gender roles in medea essay

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The events of Medea take place in a male-dominated society, a society that allows Jason and Creon to casually and brutally shunt Medea aside. The play is an exploration of the roles of men and women, both actual and ideal, but it is not necessarily an argument for sexual equality. Creon and Jason find Medea 's cleverness more dangerous and frightening because she is woman. "A sharp tempered woman…" Creon says, "Is easier to deal with than the clever type who holds her tongue." The chorus, too, feels it can offer Medea advice on what behavior best suits a woman. "Suppose your man gives honor to another woman's bed," it says. "It often happens. Don't be hurt./ God will be your friend in this."

Everyone, it seems, has a different opinion on what a good woman or a good man is and does. Jason says it would be better if men "got their children in some other way" and women didn't exist at all. "Then," he says, "life would have been good." Medea herself frequently weighs in on the subject, "We women are the most unfortunate creatures." Despite the plethora of opinions, many of them contradictory, the question isn't necessarily resolved in the play. Jason insists Medea is "free to keep telling everyone [he is] a worthless man"—not a difficult opinion for him to hold, given the comfort of his new position as Creon's son-in-law and member of the royal household. Medea promptly assures him that he is a "coward." She names him such in "bitterest reproach for [his] lack of manliness." The play is imbued with a sense that neither men nor women are doing as they should, neither are behaving as they ought, and, perhaps more importantly, that if they were, the tragedy might have been averted.

The Roles of Men and Women ThemeTracker

The Roles of Men and Women Quotes in Medea

The people here are well disposed to [Medea], An exile and Jasons's all obedient wife: That's the best way for a woman to keep safe – Not to cross her husband. But now her deepest love is sick, all turns to hate.

The middle course is best in name And practice, the best policy by far. Excess brings no benefit to us, Only greater disasters on a house, When God is angry.

Tell us, Nurse. At the gate I heard [Medea] Crying inside the house. I don't like to see the family suffering. I sympathize with them.

My husband has turned out to be the most despicable of men. Of all the creatures that have life and reason We women have the worst lot.

A woman, coming to new ways and laws, Needs to be a clairvoyant – she can't find out at home, What sort of man will share her bed. If we work at it, and our husband is content Beneath the marriage yoke, Life can be enviable. If not, better to be dead.

The fools! I would rather fight three times In war, than go through childbirth once!

Medea, scowling there with fury at your husband! I have given orders that you should leave the country: Take your two sons and go, into exile. No delay!

The direct way is best, the one at which I am most skilled: I'll poison them.

…But we are women too: We may not have the means to achieve nobility; Our cleverness lies in crafting evil.

You vile coward! Yes, I can call you that, The worst name that I know for your unmanliness!

Zeus, you granted men sure signs to tell When gold is counterfeit. But when we need to tell Which men are false, why do our bodies bear no stamp To show our worth?

As for your spiteful words about my marriage with the princess, I'll show that what I've done is wise and prudent; And I've acted out of love for you And for my sons…

Jason, you have put a fine gloss on your words. But – I may not be wise to say this – I think You've acted wrongly: you have betrayed your wife.

All for nothing tortured myself with toil and care, And bore the cruel pains when you were born. Once I placed great hopes in you, that you Would care for my old age and yourselves Shroud my corpse. That would make me envied. Now that sweet thought is no more. Parted from you I shall lead a grim and painful life.

Hateful creature! O most detestable of women To the gods and me and all the human race! You could bring yourself to put to the sword The children of your womb. You have taken my sons and destroyed me.

No Greek woman Could ever have brought herself to do that. Yet I rejected them to marry you, a wife Who brought me enmity and death, A lioness, not human…

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Gender Roles in Medea – Stereotypes & Resistance

Reality and the medea, reversed roles, gender as performative.

Euripides lived and worked in the 5 th century BC; he was a tragedian whose plays won prizes at that time and appeal to the readers of nowadays. The tragedian challenged the gender ideology accepted in his society, which attracts many scholars even in the 21 st century AD.

The author used his plays and the theater to perform his views and ideas. He showed that the traits people have could not be strictly divided into those peculiar only to males or only to females. Considering the main characters of one of his well-known plays the Medea , the readers may understand that with the help of Medea and Jason, Euripides presented individuals as complex creatures who carry both women’s and man’s characteristics.

There is no person today who has not heard about Ancient Greece. It is well known due to the peculiarities of its political, social, and cultural life. There were particular differences in all these spheres for individuals depending not only on their socio-economic status (class) but gender as well.

In the society of that time, women’s opinion played no role and could not influence any rights or rules. They were dominated by men, who controlled all significant spheres of life in Greece (Pomeroy, 2012). The main role of females was to give birth to children, so they mostly stayed at home. Only those who came from poor families were allowed to work. Men inherited the capital, so if there was no male heir, the daughter had to marry the relative (Dillon, 2003).

The dominance of the men seems to be seen in the Medea also. Medea claims that women are wretched, bad, and have no power. Males have a right to divorce, but females do not. Their lives are controlled, and it cannot be changed. Thus, they face lots of difficulties and suffer having no opportunity to gain freedom: “Of all creatures that can feel and think, we women are the worst treated things alive” (Coldewey & Streitberger, 2000, p. 33). Medea is shown as a woman driven to desperate shifts, and she crossed the line because of them. She is not the one who gives life anymore, as she killed her children.

Such behavior was unaccepted within society. In his play, Euripides showed the reality that is opposite to the one that he lived in. The author reflected on the accepted morality in this way. Looking at Medea’s life, one can see the evidence of women in ancient Athens being powerless and having no right to dispute their husbands. They were waiting for alterations and an opportunity to become equal.

Euripides rejected the norms of the society he lived in and changed the role of gender in his work. The Medea occurs to be feministic. It is written by a man and is biassed against women. The main characters are atypical, as Medea conducts the actions that would look manly in the eyes of Greek people who lived at that time. Even though the woman was not always able to overcome her emotions, she tries to control them. In comparison with her, Jason looks more humble.

This anomaly is vividly seen, as Medea is engaged in a crime, she murders her children. Generally, men are expected to be crueler and are depicted as killers, so this shift attracts attention. The main task of any woman is thought to be the role of mother, which presupposes giving life but not taking it. As Jason behaves more womanly, the characters seem to exchange their gender roles.

Pride and determination do not let the readers treat Medea as a diminished female. These male traits can be observed after the betrayal, as the woman decides to murder her children to restore the reputation and revenge Jason. The Chorus sings: “Things have gone badly in every way…there are still trials to lift for the new-wedded pair, and for their relations pain that will mean something…and in this, I will make deadened bodies of three of my enemies-father, the girl, and my husband. I have many ways of last which I might suit to them and do not hold out friends, which one to take in hand” (Euripides, 2012, p. 12).

Of course, one can point out that is deeply affected by the betrayal, Medea lost her mind. Still, her wish to show that she is not a fool occurs to be unexpected. A woman would rather be frustrated and sad; she would not want to communicate with others. However, Medea is drawn to action. She wants to show her strength and ability to stand her ground. Such feelings are more appropriate for male characters, but even they would not sacrifice their children just to revenge. Here Medea occurs to be ready to go to any lengths to ruin the life of her husband. Moreover, she does not act spontaneously, in the heat of passion; on the contrary, everything is thought over, and each step is evaluated: “I weep to think of what a deed I have to do next after that; for I shall kill my own children. My children, there is none who can give them safety. And when I have ruined the whole of Jason’s house, I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed. For it is not bearable to be mocked by enemies” (Euripides, 2012, p. 14).

Jason is not able to resist his wife, and he loses her and their children in a day, even having no opportunity to improve the situation. He does not pay any attention to the fact that he has betrayed Medea, and it is likely to have an adverse effect on his reputation. The man neglects the Chorus, as they try to awaken him to a sense of shame, “you have betrayed your wife and are acting badly” (Euripides, 2012, p. 19).

Jason is targeted at gaining power, and it is a man’s quality. Still, the way he chooses to achieve this goal is womanish: he marries to become a representative of the ruling class. He yields to her even after the death of their children, which proves that Jason is weakling. As a woman, he considers the situation and finds no strength to do at least something to stop her: “Oh God, do you hear it, this persecution. These sufferings of this hateful woman, this monster, murderess of children? Still, what can I do that I will do: I will lament and cry upon heaven, calling the Gods to bear me witness how you have killed my boys.” (Euripides, 2012, p. 46).

Many scientists paid their attention to the way Euripides performed gender in his play. One of them, Judith Butler, examined the text and claimed that gender could be considered as a performative act. It is dismissed from the sex of the person and said to exist independently (Butler, 2012). Still, it is associated with the peculiarities of context and language. It means that a person is free to choose the way he/she behaves. For example, if a man maintains gender ideology, he performs the roles that are commonly considered to be masculine. In case the roles are rejected, a person acts according to the context and shows the traits common to people of both genders.

Ambiguity can be found in the majority of Euripides’ texts. The scientists claim that “masculinity and femininity are portrayed not as fixed attributes bestowed by ‘nature’ as part of an integrated, stable personality, but as behaviors that can be performed by different actors” (Blondell, Gamel, Rabinowitz, & Vivante, 2002, 83). Thus, the readers are invoked to treat the characters as performative actors instead of trying to find associations with gender.

It is considered that women are weak by nature; they act emotionally and lack logical thinking while men are strong, rational, and competitive. This division occurred on the basis of cultural peculiarities but started to be treated as a natural binary that is commonly inherited by human beings.

As the readers first meet Medea and Jason, they face a discrepancy between their composures and language. The behavior of the characters seems to fit into the framework of accepted gendered stereotypes. However, their discourse fails to meet the expectations based on the traditional approach. In the beginning, Jason’s behavior and speech associate with stereotypes. He shows his rational way of thinking and adhering to justness: “if you hate me, I cannot think badly of you” (Euripides, 2012, p. 15). However, his words lack ground and do not sound convincing, as he claims that “preserve you and breed a royal progeny to be brothers to the children I have now, a sure defense to us” (Euripides, 2012, p. 19). Medea behaves as it is dictated by society, but she emasculates Jason with her speech. She alludes to his duplicity claiming that “the plausible speaker who is a villain deserves the greatest punishment” (Euripides, 2012, p. 19).

Medea’s emotional behavior is feminine, and she resembles a hysterical woman by saying that Jason is “a coward in every way” (Euripides, 2012, p. 15) and showing her bombast “how senselessly I am treated by this bad man, and how my hopes have missed their mark!” (Euripides, 2012, p. 16). Still, she also manages to make her speech well-grounded and logical, which is commonly associated with males. Medea describes her actions, her deeds that usually men do to be with the ones they love: “I saved your life, and every Greek knows I saved it… Also, that snake, who encircled with his many folds, the Golden Fleece… I killed…And I myself betrayed my father and my home and came with you to Pelias’ land of Iolcus. And then… I killed him, Pelias… This is how I behaved to you, you wretched man, and you forsook me, took another bride to bed, though you had children…” (Euripides, 2012, p. 16).

Still, the behavior expected due to the stereotypes sometimes corresponds with the words of the characters. Medea admits that Jason has a dominant position and says she is sorry for “great lack of sense” (Euripides, 2012, p. 28). She explains that she was wrong when she got angry “my anger was foolish… I think that you are wise in having this other wife as well as me” (Euripides, 2012, p. 28). Jason shows rationality answering that “it is natural for a woman to be wild with her husband when he goes in for secret love” (Euripides, 2012, p. 29). Of course, this interaction looks normal and “natural,” but it is not really so. All this time, Medea is subduing her husband occupying an active position while Jason remains passive. Thus, Jason believes in his dominance over Medea failing to realize that it is false. It means that Medea utilized her femininity as a force, a power that allows her to manipulate Jason.

In the end, the readers can observe how Medea murders her children and discards gender expectations. Medea loses her motherly instinct and shows the masculine attitude towards the circumstances. Jason claims that she is “a monster, not a woman” (Euripides, 2012, p. 44). He yields to emotions and is greatly affected by the death of the children and the deed of his wife. He cries, “oh, my life is over!” expressing typical women’s behavior in such a situation (Euripides, 2012, p. 44).

Thus, Euripides the readers to examine the way his characters accept and reject gender ideology. He shows that people are binary, and if they act according to the norm of the society they live in, it does not mean that the deeds are natural to them.

Blondell, R., Gamel, M., Rabinowitz, N., & Vivante, B. (2002). Women on the edge: Four plays by Euripides . London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Butler, J. (2012). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity . New York, NY: Routledge.

Coldewey, J., & Streitberger, W. (2000). Drama: Classical to contemporary . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Dillon, M. (2003). Girls and women in classical Greek religion . New York, NY: Routledge.

Euripides (2012). Medea . New York, NY: Dover Publications.

Pomeroy, S. (2012). Ancient Greece . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Euripides’ Medea

Analysis of Euripides’ Medea

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 13, 2020 • ( 0 )

When Medea, commonly regarded as Euripides’ masterpiece, was first per-formed at Athens’s Great Dionysia, Euripides was awarded the third (and last) prize, behind Sophocles and Euphorion. It is not difficult to understand why. Euripides violates its audience’s most cherished gender and moral illusions, while shocking with the unimaginable. Arguably for the first time in Western drama a woman fully commanded the stage from beginning to end, orchestrating the play’s terrifying actions. Defying accepted gender assumptions that prescribed passive and subordinate roles for women, Medea combines the steely determination and wrath of Achilles with the wiles of Odysseus. The first Athenian audience had never seen Medea’s like before, at least not in the heroic terms Euripides treats her. After Jason has cast off Medea—his wife, the mother of his children, and the woman who helped him to secure the Golden Fleece and eliminate the usurper of Jason’s throne at Iolcus—in order to marry the daughter of King Creon of Corinth, Medea responds to his betrayal by destroying all of Jason’s prospects as a husband, father, and presumptive heir to a powerful throne. She causes a horrible death of Jason’s intended, Glauce, and Creon, who tries in vain to save his daughter. Most shocking of all, and possibly Euripides’ singular innovation to the legend, Medea murders her two sons, allowing her vengeful passion to trump and cancel her maternal affections. Clytemnestra in Aeschylus’s Oresteia conspires to murder her husband as well, but she is in turn executed by her son, Orestes, whose punishment is divinely and civilly sanctioned by the trilogy’s conclusion. Medea, by contrast, adds infanticide to her crimes but still escapes Jason’s vengeance or Corinthian justice on a flying chariot sent by the god Helios to assist her. Medea, triumphant after the carnage she has perpetrated, seemingly evades the moral consequences of her actions and is shown by Euripides apotheosized as a divinely sanctioned, supreme force. The play simultaneously and paradoxically presents Medea’s claim on the audience’s sympathy as a woman betrayed, as a victim of male oppression and her own divided nature, and as a monster and a warning. Medea frightens as a female violator and overreacher who lets her passion overthrow her reason, whose love is so massive and all-consuming that it is transformed into self-destructive and boundless hatred. It is little wonder that Euripides’ defiance of virtually every dramatic and gender assumption of his time caused his tragedy to fail with his first critics. The complexity and contradictions of Medea still resonate with audiences, while the play continues to unsettle and challenge. Medea, with literature’s most titanic female protagonist, remains one of drama’s most daring assaults on an audience’s moral sensibility and conception of the world.

Euripides is ancient Greek drama’s great iconoclast, the shatterer of consoling illusions. With Euripides, the youngest of the three great Athenian tragedians of the fifth century b.c., Attic drama takes on a disturbingly recognizable modern tone. Regarded by Aristotle as “the most tragic of the poets,” Euripides provided deeply spiritual, moral, and psychological explorations of exceptional and domestic life at a time when Athenian confidence and certainty were moving toward breakup. Mirroring this gathering doubt and anxiety, Euripides reflects the various intellectual, cultural, and moral controversies of his day. It is not too far-fetched to suggest that the world after Athens’s golden age in the fifth century became Euripidean, as did the drama that responded to it. In several senses, therefore, it is Euripides whom Western drama can claim as its central progenitor.

Euripides wrote 92 plays, of which 18 have survived, by far the largest number of works by the great Greek playwrights and a testimony both to the accidents of literary survival and of his high regard by following generations. An iconoclast in his life and his art, Euripides set the prototype for the modern alienated artist in opposition. By contrast to Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides played no public role in the life of his times. An intellectual and artist who wrote in isolation (tradition says in a cave in his native Salamis), his plays won the first prize at Athens’s annual Great Dionysia only four times, and his critics, particularly Aristophanes, took on Euripides as a frequent tar-get. Aristophanes charged him with persuading his countrymen that the gods did not exist, with debunking the heroic, and with teaching moral degeneration that transformed Athenians into “marketplace loungers, tricksters, and scoundrels.” Euripides’ immense reputation and influence came for the most part only after his death, when the themes and innovations he pioneered were better appreciated and his plays eclipsed in popularity those of all of the other great Athenian playwrights.

Critic Eric Havelock has summarized the Euripidean dramatic revolution as “putting on stage rooms never seen before.” Instead of a palace’s throne room, Euripides takes his audience into the living room and presents the con-fl icts and crises of characters who resemble not the heroic paragons of Aeschylus and Sophocles but the audience themselves—mixed, fallible, contradictory, and vulnerable. As Aristophanes accurately points out, Euripides brought to the stage “familiar affairs” and “household things.” Euripides opened up drama for the exploration of central human and social questions embedded in ordinary life and human nature. The essential component of all Euripides’ plays is a challenging reexamination of orthodoxy and conventional beliefs. If the ways of humans are hard to fathom in Aeschylus and Sophocles, at least the design and purpose of the cosmos are assured, if not always accepted. For Euripides, the ability of the gods and the cosmos to provide certainty and order is as doubtful as an individual’s preference for the good. In Euripides’ cosmogony, the gods resemble those of Homer’s, full of pride, passion, vindictiveness, and irrational characteristics that pattern the world of humans. Divine will and order are most often in Euripides’ dramas replaced by a random fate, and the tragic hero is offered little consolation as the victim of forces that are beyond his or her control. Justice is shown as either illusory or a delusion, and the myths are brought down to the level of the familiar and the recognizable. Euripides has been described as drama’s first great realist, the playwright who relocated tragic action to everyday life and portrayed gods and heroes with recognizable human and psychological traits. Aristotle related in the Poetics that “Sophocles said he drew men as they ought to be, and Euripides as they were.” Because Euripides’ characters offer us so many contrary aspects and are driven by both the rational and the irrational, the playwright earns the distinction of being considered the first great psychological artist in the modern sense, due to his awareness of the complex motives and ambiguities that make up human identity and determine behavior.

Tragedy: An Introduction

Euripides is also one of the first playwrights to feature heroic women at the center of the action. Medea dominates the stage as no woman character had ever done before. The play opens with Medea’s nurse confirming how much Medea is suffering from Jason’s betrayal and the tutor of Medea’s children revealing that Creon plans to banish Medea and her two sons from Corinth. Medea’s first words are an offstage scream and curse as she hears the news of Creon’s judgment. The Nurse’s sympathetic reaction to Medea’s misery sounds the play’s dominant theme of the danger of passion overwhelming reason, judgment, and balance, particularly in a woman like Medea, unschooled in suffering and used to commanding rather than being commanded. Better, says the Nurse, to have no part of greatness or glory: “The middle way, neither high nor low is best. . . . Good never comes from overreaching.” Medea then takes the stage to win the sympathy of the Chorus, made up of Corinthian women. Her opening speech has been described as one of literature’s earliest feminist manifestos, in which she declares, “Of all creatures on earth, we women are the most wretched,” and goes on to attack dowries that purchase husbands in exchange for giving men ownership of women’s bodies and fate, arranged marriages, and the double standard:

When a man grows tired of his wife and home, He is free to look about for someone new. We wives are forced to count on just one man. They say, we live safe at home while men go to battle. I’d rather stand three times in the front line than bear one child!

Medea wins the Chorus’s complicit silence on her intended intrigue to avenge herself on Jason and their initial sympathy as an aggrieved woman. She next confronts Creon to persuade him to postpone his banishment order for one day so she can arrange a destination and some support for her children. Medea’s servility and deference to Creon and the sentimental appeal she mounts on behalf of her children gain his concession. After he departs, Medea reveals her deception of and contempt for Creon, announcing that her vengeance plot now extends beyond Jason to include both Creon and his daughter.

There follows the first of three confrontational scenes between Medea and Jason, the dramatic core of the play. Euripides presents Jason as a selfsatisfied rationalist, smoothly and complacently justifying the violations of his love and obligation to Medea as sensible, accepted expedience. Jason asserts that his self-interest and ambition for wealth and power are superior claims over his affection, loyalty, and duty to the woman who has betrayed her parents, murdered her brother, exiled herself from her home, and conspired for his sake. Medea rages ineffectually in response, while attempting unsuccessfully to reach Jason’s heart and break through an egotism that shows him incapable of understanding or empathy. As critic G. Norwood has observed, “Jason is a superb study—a compound of brilliant manners, stupidity, and cynicism.” In the drama’s debate between Medea and Jason, the play brilliantly sets in conflict essential polarities in the human condition, between male/female, husband/wife, reason/passion, and head/heart.

Before the second round with Jason, Medea encounters Aegeus, king of Athens, who is in search of a cure for his childlessness. Medea agrees to use her powers as a sorceress to help him in exchange for refuge in Athens. Aristotle criticized this scene as extraneous, but a case can be made that Aegeus’s despair over his lack of children gives Medea the idea that Jason’s ultimate destruction would be to leave him similarly childless. The evolving scheme to eliminate Jason’s intended bride and offspring sets the context for Medea’s second meeting with Jason in which she feigns acquiescence to Jason’s decision and proposes that he should keep their children with him. Jason agrees to seek Glauce’s approval for Medea’s apparent selfsacrificing generosity, and the children depart with him, carrying a poisoned wedding gift to Glauce.

First using her children as an instrument of her revenge, Medea will next manage to convince herself in the internal struggle that leads to the play’s climax that her love for her children must give way to her vengeance, that maternal affection and reason are no match for her irrational hatred. After the Tutor returns with the children and a messenger reports the horrible deaths of Glauce and Creon, Medea resolves her conflict between her love for her children and her hatred for Jason in what scholar John Ferguson has called “possibly the finest speech in all Greek tragedy.” Medea concludes her self-assessment by stating, “I know the evil that I do, but my fury is stronger than my will. Passion is the curse of man.” It is the struggle within Medea’s soul, which Euripides so powerfully dramatizes, between her all-consuming vengeance and her reason and better nature that gives her villainy such tragic status. Her children’s offstage screams finally echo Medea’s own opening agony. On stage the Chorus tries to comprehend such an unnatural crime as matricide through precedent and concludes: “What can be strange or terrible after this?” Jason arrives too late to rescue his children from the “vile murderess,” only to find Medea beyond his reach in a chariot drawn by dragons with the lifeless bodies of his sons beside her. The roles of Jason and Medea from their first encounter are here dramatically reversed: Medea is now triumphant, refusing Jason any comfort or concession, and Jason ineffectually rages and curses the gods for his destruction, now feeling the pain of losing everything he most desired, as he had earlier inflicted on Medea. “Call me lioness or Scylla, as you will,” Medea calls down to Jason, “. . . as long as I have reached your vitals.”

Medea’s titanic passions have made her simultaneously subhuman in her pitiless cruelty and superhuman in her willful, limitless strength and determination. The final scene of her escape in her god-sent flying chariot, perhaps the most famous and controversial use of the deus ex machina in drama, ultimately makes a grand theatrical, psychological, and shattering ideological point. Medea has destroyed all in her path, including her human self, to satisfy her passion, becoming at the play’s end, neither a hero nor a villain but a fear-some force of nature: irrational, impersonal, destructive power that sweeps aside human aspirations, affections, and the consoling illusions of mercy and order in the universe.

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MEDEA: A Woman Depicted in a Man's World

2018, PAMLA

This paper explores Seneca’s representation of Medea both in relation to Euripides’ re-shaping of Greek myth and as an expression of Roman cultural differences. Euripides masculinizes Medea, having her break several gender boundaries in order to achieve her goals. I argue that this created an adverse effect on her character’s reception in Roman culture and influenced a more vilified character of Medea found in Seneca’s Medea. By focusing on Medea’s representation, specifically through her masculinization, I show how her character directly contrasts with Roman values which ultimately reduces her character from a conflicted heroine into an oversimplified villain. Medea may be seen as an extreme example of Roman views on threats posed by powerful women. The representation of Medea and how each playwright depicts her, either masculinizing or vilifying her, have parallel examples in contemporary issues, from depictions of powerful women and even to how women feel they need to present themselves. My final point is how a complex female figure, such as Medea, can serve as a model into Roman attitudes towards powerful women but also as a parallel model to view the treatments of powerful women within our current society.

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Silvino Nyx

Jean Santilli

Some say that Medea is a heroine in the battle against Patriarchy. We will see that she is not. As a matter of fact, the title of this article is not “Medea versus the Macho Man”. A subliminal poison of our societies was produced by a socio-historical event told by mythological tales. We all know that mythologies tell tales of events that never occurred anywhere, yet happen every day everywhere. But it is necessary to decipher them, in order to be aware of the peril. That double origin – historical and mythological – is described in an essay written as a travel log: Our Lady Goddess & The Femicide of the Heroes. It is available in three languages on this page at Academia.edu. Here on the other hand, we will unveil a “systemic” problem; the “linear” approach with which it is addressed in society and tribunals makes it worse. We will propose a “systemic” approach; it is more useful, above all for the main victims of Medea & Macho: their children.

Tatiana GOLBAN

Our intention in this study is neither to define myth nor to create an interpretative typology; rather, it is to find a link between myth and literature by establishing a trace in the formation of a myth which is very old and dynamic. Our focus is on the story of Medea and its multiple versions, particularly on the way in which different literary accounts, which centre on the character of Medea, have led to the construction of a very complex and contradictory myth in Euripides' play Medea. Before Euripides, Medea is not regarded as an entirely fearsome sorceress, a monster obsessed with revenge, her children dying of other causes, but Euripides creates a new literary myth based on other existing versions. The main purpose of our study is the examination of the artistic means and procedures used by the ancient playwright Euripides to represent, in literary terms, the character of an ancient myth, Medea, as a literary archetype reproduced in various ancient texts. A special emphasis is on the manner in which the fundamental situation of the story of Medea has been subject to essential thematic changes which have led to the coining of what we know nowadays as the Medea myth.

The Body Speaketh: Interrogating Cultural Constructions of the Body

Tuhin Bhattacharjee

The seclusion of women from the Athenian stage was an extension of the Greek ideology of gender in which the woman was often defined by the rhetoric of absence. Euripides’ plays, however, consistently seek an alternative signifying system that could articulate women’s experiences. His Corinthian women support Medea with an ode, rejecting male literary traditions. Apollo had not given the gift of song to women, they protest, for if he had, women would have “found themes for poems/ And countered with our epics against men”, showing that “time is old, and in his store of tales/ Men figure no less famous/ Or infamous than women” (426-430). This remarkable critique of phallogocentrism is also an impassioned plea for the woman to inscribe herself in language, to ‘write’ herself into symbolic discourse. While recent research on gender in Euripides has pointed out how Euripidean drama often disrupts traditional gender roles, there has been no substantial study of the ‘absent presence’ of women’s bodies in these narratives. My paper shall examine the deconstruction of the Greek ideology of presence through a close reading of Euripides’ Medea.

Theatre Research International

stephen wilmer

Reacting to the concerns expressed by Sue-Ellen Case and others that Greek tragedies were written by men and for men in a patriarchal society, and that the plays are misogynistic and should be ignored by feminists, this article considers how female directors and writers have continued to exploit characters such as Antigone, Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra to make a powerful statement about contemporary society.

Affonso kristeva

Although students and scholars alike know well that ancient Greece was immensely misogynist and patriarchal, nevertheless, there have been numerous attempts to retrieve voices from the classical world at least empathetic to the plight of women. Frequently these attempts turned out to be abject failures. However, many continue to peruse the Greek literary tradition, and archaeological remains for non-misogynist voices. Euripides, at least within reasonably recent history, is for many just such a voice. Medea is one of the first feminist characters in Western literature, which involves the recognition of a significant cultural shift. Euripides'<i> Medea</i> indeed questions contemporary beliefs and standards in ancient Greek society, substantially those of the heroic masculine ethic. Still, it did so at the expense of women, not in their support. Through this paper, I would like to show the depiction of the women situation in ancient Greek and how Medea, as a female pr...

Seneca's Medea tragedy alters Euripides' version both in depicting Medea's murders onstage, but also in splitting the two children's killings into two separate events. This article provides a diachronic and phenomenological close reading of the Medea character's choice to murder her second child in Seneca's tragedy, the ways in which Seneca's adaptation plays with audience expectations, the manuscript tradition of this play, and the character traits revealed by Seneca's choice to interrupt his Medea's crimes.

Hanna M . Roisman

Marianne Hopman

summary: In the first stasimon of Medea, the chorus of Corinthian women exalts Medea's revenge as a palinode that will put an end to the misogynist tradition and bring them honor. This article analyzes Euripides' tragedy as a meta-poetic reflection on Medea's voice, its relation to the earlier poetic tradition, its power and limitations, and its generic definition. While Medea's revenge meta-phorically and symbolically unfolds as a revision of the Argo saga and thus undermines one of the most famous androcentric epics of the Greek song culture, I argue that mythical constraints ultimately prevent Medea from generating a new, gynocentric epic. Rather, the intertextuality of the final scenes increasingly departs from the Iliadic model and firmly anchors Medea's revenge in the tragic genre. Metapoetically, Medea's palinode thus defines tragedy, by contrast to epic, as a genre that is congenial to female voices but does not bring them kleos.

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Medea / Themes

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

I n Medea , several major themes emerge, each exploring different facets of the human experience and shedding light on the complexities of the play. These themes include betrayal, revenge, gender roles, the power of passion, and the clash between personal desires and societal expectations. Each of these themes adds depth and complexity to the tragedy, inviting the audience to contemplate the moral, social, and psychological dimensions of the characters’ experiences. They reflect the timeless nature of the play, allowing for a deeper understanding of the human condition and the intricate web of emotions and motivations that drive our actions.

Betrayal serves as a central theme in Medea . Jason’s betrayal of Medea, his wife, by divorcing her in favor of a political marriage with Glauce, the daughter of King Creon, fuels the intense emotions and actions that unfold throughout the play. Medea’s sense of betrayal is deepened by the fact that she sacrificed everything for Jason, including leaving her homeland and committing acts of violence on his behalf. The theme of betrayal highlights the fragility of trust in relationships and the profound impact it can have on individuals, driving them to extreme measures.

The theme of revenge is intertwined with Medea’s response to Jason’s betrayal. Medea’s desire for vengeance consumes her and propels her to commit heinous acts, including the murder of Glauce and her own children. The play explores the destructive power of revenge and its ability to cloud judgment and lead to irreversible consequences. It raises questions about the nature of justice, the ethics of seeking revenge, and the limits of human actions driven by deep emotional pain.

Gender Roles

Medea challenges the traditional gender roles and expectations prevalent in ancient Greek society. Medea, as a woman, defies the norms of her time. She is a powerful and intelligent character who challenges the submissive role assigned to women. The play examines the tension between the patriarchal society and the agency of women, highlighting the struggles and limitations imposed upon them. Medea’s rebellion against societal norms serves as a critique of the restrictive gender roles and offers a portrayal of a woman who refuses to be silenced.

• See also: “ A Note on Medea ”

The Power of Passion

Passion, particularly the destructive power of unrestrained emotions, is a significant theme in Medea . Medea’s intense love for Jason turns into seething hatred and fuels her revenge. The play explores the overwhelming force of emotions, the consequences of unchecked passion, and the transformative effects it can have on individuals. It serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the destructive potential when powerful emotions are left unchecked.

Personal Desires Versus Societal Expectations

Medea examines the conflict between personal desires and societal expectations. Medea's actions defy the expectations placed upon her as a wife and a mother. She prioritizes her personal desires for revenge over the traditional roles and obligations assigned to women. The play raises questions about the tensions between individual freedom and societal constraints, highlighting the challenges individuals face when they go against established norms and conventions.

Medea employs various motifs throughout the play to enhance its themes and add layers of meaning to the narrative. These motifs include the concepts of exile and home, the power of rhetoric and manipulation, the motif of the outsider or foreigner, and the symbolism of the natural world.

Exile and Home

The motif of exile and home resonates strongly in Medea . Medea herself is an exile, having left her homeland of Colchis to be with Jason in Corinth. The play delves into the sense of displacement and the longing for a true home. Medea’s exile represents her loss of identity and stability, and it intensifies her feelings of betrayal and isolation. The motif of exile explores the profound impact of being uprooted from one’s homeland and the longing for a sense of belonging.

Power of Rhetoric and Manipulation

The motif of rhetoric and manipulation is significant in the tragedy. Medea demonstrates her mastery of persuasive language and rhetoric, using it as a tool to influence and manipulate others. She skillfully employs her words to deceive, convince, and gain the upper hand in her pursuit of revenge. This motif highlights the power of language and the ways in which it can be used to shape perceptions, manipulate emotions, and ultimately drive the course of events.

The Outsider or Foreigner

The motif of the outsider or foreigner is intricately woven into the fabric of the play. Medea is depicted as an outsider in Corinth, both as a foreigner from Colchis and as a woman who defies societal norms. Her foreign status and her unconventional behavior contribute to the tension and conflict within the play. This motif explores the challenges faced by those who are marginalized or excluded from the dominant social order, highlighting the clash between different cultures and the struggle for acceptance.

Symbolism of the Natural World

The natural world is symbolically significant in Medea . Imagery and references to natural elements, such as storms, the sea, and poison, are employed to mirror the emotional turmoil and chaos unfolding within the characters. The use of natural symbolism reflects the power and unpredictability of human emotions and highlights the uncontrollable forces at play in the tragic events of the story. It adds depth and richness to the play, connecting the human experience to the larger natural order.

Medea incorporates various symbols that enrich the play’s themes and deepen its symbolic resonance. These symbols include the golden fleece, the poisoned crown and robe, the chariot of the Sun god Helios, and the children.

Golden Fleece

The golden fleece symbolizes Medea’s origins and her connection to her homeland of Colchis. It represents her past, her power, and her knowledge of magic and witchcraft. The golden fleece also serves as a reminder of Medea’s strength and resourcefulness, as it was through her assistance that Jason obtained the fleece in the mythical quest. The symbol of the golden fleece underscores Medea’s role as a powerful and formidable character, and it highlights her agency and potential for both good and evil.

Poisoned Crown and Robe

The poisoned crown and robe are significant symbols in the play, representing Medea’s calculated and diabolical plan for revenge. These items, sent as a gift to Glauce, are tainted with a deadly poison that ultimately leads to her demise. The poisoned crown and robe symbolize the destructive power of vengeance and the consequences of unchecked rage. They highlight the tragic course of events set in motion by Medea’s desire for retribution.

Chariot of the Sun God Helios

The chariot of the Sun god Helios serves as a symbolic element in Medea , representing the realm of the divine and the supernatural. Medea seeks sanctuary in the chariot of Helios, her grandfather, after committing her atrocious acts, emphasizing her connection to the gods and her ability to transcend mortal limitations. The chariot symbolizes Medea’s extraordinary power and her potential to transcend the human realm. It also suggests a divine intervention in the course of events, adding a layer of cosmic significance to the play.

The Children

The children, particularly Medea’s two sons, hold immense symbolic weight in the play. They represent innocence, vulnerability, and the bonds of familial love. The presence of the children intensifies the tragedy as Medea is faced with the agonizing decision of sacrificing them to exact her revenge. The children symbolize the devastating consequences of Medea’s actions, highlighting the tragic conflict between maternal love and the pursuit of justice. Their presence evokes a profound sense of loss and underscores the irreparable damage caused by unchecked vengeance.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Medea — Medea as a Tragic Hero: An Analysis of Euripides’ Complex Protagonist

Medea as a Tragic Hero: an Analysis of Euripides' Complex Protagonist

• Categories: Medea Tragic Hero

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 949 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, body 1: hamartia and the fatal flaws of medea, body 2: suffering, catharsis, and the tragic path of medea.

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Home / Essay Samples / Sociology / Gender Roles / Gender Roles In Medea By Euripides

Gender Roles In Medea By Euripides

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• Topic: Gender Roles , Medea

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