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Machiavelli

2005-04-30T14:16:26Z

Nsmith: Machiavelli's Life

http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/images/d/db/Machiavelli-1-.jpg

Machiavelli was born Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Machiavelli was an author, statesmen, and political philosopher. Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini and they had five children.

Machiavelli began his public service career in government as a clerk and quickly advanced. In 1498, Machiavelli was appointed Second Chancery. Machiavelli’ duties included diplomatic negotiations and supervising military missions. In his role as a diplomat, Machiavelli met many important political rulers including Cesare Borgia, Emperor Maximilian I, and Pope Julius II. Machiavelli observed and studied the political strategies of the rulers.

Machiavelli was dismissed as Second Chancery when the Medici came to power in Florence and the Florentine Republic was overthrown. Machiavelli was unjustly accused of conspiracy against the Medici, imprisoned, and tortured. Machiavelli was exiled from the city, but was not permitted to leave the Florentine Republic territory. After being released from prison, Machiavelli retired to his family villa in Sant’ Andrea in southern Florence.

No longer active in politics, Machiavelli began to write about politics. Machiavelli wrote [[The Prince]] and dedicated the book to the Medici in hopes he would be reinstated as Second Chancery. The Medici did not like the book and public sentiment was anti-Machiavelli because of the radical political beliefs outlined in ''The Prince''. ''The Prince'' described the strategy a new prince should use to gain and keep power. Machiavelli believed a ruler should not be restricted by morals and when laws fell brutal force was necessary to control the people. In ''The Prince'', Machiavelli portrayed Cesare Borgia as the example of the perfect prince. Cesare Borgia was a cruel and cunning tyrant who through domination accomplished a unified Italian state.

When the Republic regained power, Machiavelli still was not allowed back in office because he was viewed as a pro-Medici sympathizer. Machiavelli never served in public office again. Machiavelli was branded an advocate for the use of violence to conquer lands and maintain control over people. Machiavelli wrote other books including On the Art of War, The History of Florence, and a number of plays and poems. Machiavelli died June 22, 1527. The adjective “''Machiavellian''” is synonymous for amoral, cunning, and unscrupulous behavior.

Work Cited

Rudowski A Victor. ''The Prince. A Historical Critique''. NY: Twayne Publishers. 1942.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. ''The Prince. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought''. Eds. Skinner, Quentin and Price, Russell. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 8 -12.

File:Machiavelli-1-.jpg

2005-04-29T15:01:35Z

Nsmith: Machiavelli

Machiavelli

File:Cesareborgia-1-.jpg

2005-04-29T14:52:44Z

Nsmith: Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia

The Metamorphoses Summary:Pygmalion

2005-04-23T01:27:46Z

Nsmith: Pygmalion

[[Image:Pygmalion-and-Galatea.jpg]]

''Pygmalion'' is a sculptor from Cyprus. ''Pygmalion'' sees the shamefulness and evilness of women from Cyprus and decides to remain a bachelor. In ''Pygmalion'' spare time, he starts to create a sculpture of the ideal woman. The sculpture is lovelier than any real woman. ''Pygmalion’s'' sculpture is made of snow-white ivory and is craved in the shape of a girlish figure. The ivory girl is so alluring that ''Pygmalion'' falls deeply in love with his sculpture. ''Pygmalion'' bestows his ivory girl with trinkets of admiration.

''Pygmalion'' attends Venus’ festival to honor the goddess. At the festival, ''Pygmalion'' prays to Venus for a wife like his ivory girl. Venus has compassion for ''Pygmalion’s'' love of the sculpture and grants his wish. When ''Pygmalion'' returns home, he kisses his beloved sculpture wishing she were alive. ''Pygmalion'' notices the sculpture’s ivory is becoming supple like human flesh. At first ''Pygmalion'' thinks this is wishful thinking. As ''Pygmalion'' caresses his ivory girl, the sculpture blossoms to life under his adoring touch. ''Pygmalion'' ivory sculpture metamorphosis to a girl. ''Pygmalion'' marries the girl. ''Pygmalion'' and his wife have a child called Paphos. Cyprus Island is later known as Paphian isle after Paphos.

Work Cited

Ovid.'' Pygmalion. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.'' Ed. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 927-928.

Additional Resources

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/pygmalion.html

Kreon

2005-04-14T14:28:06Z

Nsmith:

Kreon is the king of Corinth. King Kreon’s daughter marries [[Jason]], the hero of the Quest for the Golden Fleece. King Kreon exiles ''Medea'' and her children fearful for his daughter’s life because ''Medea'' is vengeful of Jason new marriage. ''Medea'' orchestrates the murder of her three enemies: Jason, the royal princess, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' sends poisonous gifts of a woven dress and golden diadem to king Kreon’s daughter. The poisonous gifts are intended to kill ''Medea'' three enemies. When king ''Kreon'' embraces his dead daughter’s body that has been consumed by wearing the poisonous gifts, the poison dress adheres to his skin and sloughs off his flesh. King Kreon dies a torturous death.

Work Cited

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

Medea

2005-04-14T14:21:36Z

Nsmith: /* Summary */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==
== Right Message, Wrong Messenger ==

Euripides’ Medea, was the first in a series of plays in which vivid, powerful women appeared on the Euripidean stage. It was produced in the year that the Peloponnesian War began, and sought to play on the low morale of the public to restore the female sex in positions of social influence and power. Throughout the centuries it has been regarded as one of the most powerful of the Greek tragedies, and also one in which the theme of women was more important than most. It is in this play that Euripides could either restore or condemn the female populace in society (Pelling).

Euripides questions many social norms of the period, but he uses a female such as Medea to convey his message. While Medea has no legal rights, she is the sorceress’ grandchild of the Sun God and therefore able to articulately explain her actions and passionately act on her plans. She is initially able to gain the sympathy and support of the Corinthian women for her plight by passionately pleading her case to the public at large. Medea’s passionate arguments fly in the face of the Greek tradition that only the male has the ability and right to lucid, rational argument. Jason although regarded as civilized by Greek society, is by contrast weak, compromised and cowardly. Medea also challenges ancient Greek society’s decree that the greatest glory for a woman was to bear children, provide sex and to fulfill the demands of her husband (Rassidakis 220-226). From the first compelling moments of this one-act play the audience is drawn into contradictions confronting Medea: to challenge injustice and betrayal or accommodate to it and the financial security and comfort it could bring (Pucci). Traditional behavior of women was a very important aspect of this play, and portraying Medea as both similar and different to fellow womankind allowed the audience to make judgment on the role of women as they knew it. Medea recurrently assaulted fundamental and sacred values and that gave the play much of its power and allowed Euripides to most persuasively portray her as an incarnation of disorder. Could any male audience possibly start to respect any woman that could crush basic human order? Euripides did not himself condemn Medea. Rather, he gave the audience a choice on whether to accept her character and actions. However by implication he is associating a breakdown in human order as being due to the wickedness in such a woman. Yet associating such a drastic event with women would imply that they had the power to be so destructive, and that was not an option of the times - especially when a war had just broken out, and unity was of great importance (McDermott).

In the tragedy Medea, Euripides fails to rehabilitate the female sex. He chooses a semi-divine, foreign sorceress to voice the appeals of ordinary Athenian wives. She is a woman capable of murder, manipulation and deception, and she has no sense of remorse. In choosing her, Euripides appears to be sending out mixed signals concerning women. Her concerns are those that apply to the majority of women at the time, and an audience would no doubt have understood these; yet Medea deals with them in a way that is abhorrent for a woman of fifth-century Athens (Easterling). She invokes both pathos and disgust, and, for a male audience, she would encourage distrust and continuing ‘imprisonment’ and lower social status for women. Although Euripides may well have believed in promoting womankind, it would have been difficult to put this idea across to the male audience of the day, and that may be why he is unable to make any significant advances in the Medea. He had the right message, but used the wrong messenger (Strauss 237-270).

Works cited:

Rassidakis, Kristina. The origins of love, hate, and retaliation in Euripides tragedy; Medea: a psychodynamic approach. Changes: International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy 15, 1997.
Pucci, Pietro. The Violence of Pity in Euripides’ Medea. Cornell University, 1980.
Pelling, Christopher. Greek Tragedy and the Historian. Oxford, 1997.
Ober, Josiah and Strauss, Barry. Drama, Political Rhetoric, and Discourse of Athenian Democracy in Winkler, John J. Athenian Drama in Its Social Context. Princeton, 1990.
McDermott, Emily A. Euripedes’ Medea: The Incarnation of Disorder. University Park, PA. 1989.
Easterling, P.E. The Infanticide in Euripides’ Medea. YCS 25, 1977.

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]

* [[Kreon]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-14T14:19:30Z

Nsmith: /* Characters */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason,]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==
== Right Message, Wrong Messenger ==

Euripides’ Medea, was the first in a series of plays in which vivid, powerful women appeared on the Euripidean stage. It was produced in the year that the Peloponnesian War began, and sought to play on the low morale of the public to restore the female sex in positions of social influence and power. Throughout the centuries it has been regarded as one of the most powerful of the Greek tragedies, and also one in which the theme of women was more important than most. It is in this play that Euripides could either restore or condemn the female populace in society (Pelling).

Euripides questions many social norms of the period, but he uses a female such as Medea to convey his message. While Medea has no legal rights, she is the sorceress’ grandchild of the Sun God and therefore able to articulately explain her actions and passionately act on her plans. She is initially able to gain the sympathy and support of the Corinthian women for her plight by passionately pleading her case to the public at large. Medea’s passionate arguments fly in the face of the Greek tradition that only the male has the ability and right to lucid, rational argument. Jason although regarded as civilized by Greek society, is by contrast weak, compromised and cowardly. Medea also challenges ancient Greek society’s decree that the greatest glory for a woman was to bear children, provide sex and to fulfill the demands of her husband (Rassidakis 220-226). From the first compelling moments of this one-act play the audience is drawn into contradictions confronting Medea: to challenge injustice and betrayal or accommodate to it and the financial security and comfort it could bring (Pucci). Traditional behavior of women was a very important aspect of this play, and portraying Medea as both similar and different to fellow womankind allowed the audience to make judgment on the role of women as they knew it. Medea recurrently assaulted fundamental and sacred values and that gave the play much of its power and allowed Euripides to most persuasively portray her as an incarnation of disorder. Could any male audience possibly start to respect any woman that could crush basic human order? Euripides did not himself condemn Medea. Rather, he gave the audience a choice on whether to accept her character and actions. However by implication he is associating a breakdown in human order as being due to the wickedness in such a woman. Yet associating such a drastic event with women would imply that they had the power to be so destructive, and that was not an option of the times - especially when a war had just broken out, and unity was of great importance (McDermott).

In the tragedy Medea, Euripides fails to rehabilitate the female sex. He chooses a semi-divine, foreign sorceress to voice the appeals of ordinary Athenian wives. She is a woman capable of murder, manipulation and deception, and she has no sense of remorse. In choosing her, Euripides appears to be sending out mixed signals concerning women. Her concerns are those that apply to the majority of women at the time, and an audience would no doubt have understood these; yet Medea deals with them in a way that is abhorrent for a woman of fifth-century Athens (Easterling). She invokes both pathos and disgust, and, for a male audience, she would encourage distrust and continuing ‘imprisonment’ and lower social status for women. Although Euripides may well have believed in promoting womankind, it would have been difficult to put this idea across to the male audience of the day, and that may be why he is unable to make any significant advances in the Medea. He had the right message, but used the wrong messenger (Strauss 237-270).

Works cited:

Rassidakis, Kristina. The origins of love, hate, and retaliation in Euripides tragedy; Medea: a psychodynamic approach. Changes: International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy 15, 1997.
Pucci, Pietro. The Violence of Pity in Euripides’ Medea. Cornell University, 1980.
Pelling, Christopher. Greek Tragedy and the Historian. Oxford, 1997.
Ober, Josiah and Strauss, Barry. Drama, Political Rhetoric, and Discourse of Athenian Democracy in Winkler, John J. Athenian Drama in Its Social Context. Princeton, 1990.
McDermott, Emily A. Euripedes’ Medea: The Incarnation of Disorder. University Park, PA. 1989.
Easterling, P.E. The Infanticide in Euripides’ Medea. YCS 25, 1977.

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]

* [[Kreon]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-12T02:44:37Z

Nsmith: /* Right Message, Wrong Messenger */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason,]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==
== Right Message, Wrong Messenger ==

Euripides’ Medea, was the first in a series of plays in which vivid, powerful women appeared on the Euripidean stage. It was produced in the year that the Peloponnesian War began, and sought to play on the low morale of the public to restore the female sex in positions of social influence and power. Throughout the centuries it has been regarded as one of the most powerful of the Greek tragedies, and also one in which the theme of women was more important than most. It is in this play that Euripides could either restore or condemn the female populace in society (Pelling).

Euripides questions many social norms of the period, but he uses a female such as Medea to convey his message. While Medea has no legal rights, she is the sorceress’ grandchild of the Sun God and therefore able to articulately explain her actions and passionately act on her plans. She is initially able to gain the sympathy and support of the Corinthian women for her plight by passionately pleading her case to the public at large. Medea’s passionate arguments fly in the face of the Greek tradition that only the male has the ability and right to lucid, rational argument. Jason although regarded as civilized by Greek society, is by contrast weak, compromised and cowardly. Medea also challenges ancient Greek society’s decree that the greatest glory for a woman was to bear children, provide sex and to fulfill the demands of her husband (Rassidakis 220-226). From the first compelling moments of this one-act play the audience is drawn into contradictions confronting Medea: to challenge injustice and betrayal or accommodate to it and the financial security and comfort it could bring (Pucci). Traditional behavior of women was a very important aspect of this play, and portraying Medea as both similar and different to fellow womankind allowed the audience to make judgment on the role of women as they knew it. Medea recurrently assaulted fundamental and sacred values and that gave the play much of its power and allowed Euripides to most persuasively portray her as an incarnation of disorder. Could any male audience possibly start to respect any woman that could crush basic human order? Euripides did not himself condemn Medea. Rather, he gave the audience a choice on whether to accept her character and actions. However by implication he is associating a breakdown in human order as being due to the wickedness in such a woman. Yet associating such a drastic event with women would imply that they had the power to be so destructive, and that was not an option of the times - especially when a war had just broken out, and unity was of great importance (McDermott).

In the tragedy Medea, Euripides fails to rehabilitate the female sex. He chooses a semi-divine, foreign sorceress to voice the appeals of ordinary Athenian wives. She is a woman capable of murder, manipulation and deception, and she has no sense of remorse. In choosing her, Euripides appears to be sending out mixed signals concerning women. Her concerns are those that apply to the majority of women at the time, and an audience would no doubt have understood these; yet Medea deals with them in a way that is abhorrent for a woman of fifth-century Athens (Easterling). She invokes both pathos and disgust, and, for a male audience, she would encourage distrust and continuing ‘imprisonment’ and lower social status for women. Although Euripides may well have believed in promoting womankind, it would have been difficult to put this idea across to the male audience of the day, and that may be why he is unable to make any significant advances in the Medea. He had the right message, but used the wrong messenger (Strauss 237-270).

Works cited:

Rassidakis, Kristina. The origins of love, hate, and retaliation in Euripides tragedy; Medea: a psychodynamic approach. Changes: International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy 15, 1997.
Pucci, Pietro. The Violence of Pity in Euripides’ Medea. Cornell University, 1980.
Pelling, Christopher. Greek Tragedy and the Historian. Oxford, 1997.
Ober, Josiah and Strauss, Barry. Drama, Political Rhetoric, and Discourse of Athenian Democracy in Winkler, John J. Athenian Drama in Its Social Context. Princeton, 1990.
McDermott, Emily A. Euripedes’ Medea: The Incarnation of Disorder. University Park, PA. 1989.
Easterling, P.E. The Infanticide in Euripides’ Medea. YCS 25, 1977.

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]

* [[King Kreon]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-11T19:12:47Z

Nsmith: /* Characters */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason,]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]

* [[King Kreon]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-11T17:06:45Z

Nsmith: /* Characters */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason,]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis(642). ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-11T17:05:44Z

Nsmith: /* Characters */

== Summary ==

[[Image:MedeaChariot.jpeg|thumb|Medea’s Chariot]]The play [[Medea]] begins in turmoil and escalates until the tragic end. ''Medea'' tells the story of passion that transforms from love to hate. Consumed with a passionate rage ''Medea'' seeks to avenge her husband, [[Jason,]] who has wronged her. Jason has left ''Medea'' and taken a new wife. To add insult to injury, Jason’s new bride is the daughter of king [[Kreon]] and a Greek.

The play opens outside the house of ''Medea'' and Jason in [[Corinth]]. The [[Nurse]] tells the sorrows of ''Medea'' and how Jason has abandoned ''Medea'' after all she has done for him. The Nurse is afraid ''Medea'' will harm someone close to her. ''Medea’s'' heart is full of violence especially for Jason and the children. ''Medea'' is overwhelmed with grief that is manifesting as jealousy and rage.

The [[Tutor]] appears with ''Medea'' two young children who have been outside playing. ''Medea’s'' children are oblivious to the resentment their mother is beginning to feel towards them. The Nurse warns the children to stay out of their mother’s sight. The Tutor is the bearer of bad news. The Tutor has heard rumors that ''Medea'' and her children will be exiled from Corinth. The Nurse is sympathetic to ''Medea’s'' plight while the Tutor is blasé.

The [[Chorus]] of Corinthian women arrives to check on ''Medea''. The Chorus hears ''Medea'' cries and curses from inside the house. The Chorus asks the Nurse to go see if ''Medea'' will come outside so they can console her.

A distraught ''Medea'' enters the courtyard and delivers a poignant speech on the sufferings and indignations of women in an oppressively man’s world. ''Medea'' points out to the Chorus being a woman is even worst for her because she is a foreigner without a family or a home. The Chorus sympathizes with ''Medea''. ''Medea'' despises Jason for taking another wife, and condemns Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' makes the Chorus promise if she finds a way to revenge Jason, they will remain silent. The Chorus gives ''Medea'' a vow of silence agreeing ''Medea'' is right to seek revenge.

''Medea'' has been blatantly lamenting her disgruntlements. ''Medea’s'' condemnations have come to the attention of king Kreon. King Kreon enters and exiles ''Medea'' and her children because he is afraid of ''Medea''. Using her children, ''Medea'' appeals to king Kreon on a paternal level and asks for one more day for the sake of the children so she can get her affairs in order. King Kreon reluctantly agrees and allows ''Medea'' to stay in Corinth one more day convinced she could not do the evil he fears in one day.

The Chorus pities ''Medea'' but ''Medea'' assures them one day is all she needs to avenge Jason faithlessness. When considering how to kill her enemies, ''Medea'' rules out swords or fire because that would mean close contact with the victims and she may get caught giving her enemies a reason to laugh at her. Being humiliated is one of ''Medea'' greatest fears and motivates her to lash out to save face. ''Medea'' decides to use poison. A conniving manipulator ''Medea'' schemes to poison Jason, his new bride, and king Kreon. ''Medea'' is determined no one especially a man will mistreat her and live to tell about it.

Jason visits ''Medea''. Similar to Kreon when he visited ''Medea'', Jason immediately chastises ''Medea'' for her behavior and blames her for her own exile. ''Medea'' calls Jason a coward and reminds him of all she has done for him in the name of love. ''Medea'' is instrumental in assisting Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece. ''Medea'' betrays her father, murders her brother, an exile from her homeland, and orchestrates the death of Pelias … all for a man who has snubbed her. Jason tries to convince ''Medea'' he married king Kreon daughter for her and their children sake. Marrying into prosperity will benefit them all. Jason argues ''Medea'' has benefited from their marriage more than he. Jason took ''Medea'' away from a barbaric, lawless land. ''Medea'' is very popular living among the Greeks. ''Medea’s'' cleverness is admired in Corinth whereas in [[Colchis]] cleverness is not revered. Also, the children need royal siblings to protect them. ''Medea'' and Jason continue to argue. ''Medea'' feels Jason should have been man enough to tell her he has taken a new bride. Jason believes ''Medea'' is too irrational to handle the news of his bride and her behavior now reflects he was correct in his assumption. Jason offers ''Medea'' contacts with his friends that will help her once she and the kids are exiled from Corinth. Fiercely pride ''Medea'' refuses to take anything from Jason who betrayed her.

By chance ''Medea’s'' friend king [[Aigeus]] of [[Athens]] visits. ''Medea'' envisions a safe haven for escape. ''Medea'' tells Aigeus of Jason’s treachery and her pending exile. ''Medea'' beseeches Aigeus for asylum in Athens. King Aigeus unaware of ''Medea’s'' murderous intentions offers ''Medea'' sanctuary in return for her offer of drugs that will end his childlessness. However, king Aigeus gives Medea one condition for sanctuary, ''Medea'' must come to Athens on her own will. Aigeus swears an oath to all the gods at ''Medea'' appeal that he will not turn her over to her enemies no matter what. Reassured ''Medea'' sets her scheme for vengeance in motion. ''Medea'' tells the Chorus of her plans.

''Medea’s'' scheme of murder is coming together. ''Medea'' has a safe haven once the murders are complete. As her scheme unfolds, ''Medea'' realizes she must also murder her own children to completely avenge Jason’s dishonor. ''Medea'' wants to hurt Jason deeply and she cannot risk anyone who does not love her children hurting them. The Chorus begs ''Medea'' to reconsider murdering her children. ''Medea'' says,” No compromise is possible” (803).

''Medea'' sends for Jason. ''Medea'' uses an assuaging attitude with Jason. ''Medea'' apologizes for her angry and tells Jason he is right to have married king Kreon’s daughter. ''Medea'' pretends to be submissive like Jason expects a good wife to be. After “''kissing up''” to Jason, ''Medea'' sends her children along with Jason and the Tutor to the bride with gifts of a poison woven dress and a golden diadem.

The Tutor returns with the children and tells ''Medea'' the royal princess will let the children stay in Corinth. The Tutor is baffled by ''Medea’s'' melancholy behavior. ''Medea'' exhibits tenderness and cold-heartedness as she cries and talks to her children preparing herself to murder them. When ''Medea’s'' children smile at her she considers relinquishing her murderous scheme. The fury ''Medea'' feels at being betrayed by Jason conquers her resolve. ''Medea'' is compelled to finish what has already been started.

''Medea'' anxiously waits for news from the palace. The [[Messenger]] enters surprise ''Medea'' is hanging around. The Messenger tells ''Medea'' to run. The Messenger brings news that the royal princess and king Kreon are dead. ''Medea'' glories in the details as the Messenger tells her of the anguish deaths. Jason’s bride and king Kreon die an awful, torturous death with suffering as well. The golden diadem burst into flames sitting upon the royal princess head burning her body and the woven dress sloughs the flesh from her bones. As king Kreon cradles his daughter dead body the poison consumes him as the poisonous woven dress adhered to his flesh.

Jason returns looking for his children to protect them from the angry Corinthian mob after he finds out his new bride and father-in-law have been murdered by ''Medea''. The Chorus tells Jason his children have been murdered by their mother’s hand. Jason is appalled and looks for ''Medea''. ''Medea'' has hung around to gloat. ''Medea'' appears above the place in a chariot drawn by dragons provided by her grandfather, [[Helios]], the sun god. The children bodies are on the chariot. Jason begs for the children’s bodies, but ''Medea'' cynically laughs at him refusing to give his the honor of burying the children dead bodies. Jason desperately wants to kiss his dead children and bury them, but ''Medea'' refuses to give him the satisfaction. Jason insults ''Medea'' by telling her a Greek woman would never do the things she has done. ''Medea'' and Jason blame each other for the children’s death. ''Medea'' prophesies Jason’s death. ''Medea'' and Jason argue violently as the play comes to an end. The Chorus closes the play reflecting on capricious nature of gods’ will. ''Medea'' succeeds in revenge and Jason is lonely and tormented. Jason has lost his financial security, his status, and children to carry on his name. Jason is left without distinction. ''Medea’s'' avenge is achieved. Passionate love turned to passionate hate.

Work Cited

Euripides. ''Medea. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 642-672.

Ferguson, John.'' A Companion to Greek Tragedy''. TX: University of Texas Press. 1972.

Lattimore, Richard. ''The Poetry of Greek Tragedy.'' MD: John Hopkins Press. 1958.

Additional Reading

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medea.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

== Themes and Motifs ==

== Xenophobia ==

Euripides’s Medea explores the tensions which existed between citizens and foreigners and Greece’s subsequent Xenophobia. In the play, Medea represents the non-citizen who completely lacked legal and social rights. Not only is she far from the comforts of her native land, but also, as both a woman and a foreigner, she is viewed as a “poor creature” (643), below the level of a human being.

As Doctor Gerry Lucas pointed out in his lecture, marriage was a citizen’s contract, meaning Medea had no legal hold on Jason and could not take any form of official recourse. The Nurse laments that “…she has discovered by her sufferings/ What it means to one not to have lost one’s own country” (643). The Nurse is making a deliberate comparison to Jason, who as a male citizen enjoyed legal protection and political activity. Medea, a female non-citizen, is left without a voice or support. Her lack of institutional support led to the necessity that she herself administer Jason’s punishment.

Jason most aptly expresses the Xenophobic snobbery inherent in such disparity between citizen and foreigner. As he explains to Medea the advantages of living in a ‘civilized’ culture he insists that “…instead of living among barbarians/ You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways/ How to live by law instead of the sweet will of force” (653.) Such ethnocentric attitudes were both stemmed from and perpetuated by the lack of citizen’s rights. According to Wikipedia, women and foreigners were unable to vote and therefore could not create public policy that would help eradicate Ancient Greece’s sexism and xenophobia.

== Historical Context ==

Greek tragic playwright, Euripides was born in Athens circa 480 BCE. He is credited with authoring at least 80 plays, 19 of which have survived until modern times. Several of his tragedies feature very strong female characters, including ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Medea''. He died at the court of the Macedonian king in 406 BCE. His work gained a greater popularity after his death than it had received during his lifetime (Crystal 317).

''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. According to legislation passed, twenty years earlier, a foreign woman could not legally marry an Athenian male. Any children begotten through such a union would not be considered legitimate heirs in the eyes of the law (Vandiver 217-16).

=== Works Cited ===

Crystal, David. ''The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. New York. 1995.

Vandiver, Elizabeth. ''Greek Tragedy''. The Teaching Company. Course # 217. Lectures 1-24.

== Feminist Concerns ==
Euripides wrote ''Medea'' in 431 B.C. (640). Greek mythology shows us how Greeks, at that time, had firm beliefs on how women should behave themselves and the values they should hold. The perceived submissive behavior of women begins the very moment a wife arrives in her husband’s home (O’Higgins 104). A woman is supposed to provide heirs to the man (O’Higgins 104).

An Athenian perception pertaining to a “good woman” was that a woman be loyal to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). The most common characteristics of a good woman would be goodness, self-control and the fact that she was devoted to her husband and children (Sourvinou-Inwood 254). A good woman would reflect the culture’s established values and provide a look into the culture itself. A bad woman would be the opposite of the positive norm. In the beginning of ''Medea'', she portrays herself as a good woman. She was devoted to Jason and loved him so much that she felt as though she could not survive without him. When the nurse is talking in the beginning she states that “poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped in eternal promise (643).” Even though the play begins as seeing Medea as a normal, possibly good woman, she has already shown signs of abnormality in her behavior for a woman at that time. Medea is already showing signs of hatefulness towards her children. “I hate you, children of a hateful mother (645).” Medea is already showing behavior that women would not dare show in this time.

Medea could be seen as a heroine for women who do not want to be confined to the role of the “producer of legitimate offspring (McDonald 303).” By killing her children, she separates herself independently from her husband and the general patriarchy (McDonald 304). Even though at this time, husband’s were expected to be with other women, Medea feels as though her family rights were violated. Medea was also different in this aspect. She didn’t believe that and felt vengeful. The ultimate punishment for Jason, was to violently take his heirs from him. Medea’s anger turned into aggressive action, which can make her into a symbol for women (McDonald 304).

Throughout the play, Medea was more or less an ordinary woman portrayed as a bad woman. However, she could be the victim of male power and just seemed very out of the ordinary for the role of females at this time (Sourvinou-Inwood 258). She ended up being a version of a very bad woman, by killing her son’s and wreaking havoc on Jason and male power (Sourvinou-Inwood 258).

The idea explored in this play possibly suggests that women like Medea “use the weapons of the weak, which are both deceitful and violent and hurt men where they are vulnerable to women (Sourvinou-Inwood 261).” The play suggests that normal philosophy is not perfect and easy and if things go wrong men also suffer.

Works Citied:

O’Higgins, Dolores M., Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane, and McDonald, Marianne. Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

== Characters ==
* [[Jason]]

* [[Medea]]
''Medea'' is the princess of the Isle of Colchis.(642) ''Medea'' is a sorceress, skilled in magic, and is renowned for her cleverness. ''Medea'' comes from a prestigious lineage. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes and Idyia. ''Medea'' is also the granddaughter of the sun god Helios and the niece of Circe who is also known as a sorceress. ''Medea'' admires and is a protégé of goddess Hecate a patron of witchcraft.

''Medea'' falls in love with a man named [[Jason]] when he reached the land of Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.(642) ''Medea'' falls in love with Jason, helps him steal the Golden Fleece from her own country and leaves with him.(642) She eventually marries Jason and has children with him as they have moved to live in exile in Corinth.(643)

''Medea'' learns Jason has been dipping his noodle in the King of Corinth’s daughter.(643) She learns he has intentions of marrying her and leaving ''Medea'' and the kids to fend for themselves.(647) Kreon, King of Corinth, hears of ''Medea’s'' anger with Jason and the king’s daughter.(648) Kreon approaches ''Medea'' and sentences her to exile.(648)

Nothing like a woman scorned as ''Medea'' in her angered state plans for the demise of her husband, his new bride to be, and her father.(658) ''Medea'' first covers her base by finding a safe place to live in exile. (656) King Aigeus, King of Athens, agrees that if she can find her way to his doorstep she can stay forever and be safe.(656)

Now ''Medea'' plans the way to kill Jason’s bride to be and anyone who touches her.(658) She plans to poison two bridal gifts for Jason’s new bride and have the children hand deliver them to her.(659) Jason falls for the plan and takes the children to his bride to be where she receives her gifts and puts them on falling to her death.(664) The children return to ''Medea'' where she kills them right before Jason returns to find out what dastardly deed she has done.(669) ''Medea'' escapes Corinth with her dead children on a dragon drawn chariot given to her by Helios, her father’s father to protect her from her enemies.(670) She escapes to live in Athens and Jason never sees his children again.(670)

Work Cited

Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.

Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.

== Commentaries ==
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000320.shtml Euripides' ''Medea'': Patriarchal Terrorism]]

== Sources ==

Athenian Democracy. 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.

== External Links ==

[[Category:World Literature]]

Medea

2005-04-09T23:44:59Z

Nsmith: /* Summary */

Patroclus

2005-03-19T04:25:28Z

Nsmith:

'''Patroclus'''

Patroclus was Achilles dearest friend who accompanied him in the Trojan War. Achilles had withdrawn his troops, the Mymidons because of a disagreement between Agamemnon, the Greek commander. Patroclus persuaded Achilles to allow him to go to war in his stead. In Achilles armor, Patroclus led the Greek troops to victory. Hector, the commander of the Trojans, slew Patroclus. Achilles avenged his friend’s death by killing Hector.

[http://www.barrysmylie.com/iliad link title]

Patroclus’ role in the [[Iliad]] is minor, but Patroclus’ influence in the ''Iliad'' is colossally memorable. Patroclus is heroic in an unassuming manner. The gallant impression Patroclus leaves on [[Achilles]] and fellow comrades earns Patroclus heroic status. Although Patroclus shares in many exploits with Achilles, Patroclus never receives an equitable share of glory, however; Patroclus is not a glory-seeker. Patroclus is content to reside in Achilles’ shadow, even though Patroclus’ merit often surpasses Achilles. Patroclus shares comparable qualities with Achilles, but not to the same magnitude. Patroclus is quick-tempered, brave, and rages also. Patroclus possesses compassion, which balances his personality.

Patroclus’ temperament manifests as a young boy when he experiences rage. Patroclus quick-temper flares and he kills, Clysonymus, a childhood friend during an argument over a dice game (Grant & Hazel 317). Patroclus learns at an early age the penalty rampant rage produces. An imprint is left on Patroclus’ mind taming his rage at an impressionable age. If not for the death of Clysonymus, Patroclus rage could have flourished uncontrollably.

After killing Clysonymus, Patroclus and his father flees to Phthia seeking asylum from King Peleus. Patroclus meets Achilles and the two become good friends. King Peleus sends Patroclus along with Achilles to Mount Pelion to be raised by Chiron the king of Centaurs (Barthell 68). Patroclus and Achilles are reared together as brothers, yet they are never equals. Being mortal, pedigree wise, Patroclus can never equal half-mortal nobility, half-divine Achilles that the gods favor because Achilles is god-like (Lefkowitz 72). Patroclus is the son of mortals Menoetius and Sthenele. The gods show Patroclus no favoritism.

During the Trojan War, Patroclus is sent by Menoetius to watch over Achilles. Patroclus retires along with his friend Achilles, after Achilles leaves the battle refusing to fight. Despite tremendous losses to the Achaeans troops, Achilles refuses to return to battle. Second in command of Myrmidons, Patroclus demonstrates his allegiance to the Myrmidons when he decides not to stand by his treasonous friend Achilles’ side. Patroclus returns to battle not only to defend the Myrmidons, but also sulking Achilles’ honor. Patroclus wearing Achilles divine armor fight valiantly bestowing accolades to Achilles.

Patroclus drives back the Trojans troops, kills many Trojans in his path, and seems unstoppable. One of Patroclus notable kills is Zeus’ son Sarpedon. Patroclus kills a god’s son although Patroclus is mortal. As Patroclus fights zealously, Zeus makes him forget the command Achilles gave not to storm the walls of Troy (Lefkowitz 71).

The death of Patroclus slain comrade Epigeus causes Patroclus’ rage to escalate, as Patroclus’ death would cause Achilles’ rage to escalate. In Book XVI like a mad man three times Patroclus makes a dynamic dash for the walls of Troy. Patroclus almost takes the wall on his fourth attempt if not for the hand of Apollo hurling him back. Although Patrolcus often fail short of glory, hinder by the gods and fate, Patroclus always displays courage.

Patroclus dies impetuously letting rage and brazen overconfidence overwhelm him. Yet, Patroclus does not succumb to death willingly. God Apollo, Euphorbus, and Hector the greatest Trojan warrior are needed to slain Patroclus.

Patroclus is one of the least celebrated, but most admired warriors in the ''Iliad''. Patroclus humbleness functions as a shield obscuring Patroclus true valor. Achilles’ rage is so formidably unforgettable that Patroclus’ compassionate gallantry is unseen. Examining Patroclus out of Achilles shadow, Patroclus is heroic in his own right.

Works Cited

Edward E. Barthell, Jr. ''Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece''. FL: University of Miami Press, 1971.

Grant, Michael and Hazel, John. ''Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology''. MA: G. & C. Merriam Company Publishers, 1973.

Lefkowitz, Mary. ''Greek Gods, Human Lives What We Can Learn From Myths''. CT: Yale University Press, 2003.

Homer. ''The Iliad''. ''The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Eds. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 104-209.

Additional Reading

http://www.ancientgreece.com

http://www.greeka.com/greece-mythology.htm

http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/

The Humaness of Iliad's Gods

2005-03-13T20:58:05Z

Nsmith: Exploration of the human quality of the gods in The Iliad

The gods of ''The Iliad'' behavior is more humanly than godly. The gods are endowed with human emotions and physical characteristics. The anthropomorphic gods live in a society similar to humans in a patriarchal system with Zeus as the patriarch. Analogous to humans, gods have an array of emotions. Gods are envious, selfish, devious, and exhibit partiality toward the mortals they favor. Gods squabble, meddle, deceive, scheme, and beguile mortals as well as other gods. Gods have colorful, multifaceted, but not always revered personal qualities. Resembling humans gods have vulnerabilities, virtues, and vices that are manipulated by emotions. Emotions govern gods’ behavior, which influences their decision-making thus affecting the lives of mortals.

Ancient Greeks believe gods share similarities of humans (Gods). Although gods of ''The Iliad'' possess emotions and physical characteristics of humans, the gods are not human. Differing from humans, the gods have amazing supernatural powers, eternal beauty, and are immortal. Gods assume human form when they wish to mingle among humans unnoticed. Gods watch, listen, and participate in human affairs. Gods speak to humans directly, send a messenger, or assume the form of a trusted friend to communicate with mortals. Gods also send messages in dreams. When emotionally pleased or dismayed gods send omens such as thunderclaps or sudden appearances of birds or animals, which appear atypical to the mortals who witness the occurrences (Lefkowitz 83). Humans, even god-like Achilles, possess no comparable divine qualities.

The gods of ''The Iliad'' emotions cause them to behave human-like interacting with mortals and other gods. Gods often quarrel among themselves, but usually do not hold grudges. Before long the gods are back to feasting and sleeping soundly (Lefkowitz 83). Achilles’ rage persists throughout ''The Iliad'' until his rage is pacified by restoration of his honor. Gods of ''The Iliad'', as all gods, maintain a sense of obligation to their followers, but the gods are swayed by emotions.

Possessing emotions ''The Iliad'' gods do not always behave very holy. The gods of ''The Iliad'' differ from the Judeo-Christian god. The Judeo-Christian god is based on the foundation of being loving, kind, and morally exemplary. ”But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24). Greek gods are not based on any moral code. There is no belief that leading a good life will bring rewards either in this life or the afterlife. Mortals believe it is necessary to appease gods to obtain what they want and believe it is possible to offend gods bringing divine retribution (Arnott 40). Because gods have emotions, mortals must indulge the gods’ emotions to succeed and be favored.

Greeks worship many gods creating a polytheism society (Ancient). Various gods have their own purpose and attributes. Each god governs his or her own domain. Zeus, father of gods, is the god of sky. Apollo is the god of archery. The gods have total control over their domain, but gods’ supernatural power is restricted by fate. The gods’ ability to alter fate is limited to their own domain such as Apollo can unleash blazing arrows to attack ships, but Apollo cannot provoke the skies to storm violently to sink ships. Gods must negotiate with other gods to intervene in fate outside their domain, however; gods still intervene in human affairs. The gods’ intervention in human affairs is called ''deus ex machina'' or divine intervention. The gods are restrained only by fate (Lefkowitz 54). Even when gods meddle in human affairs and fate is delayed, what is fated to be will inevitably occur.

While one god tries to help a mortal, another god may be persecuting the mortal. Apollo loves Hector and Athena hates Hector. Achilles wonders if it is a god’s intervention letting Hector escape him, “and how could Hector have fled the fates of death so long. How unless one last, one final time Apollo had swept in close behind him, driving strength in his legs and knees to race the wind (XXII.241-244). Athena assumes the form of Deiphobus and entices Hector to face Achilles. As fate closes in Hector realizes Athena tricked him. Apollo and Athena both intervene in fate to serve personal motives. Regardless of the gods’ intervention, the course of fate is preordained. Father Zeus holds out the sacred golden scale and places two fates of death. As fate intervenes, Apollo abandons Hector knowing nothing can stop fate.

In ''The Iliad'' there is the perception gods intervene in human affairs to serve personal motives. However, another perspective is gods intervene to ensure the hand of fate is served. The gods know ultimately they cannot change fate, but the temptation to meddle is often too great for the gods to resist being emotional (Arnott 39). In Book XVIII, Hera concern for Patroclus fallen body causes her to send a messenger to advise Achilles to arm. Other gods on Olympus are unaware that Hera’s manipulation causes twelve men to die in the Trojan War. The gods believe their interference does not change fate drastically, but keeps fate on the right track after mortals and sometimes well-meaning gods meddle as Hera does (Arnott 39). When Patroclus defies Achilles’ command and fights Hector, Achilles is compelled to return to battle to avenge Patroclus death; but at the same time Achilles leads the Achaeans to victory. Troy’s fate is to fall to the Achaeans.

Although gods intervene in human affairs regularly, the gods are not held accountable for their intervention in mortals’ lives (Gods). Gods’ intervention is accepted as a natural occurrence like hurricanes or tornados are accepted as ”''acts of god''” – blameless, unavoidable. Mortals would never think to question gods for divine intervention anymore than Judeo-Christians blame their god when bad things happen to good people. Gods actively participate and intervene in the daily affairs of mortals. The gods’ intervention is unavoidable for mortals. The acceptance of a god’s intervention occurs frequently during ''The Iliad''. Even Achilles does not defy the will of the gods when Zeus, who pities Hector, decrees Achilles must relinquish Hector’s body to the Trojans in Book XXIV.

Nothing invokes emotions like war. Warriors are filled with rage, hate, love, and sorrow. The aforementioned emotions are also reflected in the gods. The gods refuse impartiality and takes sides in the war. The Trojan War is between the gods and the Trojans or Achaeans as much as it is between the Trojans and Achaeans. Thetis using her wiles convinces Zeus to destroy the Achaeans troops. Zeus overwhelmed by obligation to Thetis for saving his life perpetuates the death of many Achaeans. In Book I, Apollo siding with the Trojans unleashes arrows on the Achaeans after being slighted by Agamemnon refusal to return the daughter of Apollo’s priest. Apollo intervention in the death of Patroclus causes Achilles to return to battle placing fate back on track.

Hate leads the gods to facilitate and participate in killings. Apollo frenzied with abhor for Patroclus and admiration for Hector strips Patroclus’ helmet and breastplate in Book XVI. Experiencing hate is a dangerous emotion for god causing superior gods to reap divine retribution on mortals who are defenseless against the superhuman power of gods.

The gods’ impartiality towards mortals is evident when mortals pray to an unsympathetic god. The gods do not answer prayers for mortals even if the mortals sacrifice and pray faithfully. The gods only answers the prays of mortals they favor. Athena blatantly refuses to hear Theano’ prays because Theano is praying for the Trojans in Book VI.

The gods seem human as they exhibit a myriad of emotions throughout ''The Iliad''. The anthropomorphic quality does not lessen the superiority of gods or imply gods are humans. The gods revel in the fact they are superior to mortals and “''god status''” afford gods with privileges mortals envy. Emotions endow gods with an added advantage allowing gods to empathize with mortals through emotions mortals and gods both possess. The humanness of gods not only let gods understand mortals, but mortals understand gods.

Works Cited

''Ancient Greek Religion''. Paganism: Past & Present. 18 Feb 2005.
[[http://library.thinkquest.org/28111/newpage2.htm]]

Arnott, Peter. ''An Introduction to the Greek World''. NY: Minerva Press, 1967.

''God & Goddess''. THC Class Room. History Channel. 28 Feb 2005.

''Holy Bible''. King James Version. TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1997.

Lefkowitz, Mary. ''Greek Gods, Human Lives What We Can Learn From Myths''. CT: Yale University Press, 2003.

Homer. ''The Iliad''. ''The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces''. Ed. Lawall, Sarah and Mack, Maynard. 7th. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1999. 104-209.

The Iliad

2005-03-13T20:08:38Z

Nsmith: /* The Gods */

[[Image:Achilles-chiron.jpg|thumb|Achilles and Chiron the Centaur]] The ''Iliad'' (a song about Ilium, or Troy) along with its companion [[Epic Poetry|epic]] the [[Odyssey]] form the foundation of ancient Greek culture and address the extremes of human experience through war and peace. Both [[Epic Poetry|epic]] are primary, or oral, [[Epic Poetry|epic]] that draw on an enormous wealth of cultural stories in unified structures that we attribute to the poet [[Homer]], in eighth century B.C.E. The [[Epic Poetry|epic]] are written in an unsentimental style: the ''Iliad'' depicts the ambivalence of war in meticulously accurate details. Both the nightmare of war and its excitement find expression in the ''Iliad'', just as the [[Odyssey]]’s pages quest for a home, or a peace that seems hard-won after the devastation of war.

==The Epic Theme==
As the narrator states first thing: the subject of the ''Iliad'' is the rage of [[Achilles]] and the consequences of that rage for both the Achaeans and the Trojans. War effects not only the men who fight the battles, but also the women and children whose lives are then shaped by its outcome. War represents the worst and, ironically, the best of humanity: ugly brutality and terrible beauty. We both pity with [[Hector]] and sympathize with [[Achilles]]; neither side of the war holds all of our sentiments. The final outcome of the war, then, becomes truly tragic: only one culture can continue while the other is destroyed or enslaved.

The brutality of [[Achilles]] and its consequences are most evident in Book XXII of the ''Iliad''. [[Achilles]]’ rage blinds him to anything but the death of [[Hector]], the Trojan champion that kills [[Patroclus]]. Replete with [[Epic Poetry|epic]] [[simile|similes]] of the hunt, book twenty-two illustrates [[Hector]]’s own reluctance to do what he sees as his duty to face [[Achilles]], yet thinks only of himself and what his people might think if he doesn’t face the Greek killing machine (cf. ll. 108-156). [[Hector]]’s resolve is soon shaken as he sees [[Achilles]] closing, bloody rage the only thing that [[Achilles]] sees. [[Hector]] flees, but is soon tricked by [[Athena]] into stopping to face [[Achilles]], perhaps a commentary on [[Hector]]’s need for companionship and [[Achilles]]’ desire for only personal vengeance and renown. [[Hector]] is mercilessly murdered in front of Troy’s walls, like a fawn at the jaws of a lion.

The death of [[Hector]], then, is given a final cultural context from [[Hector]]’s widow [[Andromache]]. She now sees the demise of Troy, but personally she sees no future for their son [[Astyanax]]. The death of the father, then, is a weighty metaphor for the Trojans: the order that they secured will soon be rendered useless by the barbarity of war; the father’s death leads to the destruction of social order. This theme will be taken up in the [[Odyssey]] as well: what is the responsibility of the son for maintaining order in the absence or death of the father? As [[Andromache]] sees no future for [[Astyanax]], life does continue even after the carnage of war, yet a new order is imposed on the losers — those who escape death. This theme of continuity is also addressed by [[Virgil]] in his [[Aeneid]].

Is war, then, a necessary component of human life? Just because it has been historically up until this point, are we to be like [[Achilles]] who could not hear reason through his bloody thoughts: “No truce / till one or the other falls and gluts with blood” (XXII.313-14)? When do we decide that war is better than order?

== Summary ==
In book one of the ''Iliad'', we discover that because of [[Agamemnon]]’s refusal to relinquish Chryseis, [[Apollo]] has rained a plague upon the Achaean forces. Because he is eventually challenged by [[Achilles]] — who represents the wishes of the rest of the men — [[Agamemnon]] decides to claim Achilles’ prize (a girl named Briseis) to reassert his authority and put Achilles in his place for his challenge. Achilles shows cunning and restraint — qualities that are usually associated with [[Odysseus]] — in his argument with [[Agamemnon]], while the latter rages and rails like a wounded child. Yet, when [[Agamemnon]]’s men take Briseis, [[Achilles]], also child-like, begins to pout by his ships, cries to his mother, and refuses to play the war game anymore. This final decision precipitates the death of many Achaeans, including Achilles’ friend [[Patroclus]]. Achilles’ resulting rage ends with the death of [[Hector]] in book twenty-two, and Achilles’ own apocryphal death under the bow of [[Paris]] before the war’s end. See more in [[The Iliad Summary]].

== Characters ==
The ''Iliad''’s participants are the nobility of both cultures, or the ''aristoi'': “the best people.” They are the hereditary holders of wealth and power, and their decisions effect all of the culture. For example, [[Agamemnon]]’s decision to infuriate [[Achilles]] at the outset of the ''Iliad'' has lasting effects on the Greek warriors during the last weeks of the Trojan War. Like most [[Epic Poetry|epic]], of which the ''Iliad'' is really the definitive example, the action begins [[in medias res]], a few weeks before the end of a ten-year campaign, with all of the [[Epic Poetry|epic]]’s traditional accouterments. The ''Iliad'' poses questions, as will the [[Odyssey]], about the nature of political order and what humans must do to maintain that vision and structure. The initial contention in the ''Iliad'' is between the Greek champion [[Achilles]] and the Greek commander [[Agamemnon]]. Who has the stronger claim to right: [[Agamemnon]] who has the hereditary position, or [[Achilles]], the one with merit? Ultimately does it matter? When swords are drawn, reason becomes irrelevant.

=== Achaeans ===
* [[Achilles]]
* [[Agamemnon]]
* [[Ajax]]
* [[Menaleus]]
* [[Nestor]]
* [[Odysseus]]
* [[Patroclus]]

=== Trojans ===
* [[Hector]]
* [[Hecuba]]
* [[Helen]]
* [[Paris]]
* [[Priam]]

=== The Gods ===
* [[Apollo]]
* [[Athena]]
* [[Hera]]
* [[Poseidon]]
* [[Thetis]]
* [[Zeus]]
* [[The Humaness of Iliad's Gods]]

== Internal Links ==
* [[Homer]]
* [[The Iliad Summary]]

== External Links ==

* [http://library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/homer.htm Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000312.shtml The Iliad: Rage and War]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000503.shtml Hector: Family Man, but Hero First]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000456.shtml Fighting Beyond Their Fates]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/~glucas/archives/000297.shtml Friendship and Two Epics]

== Suggested Reading ==

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[[Category:World Literature]]