Essay on the Gods in Euripides' Medea
analytical Essay
567 words
Antigone
Medea has just killed four people which are Creon the king of Corinth, the princess whom Jason is in love with, and her two little children. Jason then prays to gods, especially Zeus, father of all gods, to punish Medea for her crimes. From the context of the quote, the chorus is addressing the audience about the unexpected and unbelievable end of the play. Medea then gets away to Athens with a chariot lent to her by Helios, the sun god and her grandfather.
Euripides always uses this kind of conclusion to end most of his works. Euripides suggests that the general theme of the quote is gods are not like what we think they are supposed to be. In other words, we can not expect much from the gods. Instead, we have to handle our matters on our own. The phrase, "Many are the Fates which Zeus in Olympus dispenses," tells us that gods do not favor mortal people. Even if gods do help mortals, that's only because those mortals have some kind of relationship with the gods. So, Euripides tells this story not in favor of the gods.
The general thems is gods are not as good as they are supposed to be.
Medea has been exiled for three times: from her home country near the Black Sea, from Jason's homeland Iolchos, and now from the city of Corinth. We would naturally think that a woman like Medea, being exiled for many times, is the most vulnerable and most powerless woman. She has got no friend and no citizenship. At the time of Euripides, being an exile is not an interesting position that a person wants to be in. It is like a suicide. Most people at that time in Greece view strangers as barbarians with no intelligence at all. In addition, Medea is going to be an exile with two children. She is supposed to be in lots of trouble. On the other hand, Jason has won the princess of Corinth's love. He is going to be Creon's son-in-law. Jason abandon's Medea after all she has done for him. Jason doesn't fear Medea at all because he has support from Creon, king of Corinth. Jason is supposed to be more powerful than Medea. Jason is the son-in-law of the king and Medea is an exile. But, as Euripides suggests, what the audience expects doesn't come true at all.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how antigonemedea kills creon the king of corinth, the princess whom jason is in love with, and her two little children. the chorus addresses the audience about the unexpected and unbelievable end of the play.
- Analyzes how euripides concludes that gods are not like what we think they are supposed to be. the phrase, "many are the fates which zeus in olympus dispenses," tells us that gods do not favor mortals.
- Analyzes how euripides suggests that gods are not as good as they are supposed to be. medea has been exiled from her home country, from jason's homeland, and now from the city of corinth.
- Compares homer's suggestion that gods do help mortals in the odyssey. athena asks zeus to help odysseus get to his homeland.
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- medeaanalytical essayThe 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how euripides has presented medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as male-hero.
- Analyzes how medea is angered by jason's decision to marry another wife, glauce, and refuses to let him off without punishment.
- Explains that medea's character can be portrayed as a combination of the outstanding qualities of achilles and odysseus. each character possessed weaknesses which eventually led to their downfalls.
- Explains that achilles and medea were both tough and seemingly invulnerable characters yet both were wounded deeply by the actions of others.
- Analyzes how medea's balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of achilles and odysseus.
455 wordsRead More - Euripides Medea Vs. Greek Prejudices And Gender Rolesanalytical essayMedea vs. Greek Prejudices and Gender Roles In the story of Medea, the author, Euripides, addresses the topics of foreignism and female roles in the ancient Greek society. In the play, Medea, a foreign born woman, marries Jason, a Greek man, and moves to Greece to be with him after leaving her homeland with death and devastation. Then, when their marriage fails, Medea lashes out against Jason, causing her own exile and murdering her children, to which she has no love connection, and Jason’s new wife in the process. The main character, Medea, confirms many of the alleged Greek prejudices against foreigners and creates some prejudices of her own in return.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how euripides addresses the topics of foreignism and female roles in the ancient greek society. medea's foreign roots and misconceptions, as well as her familial and societal atrocities, and difference of feminine beliefs are discussed throughout the work.
- Analyzes how the people of ancient greece have a strong sense of nationalism and, often times, think of themselves as an elite society. this patriotism causes greece to look down upon those coming from less noble lands.
- Analyzes how medea was marginally accepted into greek culture, despite her poor reputation and emotional baggage, but as her marriage to jason and her mental competence crumbles apart, so does her social standing in the new nation.
- Analyzes how medea is treated as a hindrance to the greek culture, and skepticism of her. jason explains that greek women accept traditional societal roles and the duties placed on them by men.
- Analyzes how medea, arguably the most intelligent character in euripides’s piece, has become ridiculed and viewed as barbarous and less desirable after her separation from jason.
- Analyzes how medea is affronted by the greek citizens after her annulment with jason. she lashes out in response with the prejudices of her own.
- Analyzes how medea's hatred towards greek women continues as she discusses the fact that women should not have to bear children or have a strong maternal instinct in order to be considered societal worth.
- Opines that the greeks' enmity toward medea is entirely justified, since she entered greece as the wife of a citizen, and then goes against many of the values of her new nation.
- Analyzes how medea continues to worsen her situation by allowing her aggression to control her, leading to the tragic incidents she causes throughout the piece.
- Analyzes how medea uses her children as instrumental pieces in her plan to deliver poisoned gifts to princess glauce, whose tragic flaw, her vanity, will cause the city to panic.
- Analyzes euripides' portrayal of medea as an outcast from her society, but in reality, it was her own decisions, actions, and beliefs that caused her downfall and her exile from the community.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that freud's seduction theory states that forgotten childhood trauma and a variety of adult stresses could cause neurosis.
- Analyzes how jacobs' contribution to the american journal of psychotherapy named it, the "medea complex," which is the explanation for the downfall of the greek tragedy.
- Analyzes how medea betrayed her homeland by brutally dismembering her brother to bring aid to jason’s retrieval of the fleece, then convinced the daughters of pelias to kill him in order to help jason.
- Analyzes how euripides's medea focuses on the present day misfortune of jason’s life, however it does give insight to their past.
- Explains that jacobs conducted a study of present day divorces in order to prove his theory.
- Narrates how mrs. a felt an immediate attraction towards mr.
- Explains that mrs. a had similarities with medea, and mr. jason. he was a sexual man and never loved any of the many women he had been with before and during his marriage.
- Analyzes how jacob stresses on the past of mrs. a and her brother.
- Explains that jacob's medea complex and freud’s seduction theory prove that the repressed memories that troubled you as a child more than likely subconsciously trouble you now and even further causes you to make many decisions in your life.
1163 wordsRead More - Medea Rhetorical Analysisanalytical essayEven at the end, Jason still does not take blame but rather mock Medea and call her stupid, selfish, unreasonable, and emotional, as she just can't seem to view things his way. Marianne Hopman explains why Medea decided to kill as her plan of revenge. Hopman states that when Medea was talking to Jason before , she put his heroic deeds in jeopardy as it was Medea who did all the heroic stuff and Jason was just there. Hopman says that the reason why Medea killed off the princess was mostly because Medea wanted to save her from the same faith Medea had as she was also a lovestruck princess who fell in love and got married. Another factor that Hopman uses is that her children were the only thing standing in the way of Medea moving on, they were like rocks sinking in her in waters reminding Medea of the life she had with Jason. So it was expected of Medea to kill them as they were the last thing Medea had with Jason since the marriage was over with. The dead family symbolizes the broken and now dead marriage and household that Jason and Medea
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how medea crossed the line when she killed four people, including her children, in order to get revenge, while others view it as justifiable because it was the only way to truly hurt jason.
- Analyzes how medea comes from the bloodline of a god, as part demigod. helios is known for having anger problems, which she also used for revenge.
- Analyzes how marianne hopman explains why medea killed off the princess as her plan of revenge. the dead family symbolizes the broken and now dead marriage and household.
841 wordsRead More - The Decision in Medea by Euripidesanalytical essayIn life much of our future rest upon our decisions. These decisions come in all different shapes and sizes, and some have the potential to thrive our futures into greatness, while others can destroy our lives to the point of no return. In the play Medea, by Euripides he provides his audience with a dramatic story of a woman who will stop at nothing, to reach her goals of revenge. In Medea there are many significant decisions made throughout the story. The decision by Medea to let her desire for revenge rule her life, I believe is the most important. Medea is a tragedy, which shows the true destruction and horror that came from one decision.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how euripides' play medea shows the true destruction and horror that came from one decision.
- Analyzes how jason's decision to leave medea for the daughter of creon, the king of corinth, is optimally the quarter stone for her quest for revenge.
- Analyzes how medea prepares her master plan of revenge when she is banished from the city by the king of corinth, creon, and by media's conning ways.
- Analyzes how medea's plan to kill her two sons is about to unfold and there is nothing anyone can say that will make her feel differently.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how medea has a strong desire to seek revenge on jason. she is bound and determined to make him suffer as much as possible.
- Describes lawall, s., the norton anthology of western literature.
- Analyzes how medea makes a wonderful pathetic character because of her strange way of thinking and rationalizing, ability to manipulate people, and her desire to make jason suffer.
- Analyzes how medea makes a wonderful pathetic character because of her strange way of thinking and rationalizing, ability to manipulate people, and her strong desire to make jason suffer.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the importance of the gods in the trojan war, during the quarrel between hera and zeus and the aftermath of this argument.
- Analyzes how hera manipulates the course of the war by sending athena to deceive the trojans into violating the oath.
- Analyzes how hera despises the trojans and offers zeus destruction of her most beloved cities to bring misery to the city of troy. the interference of the gods is an important aspect of the iliad.
502 wordsRead More - Euripides' The Medea: Medea and the Chorusanalytical essayMedea and the Chorus 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the exchange between medea and the chorus serves several purposes in euripides' tragedy, the med.
- Analyzes how medea addresses the "women of corinth," reminding them that women are the most wretched. she is an intelligent woman, capable of outsmarting jason or creon.
292 wordsRead More - The True Nature Of Man And Gods In Homer's The Iliadanalytical essayThe gods in power, like Zeus, exhibit bias, dishonor, betrayal, deception, and many other humanly characteristics. One memorable scene is when Zeus and Poseidon are in conflict with each other over the Achaens versus the Trojans. Zeus controls the battle by “lifting the famous runner Achilles’ glory higher,” (Homer 13: 404). Zeus plays both sides in this scene, acting like a double agent which is dishonorable. Zeus’s bias is prevalent throughout the poem; specifically, he is “bent on wiping out the Argives, down to the last man,” (Homer 12: 81-82). Just like mortals such as Agamemnon and Achilles view each other with suspicion and intolerance, the gods experience identical emotions of wariness, anger, and irritation. This human-like behavior is not restricted to Zeus. Later in the text, Hera lies to Aphrodite to use her powers to manipulate her own husband Zeus. If one looks at Hera as a heavenly entity, her reaction may not make sense, but when it is viewed as a manifestation of human emotion, it become almost reasonable. Her scheming response to Zeus’s meddling with the war is spurred by her support for the Trojans. Hera’s manipulation and Aphrodite’s ego don’t stand alone as examples of this divine humanity. These instances suggest that the deities are being presented in this unique way to help explain behavior of the humans in The
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the gods in homer's epic poem, the iliad, are remarkably human in almost every way. the actions of the heroes determine their fate, not divine intervention.
- Analyzes how the gods in power, like zeus, exhibit bias, dishonor, betrayal, deception, and many other human characteristics.
- Analyzes how the existence of the gods explains the different facets of human nature — they represent personality traits inherent in each individual person.
- Analyzes how agamemnon's cultural upbringing lays the foundation for achilles' future decisions. he could have controlled his temper despite athena; his awareness of the social hierarchy would prevent him from raising a sword.
- Analyzes how the heroes' actions in the iliad are actions of free will, rather than decisions made because of divine intervention. paris and agamemnon stand out as excessively foolish and misguided because their actions can be attributed to character flaws.
- Analyzes how the gods in the iliad argue, forgive, and reason like the mortals; they function to explain human behavior.
1083 wordsRead More - The Contradictory Nature of Greek Gods and Godessesanalytical essayMany Greek gods were seen as both benefactors and tormentors, typically it depends on which god or goddess you are researching about. The seemingly contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the greek gods were seen as both benefactors and tormentors of man, based on the prime directive for man to worship them and the ensuing "deus ex mahina"
- Explains that a benefactor is someone who benefits or helps someone in real life. prometheus stole fire from the great gods and gave it to mankind.
- Explains that tormentors are foreseen to be evil and not bring any good to mankind. apollo brought music, prophecy, and enlightenment to the humans.
- Explains that the prime directive of man in greek mythology is to flat out worship the gods.
- Explains that deus ex machina is a plot device where an unsolvable problem is resolved by the manipulative and unexpected interruption of some new event, character, ability or object.
- Explains that in greek mythology, greek gods are benefactors or tormentors of mankind. the titan prometheus had originally been assigned with the task of creating man.
- Narrates how arachne challenged athena, the goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason. she boasted that she was better than her.
- Analyzes how odysseus tricked the enemy into bringing a wooden horse within the walls of troy. the greeks had been laying siege to troy for nine long years, but suddenly it looked like their entire army had departed.
- Analyzes the myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man.
1265 wordsRead More