Revenge is a key aspect in many
forms of Greek mythology. From the
beginning of the play Medea is immediately introduced as a jealous character
that wants nothing more than to gain revenge on her ex husband. Revenge has
been introduced in Greek mythology through Zeus, Uranus, Althea, and now Medea.
Revenge functions throughout Greek culture and often reflects the Greek
values of loyalty. If the loyalty is broken the Greeks tend to seek revenge
immediately. “It is the supreme way to hurt my husband.”(141) Medea knows the
only way to truly hurt/seek revenge on Jason is to kill everyone he truly
loves, which even means Medea’s own sons.
Medea expresses how she has so much hate towards Jason that she will go
through any lengths just so that Jason feels the pain that he caused her. Medea
believes the revenge would not be complete if their sons were not murdered. “
But, Medea, what is this—these dewy eyes, these tears; […] it is nothing. I was
just thinking of our sons.”(150-151) The tears Medea produces during this scene
provokes the idea that Medea’s mind is so clouded by trying to seek revenge
that she is even starting to believe her craziness. The tears are meant to convince Jason that
she is sincere in wanting the best for him. Even though this is not the case
the “sincere” tears contradict the fact that she is going to harm Jason in the
worst way, by killing everyone he loves and cares about.
Medea valued revenge too much. She needed to be "on top" in order to feel truly fulfilled with herself which made for a poor character quality, a hubris if you will. She even fooled herself into believing that what she was doing was just, yet she admitted that her "wrath is stronger than [her] thoughts which is the cause of the greatest wrongs of human kind." (1078-1080)
ReplyDeleteRevenge is a common theme in Greek mythology and many other forms of literature. This theme can be seen in The Odyssey, Mystic River, Hamlet, etc. However, similar to Jimmy's revenge, I felt that Medea's revenge was unjust and unethical. Killing her own children was not necessary for revenge since they were innocent. The only thing Medea accomplished by killing them was degrade herself to a standard that is lower than Jason's.
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