Medea
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Savannah Kerwitz Mrs. Morris English IV Block F 28 September 2018
Exploring the Tragic Hero : Medea Medea is a greek play about a scorned woman named Medea, who enacts revenge on her husband through others closest to him. While Medea might not be your typical tragic hero, she certainly has the qualities required to be characterized as one. Stemming from the root of her tragic flaw of excessive passion, Medea has three facets; anger, selfishness, and her love for Jason. Medea’s downfall is unusual of a tragic hero as well, in that she does not perish, but rather her downfall is the loss of her children and being forced to flee her home. Anger can be a driving force to push someone towards something, but it can also cause them to make irrational choices if it is not managed. Medea brings attention to the lengths of her anger toward Jason when she says “ May I see him and his consort and their palace ripped in pieces, payment for the ways they dared first to mistreat me with injustice” (Euripides 11). Medea was so caught up in her anger and her need for revenge that she fails to protect her children throughout these events, and if she had not allowed her anger to rampage upon those she loved, then she may have received a different fate in the end. The chorus predicts an ugly display of events with “When those who have been close collide in conflict, their anger is incurable and terrible” (Euripides, 25). Looking at the chorus’ advice in depth we see their fear of what Medea
will do throughout the play, because it is shown multiple times that she acts rashly and only based upon emotion rather than conscience. To be selfish is to put yourself before others, not caring how this will affect them or yourself in the future. Medea was hurting when she decided to enact revenge on Jason, which caused her to focus a lot of her actions upon how she was feeling, so it makes sense she would think of herself when viewing the consequences. Medea explains her pain and sorrow when Creon tells her she must leave his land with “ My enemies are in full sail, and I have no accessible haven to land me from this storm of hell” (16). She took her plans to their fullest extent when she decided to kill her children because she knew this final act would hurt Jason the most. The Chorus advise her yet again not to act upon this terrible deed, the act of killing her own kin when they say “ But, woman, can you steel yourself to kill your body’s fruit?” (39). While the choice was drastic, Medea still had her good hearted reasoning to back her up. She knows after she poisons the princess, people will seek to hurt her through others, and fears they will attack her children. Medea wants them to die quickly at her hands, by someone who loves them, rather than suffer at the hands of another “ Now they are bound to die in any case, and since they must, it will be me, the one who gave them birth, who’ll be the one to deal them death” ( 49). While Medea’s actions are questionable in the least, she loves her children very much, even though her decision is to end their lives, her heart was in the right place. Medea’s love for Jason is an important aspect of her tragic flaw of passion, because he is the reason, the driving force behind all Medea’s choices. The Chorus gives us more background information of how she gave up everything for him, with “You Medea, sailed off from your father’s house, with your heart on fire with love; and cut your course in between the matching
rocks of Bosphorus’ straits; and you’ve had to treat as home an alien place, where you’ve lost your marriage bed— no husband there, Last, you’re driven, stripped of rights, far from this shore” ( 22). Medea left her homeland to be with Jason, giving up everything she’s ever known, to be a family. Her love was so strong for him, she simply wanted him to feel her pain and betrayal. Medea acted upon her Passion through anger, selfishness, and love. She was not a completely evil person, nor can it be argued that she was completely justified in the way she received her revenge. When someone is hurt by a person they love and completely trust, the aftermath is all the more devastating because they did not expect it. Her choices were the result of such devastating melancholy, she reacted based upon instinct, with the natural defensiveness we are all born with.
Exploring the Tragic Hero : Medea Medea is a greek play about a scorned woman named Medea, who enacts revenge on her husband through others closest to him. While Medea might not be your typical tragic hero, she certainly has the qualities required to be characterized as one. Stemming from the root of her tragic flaw of excessive passion, Medea has three facets; anger, selfishness, and her love for Jason. Medea’s downfall is unusual of a tragic hero as well, in that she does not perish, but rather her downfall is the loss of her children and being forced to flee her home. Anger can be a driving force to push someone towards something, but it can also cause them to make irrational choices if it is not managed. Medea brings attention to the lengths of her anger toward Jason when she says “ May I see him and his consort and their palace ripped in pieces, payment for the ways they dared first to mistreat me with injustice” (Euripides 11). Medea was so caught up in her anger and her need for revenge that she fails to protect her children throughout these events, and if she had not allowed her anger to rampage upon those she loved, then she may have received a different fate in the end. The chorus predicts an ugly display of events with “When those who have been close collide in conflict, their anger is incurable and terrible” (Euripides, 25). Looking at the chorus’ advice in depth we see their fear of what Medea
will do throughout the play, because it is shown multiple times that she acts rashly and only based upon emotion rather than conscience. To be selfish is to put yourself before others, not caring how this will affect them or yourself in the future. Medea was hurting when she decided to enact revenge on Jason, which caused her to focus a lot of her actions upon how she was feeling, so it makes sense she would think of herself when viewing the consequences. Medea explains her pain and sorrow when Creon tells her she must leave his land with “ My enemies are in full sail, and I have no accessible haven to land me from this storm of hell” (16). She took her plans to their fullest extent when she decided to kill her children because she knew this final act would hurt Jason the most. The Chorus advise her yet again not to act upon this terrible deed, the act of killing her own kin when they say “ But, woman, can you steel yourself to kill your body’s fruit?” (39). While the choice was drastic, Medea still had her good hearted reasoning to back her up. She knows after she poisons the princess, people will seek to hurt her through others, and fears they will attack her children. Medea wants them to die quickly at her hands, by someone who loves them, rather than suffer at the hands of another “ Now they are bound to die in any case, and since they must, it will be me, the one who gave them birth, who’ll be the one to deal them death” ( 49). While Medea’s actions are questionable in the least, she loves her children very much, even though her decision is to end their lives, her heart was in the right place. Medea’s love for Jason is an important aspect of her tragic flaw of passion, because he is the reason, the driving force behind all Medea’s choices. The Chorus gives us more background information of how she gave up everything for him, with “You Medea, sailed off from your father’s house, with your heart on fire with love; and cut your course in between the matching
rocks of Bosphorus’ straits; and you’ve had to treat as home an alien place, where you’ve lost your marriage bed— no husband there, Last, you’re driven, stripped of rights, far from this shore” ( 22). Medea left her homeland to be with Jason, giving up everything she’s ever known, to be a family. Her love was so strong for him, she simply wanted him to feel her pain and betrayal. Medea acted upon her Passion through anger, selfishness, and love. She was not a completely evil person, nor can it be argued that she was completely justified in the way she received her revenge. When someone is hurt by a person they love and completely trust, the aftermath is all the more devastating because they did not expect it. Her choices were the result of such devastating melancholy, she reacted based upon instinct, with the natural defensiveness we are all born with.
