Medea; a tale of tragedies
Medea is the tale of a forbidden love that ends in dismay. Euripides, who was a playwright born in 485 BC in ancient Greece wrote this aforementioned play, which was one of the greatest tragedies of all time. Medea tells the story of a barbarian princess who travels to Greece with her true love, Jason. When they arrive in Athens Medea sickeningly tricks Jason’s political rival Pelias own children into brutally killing him. The people in Athens are unaccustomed to her vicious ways, and are astonished at her behavior in civilization. This causes Jason to deeply worry about his political career. He then leaves Medea for the princess of Corinth. Out of rage and spite for Jason Medea kills the king, the princess, and her own two sons. She then flees to her good friend Aegean’s kingdom for safe haven. Every one of the conflicts through this catastrophic novel helps to enhance each characters personality. The tale of Medea and its characters are changed and shaped through the themes of love, betrayal, and revenge.
Love has caused many people throughout the ages to commit careless crimes. The anecdote of Medea is a similar tale. Right after Jason leaves Medea it is stated that “Her very devotion of love for Jason, now turned to hatred, shows itself to have been always of that somewhat rank and ugly sort to which such a change is natural” Euripides) The amount that she loved him was so great, and was such a twisted love that it was so easily persuaded to do evil. Even when she attempts to display her love for Jason she ends up causing the death of Pelias, his political rival. The only reason that Medea ventured to Athens was because she was “Deeply smitten in her mind her love for Jason” (Euripides). After he lef...
... middle of paper ...
...y betrayed Medea. The Entire rest of the play is Medea exacting her revenge. In conclusion revenge is the theme that the whole play is written around.
The tale of Medea and its characters are changed and shaped through the themes of love, betrayal, and revenge. The Love that Medea Had for Jason made her leave her homeland and caused Jason to leave Medea for the princess. Medea became engulfed in her need for revenge when Jason betrayed her, after she murdered his political rival out of love for him. Each theme led to the next, until Medea had completed her vengeance and Jason was left alone with his deceased wife. Medea and Jason loved each other, but Medea’s barbaric instincts and Jason’s political necessities entangled them in a web of betrayal and revenge.
Works Cited
Euripides, Medea. City of publication: Name of Publication Company, Copyright date. Novel.
While some people may believe that Medea crossed the line when she had killed four people, including her children, in order to get revenge, others view this killing as justifiable because it was the only way to truly hurt Jason. Yet, because of how emotional Medea was and where she came from, readers believe her to be demented and barbaric. However, readers will have to take into factor the actions that Medea took before this story took place and is told throughout the story in Medea’s own confession, “Love for you was greater than my wisdom. Then I killed Pelias in the most agonizing way, at the hands of his own daughters, and demolished his household, all of it. Now, after I’ve done all this to help you, you brute, you betray me and help
Medea was wronged by Jason, she was a loyal wife and mother who was betrayed by her husband and reacted in a way...
In Euripides Medea, Medea is the morally ambiguous character. In part, Medea can be seen as good because she wanted to live with Jason and her two children in Corinth as a family and enjoy a happy life. So it is understandable that Medea becomes devastated and an emotional wreck after Jason leaves her for the princess. He claimed by marrying the princess, he could bring the children up in a well-being and make more royal children. Medea became a distressed. Hateful, and a bitter woman at Jason. Medea mentioned, “we women are the most unfortunate creatures.” Medea acknowledges that the women don’t have much choice in the marriage and if they want a good life, they need a man to control them. And that woman would be much better off if they had
The stories characters, Medea and Jason, can be seen as representations of two different responses to life. For hundreds of years, society has judged each others actions and reactions based on just cause. This story, to me, has a type of underlying theme that drags the reader into a moral debate, which forces you to really question your own belief system.
But as the turn events continued in the story, Medea was so consumed with getting back at Jason that she lost her humanity. Killing her and Jason's two sons to get back at him was unjustifiable and out of line. Jason was a horrible husband; he not only betrayed Medea’s love and trust, but also their two children. When he stepped out of their marriage and broke his vows, he showed her that betraying her father for him goes unappreciated.
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.
From the beginning, Medea’s dialogue and actions do not bode well for Jason. She is out for revenge and wishes death upon her enemies. Her heart is “bitter” and is filled with “black hatred” for Jason because of his betrayal. He casted her off “… like a harlot” and betrayed “…the children she has borne him” in order to marry Creusa, the daughter of Creon, the ruler of Corinth. Medea wants Jason to suffer. She wants him to “…weep blood.” Vengeance is the only thing that can make her grief bearable, and “annihilation” is “pure music.” She is wants “…to annihilate the past”, and obliterate everything Jason is, was, and ever will be. The omen of the young mare tearing at the stallion with its teeth symbolizes Medea’s impending destruction upon Jason. In order to do so, she plots to ravage everything Jason loves, namely Creusa, Creon, and their children.
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. Medea then kills the children. Later, she refuses to let Jason bury the bodies or say goodbye to the dead children he now loves so dearly. Jason is cursed with many catastrophic flaws that lead to his downfall and that of others around him.
Aphrodite, caring for only Jason, causes Medea to fall in love with him because of her known magical talents. To help Jason, Medea kills her own brother, betting that her father would stop for her brother’s body parts and allow her escape with Jason. While her escape plan works due to her innate sense of the way people react, Medea is now homeless. Still, the society expected Medea to give up everything for Jason, while he was allowed to ditch her with no social consequences. “And she herself helped Jason in every way. This is indeed the greatest salvation of all,-For the wife not to stand apart from the husband.” (Medea, pg. 616, line
Even in today’s society, gender roles play a part in how people view the world. Although more important than the gender roles are the emotions that antagonize the psyche of the human. Medea shows how jealousy can lead to revenge and influence bad decisions and ruin or even end lives. Ironically, the decisions she makes to kill her children, leaves Jason helpless much like a Greek wife during this time. She removes the opportunity for him to voice his opinions, needs, and desires. This flip of traditional gender roles shows how gender roles are not a reliable way to view a society.
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 illegitimate marriage and the betrayal of Jason drive Medea to extreme revenge. Medea chooses to act with her immortal self and commit inhumane acts of murder rather than rationalize the outcomes of her actions. Medea see’s this option as her only resort as she has been banished and has nowhere to go, “stripped of her place”. To create sympathy for Medea, Euripides plays down Medea’s supernatural powers until the end of the play. Throughout the play Medea represents all characteristics found in individual women put together, including; love, passion, betrayal and revenge. Medea’s portrayal of human flaws creates empathetic emotions from the audience. The audience commiserates with Medea’s human flaws as they recognize them in themselves. Medea plays the major role in this play as she demonstrates many behavioral and psychological patterns unlike any of the other Greek women in the play; this draws the audience’s attention to Medea for sympathy and respect.
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).