In this week’s review, I am looking at what was one of the most controversial plays in the ancient world, and what is now one of the most famous plays in the modern world, Euripedes’ Medea.
Euripedes' Medea opens in a state of conflict. Jason has abandoned his wife, Medea, along with their two children in the hopes of advancing his station by remarrying with Glauce, the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth, the Greek city where the play is set. All the events of the play proceed out of this initial dilemma, and the involved parties become its central characters.
Outside the royal palace, a nurse laments the events that have led to the present crisis. After a long series of trials and adventures, which ultimately forced Jason and Medea to seek exile in Corinth, the pair had settled down and established their family, achieving a degree of fame and respectability. Jason's recent abandonment of that family has crushed Medea emotionally, to the degree that she curses her own existence, as well as that of her two children.
Fearing a possible plot of revenge, Creon banishes Medea and her children from the city. After pleading for mercy, Medea is granted one day before she must leave, during which she plans to complete her quest for "justice" i.e the murder of Creon, Glauce, and her children. Jason accuses Medea of overreacting. By voicing her grievances so publicly, she has endangered her life and that of their children. He claims that his decision to remarry was in everyone's best interest. Medea finds him spineless, and she refuses to accept his token offers of help.
Appearing by chance in Corinth, Aegeus, King of Athens, offers Medea sanctuary in his home city in exchange for her knowledge of certain drugs that can help him produce an heir. Now guaranteed an eventual haven in Athens, Medea has cleared all obstacles in completing her revenge, a plan which grows to include the murder of her own children; the pain their loss will cause her does not outweigh the satisfaction she will feel in making Jason suffer.
For the balance of the play, Medea engages in a ruse; she pretends to sympathize with Jason (bringing him into her confidence) and offers his wife "gifts," a coronet and dress. Ostensibly, the gifts are meant to convince Glauce to ask her father to allow the children to stay in Corinth. The coronet and dress are actually poisoned, however, and their delivery causes Glauce's death. Seeing his daughter ravaged by the poison, Creon chooses to die by her side by dramatically embracing her and absorbing the poison himself.
A messenger recounts the gruesome details of these deaths, which Medea absorbs with cool attentiveness. Her earlier state of anxiety, which intensified as she struggled with the decision to commit infanticide, has now given way to an assured determination to fulfil her plans.
Against the protests of the chorus, Medea murders her children and flees the scene in a dragon-pulled chariot provided by her grandfather, the Sun-God. Jason is left cursing his lot; his hope of advancing his station by abandoning Medea and marrying Glauce, the conflict which opened the play, has been annihilated, and everything he values has been lost through the deaths that conclude the tragedy.
Although the play is now considered one of the great plays of ancient Greece, the Athenian audience did not react so favourably at the time, and awarded it only third place prize (out of three) at the Dionysia festival of 431 BCE, adding another disappointment to Euripides‘ career. This may have been due to the extensive changes Euripides made to the conventions of Greek theatre in the play, by including an indecisive chorus, by implicitly criticizing Athenian society and by showing disrespect for the gods. But also because he depicts Medea as criticising the patriarchy in which she lives in.
One problem I have with the play, are the two “deus ex machinas” within it. The first is King Aegeus showing up and providing Medea with a place to stay in Athens. And the second is when she flees the scene in a dragon-pulled chariot provided by her grandfather, the Sun-God Helios. I feel like it’s just a really easy sort of cop-out, and it’s the kind that’s also displayed in the Odyssey at the end when Athena prevents them from fighting and brokers peace between the two sides.
The relationship between the Chorus and Medea is one of the most interesting in all of Greek drama. The women are alternately horrified and enthralled by Medea, living vicariously through her. They both condemn her and pity her for her horrible acts which I guess is also the reaction of a modern audience.
The play explores many universal themes: passion and rage - Medea is a woman of extreme behaviour and emotion, and Jason‘s betrayal of her has transformed her passion which used to be love for her husband into rage and intemperate destruction. Revenge - Medea is willing to sacrifice everything to make her revenge perfect, even if that means killing her own two children. The “Other” - Medea‘s foreignness is emphasized, made still worse by her status as an exile, the Ancient Greeks thought that anyone that wasn’t “Greek” was essentially barbaric and it is also shown through the fact that Jason criticises her for being ungrateful to him for “rescuing her” from her homeland of Colchis.
Intelligence and manipulation - Jason and Creon both try their hands at manipulation, but Medea is the master of manipulation, playing perfectly on the weaknesses and needs of both her enemies and her friends. She tries pleading with Creon for an extra day, acting emotional when in truth she needs the extra day to murder him and his daughter. She’s also manipulative when she pretends to sympathize with Jason, offering his new wife "gifts,” even though it is these gifts that will eventually be her downfall.
Despite this incredible inclusion of themes we still find to be entertaining today, one fault I do have is that Medea almost sort of blames Jason for having her kill her brother and betray her homeland and father. I completely disagree, in the sense that she should definitely be angry at him forsaking her and finding a new wife, however, her decision to help Jason in his quest to find the golden fleece and her decision to betray her family, is her decision. Medea is at fault for betraying her family. Jason is at fault for betraying Medea.
In summary, this is definitely one of the more exciting Greek tragedies I have read: it keeps an excellent pace, has an incredibly compelling story and despite a few flaws in her argument and a couple of deus ex machinas along the way, is definitely worth the read.
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