Medea (#2)

Medea is intensely driven by the need for love and family, which is why she is beyond distraught at her broken marriage. In her distress, she is clearly scheming a revenge plot, and it can only be prayed that “it will be enemies and not loved ones she hurts” (94). As a result of her wild temper, Creon banishes her in the name of his family, and partially in the name of the state. The royal marriage, historically, is an affair of the state, and so to prevent “irreparable harm to [his] daughter,” (282) he “takes precautions against [her rage]” (288). He has the duty to protect his own family, and by extension, his city’s integrity and reputation. However, he is not without heart, as there lies a slight pity for her when “[her] words cajole [his] ears” (316). Medea simply wants the best for her family (or is she past love and bent on revenge?), but is blocked by the royal family. And so this contrast illustrates family versus state – an entire family must suffer so long as the state decrees it in the name of safety. While Medea is not part of Creon’s family, she is part of the Greek city and culture, making her a part of the bigger family – how a neighbor could be considered kin. The best Creon could do to reconcile his charge and his reluctance to break a family was to extend Medea’s stay by one day. Responsibility and duty do not unite on this level, as family seems to suffer at the hands of the state, be it intentional or not.