Medea As A Tragic Hero Analysis

“Medea” is an Ancient Greek tragedy based written by Euripides, based on the myth of Jason and Medea. Tragedy is a type of drama that conveys a serious and dignified style about sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by an individual. Most definitions of tragedy that we use today come from some parts of the work “The Poetics” written by the philosopher Aristotle. In the simplest terms, Aristotle defined tragedy as a form of drama whose plot is centered on human suffering for the purpose of evoking feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Aristotle goes on to state that a tragic play is more than just a play about suffering. In his work “The Poetics” Aristotle claims that the plot in a tragedy is more than just the story itself; …show more content…
A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his or her own fall. A tragic villain is a character that is usually an antagonist that does not intend to be a villain. They are perhaps misled or not entirely in control of their feelings or actions. Medea is a play about a woman, Medea, who is betrayed by her husband, Jason, and expelled from the city. In an outburst of cleverly planned rage, she avenges herself by first poisoning Jason 's new fiancé and then killing her own children. In her plan Medea pleads that she is very and offers Jason’s wife "gifts," a coronet and …show more content…
Medea, who is a victim that has certain qualities of a hero, becomes the villain due to her fate and anger. However, the question still remains, is Medea the hero or villain of the play? To answer this question one must follow her development from victim to villain. One must look at her motives behind her terrible actions. Medea killed her brother and left her family in order to be with Jason, only to be left to live by her own in a foreign country. Not only is Medea put in vulnerable position when Jason leaves her, then the king forces her into exile. Medea being in this situation causes her plot her revenge against Jason. It is easy to judge whether or not Medea is the hero or villain by the chorus. In the beginning the chorus views her as the victim of the tragedy. They follow her around and support her plan of revenge against Jason. However, the opinion of the chorus and the audience shifts when she decides to murder her children. When this occurs Medea reaches the climax of becoming the villain of the play. In conclusion certain traits, such as Medea’s anger and her willingness to sacrifice her own children to get back at Jason, can be considered to be both heroic and