The Greek drama, “Medea,” by Euripides, portrays a wildly unhealthy marriage that seems beyond the point of saving. The relationship between Medea and Jason is falling apart due to manipulation and a major power imbalance. In essence, “Medea,” though thousands of years old, shows that if both parties do not respect and love each other, a relationship will not last.
Medea and Jason want very different, yet similar things. Jason wants to be respected. He is a famous and powerful hero and more importantly, a man. In this society men are considered more powerful, emotionally stable, and able to handle themselves than women are. Because this power imbalance was not present in Medea’s home country, she isn’t used to being looked down upon like she
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She wants to be loved but does not take kindly to a man taking advantage of her. She blows things out of proportion when she’s not treated correctly, because she’s just as used to being in a position of power as Jason is, but unlike Jason, she has lost both her power and her reputation in Greece. She literally takes her anger at Jason out by murdering people. It’s almost reasonable that she would kill Jason’s new wife, and by extension her father. Creusa technically dishonored Medea almost as much as Jason did by agreeing to marry him despite knowing that he was already married to Medea. However, Jason is also at fault for this, as he described his marriage to Medea as a meaningless barbaric bond. But Medea also kills her own children. Why? Because she hates Jason more than she loves them. It took great struggle for her to do this of course, she’s a mother.
[Explain details] Medea helped Jason with a very important quest, retrieving the Golden Fleece. It’s what made him even more of a hero when he returned to Greece. However, Jason doesn’t acknowledge the sacrifices Medea made to help him get the Golden Fleece and insists that she was only a burden and that he was the one who helped her. He accredits her actions to the goddesses who influenced Medea to love him. He knows what he’s saying is false, and says it anyways to maintain public image and gain more
Standards that women are held accountable and judged for while men it is acceptable for this behavior. In Medea 's situation, to prove her love to Jason she did whatever she needed to do to be with him and did not let anyone step in her way. She gave birth to two boys which would continue Jason 's bloodline however, that was not enough for Jason as he left Medea for his new Glauce. Jason 's main priority was to gain higher social status that leads to title, money, and land as well as having children as his legacy. Within Sappho she states, “Why am I crying? Am I still sad because of my lost maidenhead?” (Sappho, 36). After losing her virginity, she lost insight of her vision which she wanted her future to be as she received mistreatment from society including her relationship with her lover changing. In that result, within their situations they were incapable of maintaining their relationship with their lovers as well as love and sex not being enough to endure life
Medea has a conversation with Jason at the end of the story he tells her that he hoped the children who bring down curses on her; she looks at him and says “the gods know who the author of this sorrow.” (Lawall 719) Medea killed his children and yet she’s blaming him for her doing it. The conversation just got uglier and ended with her leaving.
While both women do wrong by the law of man, and Medea against the law of the gods, they do it for different reasons. In the beginning Medea kills many people and monsters with little or no concern of the consequence. When the story deals with modern times Medea kills out of pure revenge and spite for Jason. She plots for weeks to kill Jason’s new bride and poisons her, and then before she leaves the country she murders her two sons, she had with Jason, before she rides off in her bright white chariot.
Even though Medea’s crime are despicable, Jason is also a despisable character. When he encounters Medea for the first time in the play, he says, “Even if [Medea] hates me / I could never think badly of [Medea]” (Euripides 462-463). It is easy for Jason to say these kind words because he is not the one being abandoned for another spouse. He also undermines Medea again after she recites how she helped him in on the Ship Argo. Instead of giving her any credit or appreciation, Jason confesses, “since you make such a mountain of it, I think that Kypris, god of love, was the savior” (Euripides 525-526). It is not enough to leave Medea for another woman while allowing her and her children to be exiled, but Jason also felt the need to discredit her contribution to his
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
Initially, In the movie Medea is not the one with the magical powers to help Jason. Instead, Jason receives help even as a child from the goddess Hera. She grants him help that is set as a limit from Zeus. The gods are using this control because it is a game to them.
The problem set at the beginning of the play is that Jason has decided to marry another wife, Glauce. Medea is angered and will not let Jason off without punishment. The loss of Jason is not only a matter of passion; Medea has been completely humiliated by Jason's decision to take a new bride. Her pride shows again when she refuses Jason's aid. Though her situation is difficult, she would rather destroy all than accept help from one who has wronged her so horribly. Living as a barbarian among Greeks has made her more defensive, more full of hurt pride. To punish Jason, Medea had her children deliver poisoned gifts to the new bride, to kill her children, Glauce, and Creon. . Medea is not without feeling, nor is she a sociopath. She comprehends the difference between right and wrong, but chooses to follow the dictates of rage.
A main trait of Jason’s is his obliviousness to everything. Jason doesn’t realize that Medea is crying for a different reason and thinks that whatever he says is right when he asks Medea, “Why is your cheek so white and turned away from me? Are not these words of mine pleasing for you to hear?” (p.55). Jason lacks mindful attention to what is happening around him. Jason was smart enough before to know that Medea is evil and even says that she is “incapable of controlling her bitter temper” (p.43). Mede...
The story, Medea, was a Greek tragedy that showed the cruelty and pain that Medea had faced ever since she met Jason. She did everything right, even helped him survived a couple of times. After being exiled along with Jason, they went to Corinth. The audience is able to see how each characters are portrayed differently in the story. In the different conversations that Medea has with Creon and Jason, we discovered different things about each character.
Courageous, powerful, and reckless, Medea left her home without her father's blessing to accompany Jason to the land of Corinth, after using her magic powers to slay the dragon that guarded the golden fleece. She also killed her own brother to slow Jason's chasers. For a while, Medea and Jason lived in harmony in Corinth where they had two children. Later, Jason left Medea for Kreon's daughter. She became grief-stricken at her loss and filled with rage at Jason's betrayal. This, is explained by her nurse during the prologue in World Literature Volume A (pg697), "she'll not stop raging until she has struck at someone",
In The Medea, Medea gives up her home, murdered her brother and tossed the pieces of his corpse and betrays her family to escape with her lover Jason. Against her father's wishes she helps Jason recover the Golden Fleece. Afterwards, Medea and Jason fall in love, get married and Medea gives birth and raises two sons. Unfortunately, Jason abandons Medea and marries King Creon's beautiful daughter. Medea alternates her role from a lover and partner in crime to an obsessive prideful monster. Me...
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 about the death of her own brother. Certainly this is a woman who would sacrifice anything for her husband. Weigel records the fierceness of Medea's passion in his critique: "As a woman of passion, Medea is wholly committed to Jason as the object of her emotional life, whether in love or hate. When she loved Jason she did not hesitate to kill her brothe...
When Jason left Medea to marry Glauce, Medea was plagued with sadness and then with anger. The man she loved, the man that she gave up her life for, had betrayed her. In the patriarchal society that Medea lived in, it was not acceptable for a woman to protest any decision made by her husband. Medea went against all social standards and took revenge on Jason for the wrongs that he had committed. She was willing to take any chance and sacrifice even her most valued possessions. Medea knew that the best way to avenge the wrongs of Jason was to kill Glauce and the children. It was a huge sacrifice for Medea to kill the children that she loved, but she allowed herself to look past that love and only see her hate and contempt for Jason. Medea was willing to go against every rule that society set, so that her husband wouldn't get away with leaving her for political reasons.
Medea's plan was set into motion. She has nothing to loose. She is even angrier because she betrayed her own father and her people for him. She even bears the burden of having Pelias killed by his daughters for Jason. She decides to take revenge out on Jason's bride and poisons her. She also doesn't want Jason to take the children from her. She decides to kill them, but agonizes over this decision before killing them. Some critics view this as a pathetic attempt at motherhood. I know there is a certain bond between mother and child. She just wants to hurt Jason as much as she has been hurt. "She first secures a place of refuge, and seems almost on the point of bespeaking a new connection. Medea abandoned by the entire world, was still sufficient for herself." (blackmask).
Because Medea was such a different woman people in her society were afraid of her, including men. As a result of this, before Jason, she never experienced being in love. When she finally experienced this type of love she went to no end for Jason. To protect Jason and her love for him she killed the beast guarding the Golden Fleece, she killed her brother, and she left her home, family and everything she knew for him. Most women would not have gone that far for love, especially women during her time; but Medea was not your average woman. All of the things she did for Jason will come into play, and partly account for her actions at the end of the play.