The Act Of Retribution In The Play Medea By Euripides

Words: 1458
Pages: 6
Open Document
In literature, strong emotions that a character reveals can provide the reader with considerable information about the probable course that character will take to achieve judicious justice. The temptation of seeking revenge is powerful as it indulges a person to act in a uniquely acceptable manner. As such, Medea’s act of retribution in the play Medea by Euripides is the pivotal point of the entire text. Medea is a play that hinges upon revenge to its extreme. From the beginning, the seed of merciless revenge is planted, and the course Medea pursues gaudily illustrates the aberrant crimes that an ignored passion can unleash. The revenge taken by Medea as a result of her harsh and ruthless experiences is justifiable. This is due to the natural …show more content…
The chorus at one-point remarks, “passions are fierce and hard to cure when those close to each other join in strife” (Medea, 522-523). The most profound hate emerges from the loss of the deepest love and through Medea’s reaction to Jason’s new marriage, it is apparent that she truly once loved him. By exercising his cultural prerogative as a male to remarry, Jason divulges himself to be weak in character, which is contradictory and inconsistent with his reputation as a hero. By doing so, Euripides unveils the hypothetical entitlement to prominence and authority of men as a buffer for their actual insecurities. Medea’s instinct to act on rage is understandable due to her position in the ancient Greek society. Naturally, Medea seeks justice from higher powers, therefore causing her to chant to Themis and Lady Artemis that “may [she] one day see him and his bride pounded to nothing, house and all” (Medea, 163-164). According to Greek mythology, Themis is the goddess of justice and Lady Artemis, the goddess of wild beasts and hunting. By choosing these specific gods to chant to, Medea is outwardly expressing her hatred for those who cause her grief. Seeking justice, Medea desires the need to hunt down Jason and kill him like the beast he presumably sounds to be. She seeks comfort in the thought of causing Jason and his bride anguish. By yearning for Jason to lose his …show more content…
The repetitious nature of Medea’s ongoing hatred of the biased and unjust ways of the Greek society establishes the mood of Athens, Greece in 431 BC and displays the perspective they hold on women. Throughout the play, Jason excruciatingly reiterates his belief of how “a female sex should not exist” (Medea, 575). During this time period, Greece is in fact male dominated with little to no opinion of the female gender. The fact that men have an unchanging opinion on women suggests that they are in a perpetual state of power and control. Women essentially are not even allowed to grasp power as they are automatically born as an unappreciated gender. Jason evidently shows no respect for women, further proving the typical male viewpoint of women. He deems women as “evil” (Medea, 576), disregarding the innocence many women carry. Euripides highlights within the cited speech many of the injustices endured by women, principally their lack of a public life and autonomy in marriage. Medea becomes a timeless symbol of feminine revolt even though she is a woman and also a foreigner. The chorus supports Medea’s standpoints regarding sexism as they acknowledge that Jason is “superficially convincing” (Medea, 577). Euripides incorporates this oxymoron pronounced by the chorus in order to develop the feeble mood of the play. This figurative language develops the idea that what Jason considers as the truth is insubstantial
Show More

Related Documents: The Act Of Retribution In The Play Medea By Euripides

Narcissism In Medea

shielding him: his mother. Unfortunately, this is exactly the case in Euripides’ Medea wherein he elucidates that greed and egoism are the greatest factors leading to unhappiness; blind self-interest lays the foundation for tragedy. And in Medea’s case, cruelty goes hand in hand with this all-consuming greed for revenge on her unfaithful husband, Jason. Through her acts of blind brutality, Medea becomes a tool through which Euripides illuminates the drastic detriments resulting from narcissism and an…

Words 869 - Pages 4

Literary Analysis Of Medea

Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, grounded upon the legend of characters Medea and Jason it was first produced in 431 BC. Medea is a bewildering study of controlling women in Greek Mythology, that deals with the battles between love and hate. Medea, the princess of Colchis, is the protagonist in the story, and she is a very complex woman that is brutally proud, strong, faithfully possessive, evil and yearns to be loved by Jason. However, Euripides portrays Medea as a woman in…

Words 793 - Pages 4

Aristotle's Treatment Of Women In Medea

In Euripides’ drama, Medea, it explores many themes throughout the play, that is, the position of women, manipulation, and the tragic outcomes of revenge. The play presents a tragic story of a woman whose hatred and jealousy towards her husband, consumes her due to his betrayal with another woman. It also, in some ways, connects to Aristotle’s ideas on a poetic tragedy in a play. Medea explores women's positions by having its main character, by the same name, display multiple personalities that…

Words 949 - Pages 4