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•“Medea is NOT happy.”
–Maria
•“Where can I get a golden
chariot?” –Brittany
•“A must see…Medea is
emblematic of
motherhood!” –Karin
•“Not a bedtime story for
the kids.” -Kate
Euripides…
Cave-dwelling-misogynist-who-waskilled-by-dogs
OR
Genius?
Life Before Tragedy
c. 480-406 BC
Born on the island of Salamis
(his parents fled there from the Persians)
His father was promised by an oracle to have a son
that was honored by all men and consecrated by wreaths.
So he was trained to be an athlete and he won some prizes.
He also became a painter.
He is said to have been deserted by his wife,
with whom he was deeply in love.
(This might explain the contrast between his writings against
women on one hand, and, on the other, the beauty and
strength of his female characters.)
Plays
tragedy
• Then he decided to write
!
• He lived a retired life, had a very valuable library, and spent most of
his time in dramatic composition (alone with his books in a cave on
the island of Salamis)
• He presented first set of tragedies at the Great Dionysia in 455 when
he was 24 (he came in 3rd)
• He did not win first prize until 441
• Medea 431- he won third prize (ouch!)
• He only won five awards, and the fifth was not awarded until after
his death
• He wrote about 92 plays (19 survive) in his lifetime and was
compared by the ancients to Aeschylus and Sophocles.
• Ancients ranked Bacchae and Iphigenia in Tauris as his best works.
Like Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Euripides' Medea, ranked (with
Hippolytus) as his masterpiece, was defeated in the contest. These
two dramas are the greatest and most original of his creations.
He was “Different”
•
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He did not cater to the fancies of the Athenian crowd (so he didn’t win many
awards)
He was a pacifist, a free thinker, and a humanitarian (which in Athens at
that time was bad)
Of the three great tragic poets of Greece, Euripides was by far the most
modern. As the first of the "realists" he brought realism in clothes,
conversation and character to the Greek stage. He was a pioneer in tragicomedy.
He went out of his way to that the sun was a flaming stone (and not a
chariot pulled by a god), that the overflow of the Nile is caused by the
melting of the snow in Ætheopia, and that the sky is not an embodiment of a
god.
Euripides was the first one to introduce women on the stage, not as
heroines but as they are in actual life.
He abandoned the principle of the older tragedians, that all the interest and
action should be concentrated in one character and theme, as in the
Prometheus, Agamemnon, or Oedipus; and in many other respects he
seems to break away from the canons of Greek tragic art.
Perhaps his finest contribution to world drama, however, was the
introduction of the common man to the stage. (Almost as if he wanted to
show the Athenian people what their beloved military heroes were really
like.)
His Life Became a Tragedy…
• One by one, his closest friends were banished
and murdered by the State for their liberal views.
The only thing that saved Euripides from the
same fate was the fact that it was his characters
who spoke improprieties. In the end, however,
he was finally tried for impiety and left Athens.
• However, he was attacked by ferocious hounds,
and mangled by them…so he died soon after, at
the age of 75.
But His Legacy Lives On…
• For the tragedians of later times Euripides was
the absolute model and pattern, and equally so
for the poets of the new comedy.
• He was admired by Alexander the Great. (yeah!)
• Among the Romans, too, he was held in high
esteem, serving as a model for tragedy.
•And I think he was a pretty cool guy!
The First Production of Medea
- Medea was first produced in 431 B.C.
- It was presented at Dionysia, a large religious festival in
ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus.
- The central event of Dionysia was the performance of
tragedies and comedies.
- Euripedes presented several plays at this event in 431
B.C. including Medea, Philoctetes, Dictys and Theristae.
- Medea received third place, but is the only play out of
those listed to survive today.
- The production of Medea was performed by Greek men
and the Chorus was made up of Athenian citizens.
Background to The Myth
King Aeetes' most valuable possession was a golden ram's fleece.
When Jason and the crew of the Argo arrived at Colchis seeking the
Golden Fleece, Aeetes was unwilling to relinquish it and set Jason a
series of seemingly impossible tasks as the price of obtaining it.
Medea fell in love with Jason and agreed to use her magic to help
him, in return for Jason's promise to marry her.
Jason fled in the Argo after obtaining the golden fleece, taking
Medea and her younger brother, Absyrtis, with him. King Aeetes
pursued them. In order to delay the pursuit, Medea killed her
brother and cut his body into pieces, scattering the parts behind the
ship. The pursuers had to stop and collect Absyrtis' dismembered
body in order to give it proper burial, and so Jason, Medea and the
Argonauts escaped.
James Hunter
Medea’s Myth
Jason and Medea later settled in Corinth. There Medea bore Jason two children
before Jason forsook her in order to marry the daughter of Creon, the king
of Corinth. Medea got revenge for Jason's desertion by killing the new bride
with a poisoned robe and crown which burned the flesh from her body;
King Creon died as well when he tried to embrace his dying daughter.
Medea fled Corinth in a chariot, drawn by winged dragons, which belonged
to her grandfather Helios. She took with her the bodies of her two children,
whom she had murdered in order to give Jason further pain.
Medea then took refuge with Aegeus, the old king of Athens, having
promised him that she would use her magic to enable him to have more
children. She married Aegeus and bore him a son, Medus. But Aegeus had
another son, Theseus. When Theseus returned to Athens, Medea tried to
trick her husband into poisoning him. She was unsuccessful, and had to
flee Athens, taking Medus with her. After leaving Athens, Medus became
king of the country which was later called Media.
WHO and WHAT is tragic?
• Aristotle says…
-character must be good
-must be appropriate
-true to life
-consistent or consistently inconsistent
(what?)
• Tragic event must be brought about not by
vice or depravity, but by some ERROR or
FRAILTY.
LET’S MEET OUR
CONTESTANTS
Tragic Hero #1
• Medea:
Esteemed/renowned person
Tragic error- anger/bitterness (more of a vice)
Not appropriate for woman. Unscrupulously clever!
“deus ex machina”- saved via chariot of dragons
NO GOOD!
Tragic Hero #2
• Jason
Renowned
Appropriate to character- man/dominant
Very true to life
Tragic error: breaks oath of gods
between him and Medea, resulting from
Pride
WINNER!
Reversal of Fortune
Jason
Medea
• Although Medea has
comitted several violent
acts, her life is good (she
is happily married with
two sons) until she
realizes that her actions
were done in vain and
that Jason has chosen
another bride.
• He believes that the
order in his life has been
restored (that he can
live happily with his
princess and his sons
and that Medea will be
gone with no problems).
The reversal occurs
when his new wife and
sons are killed by Medea
and her magic.
“O Zeus, why have you given men clear ways to recognize what gold is counterfeit,
Recognition
Medea
• Ignorance:
– Being hurt by Jason and
not knowing what to do.
• Knowledge:
– Finding the most effective
way to cause Jason the
maximum amount of pain.
Jason
• Ignorance:
– Believes that Medea is
telling the truth and will not
harm him or the people that
he loves.
• Knowledge:
– Realizing that he should
not have trusted Medea!
(She’s Crazy!)
but on the body put no stamp by which one should distinguish a bad man?”
The Chorus
- The Chorus is composed of the women of
Corinth.
- The Chorus serves as a commentator to the
action and a mediator between the audience and
the characters.
-Two characters emerge out of the Chorus - The
Nurse and the Tutor. These characters allow the
Chorus to become more relatable for the reader.
The Nurse and Tutor reveal the plot, while serving
as the moral compass of the play.
- The Chorus presents the question – Should we
fear or pity Medea?
Something Interesting…
Nurse. …For first, I say, the name of Moderation
has a better ring than that of Greatness, and in experience
it proves by far the best for men—
while Excess brings no profit to mortals
and, when the god has grown angry with the house,
it pays the penalty of greater ruin.
(lines 125-130)
Medea. …O Zeus, why have you given men clear ways to recognize
what gold is counterfeit, but on the body put no stamp by
which one should distinguish a bad man?
(lines 517-519)
Messenger. …I
have long thought that man’s life is merely a shadow, and
I should not fear to say that those who seem to be wise as
they anxiously ponder their words of wisdom convict themselves of the greatest folly. For no man is ever truly happy.
One may have better luck than another if wealth pours in—
but that is not real happiness.
(lines 1223-1230)
Medea. He has a woman who supplants me as mistress of his
house.
Aegeus. Surely, he has not been so brazen as to act in so
shameful a way?
(lines 695-698)
Food for thought
• Who is the tragic hero? If Medea is the tragic
hero, what is her error?
• Would the play be significantly different without
the characters of the nurse/tutor?
• Is Medea meant to be pitied by the audience? If
not, why is the Chorus on her side?
• Does our interpretation of the relationship
between Jason/Medea reflect a double standard
of our culture? Why should Medea surrender her
anger?
Images of Medea
Images of Medea
Images of Medea