Euripides and Medea
Jan 11, 2016
Euripides and Medea
Euripides: life
A younger contemporary of Aeschylus and Sophocles
Living through most of the cultural and political turmoil of the fifth century BCE
Seen as one of the most influential voices for the revolutionary new ideas that were developing at the time
Career as a tragedian
The liveliest, funniest, and most provocative tragedian of the three
A productive but only moderately successful
Wrote over 90 plays but won first prize only four times
Continued to be widely read, quoted, and enjoyed for generations after his death
A controversial figure
Use of colloquial language Depictions of unheroic heroes,
sexually promiscuous women, and cruel violent gods
Sympathetic to his clever heroine (Medea) and a defender of the rights and dignity of women and foreigners before an audience of Athenian male citizens
Literary style
Specialized in unexpected plot twists and novel approaches to his mythological material
Vision often very dark Associated with the iconoclasm of
the Sophists Cynical realist about human nature Put male heroes onstage in
humiliated positions
Literary style
Depicting outspoken, lustful or violent, though often sympathetic women
Lower-class characters and slaves were prominent , and sympathetically portrayed
Often questioning the old Greek myths about the gods
The gods often seem arbitrary or cruel in their dealing with humanity
Medea
Focusing not on the heroic narrative of the argonauts but on its squalid aftermath
Presenting Jason in a disturbingly unheroic light: a cad who tries to talk like a Sophist
It is Medea who is the real possessor of sophia (Sophist’s skills; cleverness) in the play
Medea as an outsider
A woman in a male-dominated world A foreigner or “barbarian” in a Greek
city A smart person surrounded by fools
Medea’s character
Fierce, like a wild lion and highly articulate in her analysis of her situation
A proto-feminist
The reader’s changing perceptions of the heroine Strong & brave vs. scarily violent Wise vs. too clever by half
A disturbing play
forcing readers to revise their feelings several times:
--- Is Medea smart and sensible in her defense of her honor and her rights?
--- Or is she driven crazy by the gods of passion?
--- Or should we see her as an agent of the gods, imposing divine justice on oath-breaking humans?
A disturbing play
Is Euripides challenging or confirming Greek male prejudices against foreigners and women?
Is he recommending new forms of wisdom, or warning against the false cleverness of upstarts and outsiders?
A universal fear conveyed in the play
Pointing to the fear, felt by many people both ancient and modern, that the apparently weaker members of a community, such as women and resident aliens, may be smarter than their masters, and may, if provoked enough, rise up to destroy their oppressors.