In Euripides’ The Bacchae and in the Medea, there are significant binary oppositions in both plays. Binary opposition is the two opposite terms, such as good versus bad. Binary opposition is used to present both sides of a contrast (Marvin, 1). In The Bacchae and the Medea, Euripides used binary opposition to highlight the central themes. The significant binary oppositions that are used are men versus women, foreigner versus citizen, and god versus man.
The contrast between men versus women is an important opposition in both plays. The women in the Greek society have no control of their life; the men are in control (Barlow 159). In The Bacchae Dionysus underminded the Greek society point view on women and empowers them. Pentheus is furious about Dionysus; he states in this first speech to his Grandfather Cadmus and Tiresias that the women have betrayed their houses to go off into the mountains to dance to Dionysus and are committing sexual acts (Bacchae 217-224). Pentheus is offended that an “effeminate looking stranger” has come into his land and is giving freedom to the women (353). There is a binary opposition between the way Greek society and Pentheus are treating the women (men) versus the way Dionysus treats them (women).
In Medea, the society is similar when it comes to men versus women. Barlow states that the “[h]usband have complete physical control of their wives,” which is similar to the society in Bacchae (Barlow 159). Medea is mistreated by almost all the men that she encounters within the play. Jason betrays her and leaves her to marry Creon’s daughter. Creon wants to banish Medea and her two sons from his land (Medea 272-273). When Creon is banishing Medea from his land he has no h...
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...gedy happened to Medea she cries out to Zeus, “O Zeus and justice Zeus and light of the Sun”, this line is a prayer to Zeus calling out for help(Medea 764). This is showing that the gods are superior from everybody else, and they are called upon when times go wrong.
Work Cited
Barlow, Shirley A. “Stereotype and Reversal in Euripides’ Medea”. Greece and Rome 2nd ser
36.2 (1989): 151-171. Print.
Euripides. Bacchae, Ed and Trans. Stephen Esposito. Euripides: Four Plays; Medea, Hippolytus, Heracles, Bacchae. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2004. 205-267. Print.
---. Medea, Trans. A.J. Podlecki. Euripides: Four plays : Medea, Hippolytus Heracles, Bacchae. Ed. Stephen Esposito. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2004. 205-267. Print.
Marvin, Corey. “Understanding Binary Opposition in Literture”, Class Handout: English 101. Cerro Coso Community College, 2010. Print.
This distinction between men and women is emphasized in Euripides’ The Bacchae. It is the women, and not the men, who are allured to follow Dionysus and practice his rituals: dancing, drinking, etc. It is seen as problematic to Pentheus and something must be done: “Women are laving home / to follow Bacchus, they say, to honor him in sacred rites. / Our women run wild upon the wooded hills, dancing to honor this new God, Bacchus, whoever he is” (215-218). There is a sense of lost, a need to retrieve the women, and return them to their place. “Our women run wild” creates the comparison of what their women would do amongst men and their society, as well as a sense of possession of the women (217). Agave recognizes the freedom from her daily confinements of her home when amongst the Bacchantes: “I quit my shuttle at the loom / for a higher calling, the hunting of wild beasts / with my bare hands” (1214-1218). There is a contrast of sitting behind the machine, the loom, and creating, or in this case destroying, by her own hands. Is it this contrast what drives the women of Thebes towards Dionysus? For what better creates a feeling of accomplishment then achieving a finished product by one’s power alone? The women are consequently pushed towards Dionysus because of the freedom he offers.
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
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.
Within the pages of Eurpides’ Bacchae, Pentheus perceives as immensely sexist character throughout the tragedy due to the way he punishes men and women separately when both sexes celebrate and worship Dionysus. Even in Pentheus’ first appearance to the audience in scene one, he disgustedly speaks of how the women become so enticed by them becoming Maenads and the amount of ingested wine. Pentheus had just recently arrived back from a journey, so up until this moment has he only heard word of the messenger about the situation in Thebes. He had not really investigated the situation for himself but still insults the women and their femininity due to them worshiping Dionysus, not Aphrodite (lines 224 - 225). Pentheus goes as far to treat them
In the play "Medea", Medea faces the harsh reality of infidelity. Her husband Jason has left her for a princess. Medea, like any normal woman today would want revenge. The difference between them is that the normal woman would not commit the crime, while in fact Medea does. After what feels like an eternity of planning and vowing revenge she devises a plan to murder the woman who has stolen her husband as well as her husband and their two children. She feels betrayed and has every right to. Imagine in that time that it was a crime to commit adultery, but because Jason had left his wife for a princess it was plausible which left Medea livid.
Ironically, Medea’s actions are similar to a man when she takes charge of her marriage, living situation, and family life when she devices a plan to engulf her husband with grief. With this in mind, Medea had accepts her place in a man’s world unti...
The exchange that takes place between Medea and the Chorus serves several purposes in Euripides' tragedy, The Medea. It allows us to sympathize with Medea in spite of her tragic flaws. It also foreshadows the tragic events that will come to pass. Finally, it contrasts rationality against vengeance and excess. The Chorus offers the sane view of the world to the somewhat insane characters of Medea, Jason, and Creon. As the passage begins on page 176, the leader of the Chorus reveals that she has high regards for Medea despite the fact that she is "savage still." She acknowledges Medea as a foreigner and an outsider and yet is sympathetic towards her. This alliance is apparently based on female bonds rather than on any kind of national loyalty. Medea wastes no time before she begins lamenting and cursing those who "dared wrong me without cause." The Chorus tries to comfort Medea, hoping that this might "lessen her fierce rage / And her frenzy of spirit." They show real concern for her well-being, as well as for the well-being of her loved ones. This unselfish attitude is in stark contrast to the attitudes of the main characters in the tragedy, who all seem to be extremely self-serving. So in just a few short lines, it's already become apparent that while the chorus doesn't necessarily agree with the way that Medea is handling her situation, they are sticking by her and supporting her. This idea supports one of the important themes of the play: the battle of the sexes. Medea now has a chance to get a few things off her chest. She addresses the "Women of Corinth," reminding them that of "all things that live upon the earth and have intelligence we women are certainly the most wretched." She discusses the sad lot that women must deal with in marriage and again stresses the fact that she is an outsider, "alone, without / a city. Her speech is clever and compelling.
Medea and Lysistrata are two Greek literatures that depict the power which women are driven to achieve in an aim to defy gender inequality. In The Medea, Medea is battling against her husband Jason whom she hates. On the other hand, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata, the protagonist Lysistrata plotted to convince and organize the female gender to protest against the stubbornness of men. In terms of defining the purpose of these two literatures, it is apparent that Euripedes and Aristophanes created characters that demonstrate resistance against the domination of men in the society.
Many different interpretations can be derived from themes in Euripides's The Bacchae, most of which assume that, in order to punish the women of Thebes for their impudence, the god Dionysus drove them mad. However, there is evidence to believe that another factor played into this confrontation. Because of the trend of male dominance in Greek society, women suffered in oppression and bore a social stigma which led to their own vulnerability in becoming Dionysus's target. In essence, the Thebian women practically fostered Dionysian insanity through their longing to rebel against social norms. Their debilitating conditions as women prompted them to search for a way to transfigure themselves with male qualities in order to abandon their social subordination.
The story of Medea took place in Ancient Greek. At the time, people's lives, especially women's lives wore not worth very much. People with power can easily
The Bacchae, is a late tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, and it is considered one of his best works and one of the greatest of all Greek tragedies. It was written around 410 BCE, but it only premiered after his death at the City Dionysia festival of 405 BCE, where it won first prize (Euripides). The story is based on the myth of King Pentheus of Thebes, who are punished by the god Dionysus for refusing to worship him, and his mother, one of the women worshippers. Euripides had a unique versatility, this characteristic is reflected in his play The Bacchae where he offers an innovative outlook on women and their roles in Greek mythology.
... convey deeper themes of life and death, the struggles between power and class structure and also the societal differences between men and women. Aristophanes uses humor to hook his audience into his play, and then undermines the surface humor with much bigger thematic issues. If this play had simply been about women withholding sex for other reasons such as wanting more money for shopping or other frivolous ideas it would not then be considered a satiric comedy. Satire requires more than physical humor. An issue must be raised such as the life and death theme that is seen in the war in Lysistrata, and a solution must then be made. Aristophanes created the women in the beginning to be bickering, unintelligent, and self-centered people. But in the end it was their idea and compromise that ended the war.
Women have always been disempowered due to their gender in modern and ancient times alike. In Corinth they are expected to run the household and conform to social expectations of a dutiful wife. Medea, being an immortal and descendant from the gods has a certain power in intelligence and sly cleverness. Being a foreigner, Medea’s wayward irrational behavior was expected in this play as she was not born in Greece and was seen as an exotic creature. She comes across to the audience as a powerful female character in terms of violence. Some of Medea’s reactions and choices appear to be blown out of proportion as authors generally make characters seem larger than life; this creates a better understanding of the text and the issues which are developed through the characters.
Through this relationship between the Chorus and the audience, Euripedes is able to influence the audience to sympathise with Medea. In their first stasimon, a mutual suffering is shown between Medea and the Chorus:
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.