Looking in the rear-view mirror

Jason’s betrayal causes Medea to look back at the past and asses where she went wrong. What could she have done to prevent herself from the pain and disbelief she is experiencing? After Medea is “punished with exile” (454), she begins to question all of her wrongdoings in order to peacefully be with the man she loves. During her confrontation with Jason, Medea claims “I have made myself an enemy to my loved ones at home, the very ones I should not have hurt; in helping you I have made enemies.” (506-508). This reveals that, looking back, Medea regrets running off with Jason, leaving her homeland behind, and burning ties with the people she holds dear to her heart. Then, Medea goes on to say that Jason should “made this marriage only after convincing me, and not in secret from your loved ones.” (586-587). This statement solidifies Medea’s longing for the past by explaining that she would not have run off with Jason had she knew his true intentions and reasons for wanting to marry her in the first place.

          The quote above perfectly depicts Medea’s frustration and regret towards falling in love and being betrayed by Jason. Once she devises a plan for revenge on those who have caused her sorrow, Medea cries “now I have hope that my enemies will pay the price.” (767) which reveals her anger. According to the Barbara De Angelis, in order to return to her loving self, Medea must relinquish all of the hate- which is taking control of her life- she holds towards events that happened in the past and move on with life for the good of herself and her children.

A Cry For Help

While all of the characters call upon the Gods at some point in Medea, the Gods that Medea calls upon reflect her chaotic state of mind. Just like Iago slips into prose when his thoughts become malicious, Medea calls upon Titans (a group of deities that resided in Olympus before the Olympians) as her thoughts become malevolent. The quote above represents Medea’s descent into chaos. When Medea kills her sons, Jason says that her actions are “a thing not one of all the maids of Greece, not one, had dreamed of” (43). While murdering one’s own children is a sin in humanity’s eyes, it is common in the laws of nature. Cronus, the King of the Titans, ate Zeus and the other Olympians with the hope that they wouldn’t overthrow him. While humanity hopes to achieve order, the Titans represent a primitive time of chaos.

It is only fitting that as Medea slips farther away from the laws of man, she leans on the very deities that created the laws of nature. At the very beginning of the play, when Medea begins thinking of her revenge, she says “So help me She who of all Gods hath been the best of me, of all my chosen queen and helpmate, Hecatê” (19). Hecate is a primordial goddess of witchcraft. Medea’s call to Hecatê, reveals her kinship with a goddess of both witchcraft and chaos. Even at the end -when the deus ex machina occurs- it is not a God that helps Medea, but rather a Titan: Helios. Helios is Medea’s “father’s father, the high Sun” (43). The fact that Euripides made Medea’s grandfather a Titan hints at the barbaric and chaotic nature of her bloodline.

Point of View

       Although narration does not receive much attention while reading and examining a story, it is one of the most important aspects of literature. The point of view an author chooses to utilize transforms the story in a multitude of ways: emotion, time, characterization, and many more. Employing a strong voice throughout a story is essential in acquiring the audience’s attention. Medea is unique in the fact that the author, Euripides, makes use of three different points of view. In the beginning pages of the story, Medea speaks in the first person. For example, she states,“I’m spared no pain. I lack no pain to be spared me” (11). However, as the play progresses, she begins to speak in different points of view, varying the narration styles. She states, “You see how you are treated...You have the skill” (14) with “you” referring to herself. By employing the second person point of view, the audience connects to the characters on a more personal level. Euripides moves on to also include third person, by Medea stating, “Ah, come, Medea” (14). Through each of these examples, first, second, and third person point of view is used in the play.
The presence of fluctuating point of view lends a sense of uniqueness to the play. Because each view has its own advantages, the story benefits through the ability to gain insight in different ways. Through first and second person narration, the audience gains the opportunity to closely relate to the narrator by exploring their mind. Through third person narration, the audience gains an objective view of situations and is not limited to one character. All three points of view are effective in their own way and Medea takes advantage of these assets by utilizing all three.

Although this political cartoon does not necessarily depict a difference in point of view grammatically, it shows how two different ways of looking at a situation generates a unique perspective.

Medea (blog #3)

Medea’s internal conflict in the play provides the audience an opportunity to comprehend Medea’s character. In Medea’s mind, her maternal instinct and her hubris both struggle for dominance as she debates over murdering her own two children. As a mother, she desires to “take and hide [the children] far, far from men’s eyes” (60). The children “will dwell with [her]... and… peace” if she flees with them (60). However, as a woman full of pride, she also yearns to “lay [her] children dead… leaving Jason childless” for her plot of revenge (46). When Medea vocalizes her internal conflict, she incessantly questions both sides: her maternal side asks, “Why should I seek a war so blind: by these babes’ wounds to sting again their father’s heart, and win myself a pain twice deeper?” while her prideful side asks, “Would I be a thing mocked at, and leave mine enemies to sting unsmitten?” (60). Medea is compelled to prioritize one part of her personality over the other.

As a result, Medea’s hubris seemingly claims victory after Medea spouts the pros and cons of each side. Yet, when Medea states her farewell to her children, her resolve wavers, and she professes to be “broken by the wings of evil” (61). The audience truly perceives Medea’s conscience for the first time─Medea is not an utter sociopath. Without the Chorus’s prior condemnation towards Medea’s repulsive scheme, the audience would have never discovered the angel on Medea’s shoulder. By censuring her, “O woman wild! One at least thou canst not slay, not thy child!” Medea reevaluates her plan, and her righteousness shines through briefly (49). Even if Medea’s hubris wins the war, her maternal instinct wins the first battle. The audience recognizes through Medea’s internal conflict the goodness in Medea’s character.

Betrayal and Despair

Betrayal is the easiest route to becoming untrustworthy. The nurse tells us how "it has all gone sour now, affection turned to hatred" (15). Jason had "cast aside his children and [Medea]," and is in "a royal marriage with the daughter of Creon" (16-18). Jason's betrayal had taken a huge toll on Medea, and her children. Medea "won't eat, never looks up or raises her face, and gives in to her grief"(23-26). She even "hates her children, takes no pleasure in seeing them."(35) She gives them "that wild animal glare". Her children are in a way the ones who are betrayed the most, their own mother hates them and is told that God hates them too. Their father abandoned them. In the play they aren't even given names. I think this emphasizes how badly they are treated. The nurse fears that Medea will do something bad, such as "thrust a sharp sword through the heart"(40). Medea suffers great despair and even wishes to put an end to her life. Jason's betrayal causes Medea to shut out even her own children, as if she wanted nothing to do with Jason in any sort of tie. Unfortunately Medea deals with Jason's betrayal by putting it out on herself, she wishes to die. She was stabbed in the back by Jason deeper than anyone could ever stab her in the back. I think that introducing Medea with her first words being how much she hates her life and wishes to end it emphasizes what the nurse was saying about her being in so much despair and hurt. It sets the mood and gives us the vibe of her sufferings.

Euripides’ Medea begins in medias res as Medea is dealing with the aftermath of her husband’s desertion of her and their children. Immediately, several characters in the play foreshadow the effects of this betrayal by expressing fear of Medea’s wrath. The Nurse even solely states to herself “Now she hates her children. When she sees them,/ there is no joy in her. And I’m afraid/ she may be up to some new mischief.” (291). This prophetic fear offers insight and hints at Medea’s nature and the deaths of her need for vengeance. Medea, herself, expresses loathing toward her own children several times in the play: “Curse ye and your father too, ye children damned” (295). While most mothers would want to protect their children from their father’s deeds, Medea instead blames them for being apart of her misfortune. The only time she expresses even a semblance of concern for her children was when she used them as a tool to elicit sympathy from Creon: “Suffer me to abide this single day and devise some plan for the manner of my exile, and means of living for my children…Then pity them; thou too hast children of thine own” (302).

The first few pages of the play also begin to assert frustration over the treatment of women in the patriarchal Greek society. Euripides’ creation of a play with elements of women’s rights was peculiar for its time period, but he expertly wove these progressive statements about society into Medea. On page 298, Medea states “we women are the most hapless creatures” and then lists her grievances:

             1. “First must we buy a husband at a great price”

             2. “Divorce is not honorable to women”

             3. “Must the wife…see how best to treat the partner”

She continues with a garb at men by claiming that they are immune to the consequences of their actions while women are subject to these actions.

Love Lost

When people are betrayed they react in different ways. Some get enraged and some become depressed about it. It depends on the person in that situation. Medea has just dealt with the most disrespectful betrayal. For her husband to leave her and her children to get married with another woman is something that Medea wished to die over. She even went as far to saying that she wanted Zeus and Earth and Light to "hurl [a] fiery bolt of lightening straight through [her] skull". Medea is greatly mourning the loss of her marriage. The fact that she's reacting this ways shows how much she valued her marriage and husband. Without him she is nothing. So she thinks. Medea also shows her deceiving side when she tells Creo that she wants to stay to get everything situated with her kids but really she's conjuring up some evil plan to kill her husband and his wife. Medea is the extreme of women today. Unfortunately this happenes in life, women feel angry, like they could kill their husbands and who they were left for but never do it because of things like laws and morals. Medea is an ambitious woman who will stop at nothing. I believe all women have their inner Medea that comes out sometimes. I think Medea is extremely hurt by this but she also is extremely angry and will follow through with her evil plan.