In Euripides’ play, “Bacchae”, Euripides reflects the Aristotelian principles well enough to be considered a “good” tragedy in Aristotle’s eyes. This is proven with the examples of the “imitation” of Pentheus’ death, the “reversal of the situation” when Dionysus switched from Pentheus’ prisoner to his aide in their quest to see the Bacchae, and the “recognition” of Pentheus’ mother when she realises what she has done to her son. Aristotle reflects in his book, Poetics, the importance of imitation
Euripides' Medea I see Medea as a woman who took a chance and stood up for herself. The kind of behavior that Medea displays was very rare for these times: she doesn?t accept the dramatic change in her life; she does something about it. On the other hand, Medea becomes so obsessed she loses herself to revenge. Medea is only heroic to an extent. Medea?s thirst for revenge begins when she finds out about her husbands unfaithfulness. Medea?s husband Jason decides to marry the princess Glauce
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
In Euripides' play Medea, the maddened main character, Medea, reveals how betrayal can significantly change a person. Medea's actions, appearance, statements, and what others have to say about her display these alterations. Medea displays a lot of different emotions throughout the play. She becomes full of hatred and hostility after being refused by her husband. Not only did this change her, but Medea took a turn for the worse after being banished. To begin, Medea's actions are a good representation
Sophocles vs Euripides Sophocles’ and Euripides’ versions of Electra carry, among many similarities, a central theme of revenge. The characters, Electra and Orestes, must reunite to avenge their father’s murder. Misfortunately, in both versions the just solution leads the siblings to destroying their own mother. Both versions of Electra can be compared to Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers. However, they are both more dramatic, and more similar to each other than if each Electra was individually
control, is a chief concept that can “make or break” the relationship. Distribution of the ruling is frequently divided into males versus females. This partition leads to many conflicts and tribulations. In the catastrophic Greek play Medea, by Euripides, the liaison between Medea and Jason demonstrates how both males and females assert power in the relationship and how incorrect usage of this supremacy leads to dilemmas. Initially, males direct the lives all members in the relationship by either
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
Euripides had two disastrous marriages to unfaithful wives (Monogan). Thus, his general descriptions of destructive women, as in Medea and Phaedra, could be attributed to this. In the specific case of Medea, where there is a clear theme of adultery, there is a projection of his wives onto Jason and himself onto Medea. However, rather than writing a play about a male protagonist who had unfaithful wives, like a literal project of his life would be, Euripides inverts the gender roles
Euripides’ The Bacchae is the story of the punishment of Pentheus, the king of Thebes, and the city of Thebes by the god Dionysus. This psychologically invigorating narrative explores the complexities of femininity through the apparent liberations of the women in the play and Dionysus himself. Euripides challenges the Athenian norms surrounding power and democracy by challenging Athenian perceptions of equality through gender. At the beginning of the play Dionysus has come to Thebes in disguise
The Medea In “The Medea” by Euripides, a classical tragedy written in 431 B.C.E, the playwright shows that one 's cleverness and need for revenge can lead to disaster. Medea leaves her family and her homeland, Colchis, with her husband, Jason, to Corinth. Jason then takes another woman to bed, and Medea begins to regret the past decisions she has made and what she has given up for him. Medea is then exiled from Corinth, because Creon, the king, knows the potential she has to do the most unimaginable
An Overview of Electra Euripides' play Electra, produced in 415 b.c.e., starts with a peasant recounting past events: Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon and took the throne of Mycenae. Agamemnon's son Orestes escaped and has been raised in Phocis. Daughter Electra, when marriageable, was forced to wed this peasant instead of any noble, whereby Aegisthus' rule might be endangered. The marriage has not been consummated. "If any man thinks me a fool, for harbouring / A young
In the form of a play, Euripides implements elements and themes of religion, violence, femininity, masculinity, foreignness, and many other themes in “The Bacchae”, premiered in 405 BC. The play elicited a variety of reactions from the people of Ancient Athens. The play surrounds the peripeteia Pentheus undergoes as he unknowingly challenges the God, Dionysus. Dionysus has disguised himself to lead Pentheus to this outcome. Euripides’ “The Bacchae” exemplifies how the fragility of masculinity can
Deceitful Clytemnestra of Euripides' Electra Agamemnon returns from Troy, a victorious general, bringing home spoils, riches and fame. He is murdered on the same day as he returns. Clytemnestra, his adulterous wife, has laid in wait for her husband's homecoming and kills him whilst he is being bathed after his long journey. During the Agamemnon, large proportions of the Queen's words are justifications for her action, which is very much concerned with the sacrifice of Iphigenia to the gods,
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
Euripides: A Greek Playwright Euripides is a keen witness to the human character and the father of the psychological theater. His plays were modern at the time compared to others because of the way he focused on the personal lives and motives of his characters, in a manner that was unfamiliar to Greek audiences. His plays have often been seen, in simple terms, bad because critics have been unable to comprehend his visions. The ideas and concepts that Euripides developed were not accepted until
Spectacle can be defined as “visually striking performance or display”. It is directly associated with the eyes, the act of viewing or looking at something. In regards to theatre spectacle serves as the middle man between the eyes and the senses of the individual spectator. The response to spectacle varies based on the spectator. The appeal of spectacle is conceived from its ability to captivate the audience and grab hold of the viewer’s gaze. This can be done with the presentation of violence, admiration
Dylan Madden Word Count: 410 Euripides’ Medea Response 11 September 2017 In Euripides’ play, Medea contained qualities similar to Antigone in Sophocles’ play however, the events turned to a similar but more drastic ending for Medea. As the play progressed, Medea questions the treatment of women and men after having betrayed and abandoned by her husband Jason who left her and her kids. Upon her speech with the chorus, Medea talked about the inequalities women and men had which lead to
The Themes of Medea Medea, a play by the Greek playwright Euripides, explores the Greek-barbarian dichotomy through the character of Medea, a princess from the "barbarian", or non-Greek, land of Colchis. Throughout the play, it becomes evident to the reader that Medea is no ordinary woman by Greek standards. Central to the whole plot is Medea's barbarian origins and how they are related to her actions. In this paper, I am attempting to answer questions such as how Medea
criticizes Euripides for not allowing "the chorus to be one of the actors and to be a part of the whole and to share in the dramatic action, . . . as in Sophocles." Aristotle may be thinking of the embolima of Euripides' later plays (satirized also by Aristophanes), but he is certainly wrong about the Medea. Its choral odes are not only all intimately related to the action but are also essential for the meaning of the play, particularly because here, as elsewhere (e.g. Hecuba), Euripides forces us
or control, is a chief concept that can “make or break” the affiliation. Distribution of the ruling is frequently divided into males versus females. This partition leads to many conflicts and tribulations. In the catastrophic Greek play Medea, by Euripides, the liaison between Medea and Jason demonstrates how both males and females assert power in the relationship and how incorrect usage of this supremacy leads to dilemmas. Initially, males direct the lives all members in the relationship by either