Jason’s children but maybe a couple times, but the children represented what was once a loving relationship between Medea and Jason. That is why Medea took revenge on Jason by killing them to satisfy herself for what he had done to her. Medea’s character plays a strong feminine role that shows a women standing up for herself and making her own choices even though some of them may have been wrong. At first she is portrayed as a sad lady who just got her heart broken because her husband left. Then she becomes a strong lady who takes charge of the situation and fights back for what she believed would heal her broken heart. Jason’s character can be considered evil, because even though he showed weakness, he was the one who abandoned his wife to marry a princess, so he basically started the whole situation even though Medea took her revenge too far. All in all, even though Medea killed her own children it was a