Theme Of Feminism In Oedipus And Medea

Euripides was not one for female stereotypes. He gave his female characters realistic reasons for their behavior and while it the female characters’ actions, such as killing her offspring and killing their husbands, is frowned upon in a patriarchal society, it was as if Euripides made a point to have men stop viewing women under a passive light and give more thought on how women’s thoughts. Because Euripides partial understanding of women, he redefines beauty in his female character Helen, and has her viewed as a beautiful woman with good intentions instead of a “bad” woman. The beauty of a woman has an impact on men. In

Women’s rights movements have made incredible progress in recent times. Although there are many countries around the world where women are facing political and social unjustness, the social class of women in ancient Greece of 5th century BCE was solely grounded by patriarchal ideologies. The Greek playwright Euripides creates a persistent character Medea, in his classic tragedy Medea. Today, scholars study this relentless protagonist who has become an eternal and timeless symbol of femininity and womenfolk revolt. Whilst many themes such as passion, vengeance, and exile are present within Euripides’ Medea, the theme of women and femininity is critically manifested throughout the interactions of its central

He ended up in Thebes because he went to the oracle at Delphi just like his

Centuries of traditions has enabled men and women to define gender roles in society. Although some critics declare gender roles do not exist today, others believe they do. In society, men and women are defined by gender roles throughout their activities and emotions. A doctor is typically portrayed by a male while women rear the children and cook for the men. However, although still in existence, today these roles are less obvious but tend to have similar meaning when compared to the past. In ancient Greece, women suffered great hardships. Currently, females work, vote, and run for office. In comparison to ancient Greece, these activities are a phenomenal leap from being under the direct supervision of a male husband.

Charlotte Bronte once said, “Women are supposed to be very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel. They need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do. They suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow minded in their more privileged fellow creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags”. In the play Medea, Euripides diverged from the traditional role of Greek women through Medea’s characteristics and response to her plight. In delineating the role of women, Medea was unlike any other Greek character. Medea was portrayed

Readers of the three Greek plays, Oedipus the King, Antigone, and Medea, can easily gather an abundance of information about the different cultural details within the Greek society at that time. One of the major cultural values that can be picked up from these three plays, is the roles of women in this society. The roles of women can be observed through a comparison between them and their male counterparts.

Feminism is described as the “advocacy of women's rights on the ground[s] of the equality of the sexes” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). However, like any definition the term can be branched off into many different subcategories, two of these categories are: Ancient feminism and modern feminism. Ancient feminism is simply acts of feminism displayed in the ancient world, however these acts are not consistent with modern feminist acts such as women’s suffrage, but instead take the form of performing acts such as behaving without the guidance or permission of a man, acts that were rarely committed in Ancient Greece. In contrast, modern feminism is feminism as it exists today, as acts of dominance among women as the long struggle for equality between sexes begins to level out and women become more daring in their attempts to finally achieve true equality with men. Throughout The Odyssey, by Homer, there are many examples of both modern and ancient feminism, however when viewed through the lens of modern feminism, the brave acts of ancient feminism not only reveal many concerning factors of today’s inequality but achieve a level of respect for those now called ancient feminists. One example of an ancient feminist easily examined through a modern lens is Queen Penelope of Ithaca, wife of Odysseus, from The Odyssey. As the lone queen of Ithaca it was Penelope’s job to both rule her country, raise her son, Telemachus, and protect her family and any chance of her husband Odysseus’ nostos

"When you say Man," said Oedipus, "you include women too. Everyone knows that." She said, "That's what you think." These lines, from the ending of Muriel Rukheyser's poem "On Oedipus the King, Myth," comment on the significance of women both in the play and in society. Though the character of Oedipus suggests that women are equal, the issue of the true role of women is brought up in the poem, and is raised in Sophocles' play.

The play Medea by Euripides challenges the dominant views of femininity in the patriarchal society of the Greeks. While pursuing her ambition Medea disregards many of the feminine stereotypes/ characteristics of the patriarchal Greek society. She questions the inequality of women in a patriarchal society, contradicts Jason?s chauvinist beliefs, challenges the stereotype that women are weak and passive and completely disregards the feminine role of motherhood. Feminism is the belief that women and men are, and have been, treated differently by society, and that women have frequently and systematically been unable to participate fully in all social arenas and institutions. This belief is confirmed in

In “Stereotype and Reversal In Euripides’ Medea,” Shirley Barlow addresses the idea that women in Euripides’ Greek tragedy are stereotyped to be docile and weak-minded towards men; Medea is combative towards those stereotypes throughout the play.

In Medea, by Euripides, conflicts play a major role in the creation of the play. Some examples of these conflicts are with Medea and Jason, Medea and herself, and Medea and Creon. Medea is shown to be a strong, independent woman who does what she wants as well as doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She shares qualities of a traditional male at the time, and the qualities of a traditional female. Euripides makes this clear in the play by creating conflicts to prove women can be a powerful character and that the play in general challenges the idea of misogyny.

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

In Euripides’ play Medea, the audience is introduced to a uniquely female perspective often absent in Greek drama. Of course, this perspective, being written by a man, is not absent of the female mythological archetypes common throughout all of Greek literature. Most of the female characters hold archetypal roles to move the story forward. However, during the course of the play, Medea defies a simple archetypal prescription. She fits in between the lines of a “good” character and “bad” character, plays many different roles for her own ends, but still remains sympathetic. Medea takes on different female roles in order to accomplish her goals, however she as a character does not fit neatly into any one female archetype. This speaks to her greater role as a tragic hero, magnifying her manipulations and her reasons for doing so—her struggle as a powerful woman to find a place to belong.

The feminist approach is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Feminists are interested in exposing the undervaluing of women in literature that has long been accepted as the norm by both men and women. Women characters in both Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King have different and similar characteristics based on the general norms so that they can be exposed by the feminist approach. In Metamorphosis and Oedipus the King, feminist approach is through the description of women about the traditional gender values of women, women’s inequality of power and importance, and women’s effect to the whole society.

Sophocles’ Theban tragedy, Oedipus the King, is not sexist. The prominent play portrays both men and women justly. The events presented by Sophocles exemplifies a level of admiration and respect for women that was not ordinary in ancient Greece. This is predominantly achieved through the dialogue of Jocasta and Oedipus, illustrating a corresponding relationship. In addition, the behavior of Jocasta, analysis of other literature, as well as the bad fortune of the male characters reaffirm that the Oedipus the King is not sexist.