My fair citizens of the Jury, we are here today to pass judgement on Medea of Colchis. For the unforgivable sins of murder, in the first degree. Creon, king of Corinth, his daughter Glauce, and even Medea’s very own flesh and blood, her two children. These poor helpless souls fell victim to Medea’s rage, jealousy, and hatred. I urge you not to take her actions lightly for she was once a sinner, and will undoubtedly sin again if capital punishment is not inflicted. Before Creon, Glauce, and the two children. There were other victims who suffered her wrath. Pelias of Iolcus, and even her own family members. From her own incriminating words “I myself betrayed my father and my home, and came with you to Pelias’ land of Iolcus. And then, showing more willingness to help than wisdom, I killed him, Pelias, with a most dreadful death.” p16. The Gods themselves should pass judgement on Medea, but she is of a foreign land. A land of barbaric customs, witchcraft, and sorcery. She is not cultured in the ways of Greece. Her actions are criminal and unjustified. The witch Medea only knows of hate, and that is all she will ever know. After brutally murdering her own children, when confronted by the victimized father. Jason questioned her reasons for committing such acts. All she could reply was “To make you feel pain”. p46. Medea did all this just to spite her husband, who gave himself to a rich family so that their children could be brought up in a wealthy household. “Also that I might bring my children up worthily Of my position, and, by producing more of them. To be brothers of yours, we would draw the families Together and all be happy.” p18. Jason, the man that brought this wildling into a cultured society, allowing her to take up the ways...
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... poor innocent children to cut all ties and flee to a harbor of safety. Ignoring the will of the children, and their cries of help, she struck them from this world. “What can I do and how escape from my mother’s hands?” p41. Medea is a cold blooded killer that is capable of the unthinkable. Disposing anyone in her path, betraying her own family and home, and putting her duties of a mother to shame. “O your heart must have been made of rock or steel, you who can kill with your own hand the fruit of your own womb.” p41. I beg the Jury to show not even a drop of compassion when the name Medea is present. And do not pity the beast, for pity only fuels her bloodthirst. Medea is a living demon and must be put to death this moment. O fair citizens of the Jury, strike this hellish creature where it stands or the God’s themselves will intervene and purge her from this world.
Medea has a conversation with Jason at the end of the story he tells her that he hoped the children who bring down curses on her; she looks at him and says “the gods know who the author of this sorrow.” (Lawall 719) Medea killed his children and yet she’s blaming him for her doing it. The conversation just got uglier and ended with her leaving.
Euripedes tugs and pulls at our emotions from every angle throughout The Medea. He compels us to feel sympathy for the characters abused by Medea, yet still feel sympathy for Medea as well. These conflicting feelings build a sense of confusion and anxiety about the unfolding plot. In the beginning, the Nurse reveals the recent background events that have caused Medea so much torment: "She herself helped Jason in every way" (13) and now he "has taken a royal wife to his bed" (18). Right away we are angry with Jason for breaking his wedding vows, and we are building up sympathy for Medea as the Nurse describes her acts of suffering. When we first see Medea, she speaks passionately to the women of Corinth and convinces them to side with her. She evokes their sympathy by drawing further attention to her suffering and speaking in terms that bring them all to common ground. Aegeus becomes Medea’s first victim when he, unknowingly, provides the final building block in her plan for revenge against Jason. We sympathize for Aegeus in his ignorance. Medea now has confidence in her plan, so she reveals it to the women of Corinth. She is going to send her children to Jason’s bride with a poisoned dress that will make her die in agony. We are still compelled to sympathize with Medea at this point because she has justified her reasons for seeking revenge. However, the princess is oblivious to Medea’s plot; she will accept the gift for its beauty then meet an unexpected, agonized death. The image of pain and agony elicits our sympathy as well. Medea presents her most perverse speech when she explains how she will kill her own children then flee Corinth. Alone, these acts provoke pure disgust, but Euripides has developed Medea’s character as a coercive force; we still sympathize with her for her plight, yet we also hate her for her decisions. The women of Corinth try to persuade her away from this morbid choice, but their arguments are ineffective. Euripides employs stichomythia in the exchange between the women and Medea to show Medea breaking down boundaries between self and other, which prevent sympathy (811-819). Euripedes focuses on suffering, ignorance, and rhetoric to leave us torn in our sympathy for every character.
She gave the children the dress she made and the diadem, submerged with poison and instructed her to give these gifts to the princess under the false impression that she wants to please her so she may convince her father to allow the children to stay in Corinth. After the death of the king and the princess, Medea kills her two children. The only time the children have spoken and they plead to live. There is no future for the children, to escape their mother’s wrath and anger and her drive to hurt and destroy everything and everyone that Jason loves and cares about. Medea contributes to the work as a whole because we see her side of the story and understand the motives behind her action and the consequences as the result of her madness. Medea is the rising action and the climax of the play. We also see Jason side of the story from his conversations with Medea and his explanation was awful. He is the reason for the conflict and issues for Medea but Jason does not take care of the problems he created nor does he take the responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He married a sorceress and not a normal Greek
In Euripides Greek tragedy, Medea, it is the civilised values of Greek culture, which govern all facets of Corinthian life, yet Medea’s triumph is not a celebration of such values, but a mockery of them. While on the surface, Medea’s triumph appears an act of personal revenge out of pure passion, the implications of her actions extend far beyond one individual to encompass an entire civilisation. In committing “vile” acts of infanticide, Medea not only absolves herself from the one- dimensional role of women in a patriarchal society, but also transcends the social orders of that society. Moreover, it also serves as a warning to sacrificing all reasoning and rationality, and allowing
Antigone's new client, Medea, is responsible for the brutal murder of her two children and of her husband's new bride to be. Although Antigone disagrees with Medea's actions, she takes the case because she feels that it is a way to show the world that even today, in the new millennium, women's actions are still measured harsher than those of men. In other words, Medea claims that she took drastic measures in order to retaliate against her husband for leaving her alone in the world, but it was the only way that she could truly finish him and make everyone think about they way the world is run today.
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...
“Clytemnestra hated Agamemnon, for he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to Artemis, and to the wind god, Aeolus, in order to get fair winds for the Greek fleet to sail to Troy and many years of war” (Daly). In result, Clytemnestra had murdered her own husband Agamemnon for revenge because he had sacrificed their daughter. Medea commits many disgraceful acts. “Her first deed was to destroy Pelias, the king who had taken over the throne of Iolcus from Jason 's father. Medea suggested to the daughters of Pelias that, if they killed him, cut him up into small pieces, and cooked him in a stew, he would then be rejuvenated. She demonstrated her idea by cutting and cooking a ram and, by the use of magic, making a lamb spring forth from the pot. The daughters did as she suggested but, of course, Pelias did not survive. The people were so horrified at this deed that Jason and Medea had to flee the country” (Daly). When Medea and her husband settled in Corinth, Jason left her for the daughter of the Corinthian king Creon, Glauca. To get revenge from her husband, Medea murders her own two children and poisons the Corinthian princess, that Jason, her husband left for, and King
With no husband, no country to turn to, and no one she can really depend on for rescue, Medea is trapped by her circumstances. Instead of becoming crushed, however, Medea turns it against those she hate. She attacks the weaknesses in her enemies’ character. Knowing Jason would feel guilty about his abandonment, Medea sent her own children to deliver the poisoned gifts, despite the certain death her children would face being involved in such a plot. Knowing the princess would not resist flashy gifts, she cursed the dress and crown. Knowing the king’s love for his daughter would cause him to rush to her aid, Medea formulated the curse to spread to those who touched the daughter as well. As each facet of her plan had to be executed perfectly to succeed, Medea demonstrated the full potential of her capabilities. She proves that when a society completely scorns and devalues women, everyone will pay as women are incredibly strong.
Throughout the whole story, you are torn with emotions between the characters. At first, you feel sorry for Medea. Her husband, who she has saved from death, has left her for another woman. She has been "all/obediant" their entire marriage, transforming herself into the sort of wife required by society. You can't help but sympathize with her.
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.
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.
... powerful, manipulative, and extremely smart, yet because she is a woman she has limited social power. She has no chance of being a hero because she acts out of hurt in her marriage and love turned to hate. In Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Agamemnon also kills his child, although it is not praised, he is still considered a hero after his death. Medea is portrayed as being a selfish and ruthless woman, making her unnatural. Nevertheless, the audience finds themselves uncomfortably admiring Medea and her strength as a woman. Medea’s madness portrays how one’s emotions can lead to detrimental results rather than using reason. She is driven by her desire for revenge and will stop at nothing to burn her husband Jason as he did her.
First, Medea is exiled from Thebes, but is allowed one extra day to prepare for her departure. During that day, though, instead of gathering her things, she gathers her thoughts, and devises brutal plans of vengeance. Later, while confronting her husband after the separation, Medea even reveals that she is plotting against him. "…That this marriage-day/ Will end with marriage lost, loathing and horror left," proving her rage. And, not only does she seek revenge on her ex-husband, but on Creon, the king, and his daughter. Eventually, with the help of her children, she manages to kill the princess by means of a poisoned robe and crown. Creon dies by merely touching his sick daughter's body. Finally, and worst of all, Medea plans on killing her children, for she feels that her children should not live the rest of their lives in sorrow. It is the final step of her plan: "Friends, now my course is clear: as quickly as possible/ To kill the children and then fly from Corinth." And, in front of Jason, she murders their two sons. But not long thereafter she is en route to Athens, where the king has granted her a place to live. With her gone, Thebes' order is restored and eventually brought back to its normal state. The end of the play, as told by a Chorus (who narrate throughout the play), explains that gods bring "surprising ends to many matters.
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 was a very diverse character who possesses several characteristics which were unlike the average woman during her time. As a result of these characteristics she was treated differently by members of the society. Media was a different woman for several reasons; she possessed super natural powers , she was manipulative, vindictive, and she was driven by revenge. The life that Medea lived and the situations she encountered, (one could say) were partly responsible for these characteristics and her actions.