“Medea,” a play by Euripides, depicts the difficulties that befall women and how their suffering from mistreatment, turned her to commit violent and terrible transgressions. Medea’s display of ceaseless demoralized actions lead to the death of nearly her entire family. The text depicts powerless women that live under the rule of their husbands in a male dominated society. Medea rises against societal norms during this time by her strong belief in her own ideas, she rises to power, and begins to challenge the idea of a strong, heroic character. The character Medea shows great power by rejecting her gender role that society placed her in. Medea is also under the power of revenge because her husband Jason abandoned her. During this time period, Medea possessed a large amount of pride throughout the story. The nurse best described Medea’s prideful character. “She 's a dangerous woman. It won 't be easy for any man who picks a fight with her to think she 's beaten and he 's triumphed,” (Euripides 56-58). Medea has many traits that would be admirable, if only she were a man. She is ruthless, brilliant, cunning, and powerful. But her position is one of weakness: she is not a ruler or a warrior on the battlefield, she is a woman scorned. She says, “I treat my friends with kindness, and come down hard on the heads of my enemies. This is the way to live, the way to win a glorious reputation,” (Euripides 81-83). Reputation is a huge factor in a mans life. Men are always building their reputation throughout their life through war and powerful actions. Medea speaks as if she were a war hero or man with power caught up in the idea that reputation is everything. This not only contributes to the struggle with gender roles but it pokes holes in the Greeks idea of Medea completely abandons her maternal instinct, and she is quite understanding of all that she has done. Good-bye to my former plans…I cannot do it. And yet what is the matter with me? Do I want to make myself a laughingstock by letting my enemies off scot-free? I must go through with it…I do realize how terrible is the crime I am about, but passion overrules my resolutions …It’s worth the grief…You could not hope, nor your princess either, to scorn my love, make a fool of me and live happily ever after. (Euripides 212-219) Jason changes to the eye of the reader from the exotic hero he was made out to be the unherioc, self righteous and selfish man. At the end Medea rides through in a chariot given to her by the gods. It can be inferred that Euripides did this because it does not make sense; just as life does not make sense. Euripides could be trying to say that he does not believe that you can not so easily categorize people into gender roles. Euripides recognizes the injustice that gender roles serve in Greek society. These ideas were not very popular during this time period. Euripides was scrutinized for his writing and the way his plot twisted. It is important to remember that we can’t use these injustices as excuses for our actions but notice that these problems can create others. Medea gained power from these issues and showed signs of a strong character but the end result was not for the
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...
Shirley Barlow centralizes her article, Stereotype and Reversal in Euripedes’ Medea, on the idea that Medea goes back and forth between the normal social stereotypes of a Greek man and woman. Medea holds very heroic qualities, qualities of which are supposed to belong to a man. Barlow makes a point in the article that even though Medea is exposed to the same environment and circumstances, the way in which she thinks and carries out action is completely different than that of a normal Greek woman. While trying to convince the reader of Medea’s unusual heroic characteristics, Barlow points out that she Medea also holds the feelings of a mother who has love for her children. Barlow
The speech itself highlights women's subordinate status in ancient Greek society, especially in the public eye." When Medea points out that women, especially "foreign" women, "require some knowledge of magic and other covert arts to exert influence over their husbands in the bedroom," she argues for a kind of alternative power that women can enjoy. A power that remains invisible to men and unknown by society, yet sways each with unquestionable force. Medea also supplies a method for interpreting her own character towards the end of her speech (lines 251-257): we should read her history of exile as a metaphoric exaggeration of all women's alienation; in fact, her whole predicament, past and yet to come, can be read as an allegory of women's suffering and the heights of tragedy it may unleash if left unattended. Under this model of interpretation, Medea portrays the rebellion of women against their "wretchedness." Such a transparent social allegory may seem forced or clichéd in our own contemporary setting, but in Euripides' time it would have been revolutionary, as tragedy generally spoke to the sufferings of a generic (perhaps idealized) individual, rather than a group. It would be a mistake, however, to claim that Medea's speech elaborates a clearly progressive political message, as her concluding remarks appeal to women's natural talent for devious manipulation (line 414). While Euripides' play manifests many revolutionary political sentiments, its social criticisms remain sporadic, forming just a part of some of the many trains of thought he follows.
While I enjoyed how Mills analyzed Medea’s action by bringing up relevant information regarding her historic roots and comparing her to several similar Greek characters, I disagreed with his heavy emphasis on her celestiality. She certainly does implore many aspects that a witch or mystical spirit would exhibit, such as her use of herbs and her method of escape, but I don’t think it is appropriate to blame her act of vengeance on aspects of alienation from humanity. Because Euripides’ intention of writing this play was to compel his audience to question social norms and gender roles in society, I don’t think he would have crafted Medea in a way that cast her outside of the human realm. While it certainly would have not been socially accepted
Medea uses denial by blocking all the thoughts that are stopping her from committing her crimes. She refuses to think about her wrongdoing and how her children should not pay the price for what their father did. While she is trying to neglect reality and just focus on her revenge, one way or another she will grief for what she did and never forgive herself. When she was about to kill her children, she was denying all thoughts and disowning them by saying “…Do not weaken, don’t remember that you love your children dearly, that you gave them life. For one short day, forget your children. Afterward, you’ll grieve.” (817). She was aware that after all she will end up grieving, but she wasn’t going to let go of her enemies without punishing them. An action that Medea should have done is being true to herself. When it came to recovering her heartbreak it was best to have positive thoughts and even thought she did not have anyone to grieve on, she could have picked herself up and be a better
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...
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.
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.
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
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. Medea’s foreign roots and misconceptions, as well as her familial and societal atrocities,
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.
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.
The Greek tragedy Medea is a tale of a woman scorn and the wrath that follows. The story is one of outright deceit, crippling revenge and questionable justice. It is typical of Greek tragedies in its simplicity, but atypical in the way it justifies horrific revenge. Medea is one of Euripides' most enduring plays. It and only a handful of others have survived the several thousand years since their conception.
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.
... takes matters into her own hands and doesn’t wait for a man to handle things for her. Also, her internal conflict that is visible throughout the entire play signify that she actually thinks for herself, and is strong enough to need to make serious decisions on her own, regardless of her gender. All of this goes back on the traditional Greek society, and helps make Medea into a play that is ahead of its time. With Euripides challenging the notion of misogyny, he creates Medea to show how powerful and dangerous a woman can be in a story, even though it was never heard of in the modern eras.