Human beings suffer, and when they do so, they suffer as a whole being; the cognitive, emotional, physical and spiritual combine to induce an entire-bodied aching experience. One suffering cannot be entirely disconnected from another, and it is from this reality we infer human suffering. Euripides’ ancient (431 BCE) tragedy Medea presents the human experience in an original light, wherein three prominent figures are imbued with a sense of insanity, or mental suffering, as a result of, or in correlation with, their emotional and physical suffering; combining conventions of tragedy (assumptions that the universe is cruel and malevolent, stripping romance from the myth) to achieve this pinnacle of ancient tragic literature. This notion of human
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Upon being betrayed by husband Jason, who married another woman while still wed to Medea, this heartbroken woman experiences emotional suffering that many worldwide, throughout history and today, can relate to. Presented to the audience is a woman who gave up her family and home, betraying her father and killing her brother, to be with her conceivable true love, who ultimately betrays such love and trust to marry for his own means. At this point, it is effortless for the audience to sympathise with Medea’s grief. Medea believes herself to be removed from the human experience through her magic and divine connections but as her evident emotional suffering deepens, her mental state escalates to the point where she commits unforgivable acts, namely, killing a young Princess and her own two children, to cope with her emotional pain, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand her mental suffering. Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard said once, “Negative emotions like hatred destroy our peace of mind.” This prophetic idea survives in the story of Medea; as her state of emotional wellbeing worsens, as does her clarity of purpose and ability to think and act …show more content…
Medea sees the Princess as a pawn, advantageous to her ultimate defeat of Jason and when the young bride meets her untimely death at Medea’s hands, it is Creon who is left to endure the torture of having one he loves torn away from him. And it is through Creon’s harrowing experience that an audience is presented with an unparalleled account of human suffering. The Princess is killed when Medea draws her children to present the maiden with a dress and crown lethal to the wearer. It is by far anything but a humane death, Euripides describing her death as a “horrific sight. [with] The colour [leaving] her face”, screaming loudly and with foam “trickling over her lips” until she was no more. Upon seeing his daughter’s butchered remains, Creon is evidently overcome with emotional turmoil, a kind of insurmountable, impassioned, cognitive and physical suffering. The first anguish: emotional. When Euripides writes that Creon “cried out at once in pain…weeping and wailing…” at the instant he flings himself onto his deceased daughter’s corpse, he describes an emotive pain; here is a man distraught at the sudden loss of his child, suffering in the devout love he felt for his own kin. Creon also presents cognitive suffering. His state of mind (sanity) interrupted by this shock to his system, he throws his body on that of his destroyed daughter
Upon being betrayed by husband Jason, who married another woman while still wed to Medea, this heartbroken woman experiences emotional suffering that many worldwide, throughout history and today, can relate to. Presented to the audience is a woman who gave up her family and home, betraying her father and killing her brother, to be with her conceivable true love, who ultimately betrays such love and trust to marry for his own means. At this point, it is effortless for the audience to sympathise with Medea’s grief. Medea believes herself to be removed from the human experience through her magic and divine connections but as her evident emotional suffering deepens, her mental state escalates to the point where she commits unforgivable acts, namely, killing a young Princess and her own two children, to cope with her emotional pain, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand her mental suffering. Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard said once, “Negative emotions like hatred destroy our peace of mind.” This prophetic idea survives in the story of Medea; as her state of emotional wellbeing worsens, as does her clarity of purpose and ability to think and act …show more content…
Medea sees the Princess as a pawn, advantageous to her ultimate defeat of Jason and when the young bride meets her untimely death at Medea’s hands, it is Creon who is left to endure the torture of having one he loves torn away from him. And it is through Creon’s harrowing experience that an audience is presented with an unparalleled account of human suffering. The Princess is killed when Medea draws her children to present the maiden with a dress and crown lethal to the wearer. It is by far anything but a humane death, Euripides describing her death as a “horrific sight. [with] The colour [leaving] her face”, screaming loudly and with foam “trickling over her lips” until she was no more. Upon seeing his daughter’s butchered remains, Creon is evidently overcome with emotional turmoil, a kind of insurmountable, impassioned, cognitive and physical suffering. The first anguish: emotional. When Euripides writes that Creon “cried out at once in pain…weeping and wailing…” at the instant he flings himself onto his deceased daughter’s corpse, he describes an emotive pain; here is a man distraught at the sudden loss of his child, suffering in the devout love he felt for his own kin. Creon also presents cognitive suffering. His state of mind (sanity) interrupted by this shock to his system, he throws his body on that of his destroyed daughter