The saga by Euripides titled Medea is a story about many things— one, at face value, a narrative about a relationship between spouses that is being destroyed in front of the audience’s eyes. Their marriage, during the midst of it ending, portrays signs of an unhealthy relationship that becomes a growing bed for anger, betrayal, and revenge. It could be considered as a tragedy; for one to retaliate for the other’s wrongdoings, they had to hurt those they have really loved. The ending leaves both main characters in ruins because of the death of the royal family and their children. While the play does center around Jason and Medea’s relationship, it is inarguable that the story is truly about Medea. While Jason is introduced to be the hero in …show more content…
Medea had an unusual birth, which being born by a priestess and being the niece of a sorceress. She also overcomes many challenges in her journey, which is helping Jason with his impossible tasks, making Pelias pay for going against his word on him, and then exacting revenge on her husband. Others include how she has conflicts with multiple opponents and is defined by a specific task, despite how negative it is. However, despite possessing these qualities there is one that she heavily lacks: morality. The princess gets what she wants by means that are unethical. This includes when she killed her brother to help them get away from her father’s grasp, and when she ends up murdering her children to ruin Jason’s life. She tries to overcome her obstacles like all heroes do, but fails to problem-solve in a humane way. Unlike Jason, who is a traditional hero, Medea is the anti-hero in the story. Her logical is rational and understandable, but it is her response to her emotions that make her seem incredibly irrational. This is portrayed in various parts of the play, including when Medea hesitates to go through with killing her children. She almost tries to convince herself to “spare her children” and bring them with her because she adores them, but then states that she refuses to “… leave her children to be abused by her enemies” (1060). While this
As she is "Faced with her husband's cold pragmatism, Medea responds according to her nature." Euripides really stresses the "otherness" of Medea's nature: she is "of a different kind", described in terms of nature and animals: she is "a rock or wave of the sea'", "like a wild bull", "a tiger". Yes, she is a little dangerous, but she is driven by her hear; that vital force which distinguishes the body from the corpse and has been crushed by Jason's betrayal.
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
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 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.
It is easy to agree with a family member or friend about a bad decision, but it is much more difficult to agree with someone you do not like, or do not even know personally. When that person is a fictional character, it is even more challenging. Medea is a very pitiful character, but she is also rather cunning in the way she carries out her actions. However, due to the overwhelming sense of wrong-doing, the reader may find it easy to identify with her. 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.
There are moments in life where I believe that women like Medea’s who go through suffering predicaments which began after Jason leaving her and his kids and that would spark a fuse that would lead Medea’s down a path from sadness to vengeance. There were moments however, that showed how loyal she once was to Jason as told by the nurse in the beginning in the play on how she
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.
She has many faults that causes her downfall and to lose sight of herself. For starters, a tragic hero must come from nobility or royalty, which Medea is in two ways. She is the daughter of King Aeetes, as well as being a sorceress. The second characteristic, is that the tragic hero can not be perfect and must be relatable to everyday people like the audience, just maybe on a different social status. We must be able to relate to her in a way, so that we can experience catharsis.
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...
Euripides created a two-headed character in this classical tragedy. Medea begins her marriage as the ideal loving wife who sacrificed much for her husband's safety. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a murderous villain that demands respect and even some sympathy. By the end, the husband and wife are left devoid of love and purpose as the tragedy closes.
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.
This mutual suffering between Medea and the Chorus raises issues such as the treatment of women at the time when this play was written. When Medea married Jason, she married herself to him for life. She was expected to be totally obedient and to accept whatever her husband willed. For her to look upon another man other than her husband would have been totally unacceptable. Whereas Jason marries another woman while he...
Medea is a tragedy of a woman who feels that her husband has betrayed her with another woman and the jealousy that consumes her. She is the protagonist who arouses sympathy and admiration because of how her desperate situation is. I thought I was going to feel sorry for Medea, but that quickly changed as soon as I saw her true colors. I understand that her emotions were all over the place. First, she was angry, then cold and conniving. The lower she sinks the more terrible revenge she wants to reap on Jason.
Although Medea killed and did things that people felt were wrong it is evident that through out the play that along with her other characteristics, she was a caring and loving person. The first time we are shown this is when we discover everything she did for Jason. If she did not love him she would not have done those things. We are also shown that Medea can be a caring person by the love that she had for her children. Although she killed them in the end during the play she was a mother to her children, she showed affection to them, and she did think twice before she killed them. It is because Medea was a caring and loving person that she did what she did. Her feelings were hurt and her heart was broken; and she did what she felt she had to do to hurt Jason for hurting her.