Through his great Athenian tragedy Medea (431 BCE), Euripides illustrates the gradual destruction of his eponymous protagonist’s humanity in the relentless pursuit of vengeance and justice. Medea is ostracized for her position as a woman and is predisposed to judgement from Greek society, yet, it is ultimately Jason who suffers from both societal and divine retribution, as he is chastised greatly for his betrayal of his family and his unyielding desire for pride and success. However, whilst managing to escape external punishment, through the action of murdering her own children Medea suffers a psychosomatic break in which she loses all concepts of her compassion and morality in order to enact the full extent of her rage. Thus, Euripides portrays
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In a brutal act entirely devoid of compassion or moral restraint, Medea murders her own children, admittedly “to cause [Jason] pain”, and to fulfil the greatest extent of her unfathomable rage. Through the children’s gruesome deaths, the audience witnesses the disillusionment that Medea possesses any concept of maternal love or femininity, as her decision challenges the perception of woman in the Greek era solely as caring mothers, elucidated in Jason’s outcry that “no woman in Greece today would have ever dared such a thing.” Medea is able to free herself from the societal restrictions placed on her, yet is only able to do so at the expense of her children, whom were symbolic of innocence and purity, the ideals of which are ultimately destroyed. Indeed, her act of murder sways the sympathies of the Chorus, as they denounce Medea as a “wretched woman whom fiends have turned into a murderous fury”, thus, her actions no longer appear justified from the perception of the audience. Euripides utilises this condemnation of Medea to exacerbate the dangers of being consumed by rage or power, without the restraint provided by compassion or morality. Essentially, Medea is able to overcome the power of her enemies and the patriarchal condemnatory values that permeate society, however must live with the psychological repercussions endured from committing infanticide, and thus does not escape the events of the play
In a brutal act entirely devoid of compassion or moral restraint, Medea murders her own children, admittedly “to cause [Jason] pain”, and to fulfil the greatest extent of her unfathomable rage. Through the children’s gruesome deaths, the audience witnesses the disillusionment that Medea possesses any concept of maternal love or femininity, as her decision challenges the perception of woman in the Greek era solely as caring mothers, elucidated in Jason’s outcry that “no woman in Greece today would have ever dared such a thing.” Medea is able to free herself from the societal restrictions placed on her, yet is only able to do so at the expense of her children, whom were symbolic of innocence and purity, the ideals of which are ultimately destroyed. Indeed, her act of murder sways the sympathies of the Chorus, as they denounce Medea as a “wretched woman whom fiends have turned into a murderous fury”, thus, her actions no longer appear justified from the perception of the audience. Euripides utilises this condemnation of Medea to exacerbate the dangers of being consumed by rage or power, without the restraint provided by compassion or morality. Essentially, Medea is able to overcome the power of her enemies and the patriarchal condemnatory values that permeate society, however must live with the psychological repercussions endured from committing infanticide, and thus does not escape the events of the play