Sympathy In Euripides's The Medea

Unspectacularly, the Jeffers adaptation of Medea is quite a disappointment painting Medea as an animal with no “reason” or human-like thought in regards to her decisions. “QUOTE”. Consistently compared to animals, Medea rarely gains the respect as the incredibly intelligent human-being that Medea should have. On countless occasions, Medea remains seen as an animal, including, “I shall not die perhaps as a pigeon does. Nor like an innocent lamb, that feels a hand on its head and looks up from the knife to the man’s face and dies – No, like some yellow-eyed beast that has killed its hunters let me lie down” (Jeffers, 28.)

Aegeus, the King of Athens, shows a pivotal plot point in Euripides’s Medea (Greek). Aegeus passes through Corinth, Medea’s residence, after having visited the Oracle at Delphi for a cure to his sterility. Medea promises to restore his fertility in exchange for future sanctuary if she is in Athens. Aegeus’s distress gives Medea insight on how to deeply hurt Jason: eradicate his children and any hope of creating more. Euripides uses Aegeus to tempt Medea into murdering her children through giving her safe haven and showing her how it would cause the most pain to

Thus, it was essentially Aphrodite who orchestrated their marriage by making Medea fall in love with him and subsequently, credit would be due to the goddess. To the audience this remark seems extreme, to claim that the love Medea has acted to strongly on and used to rationalize her extreme behavior is not grounded in sincerity, but in fact a result of the intervention of the gods. However, this does an effective job at causing the audience to question Medea and she hence begins to be seen no longer as just the tragic heroine without fault. It discredits the basis for Medea’s arguments in claiming her love as so great as to go through such extreme measures.

In Euripides’ tragedy Medea, Medea’s characteristics of a madwoman are displayed through the reactions of other people. Medea, a sorceress in the town of Corinth, becomes embodied with rage once she finds out that her husband Jason leaves her for another woman, who has status and wealth. This turns Medea from an innocent human to an evil, vindictive psychopath. The king experiences fear of Medea to the point where he exiles her from the town and gives her one day to leave. When ordering the exile for Medea, Creon says: I’m afraid of you…

I want Medea to be justified in her actions, but I want this to be something that could happen to anyone. I don’t want her actions to be considered ‘what women do.’ There is also this theme of feminism and standing up for women in general. She criticizes men while using her wit to maneuver the situation properly. Medea is a cunning woman confined to this world dominated by men.

Medea and the women of Corinth both share, to a different extent, the experience of being unfairly categorized as the caretaker of the family, which aids Medea in persuasion because she can be trusted as a woman to speak on the patriarchal society. She continues as ‘’of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the sorriest lot’’ (229-230) of all the living things Medea describes women as the ‘’sorriest’’ which suggests that women are pitied and helps Medea to allure the Chorus to be on her side. Medea suggests to the Chorus that Females ‘’must at a great expenditure of money buy a husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first. ’’(231-233) Medea is arguing that women must sacrifice a ‘’great’’ amount of money to ‘’buy’’ their partners. This conveys the patriarchal community in Corinth.

Medea’s actions throughout the text show “that she has the reach and temper of a thwarted tyrant or of one like an Ajax or a Prometheus,” of a hero and of a man. Medea’s hero-like nature is also displayed through Medea’s heroic departure in the play in which she rides off to Athens in Helios’ chariot while Jason is left behind (now childless, widowed, and abandoned). It is especially important that Medea rides off to Athens as, if going to Greece is an improvement for Medea, then Athens would have been seen as quite the reward, especially by an Athenian audience. This confirms her placement among Heros, further supporting the notion she is acting as a man would. The actions of Medea are, while extreme, not surprising when considered in light of her

Medea never intends to commit any acts of cruelty until she’s banished which eventually leads to the rising action. The King tells Medea to leave even though she has no plan and no help for her sons. She is pushed further off a cliff with no chance of escape. The moment after she has a last day granted to stay, she starts planning the murder of Jason and his wife. She feels the need to get back at Jason for what he did and any chance of getting back with him is ruined.

Medea was treated unfairly in the patriarchal society that she lived in and due to the circumstances she was forced to abide by, she sought to achieve her own form of justice. Women were mistreated and regarded as inferior to men. In fact, Medea mentioned how women were like foreigners forced to abide by their husband’s laws and remain subservient. Essentially, women were treated as outsiders and were thought to need constant protection from male figures. So, when the King of Corinth kicked her and her children out of Corinth and Jason left them, she wanted revenge since she felt she had been wronged.

However, despite their warrior nature, they are never able to defeat men in battle. Medea is the epitome of ancient Greek fears of different people. She is a foreign princess and a sorceress. She is so different, she is capable of the worst murders, including burning of innocent girls and killing her own

Medea is defended by many as a wronged mother and faithful wife who is justified in her actions for filicide, but she acts and appears more like the “evil witch” (742) trope, cursing and killing anyone in her way. Medea is also unquestionably blinded by her wrath, and she annihilates Glauke, Creon and worst of all, the blood of her blood, her two children. These atrocities

Euripides created a modern day woman who seeks justice and revenge with her cleverness and power. Medea acted as a feminine heroine who established that women can also be as strong as men. The feeling of being left by someone you love is truly painful hence, Medea expressed her emotions as much as she can and mourned for her lost. It is true that women can be sensitive and emotional so there was Medea portraying a usual woman in an unusual manner.

Women of ancient Greek were living a life of slavery and were used by their men rather than being loved. Medea however lives a peaceful life and her pride is her far most priority. And to maintain her repute, she found no difficulty making

The most direct reference to Medea comes when the Teacher says “You are an injured, loving woman. You demand absolute justice. You

In Antigone and Medea , the women are ruled by their emotions. Due to this, they make impromptu decisions which leave them in a vulnerable state. Medea feels betrayed by Jason, and her heartbroken hearts fills with rage for him. She becomes so irate she makes an deathly decision, “oh, what misery! Cursed sons, and a mother for cursing!