Introduction to Medea

The tragedy of Medea was written by Euripides (484 – 407 BC) in 431 BC. Euripides wrote at least 90 plays, 19 of which are still intact. As in the plays of Sophocles and Aeschylus, the audience is already well aware of the myth surrounding Jason and Medea. However, Euripides' version is slightly different in that she appears not as a cold-blooded murderer but as a suffering mother, slandered by an unfaithful husband. Although unpopular when she first appeared, Medea would influence Seneca and Ovid to create their own versions of the myth.

Euripides

Little is known about the early life of Euripides. He was born in 480 BC on the island of Salamis near Athens to a family of hereditary priests. Although he preferred a solitary life, he married and had three sons, one of whom became a famous playwright. Unlike Sophocles, Euripides had little or no involvement in Athenian political affairs. The only exception was a brief diplomatic mission to Sicily. Like Sophocles and Aeschylus, his plays were performed in outdoor theaters and he composed music for competitions in various ceremonies and festivals. The purpose of these performances was not only to entertain but also to educate Greek citizens. In addition to a group of singers explaining the movements, there are two or three actors (always male) portraying various characters through masks and costumes. The poet made his debut at the Dionysus in 455 BC and did not win his first victory until 441 BC. Unfortunately, he entered these races without success, winning only four; a fifth came after his death.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) called Euripides the most tragic of the Greek poets. Classicist Edith Hamilton agreed in her book The Greek Road, writing that he was the saddest poet in the world. “He felt the misery of human life, like children helplessly enduring something they do not know and can never understand, as no other writer has.” (205) As the Peloponnesian War unfolded Outbreak, he left Athens in 408 BC and spent the rest of his life in Macedonia. Although often misunderstood during his lifetime and never receiving the acclaim he deserved, he became one of the most revered poets long after his death, influencing not only Greek but also Roman playwrights .

Main Characters and Myth

The entire play takes place in Medea's home; flashbacks provide the audience with insights into her time in her native Colchis and her arrival as a foreigner in Greece experience.

Few characters:

Medea

Jason

King Creon

Aegeus King

The Children

Nurse

Tutor

Messenger

and Choir.

According to legend, Princess Medea of ??Colchis fell madly in love with Jason of the Argonauts and used her magic to help him retrieve the Golden Fleece. She immigrated to Corinth with Jason, where she would bear him two sons. Unfortunately, Jason decided to divorce Medea and marry a more prominent person, the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. Jason claimed that he had the moral right to leave Medea because he had fulfilled his primary duty by bearing a legitimate child. Medea did not take the news well.

In Euripides' version, Medea appears not as a cold-blooded murderer but as a suffering mother, vilified by her unfaithful husband.

Creon approaches Medea and tells her that she will be exiled. He believed she might harm his daughter. Visibly distraught, she asked for another day, and her request was granted. The king was right. Seeking revenge, she decided to kill not only Jason's bride, but her children as well. At the same time, King Aegeus of Athens offered her asylum. By the next day, she had poisoned not only Jason's bride, but Creon as well. With her child murdered, she confronts Jason. She hovered over him, riding in the chariot provided by her grandfather Helios, the sun god, leaving Jason alone, without bride or child. This is Euripides' version.

In other variations of the myth, she killed children in an inadvertent effort to make them immortal or the citizens of Corinth killed Hera in their temple because of the murder of the princess Medea.

Plot

The play begins sometime after Medea learns of Jason's plan to marry King Creon's daughter. She was at home, weeping and lamenting her plight. The children's nurse was outside, concerned about her mistress's mental state. She told the audience:

…Now hatred reigns and loyal love is sick, for Jason betrayed my mistress and their son, beside the daughter of Creon, lord of the land. ascended the royal bridal bed, so my poor Medea was despised. (Green, 74)

The nurse suspects something terrible may be happening to Medea, and now she hates the children and doesn't like seeing them. She feared Medea might even harm them. When the children's tutor came in, they exchanged some gossip about each of their suspicions. He is worried about Medea and wonders if she has stopped grieving. Mentors were told to keep children away from their mother until she stopped grieving.

The scene switches to Medea in the house:

What I have suffered, what I have suffered, cry out in bitter lamentation! Damn child of a hated mother, I hope you end up with your father. Go to hell with the family, all the houses. (78)

She even begged to die. She spoke to the gods Artemis and Themis, asking them if they could see the pain she was suffering. She begged them to tear the palace into pieces for what they had done to her. The nurse heard Medea's plea and added - speaking to the gods - that she feared for the children's safety but begged the gods for help. Medea emerges from the house and addresses Jason's audience. Speaking about the women of Corinth, she said they believed women enjoyed life in war and stayed out of danger. Still, she would rather fight than endure the pain of childbirth.

Being roughed up like so many pirate trophies from a foreign land...if I could just find some means or means to get my husband to pay the fine and get me out... (81)

King Creon approaches Medea and informs her that she must leave Corinth. She asked him why he had expelled her. Crane replies, "I'm afraid of you—no need to be mean—and I'm afraid you're going to do incurable mischief to my daughter" (84). Medea assures him that it is Jason, not the bride, whom she hates. Despite her pleas, Creon insisted on her exile.

If necessary, he will even take her away by force. Medea relents and asks only for one more day to make arrangements for her sons, to which Creon agrees. After he left, she loudly announced:

...He asked me to stay until this day - the day when I would turn my three enemies into dead flesh: my father and his daughter, and my husband. (88)

Jason enters and approaches Medea, assuring her that she will not fall into poverty. First, she calls him a cheating rat, then reminds him of how he left home after helping him obtain the Golden Fleece. Jason ignores her and says that no one is responsible for her exile but herself. He had begun to hate her, but he still wanted to be nice to her.

I am prepared to distribute tokens generously to my friends elsewhere so that they can be kind to you. If you refuse this, woman, you are a fool. Give up your anger and you'll be better off. (97)

He left her standing alone. King Aegeus of Athens came to talk to Medea. He came from the oracle of Apollo, where he had asked him how to obtain children as heirs. He understood that there was a prophet in Corinth who could help him. He asked her why she kept crying. Medea conveyed her problem to Jason. The king expressed sympathy, and Medea added that she could end his infertility. "I will give you the power to sow offspring. This is the potion I know." (103) Aegeus promised her that if she could escape Corinth, he would provide her with asylum in Athens. After the king leaves, Medea prays to Zeus and says she has hope now. Speaking to the audience, she revealed her plans. She would tell Jason that she wished him well and had a gift for the princess, a fine woven dress and a garland of beaten gold. However, unbeknownst to others, the garment is poisonous. Regarding the fate of her children, she added:

I am saddened by what I had to do, that I had to kill my sons - no one could take them away.

(106)

Jason reappears at her request, and Medea begs his forgiveness. She called her children and assured them she wasn't angry anymore. Jason was delighted because her actions were those of a woman who had finally come to her senses. Medea assures him that she only thinks of the children. They were going to stay with Jason. All she asked was that they not be exiled. Jason leaves and Medea talks to her mentor. The princess received a gift. Turning to his children, Medea told them that she would be exiled. Speaking to herself, she realized there was only one thing left to do:

...I will never leave my children among my enemies so that they can treat them with cruelty . (117)

If they must die, it must die by her hands. A servant comes with news; the princess and her father are dead. She rejoiced; it was good news.

My actions have been decided, friends - I will end my children's lives as quickly as possible and leave this land. (124)

Medea exits and enters the house, saying "I am a sad woman." The children are killed on stage. Jason appears holding the sword that killed his son. Medea hovers above him in a chariot carrying the bodies of her two sons. Jason said to her:

You are a disgusting thing, the most disgusting woman to the gods and me and to all mankind. (128)

No Greek would have done what she did. Medea told him that Zeus knew what he had done. Not only is Jason grieving that he will never share his marital bed, but he also no longer shares words with his two children. Jason calls Medea a vicious mother, but she quickly responds that it was not her hand that killed them, but his. She told him that the gods knew who was responsible. Jason wanted his sons' bodies so he could bury them. No! Medea responded that they would be buried in Hera's temple. She added that everything she did was to torture him. Medea flew away, leaving Jason alone - wifeless, childless. Calling on Zeus, blaming God for allowing this to happen:

...my suffering at the hands of this tainted, child-devouring lioness. (133)

Explanation

In Medea, Euripides depicts a man who became known to audiences through the myth of the Argonauts and the search for the Golden Fleece woman. Some critics considered him a misogynist because he portrayed women as ferocious and terrifying; however, he actually had a deep respect and compassion for women. Michael Grant, in his book The Classical Greeks, says that poets admired women's sacrifice and sympathized with their suffering.

According to John David in his introduction to his translation of Euripides' plays, the poet was attracted to the idea of ??Medea. He believed that she was not a heartless woman, but a woman who was suffering. As a foreigner in a foreign land, she is portrayed as a pitiable victim and a tortured mother. She kills not out of hatred, but out of ***. Michael Grant claimed that the play had a novel theme, namely "the power of ***". Medea was transformed into a demon by an intolerable mistake. Although her actions are dark, she knows exactly what she is doing.

She is not portrayed as a murderous, heartless mother. She was a victim, betrayed by a husband who wanted to marry another, more prominent man. During his lifetime, Euripides watched his adopted city endure the hardships of the Peloponnesian War. He saw that war affected not only the men who fought, but also the women who stayed at home. Euripides saw the evil behind war. As Hamilton writes: "Never has the poet's ear been so sensitive to the calm and sad music of mankind..." (205). In some ways, Medea represents this pain. Although Jason didn't fight in the war, she still felt betrayed and abandoned.