Medea Essay

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Mirada Bacon
P7
October 21, 2014

A mother is hunting her children inside her house. “She’s almost caught me. She has a sword,” one of the two boys says. Suddenly a screech then silence: a second screech and silence again. This was the insidious event that ended Medea’s reign of terror in the city of Corinth. The terribly tragic play Medea, by Euripides is among the most controversial topics in determining the level of evil involved in a mother killing her children. Medea is absolutely evil because she disregarded consequences, killed others, and relished the pain of the people she hurt.
Throughout the play, Medea relishes the pain of the men and woman she hurts. Most specifically, Medea had just been notified that she had not only killed the intended victim Jason’s fiancee but also Creon. Medea pounded the Nurse with horrid questions about the boiling flesh and the sight of the mess. Only an absolutely evil human would gain joy from the suffering of others. Also, Medea enjoys the Nurses fright of the entire event. Medea furthers her happiness of her actions when she realizes that Jason is as crushed as ever. Her joy comes from the depths of her heart that contain evil and that have been crushed with anger and pain for the last couple months. Medea’s evil shows when she relishes the mourning of the people she absorbing the damage she outputs.
Another cause of her evil is that Medea never considers the effects of her actions. She never second guesses herself when deciding the fate of another human; furthermore, she is also unable to comprehend the consequences of her emotions. The first sign of reckless behavior begins when Medea is banished by Creon the King of Corinth. Creon began to pity Medea which sparked a subdued anger in her. Because Creon was looking for further justification of exiling
Medea, her sudden rage proved to him that Medea was a dangerous woman. Medea was also unable to get anymore days due to her words. Another example when Medea lacks the

Mirada Bacon
P7
October 21, 2014

understanding of her consequences is while she makes the flaming golden clothing. The gold dress burst into flames after Jason, Medea’s ex­boyfriend, gave the supposed golden gift to his fiancee. Both Jason’s fiancee and Creon who was trying to extinguish the fire died because of
Medea’s action. Medea sent Corinth into a rage without even thinking about it. Only an insane person would never consider their own depression over the welfare of a kingdom.
Finally, not only do her actions not include logic, they involve killing as well. Taking the life of a human being is never even remotely a rational action to complete. Medea did not kill just the king and princess of Corinth, she killed her two sons. Any and all mothers should protect their children with their lives. Medea does the exact opposite. She murders the boys to somehow get even with Jason and release the grip of depression that is holding her tight. Taking a step back, we can analyze why she did what she is so infamous for doing. However, to truly realize her reasons, one must put themselves in their position. After doing so, they begin to understand the explanation of such
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