Euripides

In the surviving Euripides play Hippolytus, Phaedra is portrayed as passive towards her fate, and fights the sexual appetites opting for suicide in the end saying “. This is in contrast to Phaedra, in which she actively peruses Hippolytus’ affections. She openly proclaims…

In Euripides play Medea the character of Medea creates a double sided character through out the play. Medea starts off the play as the loving and caring wife in her marriage that would do anything to make sure her husband is safe. At the peak of the reading, she becomes a angry, revengeful, and murderous woman that is demanding respect. Then again you also gain a sympathetic feeling for her because of the situation. Euripides portrays Medea as monstrous yet sympathetic. You get this…

The Ineffable Role of Greek Theater The Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Life is like a play at the theater: it does not matter how long it lasts, but how well it was played.” This is true in several ways; the majority of society will put on a mask to show others instead of their true emotions. The belief that we shield ourselves from society most likely goes back to the ancient Greeks. which raises the question: why were plays an important part of Greek culture? Theater enforced morals and…

against women and sexual love, Phaedra and her passion for her stepson, and Theseus’ eventual passion to destroy his own flesh and blood. Euripides had written two different versions, the second being meant to tone-down the raciness of the first and happens to be the only one that survived. It’s believed that Seneca decides to follow a plot line that’s similar to Euripides’ first Hippolytus, including its explicitness as Phaedra is shown propositioning Hippolytus in front of the audience’s eyes.…

Written by renowned tragedian Euripides in 428 BCE, the Ancient Greek tragedy Hippolytus is the ultimate story of betrayal and desire. Euripides’ style of tragedy is often compared to the works of the other two major playwrights of the era, Aeschylus and Sophocles, yet it differs greatly. His writing style is simple and can be communicated in colloquial speech: Euripides was known for taking a new approach to traditional myths: he often changed elements of their stories or portrayed the more…

Medea by Euripides and Oedipus the king by Sophocles are two tragic plays that continue to be performed to this day. When both plays were created, they were performed by man, even the characters that were women. Ironically, both plays tend to highlight the dominance and power that women had during the time. Although some may argue that males hold more power than females, it is opposite from what is seen in both, Medea and Oedipus the king, that women can be as powerful as men by being better…

In Euripides’ play, Heracles, and in Sophocles’ play, Electra, there is constant interference from gods into human lives. By having both an understanding and a basic background of the timer period and location in Greece are key in understanding why the gods interfered with mortal lives the way they did. The divine intervention in both stories can be compared and similarities can be drawn from both. The exploitation of the deus ex machina demonstrated by Apollo in Electra and Hera in Heracles,…

Euripides releases in his play Medea that moderation is imperative to a successful existence. Performed in the city Dionysia in 431 BCE, Euripides’ tragedy Medea, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea, the plot centres on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the “barbarian” kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason. Euripides’ tragic story revolving around anger and revenge ending in pain and ruin for most characters entrenches the notion that moderation in all forms is imperative to a…

Euripides focuses on the life of Jason after he got Golden Fleece. Medea, Jason’s wife, is a princess and a sorceress. She gives up everything for Jason, even going as far to kill her brother to escape her father’s home. Her actions leave her with no family…

After reading both Wasps by Aristophanes and Bacchae by Euripides, I realized that words can be just as powerful as a god. Athenian government officials, such as Cleon, in Wasps and Dionysus from Bacchae had total control over others. The people the Athenian government and Dionysus controlled were manipulated to believe that they had power. Within Wasps, readers are introduced to Procleon, a man who has an obsession with being a juror for the Athenian government. Procleon’s obsession is…