Most shocking of all, and possibly Euripides’ singular innovation to the legend, Medea murders her two sons, allowing her vengeful passion to trump and cancel her maternal affections.
She causes a horrible death of Jason’s intended, Glauce, and Creon, who tries in vain to save his daughter. After Jason has cast off Medea-his wife, the mother of his children, and the woman who helped him to secure the Golden Fleece and eliminate the usurper of Jason’s throne at Iolcus-in order to marry the daughter of King Creon of Corinth, Medea responds to his betrayal by destroying all of Jason’s prospects as a husband, father, and presumptive heir to a powerful throne. The first Athenian audience had never seen Medea’s like before, at least not in the heroic terms Euripides treats her. Defying accepted gender assumptions that prescribed passive and subordinate roles for women, Medea combines the steely determination and wrath of Achilles with the wiles of Odysseus.
Arguably for the first time in Western drama a woman fully commanded the stage from beginning to end, orchestrating the play’s terrifying actions. Euripides violates its audience’s most cherished gender and moral illusions, while shocking with the unimaginable.
Note:"The Intellectual Revolution is a reader designed for students who have just completed an introductory course in ancient Greek and wish to read substantial passages of ancient authors in the original language." -Back cover.When Medea, commonly regarded as Euripides’ masterpiece, was first per-formed at Athens’s Great Dionysia, Euripides was awarded the third (and last) prize, behind Sophocles and Euphorion. Plato - What is ? (Protagoras 310b-320c) - Socrates refuses to compromise (Apology 28a-30c) - the life and death of Socrates (Apology 30c-35d) - The life and death of Socrates (cont.) (Phaidon 116a-end) - Might is right? (Gorgias 483b-522e).īibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references. Thucydides - Kleon at Sphakteria (History 4.26-40) - The mutilation of the Hermai (History 6.15-61) - The Sicilian expedition (History 6.30-2, 7.70-8.1) - Part III. Euripides - Medeia rejected (Medeia 16-575) - Medeia's revenge (Medeia 772-end) - Part II. ImprintCambridge, United Kingdom New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2015.ĭescriptionxiii, 173 pages : illustrations, maps 25 cm
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