Hey Verity! How do you like Medea so far? It’s a lot
different than I thought it would be. I knew it was a tragedy, so I don’t know
why I didn’t expect Medea to be so revenge-oriented. She is though, even
calling on the goddess of dark magic, Hecate, in lines 394-397, “…By the
mistress I worship / most of all and have chosen as my helpmate, / Hecate,
dwelling in the inmost recesses of my hearth, / no one will bruise and batter
my heart and get away with it.” Since calling upon the gods is usually taken
gravely serious in Greek literature, do you think Hecate will actually help
Medea? Do you think we’ll see Hecate at some point? I wouldn’t be surprised if
she intervened in some way, although I don’t expect her to show up, at least
any time soon.
I don’t really like how Medea takes out her anger, though,
especially when it’s on her children. When she’s yelling in rage, she says “You
horrible children, of a mother who hates you / god damn you with your father”
(lines 111-113). It seems to me like the children are innocent in all of this,
and Medea's misplaced anger will lead her to a bad decision. What do you think?
Do you think that Medea will end up hurting her children when she actually
wants to hurt her ex-husband?
Hi again Rachel :)
ReplyDeleteI definitely think Medea is a very interesting story. I must admit that I was surprised at the depth of the female characters, especially in today’s society. It is so hard to find flawed female characters in movies today, which makes it odd that Greek tragedies are full of them. I noticed this with Antigone, too. If Hecate shows up, I would not be surprised. Euripides has made it clear that he is comfortable writing strong female characters, so one female showing up to assist another does not seem far off. The Chorus already does this by being composed entirely of Corinthian women and stating things such as “Backward flow streams of holy rivers / and justice and all things are being turned back” (409-410). Would you agree that Medea is a flawed but well-written female character? If Hecate makes an appearance, do you think she, as a goddess will be as well-rounded as everyone else?
It’s surprising to me that she is fueled not only by rage towards Jason’s new wife, but Jason himself as well. Regarding her attitude of her children, it horrifying that she claims to be “a mother who hates [her children]” (112). The accusation that someone hates their own children is frightening within itself, but Medea embraces the title. Perhaps this is a flaw in the writing, as it really takes the emersion out of the experience for me. A parent hating their children is a phenomenon that’s all too real in the world today. It makes me feel sad.
I completely agree with your point about the character of Medea. So often today women in media are portrayed as flawless, but Medea is glaringly not flawless. Her need for revenge pushes is her flaw, and I think it will bring her downfall. However, she is very well-written and has depth in her motivations and it is clear what she would and wouldn't do for revenge. For Hecate, I think that if she did show up she would have a similar backing of character, and I think she would be as well-rounded as Medea.
ReplyDeleteAs for Medea hating her children, it makes me upset too since, as you stated, it's all too real in the world outside as well as inside literature. I can understand Medea's anger at Jason, but I'm sorry to see her go so far as to sacrifice her children in her plan to "cause [her] husband to feel the most pain" (line 816).
Do you think her plan of poisoning Jason’s new wife will work? Medea is clever enough to make sure everything is precise before putting her plan into motion, even offering the Athenian king a solution to his childlessness in turn for refuge in Athens. I don’t think it will work, though, since this is a tragedy, and Medea has already started herself on the wrong path by choosing to risk everything. In my opinion, she sort of blackmailed the king into giving her refuge, because she knows he wants kids and that he is “in utter despair over it” (line 721), and she uses that against him to trick him. What do you think about this?
I think it is important to take into account that this is a Greek story. Often, the logic is very flawed. Medea has a reputation of being devious as evident by Creon when he says that "even now [he] suffers for it" (346-347). Medea has no real means to stab Jason's new wife, but I think this makes no difference for Euripides. I predict that it is by Medea's cunning alone that she will be able to complete this horrid act. Further, I believe that she will succeed for the same reason you believe she will fail; this is a tragedy. As I mentioned before, I believe Medea's cunning is on her side, and it is not uncommon for more than one character to die in a tragedy. Based on the tragedies that we have read thus far (Antigone, The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, etc) I also predict that Jason will go into a blind rage and subsequently murder Medea.
ReplyDeleteSimilar things have happened in other tragedies that we have read, though never against the one they once "loved." On that note, do you think Jason truly loves Medea? Do you think he ever loved Medea? He threw her aside as if she was nothing, and she says she was "so brutally misused" (112). Yet, if he misused her or did not love her, why did they marry? And why is she so distraught that he's left her? Could there have ever been love between them?
(In The Odyssey the whole family gets back together at the end, remember! No tragedy! Except, you know, for his whole crew's death...)
DeleteI think that Jason didn't really love Medea, but loved that she was useful to him. She was a princess in her country and as you said she is cunning, and she seems to be able to use magic, since she calls Hecate a patron. I think that Jason only feels pity and anger towards her, especially since when arguing with her he says "there should be some other way / for men to produce children. Women would not have to exist at all. / And then humanity would be saved a lot of trouble" (lines 572-574). In my opinion, Jason only sees women in relation to how they can help him. I do think that Medea might have loved him at one point, but it seems the fact that he broke a vow with her upsets her more than him not loving her.
ReplyDeleteWhen Medea sets her plan into motion, she has a moment where she almost cancels her plans to kill her children as a final blow to Jason, but she argues herself out of it. She goes from saying “I could not do it. Goodbye my plans / of before. I shall take my children with me. / Why should I abuse them to wound their father” (lines 1043-1045) to “I understand what evil I am about to do / but my wrath is stronger even than my thoughts” (lines 1077-1079). Do you think she cares for her children at all? I don’t think she truly loves her children, but is instead mourning the fact that when they die she’ll have no one. What do you think? Will she kill her children? Does she care at all for them as people?
I do think she'll kill her children, as she displays great drive when she exclaims "I have determined to do the deed at one / to kill my children..." (1236-1237). Medea must be feeling such an intense rage to say drastic things like this. I could never imagine being this angry at anyone. That said, I also do not think she has ever truly loved her children. She turned on them so quickly that I highly doubt she felt real love. The same can be said for her feelings towards Jason.
DeleteI think the point you made about breaking a vow is exactly Medea's current situation. I never even considered the weight of a marriage vow in Medea's day. It is highly likely that the broken vow is why she's so angry. This puts the Jason and Medea relationship into a whole new life. If there was never love, and Medea was always so devoted to the gods as evident by her devotion in praying to "Oh Zeus and Justice, daughter of Zeus, and light of the Sun!" (363-365), this outcome makes perfect sense. Jason moved on when he was done with Medea, and Medea took offense because marriage is a serious promise in the eyes of the gods.
Speaking of the gods, what do you think the gods have in store for Medea? What will she do when/if she kills her children? Will she feel remorse and flee just like she planned? What do you predict?
Since the ending of the play has Medea leaving without seeing the consequences of her murders, I’ll say what I think would happen to her. Personally, I think she would have some punishment coming from the gods, although they seem to have taken her side throughout the play so I guess they think she’s justified. Maybe this is the gods’ punishment for Jason’s broken vow, and they decided to use Medea’s anger to their advantage. Do you think the gods believed Medea was right, or will they punish her?
DeleteAs for remorse, I doubt Medea will feel any for the death of her children. She hated Jason enough to go through with it, and she even mocks him with their deaths in line 1363 “oh children, how you were destroyed by your father’s disease.” I don’t think she cares for anyone at this point honestly. She seems too caught up in hatred.
Also, what do you think of Jason’s final conversation with Medea, after the murders of their children? Do you think Jason really cared for them, or is Medea right when she said that he only loved them after they died, when “before [he] pushed them aside” (line 1401)? I personally think that he only cared that they were alive, but not necessarily that they were with him. When Jason left, he left the kids with Medea. I doubt he would have done much if they lived in exile with Medea, as long as he thought they were alive somewhere.
I agree in that I doubt any punishment will come to her from the gods. They clearly took her side in the main conflict. I think this goes back to the point you mentioned earlier, in that a broken vow is a serious crime in the eyes of the gods. Because of this, I think the gods are under the impression that Medea did no wrong.
DeleteIt is interesting that Jason feels remorse and Medea does not. She points this out when she says "Now [Jason] speaks to them, now you love them. / Before you pushed them aside" (1401-1402). It almost seems like it should be the opposite. Medea raised her children by herself, but she does not feel bad that she killed them. Jason, on the other hand, wasn't ever a real father to them. Their emotions seem almost backwards.
On the topic of backwards, one thing I really enjoyed about Medea was the polar reversal of gender roles. It was honestly refreshing to see a woman acting not as a nurturer, but as one who neglects and ultimately murderers. Even in today's society, the belief that all women are caring and understanding and maternal is still ever present in movies and other media. I do wish Medea had more of a character aside from a sociopathic child killer, but it was still interesting to hear a Jason refer to Medea as a "loathsome / child-killer, this lioness" (1405-1406). Ultimately, I enjoyed Medea. It would've been nice to see more of a story, but I suppose that's how tragedies are written. The reversal of maternity was interesting to see in a Greek tragedy. As horrifying as this behavior was, it'd be nice to see more of this in movies today.
Interesting final point--equal representation in media might mean acknowledging that men and women run the same gamut Both of vices and of virtues. I'm also fascinating by the way the four Medea MOR Partnerships each interpret her in such different ways: while you two focus on righteous anger for her motivation, A&P examined love becoming hatred, J&J compared the portrayal of darkness in men and women, and M&J atrributed Medea's actions to insanity. Good job for going deep!
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