Medea Essay

In the translated book, Seneca Six Tragedies, by Emily Wilson, the one of the Greek tragedies, Medea, focuses on the personification of Fortune throughout the depiction of a story about women who was betrayed and abandoned by her husband. It is notable that the suffering undergone by the characters of this tragedy is seen through their behaviors and emotions, but the guiding hand leading to all their calamities is Fortune itself. The notion that pushes Jason to leave his kingdom to begin with…

Imagine rolling a large boulder up a steep hill, only to watch it roll back down again and repeat the agonizing work. This process was the punishment for Sisyphus in Greek mythology and Robert Camus likened this process to the human condition in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus. Humans search for answers to problems, but are too blinded to find unity. Generally, an archetypal, blind literary character is given the ability to see the more important aspects of life, but the opposite is true for…

It would have been worse if Medea had just senselessly gone on a killing rampage without even thinking about the consequences and fully understanding what she was doing. But she did not do this. She had the forethought to have a safe place to go after she completed her task and she…

There are many ways to define a hero whether it be through actions, achievements, or failures. Heroes can be destined for greatness or for failure and while each epic has their own defined heroic figure The Aeneas and The Poem of the Cid both have unique heroes that play active roles in developing and preserving their respective societies in a variety of ways. To begin with, similar to past epics such as The Odyssey, The Aeneid contains more magical elements than certain other works of…

In Euripides’ Medea, the actions of Medea where displayed throughout the story as she dealt with a lot of things with her husband Jason. Medea was deeply in love with Jason and had his back in certain situations that he encountered. In the beginning of the story, the nurse states that “There is no greater security than this in all the world: when a wife does not oppose her husband” (787). Her love that she had for him is what made her go above and beyond in a positive yet negative way. Once she…

Greek religion was a consistent factor in all areas of life for those who practiced and believed in it. The gods were given human form and faces with each with a power to interact with a certain aspect of human life such as love, weather, music, or healing. The gods portrayed human characteristics and lived in a similar society. However, they were depicted as having the perfect human form with great beauty or strength. Most significantly, the gods were immortal and held the power to intervene in…

behavior and testing the character of those involved. Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Medea are impressive works of literature that completely embody this statement. They are the types of literature that evoke emotions of understanding and justification within the audience at certain times. Both female character influences the actions of those around them with their owns. For instance, both Antigone and Medea take extreme measures in order to obtain revenge or it may seem that way. When…

writing that deals with this issue. In Medea using a feminist lens should allow the reader to gain sympathy for Medea due to her gender. In Lysistrata being a women is power and using a feminist lens allows the reader to experience what most feminists are feeling and that is that women are powerful. Feminism often uses satire to illustrate their perspective overall. The play Medea uses satire to both show how boys are gullible and how girls aren’t always weak. When Medea calls on Jason to…

over women. However, Euripides’ Medea shatters the concept of gender roles by having a woman, Medea, triumph over a man’s tyranny. Euripides description of Medea is that of a clever sorceress who will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. At the beginning of the story, Medea is depicted as a woman that’s madly in love with a man whose name is Jason, “ Then my mistress Medea would not have sailed to the fortress of Iolcus' land, her heart battered by love for Jason”. Medea, madly in love with…

and love can even stop war. Medea shows ancient perspectives on love and gender. Medea goes crazy with revenge because Jason betrayed her. In Homer’s Iliad Achilles refuses to fight because of Agamemnon's betrayal of stealing the woman that Achilles loves. This presents ancient thinking of women as possessions. In the Aeneid Aeneas leaves dido to fulfill his destiny. The Aeneid shows the ancient notion…