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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.  
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.




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== Themes and Motifs ==
== Themes and Motifs ==
== Right Message, Wrong Messenger ==
=== 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’ 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).  
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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).
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:
=== Xenophobia ===
 
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.  
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.  
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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.   
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.   


===Feminist Concerns===


== 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).
== 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).   
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).   


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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.   
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:
== 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). 


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.
''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).


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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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)
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 ==
== Commentaries ==
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<U>Athenian Democracy.</U> 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.
<U>Athenian Democracy.</U> 2005. Wikipedia. 8 April 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Citizenship_in_Athens>.


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.
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.
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.
Buxon, Richard. ''The Complete World of Greek Mythology''. NY: Thames & Hudson. 2004.
Graves, Robert. ''Greek Myths''. NY: Penguin Books. 1981.


[[Category:World Literature]]
[[Category:World Literature]]
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