Euripides

Upon reading Euripides’ work, many people struggle to determine if he was or was not a feminist. With his presentation of female protagonists in many of his plays, some do not find it difficult to rationalize that Euripides was a feminist. However, upon closer examination of his texts, this is not the case. In plays such as “Alcestis”, “Medea”, and “Iphigenia at Aulis” Euripides shows female protagonists who are at crossroads in their lives, and focuses on their decision making process. However,…

“What Euripides in Aristophanes' Frogs gives himself credit for as a service, namely, that through his household medicines he freed tragic art of its pompous hustle and bustle, that point we can trace above all in his tragic heroes.” Euripides prided himself on his elegant speech and ability to connect with the crowds, which the spectators acknowledged and appreciated throughout…

In Hippolytus, free will is best defined as the power to choose your own course of action. Euripides explores a portion of human autonomy where we “know what’s good and recognize it”(Euripides 2001: 380) yet struggle to “accomplish it”(Euripides 2001: 381). That is to say, a struggle between different courses of action takes place and leads to a conflicted free will. Therefore, Euripides’ quotes can help shape the argument that free will, while strained by the actions of a god, is still…

The story Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides starts with the main character Agamemnon having second thoughts about going through with the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia to get the winds to move to go to Troy. He decides to write a second letter to send to her telling her to go back home and that her supposed marriage to Achilles would be another time. Before the letter can get to Iphigenia, Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus intercepts the letter and is outraged that his brother would damage Greece…

goddesses, heroes, and monsters that ran and justified their social system. The Greeks practiced polytheism, animism, and pantheism to explain how humans and animals came to be, and how the world was created. By reading the Greek myth Medea, by Euripides, it is shown that ancient Greeks had a male-dominated society. In this play, Medea, a Barbarian, scornful woman, rebels against the norm of ancient Greek submissive women by killing her two sons to achieve the ultimate vengeance against her…

as an emerging adult, I am conflicted between following my own internal thoughts and feelings and listening to the “knowledge” of this external “being” I have been taught to believe in. The Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, written by the playwright, Euripides, over 2,500 years ago addresses this conflict which, I believe, is a conflict belonging to many in today’s society. The notion of a “higher power” is a concept that we struggle with on a day to day basis. In The Bacchae, the Greek myth of…

passion and love. Whether the love on matrimony, between friend or towards children, it always leads to despair and horror. Moreover, the gothic register of the Gods with its passion over human understanding can disregard human love. The playwright, Euripides also explicitly communicates his love by dressing his anti-heroin as someone who deserves sympathy for her ‘spurned love’. Men ‘love himself more than his neighbor. ' (1) In the patriarchal society where there is a coded definition of…

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…

Euripides' The Bacchae recounts the emergence of the Dionysian Mysteries in Greece. Dionysus, disguised as a mortal, comes to Thebes from Asia, accompanied by his followers, the Maenads, to avenge his mother, Semele, against her family, who accused her of lying about Zeus impregnating her. He enchants the women, including the king Pentheus' mother, Agave, into joining the Maenads. Appalled, Pentheus prohibits all Dionysian rites and persecutes the Maenads. Pentheus captures Dionysus, but he…

na Djunisijevic Prof. Klaassen CLCV 2010A March. 14th, 2018. The Portrayal of Revenge as a Mean of Preservation Seeking vengeance is one of the central themes in Agamemnon and The Medea. Both Euripides and Sophocles explore human nature by examining the human psyche. In the two plays, Clytemnestra and Medea are vengeful and ruthless in their pursuit of justice because of the disloyalty wrought upon them by their male partners Agamemnon and Jason. By preserving themselves through actions of…