Euripides

Oedipus Rex, Antigone (both by Sophocles), and Medea (by Euripides) are Greek dramas; each of these dramas takes place in Ancient Greece, during 5th century B.C., and include these three significant points: a king’s fíat, revenge, and suicide, all of which influence the entirety of each play’s plot. Oedipus, the king of Thebes, proclaims he will locate and penalize Laius’s (previous king of Thebes) murderer; anyone who withholds information will be subjected to punishment. Creon, successor to…

have read this semester. Envy in Euripides’ Medea draws attention to the theme of gender struggles in the play. Medea envies many of the other characters in the play because she is disenfranchised because of her gender. The most prominent example of this is, in her first speech to the Corinthian women, when Medea notes how difficult it is to live as a woman. She says that “women are the most beset by trials of any species that has breath and power of thought” (Euripides 230-231). Her…

their own humanity in return. Euripides’ Hecuba details the aftermath of the Trojan war, a conflict that emerged from the gods’ need for judgement and the noble Menelaus’ need for retribution. This play centers on two violent actions: the sacrifice of Polyxena and Hecuba’s revenge. Both actions were motivated by a need for justice and retribution, however…

harshly decides to banish Medea, the spiteful ex wife of his new to be son-in-law, Jason. Following his banishment, Medea poses him the question of why, and he responds with, “I am afraid of you… afraid you will do my child some irreparable injury.”(Euripides) Fear can be blinding, and through his fear, he did not see the true intentions of medea. Had he listened to Medea and not allowed his reasoning to be tainted by his fright, he would have seen she posed him no threat. However, because of…

In the play Helen by Euripides the main character, Helen often finds herself in complicated situations. To get out of those situations, Helen believes that her only option is to manipulate, deceive, and lie to people. Helen’s main goal is to be reunited with her husband, Menelaos, in her homeland. Helen persuades characters to do things her way by manipulation, lies, and deception. Throughout Helen, the main character manipulates Teucros, Menelaos, and Theoclymenos using deception, persuasion,…

Kingdom was destroyed in the late 8th century in Athens which was a significant city state of the Greek world. The last king (basileus) Kodros was overthrown and an aristocratic administration was established. Thereby, community of nobility called areopagus which was once consultant of the king acquired both legislative and juridical power. As for the executive power, it was given to three archons (namely, government officer) which were selected from nobility for one year. Number of archons was…

Euripides’ play, Herakles, and the story of Samson in the book of Judges both appear to be similar in that Deities play a major role in the lives of the main human characters. One major difference however, as shown by the multiple instances of abandonment displayed by Zeus in Euripides’ play, is that Zeus, in my opinion, is shown to be selfish as oppose to God in the Book of Judges who exhibits benevolence by continuously interacting with Manoah and Samson and consistently remaining present in…

him, that he is too late; she has already killed off their kids. Euripides wrote the killing scene to be off stage, whether it was because the children, while important in only being part of the revenge scheme, were not important enough to have their deaths on the scene or it would have added more problems as the children’s death were not what Euripides wanted people to focus on. Shigenari Kawashima from, Literary Criticism in Euripides, states that “there are in Medea two conflicting aspects…

This quote provided information that many people did not like the poetry part of the competition due to such a large number of worthy competitors for the Games. The Olympics were first created in ancient Greece and the very first Olympic Games were held in Athens in 776 B.C. This contest, mainly for men, consisted of all physical activities such as running, jumping, and wrestling. Other events included javelin and eventually chariot races, horseback riding, and boxing (Miller). The Olympics…

In Medea, Euripides shows Medea’s empathy-evoking problems right away. Although before the play, the audience is warned of Medea’s plans, it is easy to empathize with her at first. At the start, Medea has just been abandoned by Jason, the only person she has left after their exile (Euripides 14). As the play continues, Medea becomes less and less sympathetic. Once Medea begins her plans to kill her…