Download English A2 HL II

IB Literature I—Pfeiffer
Year One, Semester Two 2013-2014: VACATION READING
Euripides’ Medea
Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.
William Congreve, The Mourning Bride (1697)
Although from a later millennium, the above quote illustrates a theme in the ancient Greek dramatist Euripides’ play Medea (431 BCE).
About its protagonist, Yale English professor Harold Bloom writes, “A truly complicated character, Medea displays brilliant,
Machiavellian savagery, mourns her state as a woman scorned by her husband and the conventions of her civilization, and underscores
her cold, calculating plan of revenge with a passionate desire for a husband she lost.”
This play is the first of our three works in Part One of the IB Literature curriculum, Works in Translation; these works are
Euripides’s Medea, the poetry of Anna Akhmatova, and Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. (Later in the semester
you will choose one of these three works to examine for the IB Written Assignment, the externally assessed IB essay. This important
essay will go through a nearly month-long writing process as it is the semester’s final assessment.)
1.
Enjoy reading Medea. It may be short (just over 50 pages) but it’s intense. Medea is a Greek tragedy that for centuries other
writers have alluded to, painters have depicted, and drama and opera directors have staged. Medea is a character that will stay
with you forever. Because we will be reading the play aloud in class as well, for your first reading of the play on your own you
only need to lightly annotate; this means ONE content note (what is written; e.g. about character, plot, theme) OR form note
(e.g. about diction, dramatic structure, tone) per page. As always, you should look up words you don’t know, underline/star
important passages, and—as you read—check my Study Guide for help with the many classical allusions and to check your
understanding—you do NOT need to answer the questions; they are merely there to guide your reading. To spark our class
discussion of the play, as questions or confusions occur to you as you read, use the margins to record those you will raise in
class. At the end of this packet are Overall Questions that we will discuss in class.
2.
Read the following “Greek Tragedy and Medea” information. Before beginning the play, read the following five-page
introduction of Greek tragedy, which I think is necessary to help you make sense of the genre and its particular conventions
and structure, which can be confusing to modern readers. Highlight any ideas you think are important to remember and
discuss.
3.
Look for 3 possible poems to work for the late February class round of the HS English Department’s Poetry Recitation
2014. See Pfeifferopolis for the information, guidelines for selection, and the list of poets. At the end of January, you will give
me your list of top 3 poem choices.
As the rest of this semester texts are Part One,
Works in Translation,
it is IMPERATIVE that you have
the right edition & translation!
Medea and Other Plays by Euripides
(Penguin Classics,
translated by Philip Vellacott)
ISBN: 0-14-044129-8
Medea, as performed by the
Greek-American opera diva,
Maria Callas (1953)
Introduction to Greek Tragedy and Euripides’ Medea1
The Literary Genre
Having already studied Shakespeare’s Othello, it won’t surprise you to learn that the word "tragedy" refers primarily to tragic drama:
a literary composition written to be performed by actors in which a central character called a tragic protagonist or hero suffers
some serious misfortune which is not accidental (and therefore meaningless), but is significant in that the misfortune is logically
connected with the hero's actions. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a
combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness.
Reading versus Viewing Tragedy
Tragedy was a public genre from its earliest beginnings in Athens; that is, it was intended to be presented in a theater before an
audience. In the fourth century Aristotle points out in his Poetics that it is possible to experience the effect of tragedy without public
performance (i.e., by private reading). Tragedy was still being written and produced in the Athenian theater in Aristotle's day, but the
plays of the three great tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides) and no doubt of other playwrights were also being read
privately. Reading, of course, is our primary means of access to ancient tragedy except for occasional modern productions, which
help us to a certain degree to appreciate its theatricality, but for the most part provide quite a different theatrical experience from
that offered by the ancient productions.
Private reading of tragedy deprives us of the visual and aural effects, which were important elements of this genre. The author of a
tragedy was not just a writer of a script. When his work was approved for presentation at the state religious festival in honor of the
god Dionysus (the City Dionysia), the state assigned him actors and a chorus. The author then had to perform the additional tasks of
training the actors and chorus and of composing the music for the various songs of the actors and chorus and providing
choreography for the chorus. Because we usually read tragedies rather than seeing theatrical productions of them and also because
our reading is usually in translation, we miss the following elements which are additional aids to interpretation beyond the script of
the play: scenery, inflection of actors' voices, actors' gestures and postures, costumes and masks, singing, dancing, sounds of the
original language and its various poetic rhythms. These handicaps, however, are no reason to neglect tragedy. We still have the most
essential element of drama, the words, the playwright's most important medium of communication. According to Aristotle, "the plot
is the soul of tragedy," and the plot is communicated to the audience primarily by means of words. You should, however, keep in
mind that words are not all there is to tragedy. Use your imagination as much as possible in order to compensate for those
theatrical elements lost in reading tragedy.
Tragic Festival
The Athenian theater was financed by the Athenian state as an integral part of an Athenian religious festival in the city Dionysia.
Three tragic poets were chosen to present their plays; each presented a tetralogy (a group of four plays), three tragedies and a satyr
play (a comic entertainment to lighten the atmosphere). All the extant [still existing, not lost] tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides
do not belong to connected trilogies, but are self-contained dramas. The tragic poets competed with one another and their efforts
were ranked by a panel of judges. Aeschylus won thirteen first place victories; Sophocles, twenty four; and Euripides, five. Euripides's
relatively small number of victories is due more to his unpopularity among the Athenians because of certain radical themes in his
plays than any lack of ability as a tragedian.
Theater Space
The theater of Dionysus was, like all ancient Greek theaters, an open-air auditorium and, due to the lack of lighting, performances
took place during the day. Scenes set at night had to be identified as such by the actors or the chorus; the audience, upon receiving
these verbal cues, had to use its imagination. In general, the action of tragedy was well served by presentation in an open-air theater
since interior scenes, which are common in our typically indoor theaters, are non-existent in tragedy. The action of a tragedy
normally takes place in front of palaces, temples and other outdoor settings. This seemed natural to the ancient audience because
Greek public affairs, whether civic or religious, were conducted out of doors.
The theater of Dionysus in the earliest days of tragedy (late 6th–early 5th century BCE) must have consisted of only the most basic
elements. All that was required was a circular dancing area for the chorus (and the orchestra) at the base of a gently sloping hill, on
which spectators could sit and watch the performance. On the other side of the orchestra facing the spectators there probably
stood a tent in which the actors could change their costumes (one actor would play more than one part). This is suggested by the
word skene which means “tent,” and was used to refer to a wooden wall having doors and painted to represent a palace, temple or
whatever setting was required. The wall, which eventually became a full-fledged stage building, probably acquired this name because
it replaced the original tent. The construction of the wooden skene (compare our theatrical terms "scene" and "scenery") and of a
formal seating area consisting of wooden benches on the slope, which had been hollowed out, probably took place sometime
toward the middle of the fifth century. This was no doubt the form of the theater in which the later plays of Aeschylus and those of
Sophocles and Euripides were presented. The actors positioned themselves either in the orchestra with the chorus or on the steps
1
Adapted from Roger Dunkle. “Introduction to Greek Tragedy.” The Classical Origins of Western Culture. 1986. Brooklyn College. 7 December 2011.
2
leading to the doors of the skene. The theater of Dionysus as it survives today with the remains of an elaborate stone skene, paved
orchestra and marble seats was built in the last third of the fourth century BC This stone theater had a capacity of approximately
fifteen thousand spectators; the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in the earlier wooden theater were viewed by
audiences of comparable numbers.
Mechanical Devices
Two mechanical devices that were part of the ancient Greek theater deserve mention. One device is the ekkyklema (“a wheeled-out
thing”), a platform on wheels rolled out through one of the doors of the skene, on which a tableau was displayed representing the
result of an action indoors (e.g., a murder) and therefore had not been performed for the audience. The other device is called a
mechane (“theatrical machine”), a crane to which a cable with a harness for an actor was attached. This device allowed an actor
portraying a god or goddess to arrive on scene in the most realistic way possible, from the sky. The mechane deposited the actor on
top of the skene so that he as a deity could address the human characters from an appropriately higher level. This device was not
exclusively limited for use by divine characters, but was employed whenever the plot required any character to fly. On the other
hand, not every god arrived on scene by means of this machine. The Latin phrase deus ex machina (“the god from the machine”) is
often used to refer to the appearance of gods by means of the mechane in tragedy. (Just so you know, the phrase deus ex machina is
also employed in a disparaging sense in modern literary criticism to refer to an improbable character or event introduced by an
author to resolve a difficult situation; this secondary meaning of deus ex machina developed from the practice of inferior ancient
dramatists who introduced a god at the end of a play in order to untangle a badly snarled plot.)
Actors and their Masks
The actors in tragedy were hired and paid by the state and assigned to the tragic poets, probably by lot. By the middle of the fifth
century three actors were required for the performance of a tragedy. In descending order of importance of the roles they assumed
they were called the protagonist (“first actor”—a term also applied in modern literary criticism to the central character of a play),
deuteragonist (“second actor”) and tritagonist (“third actor”). The protagonist took the role of the most important character in the
play while the other two actors played the lesser roles. Since most plays have more than two or three characters (although never
more than three speaking actors in the same scene), all three actors played multiple roles. [Note that in modern literary criticism,
i.e. how we analyze literature today, the term “protagonist” refers to the central character of the play, not the actor.]
Since women were not allowed to take part in dramatic productions, male actors had to play female roles. The playing of multiple
roles, both male and female, was made possible by the use of masks, which prevented the audience from identifying the face of any
actor with one specific character in the play and helped eliminate the physical incongruity of men impersonating women. The masks
with subtle variations also helped the audience identify the sex, age, and social rank of the characters. The fact that the chorus
remained in the orchestra throughout the play and sang and danced choral songs between the episodes allowed the actors to exit
after an episode in order to change mask and costume and assume a new role in the next episode without any illusion-destroying
interruption in the play. The main duty of an actor was, of course, to speak the dialogue assigned to his characters. This, however,
was not the only responsibility of the actor. He occasionally had to sing songs solo or with the chorus or with other actors (e.g., a
song of lament called a kommos). The combination of acting and singing ability must have been as rare in the ancient world as it is
today.
The Chorus
For the modern reader the chorus is one of the more foreign elements of tragedy. The chorus is not one of the conventions of
modern tragedy. We associate the chorus with such musical forms as opera and musicals. But tragedy was not just straight drama. It
was interspersed with songs sung both by actors and chorus and also with dancing by the chorus. The modern parallel for tragedy is
actually opera (along with its descendant, musicals), a dramatic form containing song and dance.
The chorus, unlike the actors, were non-professionals who had a talent for singing and dancing and were trained by the poet in
preparation for the performance. The standard number of members of a chorus was twelve throughout most of Aeschylus's career,
but was raised to fifteen by Sophocles. The chorus, like the actors, wore costumes and masks.
The first function of a tragic chorus was to chant an entrance song called a parodos as they marched into the orchestra. The
entrance song took its name from the two ramps (parodoi) on either side of the orchestra that the chorus used as it made its way
into the orchestra. Once the chorus had taken its position in the orchestra, its duties were twofold. It engaged in dialogue with
characters through its leader (called the Coryphaeus), who alone spoke the lines of dialogue assigned to the chorus. The tragic
chorus's most important function was to sing and dance choral songs called stasima (singular = stasimon). The modern reader of
Greek tragedy, whether in English or even in the original Greek, finds it very difficult to appreciate the effect of these choral songs,
which lack their original music and dance.
The Structure of Greek Tragedy
Tragedy has a characteristic structure in which scenes of dialogue alternate with choral songs. This arrangement allows the chorus
to comment in its song in a general way on what has been said and/or done in the preceding scene. Most tragedies begin with an
opening scene of expository dialogue or monologue called a prologue. After the prologue the chorus marches into the orchestra
3
chanting the parodos. Then follows a scene of dialogue called an episode, which in turn is followed by the first stasimon. The
alternation of episode and stasimon continues until the last stasimon, after which there is a final scene of dialogue called an exodos
(“exit scene”). In general the exodos is a scene of dialogue, but, as in the case of episodes, sometimes songs are included, especially
in the form of a kommos, a song of lament. To visualize the structure, here is the structure of a typical Greek tragedy, but keep in
mind that some tragedies have one more or one less episode and stasimon; in fact, Euripides' Medea has five episodes/stasima; the
specific structure of Medea is explained below.
Prologue
Parodos
First Episode
First Stasimon
Second Episode
Second Stasimon
Third Episode
Third Stasimon
Fourth Episode
Fourth Stasimon
Exodos, perhaps with Kommos
EURIPIDES’ MEDEA
Production
The setting of Medea, as in the case of most Greek tragedies, does not require a change of scene. Throughout the play the skene
with at least one door represents the facade of Jason's and Medea's house in Corinth. Even when the poet directs the audience's
attention to events elsewhere, as in the case of the deaths of Creon and his daughter in the royal palace, there is no shift of scene.
These events are described in a speech delivered by a messenger (pages 52-55) rather than enacted before the audience. The
messenger speech eliminates the need for scene changes, which, due to the limited resources of the ancient theater, would have
been difficult and awkward. [This also explains why Creon rather surprisingly comes to Medea's house to deliver his decree of
banishment (page 25) instead of summoning her to the royal palace.] Euripides, like Aeschylus and Sophocles, made a virtue of the
necessity of this convention of the ancient theater by writing elaborate messenger speeches that provide a vivid description of the
offstage action.
In the exodos of the play Medea appears with the bodies of her children in a chariot drawn by dragons either on the roof of the skene
or suspended from the mechane in the manner of a deus ex machine. (Since there are virtually no stage directions in the texts of
tragedies, we cannot be sure which manner of presentation Euripides intended.) She indeed acts with the power, authority and
prophetic knowledge of a "god from the machine" when she establishes a festival and ritual in honor of her dead children, reveals
her plans for the future, and prophesies the death of Jason (page 60).
Structure of Euripides’ Medea [with page numbers of our edition]
Prologue (lines 1-130, pages 17-21)—Nurse, Tutor, Medea
Parados (lines 131-212, pages 21-23)—Chorus (sung), Medea, Nurse
First Episode (lines 214-409, pages 23-29)—Medea, Chorus, Creon
First Stasimon (lines 410-445, pages 29-30)—Chorus (sung)
Second Episode (lines 446-626, pages 30-36)—Jason, Chorus, Medea
Second Stasimon (lines 627-662, pages 36-37)—Chorus (sung)
Third Episode (lines 663-823, pages 37-42)—Aegus, Medea, Chorus
Third Stasimon (lines 824-865, pages 42-43)—Chorus (sung)
Fourth Episode (lines 866-975, pages 43-47)—Jason, Medea, Chorus
Fourth Stasimon (lines 976-1001, page 47)—Chorus (sung)
Fifth Episode (lines 1002-1250, pages 48-55)—Tutor, Medea, Chorus, Messenger, Children
Fifth Stasimon (lines 1251-1292, pages 55-57)—Chorus (sung), with interjections of Children’s cries
Exodus (lines 1293-1419 end, pages 57-61)—Jason, Chorus, Medea
4
HISTORY BEHIND THE PLAY
Euripides’ Medea was staged just before the outbreak of war between Sparta and Athens; understanding the climate under which this
great Greek tragedian wrote will enhance and deepen your understanding of the play.
The Peloponnesian War2
Athens and Sparta were two rival city-states, but at one time they had been united to protect the Greek states from a series of
invasions by Persia; the two city-states were part of a coalition of 31 city-states fought together to defend their homeland. (A citystate was the city, such as Athens, and the surrounding country under its influence and protection, which in the case of Athens, was
Attica). Led by Athens and Sparta, the Greeks defeated the Persians at the battle of Salamis in 480 and at Plataea in 479 BCE.
The Spartans did not depend upon slaves from other territories for their labor force. Instead, they created what historian Sue
Blundell calls a “serf class” from the native populations they had conquered. These serf-like peoples, known as helots, resented their
suppression and presented a constant threat of rebellion against Sparta, which met this danger early on (in the 7th c. BCE) by turning
their citizens into a highly trained, efficient army. A male citizen’s life was spent in learning and practicing the military arts: “All
Spartan citizens were full-time professional soldiers,” writes Blundell. “They were trained for this role from boyhood, and up to the
age of thirty they lived continuously in barracks. After that, they could set up their own domestic establishments, but for the rest of
their lives they ate every night in a common mess.” As a result of a lifetime of training, the Spartans were famed for their military
abilities. The Spartans and their alliance, the Peloponnesian League, were a strong military force and dominated the southern region
of Greece.
Unlike the Spartans, who were to a great degree self-sufficient and did not have business dealings with others, the city-state of
Athens became wealthy through trade with others, tributes from states that looked to Athens’s navy for protection, and a large
slave-based economy. In the early 400s BCE there were about 40,000 citizens in Attica (area of southern Greece containing Athens)
and 100,000 slaves. Athens was wealthy. Many of its citizens had a relatively large amount of leisure, and they enjoyed contact with
the outside world. The city produced a remarkable series of writers, thinkers, philosophers, and politicians; they invented theater,
created democracy, and produced great art, architecture, and literature. [Remember that Medea’s audience consisted of Athenians.]
To protect its trade routes over the water, Athens created a strong navy, one that, over time, dominated the sea. Athens and its
allies, known as the Delian League, came into conflict with the Spartans and the Peloponnesian League, and in 431 BCE war broke
out between the two cities—a war based on trade routes, rivalries, and tributes paid by smaller dependent states. [Medea was staged
the same year that the war began.]
This conflict, called the Peloponnesian War, essentially was a 28-year period of on-again off-again civil war among Greek city-states.
Sparta had a clear military advantage on land, but the Athenian navy far surpassed Sparta’s capabilities at sea; neither side was able to
seize and maintain the upper hand. Both sides experienced major victories and crushing defeats, and the war was frequently
interrupted by periods of negotiated peace. Eventually, though, the war ended in 404 BCE with the defeat of Athens and its
democracy.
The ancient Greek historian Thucydides chronicled the war in his book, The History of the Peloponnesian War (411 BCE)—a text you
might read in a college social science or humanities class. According to many historians, Thucydides founded the method of scientific
history through his strict standards of gathering evidence. He was also the first historian to analyze cause and effect without
reference to intervention by the gods.
In his plays, Euripides depicted the human condition in a realistic way [by showing] the cruel and unfair ways that war affects ordinary
people. Perhaps more than any other ancient writer, he was concerned with not only the destruction and waste, but also the human
suffering caused by war. The latter part of Euripides’s career took place during the disastrous Peloponnesian War, which ravaged
Greece from 431 to 404 BCE and ended with Athens’ defeat at the hands of its arch-rival, Sparta. Perhaps fortunately for Euripides,
he did not live long enough to see his country defeated and its cherished democracy dismantled by the enemy.3
2
3
Indiana University-Bloomington, Department of Theatre and Drama, 2002, n.p.
Readings on Medea. ed. Don Nardo. New York: Greenhaven Press, 2000.
5
IB Literature I—Pfeiffer
Study Guide to Euripides' Medea (431 B.C.)
Included in this guide are overall questions, allusions and questions for individual pages, and background on Greek tragedy and Medea
specifically. To more fully understand and appreciate this play, first read the Introduction to Greek Tragedy and Euripides’ Medea (above). See
Pfeifferopolis, as well, for supplemental items, such as artistic depictions of Medea.
PAGE 17 (all page numbers based on our Penguin Classics
edition)
the Argo: ship in which Jason and his crew sailed to capture
the Golden Fleece, called the Argo after its builder
(Argus), or from the Greek word argos, which means
"swift."
the grey-blue jaws of rock: i.e., the Symplagades, which
means the "Clashing Rocks." Jason had to sail between
these deadly rocks to reach Colchis [see below].
Colchis: Medea is from Colchis. Colchis was a city kingdom
on the southeast shore of the Black Sea, the home of the
legendary Golden Fleece, which was initially a ram with
gold wool: A Thessalian queen named Nephele prayed to
Zeus for help because the Thessalian king had taken a new
wife, whom Nephele feared would threaten her children;
Zeus helped Nephele by sending her two children to
escape death on the back of the ram: a girl named Helle,
who fell off and drowned in the sea (that’s where the
Hellespont gets its name), and a boy named Phyrxus, who
ended up safely in Colchis and was welcomed. Phyrxus
sacrificed the ram to Zeus and gave the fleece to the king
of Colchis, Medea's father, Aeetes, which he then put in a
grave, under the care of a sleepless dragon.
Pelion's slopes: Mount Pelion was just east of Iolcus, Jason's
birthplace.
Pelias: Pelias, king of Iolcus, promised that he would
relinquish the throne to his nephew, Jason, the rightful
heir, when he came of age; Jason’s mother feared for his
life, so she sent him away from Iolchus. Pelias had heard
from an oracle that someone would kill him. When Jason
returned, Pelias felt threatened and sent him on the quest
for the Golden Fleece in the hope that the young man
would be killed. [see our class site for more details on this
fascinating story about Jason’s past]
Medea: Medea is the daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis.
She betrays her father to help Jason steal the Golden
Fleece.
When Pelias' daughters, at her instance, killed their
father: Medea tricked the daughters of Pelias into killing
their father when Medea told them she could make Pelias
young again if they killed Pelias and put his body into a
bronze cauldron filled with one of Medea's magic potions.
Medea proved she could restore Pelias by first changing an
old ram into a frisky lamb. However, when Pelias'
daughters killed their father, Medea let him die because
she hoped that with Pelias dead, Jason would become king
of Iolcus. [Further information about the Jason-Medea
story is on our class site.]
 Why is Medea in exile in Corinth?
PAGE 18
Which she betrayed and left: When Medea helped Jason
steal the Golden Fleece, she betrayed Colchis and her
father Aeetes, king of Colchis.
 Who has Jason married? Why?
PAGE 19

What intentions does Creon have for Medea and her
children?
PAGE 20
her eye like a wild bull's: Throughout the play Medea is
described in animalistic terms. For further bull imagery,
see page 23.
 What is some interesting imagery?
PAGE 21
 According to the Nurse, what way is "best by far, in name
and practice"?
 Where is Jason held "prisoner"?
PAGE 22
Themis: According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who
was a contemporary of Homer, Themis is the daughter of
Uranus and Gaia (Sky and Earth); she embodies divine and
moral order, law, and custom, and when disobeyed, bring
wrathful retribution. Medea invokes her because Jason has
violated these rights by taking another wife. Contrast the
invocation of Themis here with Medea's later invocation
of Hecate, the goddess of witches (29).
Artemis: Artemis was the goddess of hunting and
paradoxically of weak creatures (wild animals, children).
Hecate and Artemis are often associated. Hecate was
sometimes called Artemis, and she was a goddess of the
crossroads, often associated with the dead.
My brother I shamefully murdered: Medea killed her
brother Absyrtus (sometimes spelled Apsurtus) to help
Jason escape from Colchis with the Golden Fleece.
According to Ovid, when King Aeetes had a fleet pursue
the Argo, Medea had taken her child-brother Absyrtus as
hostage, cut him up, and threw parts of his body into the
sea. Medea did this because she knew Aeetes would stop
to collect his son's body parts. The delay allowed Jason to
escape.
 What type of wife is Medea to Jason?
PAGE 23
 What general statements about humans are made early on?
 Where do you sense any tone shifts or foreshadowing?
like a mad bull / Or a lioness: Note once again the
animalistic terms used to describe Medea.
Asia: Colchis is located in Asia.
6
Hellas: Greece.
the salt strait: strait which guards the entrance to the Black
Sea is called the Bosporus.
the Pontic Sea: the Black Sea.
 Why does Euripides have Medea off stage until this part?
PAGE 24
 According to Medea, what is not respectable for women,
and not possible?
 According to Medea, in contrast to men, what are wives
forced to look to?
PAGE 25
 What would Medea rather do three times than bear one
child?
 What support does Medea have other than Jason?
 According to the Chorus, to punish Jason will be...what?
 What order does Creon give to Medea?
PAGE 26
punished for his impiety by having to constantly roll a
boulder to the top of a hill in the underworld. Once the
boulder reached the top of the hill, the boulder would roll
back down again—a symbol of futility.
 What divinity does Medea venerate above all others?
 What is the Chorus’ commentary?
PAGE 30
Phoebus: Apollo.
the Rocky Jaws of the eastern sea: The reference is to
the Clashing Rocks that guard the entrance to the Black
Sea.
the King and the princess: Creon and Glauce.
 What is Jason’s tone? Why does he have this attitude?
PAGE 31
[See the Golden Fleece story, explained earlier, with more details
on our class site.]
master fire-breathing bulls: Aeetus agreed to give Jason
the Golden Fleece if he yoked them and sowed the teeth
of the dragon that guarded its grave. It was known that
the teeth would grow into armed men who would kill the
sower.
 What skills does Medea exhibit?
 What does Jason say he "could never bear...to" Medea?
 How does Creon react to the reports?
 What was Jason sent to master?
PAGE 27
 What kept watch over the Golden Fleece? What happened
to that guardian and who was responsible for doing it?
I kneel to you: Medea becomes a suppliant at various times
throughout the play in order to get what she wants.
 What one final favor does Medea want from Creon?
 According to Creon, what will happen "if tomorrow's holy
sun/Finds you [Medea]...inside my boundaries"?
PAGE 28
 What does Medea plan to do to three of her enemies?
 What three enemies does she plan to attack?
 By what means does Medea intend to attack her enemies?
PAGE 29
Queen Hecate: [see page 22] goddess of sorcerers; Medea
evokes Hecate's aid to perform magic in Colchis and at
Corinth.
Your father was a king: The reference is to Aeetes,
Medea's father and king of Colchis.
His father was the Sun-god: Helios was the father of
Medea's father Aeetes. Therefore, Medea has divine
ancestry.
Jason and his new allies, the tribe / Of Sisyphus: Jason's
alliance with Creon linked him by marriage to Creon's
ancestor Sisyphus, who was a notorious liar and was
 According to Medea, she could have pardoned Jason for
hankering after a new marriage if what had been the case?
PAGE 32
My poor right hand, which you so often clasped! My
knees which you then clung to!: Medea's words point
to the time when Jason, faced with dangerous tasks
(compare page 31), was once a suppliant to her, begging
for her help. Additionally, the mention of the right hand,
the hand of friendship and agreement, hints at Jason's
betrayal of his pledge of faith to Medea. Now the tables
are turned and Medea will have to become a suppliant to
save her own life. (The act of supplication is key in
Medea.) On page 27 Medea knelt before Creon so that he
will allow her to stay in Corinth one more day. On page
39, Medea kneels to Aegeus so that he will grant her
asylum in Corinth (see page 43, the Chorus’s words to
Medea). On page 46, Medea wants her children to kneel
before their new mother so that she will accept the gifts
which will bring about her death.
Hellene: Greek.
 To what or whom does Medea appeal?
PAGE 33
 According to Jason, who deserves credit for his successful
voyage?
7
 What benefit, according to Jason, has living in Hellas
brought to Medea?

According to Jason, whose interests was he serving by
marrying Creon's daughter?

By marrying Creon's daughter, Jason wanted to ensure
above all that...?
PAGE 34
give them all / An equal place: Jason's assertion here is
naive and almost certainly invalid. It seems almost
impossible that Jason's children by Medea would ever have
been on equal standing with any children Jason might have
by the Corinthian princess, Glauce. In the realm of Greek
mythology it is unthinkable that a stepmother would have
treated her step-children with anything but contempt.
PAGE 39
I touch your beard as a suppliant, embrace your
knees: Just as Jason became a suppliant to Medea in his
time of need (compare page 32), so too Medea will
become a suppliant to Aegeus.
 Of what town is Aegeus king?
 What promise does Medea make to Aegeus? How will she
accomplish this?
 What does Aegeus not intend to do for Medea? Why?
What must Medea do on her own?
PAGE 40
 Where is misogyny shown?
the house of Pelias: Medea had killed Pelias, king of Iolcus,
so she could not return to that town; see also the
previous Study Guide note on page 17 of the play.
PAGE 36
 What two things does Aegeus swear to Medea he will do?
the dread Cyprian: Aphrodite, who was born on the island
of Cyprus.
May the gods save me from becoming / A stateless
refugee: The Chorus' prayer here may reflect fears of
the impending war between Athens and Sparta, which
broke out in the same year as the Medea was staged.
 In the first nine lines of the Chorus' song, they advocate
moderation in respect to what divinity?
PAGE 41
coronet: a small, arch-less crown.
The laughter of my enemies I will not endure: The
hatred of being mocked and underestimated is one of
Medea's primary concerns in the play. See also pages 42,
49, 59. Contrast Medea's mockery of Jason on page 60.
won over / By eloquence from a Greek: Jason is
characterized as a smooth talker in the Medea. See also
page 32.
 What do they say about Jason?
 What do they prefer to exile?
PAGE 37
 What is Medea going to beg Jason to do?
 What means will Medea use to attack the princess?
(Phoebus) Apollo: god of sun, light.
 Whom will Medea attack after the princess?
 Who is the son of Pandion the wise?
 What would you say is Medea’s moral code?
 From where has the son of Pandion come?
PAGE 42
 What problem faces the son of Pandion?
Erechtheus: According to mythological tradition, one of the
early kings of Athens.
Children of blessed gods: The people of Athens could
claim to have descended from Hephaestus and Gaia.
They grew from holy soil: The people of Athens believed
that their descendants were born directly from the
ground. When Hephaestus tried to rape Athena, his seed
spilled on the ground and impregnated the goddess Gaia.
unscorched by invasion: The reference anticipates the
ravaging of Athenian territory that will occur during the
impending Spartan invasions. One of the first things an
invading army did was ravage their enemies territory,
burning and destroying crops and property outside the
city limits.
the nine virgin Muses: According to Hesiod, the nine
Muses, goddesses who inspired writers of various types of
literature, were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
(Memory).
Cephisus: river that flows through the Athenian plain.
PAGE 38
"not to unstop the wineskin's neck": The oracle was
telling Aegeus not to have sexual intercourse before he
reached his homeland.
Troezen: Troezen was located on the southeast coast of
Greece, about 30 miles east of Argos. Troezen is famous
as the birthplace of the great Greek hero, Theseus
(founder-king of Athens).
Pelops: This is the same Pelops whose father Tantalus cut
him up and served him as food for the gods.
 Whose advice is Aegeus going to ask about the oracle?
 What is notable about Aegus’ reaction to Medea’s state?
How do you explain his response?
8
PAGE 49
 According to Medea, what "is the way to deal Jason the
deepest wound"?
Are my enemies to laugh at me?: Once again we see
Medea's concern with being mocked by her enemies.
 Why does Euripides go into the history of Athens?
 What act is Medea hesitant to commit?
PAGE 43
 What is Medea's motivation for committing that act?
Medea, by your knees: Here the Chorus supplicates to
Medea.
PAGE 50
 What question does the chorus ask the city of Athens in
regard to Medea?
 How does Medea show her mental torment?
PAGE 51
 What inference does the Chorus' question have to the
political climate in Athens in 431 BCE?
 What relevance does the Chorus' speech about children
have to the impending war between Athens and Sparta?
 What does Medea ask Jason to do?
PAGE 52
PAGE 44
 What does Medea pretend to do in regard to Jason?
 Who is killed by Medea's poisons?
 What did Jason want Glauce to ask her father to revoke
for his sake?
 What is the dramatic irony on pages 44-45?
 How does Medea get “double pleasure”?
PAGE 45
Only naturally a woman / Is angry when her husband
marries a second wife: Euripides explores the same
theme in the Andromache, staged a few years after the
Medea in about 427 BCE In that play, Hermione, the wife
of Neoptolemus, is angry with Andromache, the slave and
concubine of Neoptolemus.
Tread down my enemies: Jason may be referring to the
people of Iolcus, who exiled him and Medea after Medea
brought about the death of Pelias, king of Iolcus.
PAGE 53
she was won over, / And agreed to all that Jason
asked: Just as Medea was won over by Jason's smooth
talk in Colchis (compare pages 32, 41), so too Glauce is
won over by the eloquent Jason. However, Jason's
eloquence will prove his undoing as he convinces Glauce
to accept the gifts that will bring about her own death.
Pan: god of music, shepherds, flocks—and more significantly
here—companion to nymphs.
PAGE 46
PAGE 54
My father's father the Sun: Medea's father Aeetes was the
son of Helios, god of the Sun.
Kneel down and beg your father's new wife: Once again
we see the theme of supplication. Earlier in the play we
read how Jason used supplication to gain Medea's help
(page 32), later Medea used supplication to get a favor
from Aegeus (page 39), now Medea will use her children
as pawns in an act of feigned supplication in order to bring
about the murder of the princess.
 What does Medea want to be done in regard to the two
children?
 What did the gown and coronet do to the princess?
 What does Medea want the two children to deliver for
her?
PAGE 47
 What does the Chorus lament?
PAGE 48
 What was the princess' attitude towards the gifts from
Medea?
 What happened to the King when he tried to help the
princess?
PAGE 55
Sun: the sun god, Helios, Medea’s grandfather.
 What decision does Medea finally reach regarding her
children?
 What is the role of the children in Medea's revenge?
 How does Medea steel herself to do the act?
PAGE 56
the blue Symplagades: i.e., the Clashing Rocks, which
guarded the entrance to the Black Sea. Jason had to pass
between them to reach Colchis, where the Golden Fleece
was located.
There was but... / One woman... / Raised hand against
her own children. It was Ino...: Hera caused Ino, the
wife of Athamas, to go mad because Ino had taken care of
9
Dionysus, whom Hera hated, when he was young. Ino
threw her son Melicertes into a boiling cauldron and then
jumped into the Gulf of Corinth with him. Of course,
other stories of women killing their children did exist in
Greek mythology. For example, Euripides mentions
Procne's murder of her son Itys in the Heracles (Medea
and Other Plays, 184).
PAGE 57
 Explain this powerful line: “What can be strange or terrible
after this?”
PAGE 58
in a land of savages: Medea's homeland Colchis was
located in the area around the Black Sea, a region
regarded as barbarian territory by the Greeks. The same
view is expressed many times in Euripides’ earlier play
Iphigenia in Tauris, which is set in the barbarous Black Sea
land of Tauris.
You had already murdered your brother: Medea had
murdered her brother Absyrtus in order to ensure her
and Jason's escape from Colchis.
No woman, but a tiger: Once again Medea is described in
animalistic terms.
a Tuscan Scylla: The Scylla was a monster with six heads
who lurked about the strait between the toe of Italy's
boot and the island of Sicily. Tuscan refers to the Tuscan
valley region of Italy.

How does Medea get away? Through what means and
support?
PAGE 59
 According to Medea, her pain is a fair price to do what?
PAGE 60
 Who will bury the children and where will they be buried?
 According to Medea, how will Jason die?
 Of what three sins does Medea accuse Jason?
OVERALL QUESTIONS
1.
What does Euripides seem to say about the sanctity of oaths in this play? What is the connection between oaths and the
divine? Who takes oaths? Who breaks oaths? Who complains the most about broken oaths in the play? Does the person
who complains the most about oaths abide by the oaths?
2.
There are numerous references to bending one's knee in supplication in Medea. Who bends their knees in supplication in
the play and why? Are their supplications honest? What is the reason behind their supplications? What effect does the
supplication have?
3.
What sort of imagery dominates the play? Why do you think Euripides uses these images?
4.
To what extent does Medea develop as a character? How does she view herself, and how to others view her? How does
Medea develop figuratively change her gender and species in the play?
5.
After learning about Greek tragedy, think: who is the tragic figure of the play, Medea or Jason? Both?
6.
Medea was staged in 431 B.C., on the eve of the outbreak of a war between Athens and Sparta that would rage for twentyseven years. Where do you find imagery of war? What feeling would you say this play expresses about that imminent war?
10