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Feminism in Medea by Euripides
The play Medea by Euripides challenges the dominant views of femininity in the patriarchal society of the Greeks. While pursuing her ambition Medea disregards many of the feminine stereotypes/ characteristics of the patriarchal Greek society. She questions the inequality of women in a patriarchal society, contradicts Jason?s chauvinist beliefs, challenges the stereotype that women are weak and passive and completely disregards the feminine role of motherhood. Feminism is the belief that women and men are, and have been, treated differently by society, and that women have frequently and systematically been unable to participate fully in all social arenas and institutions. This belief is confirmed in ancient Greece where the status of women was very low. Aristotle describes the relationship between men and women during that time period: ?It is the best for all tame animals to be ruled by human beings. For this is how they are kept alive. In the same way, the relationship between the male and the female is by nature such that the male is higher, the female lower, that the male rules and the female is ruled.? Aristotle, Politica, ed. Loeb Classical Library, 1254 b 10-14.
Plato ascribes the inferior status of women to degeneration from men: ?It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls. Those who live rightly return to the stars, but those who are ?cowards or [lead unrighteous lives] may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation?. This downward progress may continue through successive reincarnations unless reversed. In this situation, obviously it is only men who are complete human beings and can hope for ultimat...
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...edea out rightly disregards when she kills her children.
Medea?s questions the inequality of women in a patriarchal society, contradicts Jason?s chauvinist beliefs, challenges the stereotype that women are weak and passive and completely disregards the feminine role of motherhood. In society today many people believe Medea to be a pioneer of feminism, even though her society/chorus scorns Medea after she killed her children. Medea still reveals many good and relevant stereotypes, such as the ?motherhood? and ?nurturing? roles that women still object to and fight against today.
Works Cited
Aristotle, Politica, ed. Loeb Classical Library, 1254 b 10-14.
Euripides. The Medea. Trans. by Rex Warner. Euripides I: Four Tragedies. Ed. David Grene and Richard Lattimore. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1995.
Plato: Collected Dialogues, Timaeus (Pgs. 1160-1177)
In ancient Greece, women lacked many of the fundamental rights held by men. Medea feels that this is unjust. These feelings are shown on page 195 when Medea states “...we must pay a great dowry to a husband who will be the tyrant of our bodies; and there is another fearful hazard: whether we shall get a good man or a bad. For separations bring disgrace on the woman and it is not possible to renounce one’s husband…” After being rejected by the one she loved, she beings to question the morals of those around her. She assumes that Greek women are weak and naive for allowing men to treat them this way; allowing men to cast them away at their heart’s content.
To begin comparing Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7, we need to look at three components: context, characters, and themes. Both Euripides and Ovid tell the story of Jason abandoning Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female protagonist’s traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to discrimination by beginning a battle to gain revenge all who harmed her, which she is prepared to follow through with even if it means resorting to the most despicable methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less severe figure whose modest goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these written differences, both of their Medea’s create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in undesirable situations. Euripides and Ovid present two different sets of motivations for Medea's behavior wh...
Euripides shows his views on female power through Medea. As a writer of the marginalized in society, Medea is the prime example of minorities of the age. She is a single mother, with 2 illegitimate children, in a foreign place. Despite all these disadvantages, Medea is the cleverest character in the story. Medea is a warning to the consequences that follow when society underestimates the
Personal Development, one of the core values at Saint Leo University, plays an important role in students’ daily lives. From the moment you step foot on campus to the day you graduate, you automatically become a different person. As a first year student, you are entering a new life and not knowing what to expect. Once you are in college, it is the start of a new chapter. You will become more mature and all the obstacles that you will go through will make you a different person. In order to have a successful Undergraduate experience, it is crucial to have a balance between personal life and school. Your personal development will strengthen your academics and the community. The Campus Life Handbook states, “Saint Leo University stresses the development of every person’s mind, spirit, and body for a balanced life. All members of the Saint Leo University community must demonstrate their commitment to personal development to help strengthen the character of our community” (Saint Leo 1). Based on the Saint Leo core values, personal development, responsible stewardship, integrity, respect, and community exemplifies Medea’s character as a Hero devolving throughout the play.
Euripides. Three Plays of Euripides: Alcestic, Medea, The Bacchae. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1974. Print.
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.
In learning about the feminist movement, we studied the three articles and discussed and reviewed the different authors perspectives on the topic and learned how important the role of woman in Greek Mythology. In presenting the feminist theory to the class we analyzed the three articles, Women in Ancient Greece; Women in Antiquity: New Assessments; and Women in Greek Myth, and discussed how although the three articles provided different views on Feminism in mythology, they all essentially are aiming to teach the same basic concept.
In Euripides' Medea, the main character of the same name is a controversial heroine. Medea takes whatever steps necessary to achieve what she believes is right and fair. She lived in a time when women were expected to sit in the shadows and take the hand that life dealt them without a blink of their eye. Medea took very radical steps to liberate herself and destroys the life of the man who ruined hers. She refused to accept the boundaries that a patriarchal society set upon her. Medea was a very wise and calculated woman who was brave enough to leave her homeland, along with everything she knew and loved, in order to follow her heart down the path of what she expected to be eternal happiness.
The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
In Greek classics, it is common knowledge that in that era women and men were considered unequal. Men were superior, and in most cases women were not even fit for citizenship. It is in this atmosphere and time period that Aristophanes wrote Lysistrata. The play itself is supposed to be a comedy, although the actions of the women do not seem amusing. Instead, the women’s actions, especially the main character Lysistrata, seem incredibly brave. Lysistrata rounds up her “troop” of all the women in Athens and a Spartan woman. They take charge of the acropolis and refuse to settle for anything less than a peace treaty to end the war. The only problem with this is, in ending the war, they will be bringing back the men from their duty and end up in the same social caste system as they were from the beginning. Aristophanes seems to make the point that – the only power women hold is their sexuality (Rex Par. 7). The Athenian women can withdraw from their husbands for however long they like, they still end up givi...
Women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose or have imposed on them. This is evident in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the nurse. During the time period which Medea is set women have very limited social power and no political power at all, although a women’s maternal and domestic power was respected in the privacy of the home, “Our lives depend on how his lordship feels”. The limited power these women were given is different to modern society yet roles are still imposed on women to conform and be a dutiful wife.
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.
In Greek society, the role of women was considered to be insignificant compared to the Greek men. The women had very few rights, no room to voice personal opinions, and a very bleak future with few options for a better life. According to Moses Hades, professor of Greek studies, women in ancient Greek plays are known to be the main characters and take the role of the villain, victim, or the heroine. In Euripides’ play Medea, Medea, the main character, plays all these roles. She represents the heroine by helping her husband secure the Golden Fleece prior to their marriage, and then portrays the victim by being betrayed by her husband, and finally the villain by murdering her loved ones. Therefore, Euripides follows the standard format for a Greek tragedy.
Socrates is widely considered to be the first male feminist in history. In book five of Republic, Socrates proposes the idea of having guardians for the city. He believes these guardians can be both men and women alike. Socrates believed men and women to be equal in this regard. C.W. Taylor points out, “Socrates suggests that the distinction between male and female is as relevant as the distinction between having long hair and having short hair for the purposes of deciding who should be active guardians.” Socrates also states that females need to be put through the same school as males. Socrates says, “The if we are to use the women for the same things as the men, we must teach them the same things.” Socrates is arguing that women cannot perform the same tasks as men do without being taught how to do them. This was a very radical statement in Socrates’ time. No one before him had ever thought women to be equal to men. Clearly, feminism is a major theme in Plato’s
Within the play “Medea” there are several moments where the author seems to be critiquing or making a comment on Athenian society. The Athenian’s prided themselves on their advanced and “enlightened” thinking’s and beliefs. Despite this however, the Athenians treated women no better than many of their contemporaries in Greece. This is made apparent several times throughout the play as Medea comments on the treatment of women within society, and in the way Medea is often treated throughout the play for not only being a woman but for being and foreign woman, an intelligent foreign woman. This is still seen in modern society. America is often lauded for being an advanced country and yet the treatment of women in society in equal to that of men. Women are still ridiculed for their intelligence and achievements, often making less than men who have less qualification then themselves. Women who are “foreign” to those around them are often degraded and discriminated against. Whether that