Medea Greek Value Essay

902 Words2 Pages

21st century America values a variety of things; some people value money, some value their families, and some value Netflix. Just as each generation and various subcultures around the world have different values, the people of Greece around 500 B.C.E. also had their specific set of beliefs and certain concepts held above others. Euripides exemplifies the Greek values of contest, wit, and acts of the gods through the title character of his Greek tragedy Medea. One of the Greek values embodied in Medea is the value of wit . Although one could argue that Medea’s behavior is rather impulsive and the result of an unstable state of mind, the fact that was able to cause the damage she did in the matter of one day could only add to the argument of just how quick Medea really was. The first example of …show more content…

To Medea, her conflict with Jason is a game to see who can take more from the other, who can leave her arena having gone through the most pain. Agon is shown through what Medea takes from Jason, how she makes him suffer for what he’s done to her. First, Medea takes his mistress, the princess of Corinth. By playing her strengths in herbs, Medea offers gifts of a dress and crown laced with a poison that essentially burns the princess’ skin off along with anyone who touches her. After she takes away Jason’s lover, she takes away what she knows will hurt him the most: their two sons . It is obvious at this point that Medea has become so consumed with this idea of contest that she fully believes the way to win is by killing her own two children. Lastly, to ensure that Jason’s pain exceeds her own, Medea not only refuses to let Jason bury the children but also prophesizes to him of an insignificant and shameful death. With a goal, target, and strategy in mind, the empowering concept of agon really is what pushed Medea to do all she did; she was simply trying to win her

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