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Medea: Difference between revisions
→Historical Context
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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). | 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. The earliest works in which Medea first appeared, such as the ''Building of the Argo'' and the ''Journey of Jason to the Cochians'' by Ehpimenides of Crete are only fragments, but her story seems to be an old and popular one (Johnston 3). From at least the early fifth century B.C., Medea was a complex figure | ''Medea'' was first produced in Athens in 431 BCE. The earliest works in which Medea first appeared, such as the ''Building of the Argo'' and the ''Journey of Jason to the Cochians'' by Ehpimenides of Crete are only fragments, but her story seems to be an old and popular one (Johnston 3). From at least the early fifth century B.C., Medea was seen as a complex figure. Medea exhibited an extraordinary range of behavior and was different from most other figures in Greek myth(Johnston 6). 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). In the late fifth century, after Euripides production of ''Medea'', everyone began to emphasize Medea’s role as a foreigner within the Greek Society (Johnston 8). Medea also began to challenge thoughts of what drove humans to inhuman behavior (Johnston 10). | ||
Medea has moved to the forefront in the twentieth century. She forces us today to look into the depths of our own souls (Johnston 17). Even though Medea was first produced in 431 B.C. she is still shown today as | Medea has moved to the forefront in the twentieth century. She forces us today to look into the depths of our own souls (Johnston 17). Even though Medea was first produced in 431 B.C. she is still shown today as a “barbarian woman” and shows us the crime of infanticide existed even in Euripides time period. | ||
== Characters == | == Characters == | ||