The Tragedy Of Jason And Medea

For Medea must fall in love with Jason and then she will use her great skill with magic to help Jason acquire the fleece. Because of Hera’s hatred towards Pelias Medea’s life is now destined for extreme agony, shame, and guilt. Her love for Jason causes her to tear away from her loving parents and dishonor her father by helping his enemy. Hera’s plan to avenge Pelias also flood Medea’s head with thoughts to keep her from straying from Hera’s plan. Unfortunately for Medea her decision to help Jason was not her own and was a careful thought out plan by Hera. Her life would never again be the same. Even though Jason promises to love her always and promises that she will be his wedded wife, he breaks this promise as soon as she become old and he is given the opportunity to marry royalty. Medea decisions were not in any way wise but if it were not for the arrows of Eros she would have had better judgment on the stranger. Medea’s behavior in this story shows that of loyalty and confusion in her heart. She is in agony because she can not conceive as to why she feels so much love for a stranger and does not wish to dishonor her father by doing so. But then she is constantly

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.

Throughout the entirety of the play, Medea, there are multiple victims of other people’s actions as well as their own. This raises the question: out of all the people who suffer in this classic play, ultimately, who is the tragic figure? Although many people have to suffer slow, painful deaths in the play, the answer is narrowed down to the two main survivors: Medea and Jason. While Jason is the victim of his children getting murdered by Medea, the tragic figure still remains Medea due to how she is the one who suffers the most throughout the play because of Jason and societal expectations.

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.

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

In “Jason and the Golden Fleece”, Pelias sends Jason to get the Golden Fleece, an almost unattainable task (Daly “Jason”). Nevertheless, Jason agrees to the task and with the help of two goddesses, Hera and Athena, he builds a ship: the Argo (Daly “Jason”). Jason and his fifty-man crew consisting of Atalanta, Heracles, Orpheus and many others then leave daling into the treacherous waters of the Black Sea (Daly “Jason”). Jason has many impossible tasks ahead of him but with the help of Medea, he is able to master “fire-breathing Bulls with brazen feet” and subdue many warriors (Daly “Jason”). In order to defeat the assailants, he “threw a stone into the midst of the warriors” (Daly “Jason”). Afterwards, Medea directs him to the Golden Fleece where Jason uses his wit and expertise to vanquish the immense and powerful dragon guarding the fleece. After going back out to sea, Jason and Medea, Circe’s niece, arrive on Circe's island for protection (Daly “Jason”). Later, she is informed they murdered her brother, Apsyrtus, in order to escape from king Aeetes. Consequently, she runs them off the island. Gillespie writes, “Circe grants their request: however, the couple does not tell Circe the whole truth about their deeds” (290). Even though Circe does not play a major role in “Jason and the Golden Fleece,” she is still an important piece to

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

Jason agrees happily, raring for an adventure and immediately seeks out a ship. He encounters a shipwright named Argus who builds a magnificent boat with the power to speak and grant prophecies and in a rather egotistical manner he named the ship Argo Navis after himself. Jason then assembled a large crew of heroes and demigods from ancient Greece that together called themselves the Argonauts consisting of Heracles and his lover Hylas, Zetes and Calais, Orpheus, Castor and Polydeuces, and many more. The crew encounter many obstacles on their travels, for instance on the island of Lemnos, an island populated solely by women, most of the crew (except Heracles) took part in the

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.

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

Euripides’ ‘Medea’ is a play based on the myth of Jason and the Argonauts. The play was

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 Chorus delivers these final lines of Euripides’s Medea, “…the end men look for cometh not, / And a path is there where no man thought; so hath it fallen here.” (Euripides, 80) This quotation not only signifies the events, which have transpired in the plot of Medea, it also shows the recognition of a very curious aspect of Medea: that the protagonist of the play, Medea, is not the tragic hero. A tragic hero by Aristotelian standards is one who possesses a driving aspect– or hamartia – which causes his or her downfall, who endures a reversal of fortunes leading to immense suffering – called peripeteia, and who undergoes an anagnorisis: a profound change or realization. Medea does not have any of these attributes. Instead, it is

In the tragedy Medea, Jason is faced with realization of the death of his twin sons who were killed by their, mother, Medea; he falls into agony as he laments, inspiring a katharsis in the reader. Jason cheated on Medea, assuming that it was okay with her, saying, “…I/ Grew tired of your bed and felt the need for a new bride” (18). Jason desired a bride of title so that his current children and future children could be brought up “worthily” (26). He betrayed his family and Medea’s love for another woman, causing Medea began to seek revenge. She decides to do two acts: kill her husband’s fiancée and kill her own sons. “…I shall kill my own children. /My children, there is none who can give them safety,” Medea expresses, as she plots her plan (26). Jason is unaware of this act that his wife is ready to commit. No longer does he have a fiancée, but now he has lost his heirs to the kingdom. The tragic act occurring among family members, happens in Medea, which was highlighted in Poetics. The death of Medea and Jason’s sons leads to Jason’s