Plot

the play tells a story of the jealousy & retaliation of a woman betrayed by her hubby. A concentrated action of the play is at Corinth, where Jason has brought Medea after a dangerous undertaking of the Golden Fleece but has now left her to marry a girl of King Creon (elsewhere known as Glauce, and besides known around Latin works when Creusa - see Seneca the Younger's Medea and Propertius 2.16.Thirty). A play opens by owning Medea grieving her loss & her aged nurse fearing what she will run to herself or even her tikes.

Creon, likewise fearing what Medea can clean, arrives to send Medea into exile. Medea asks for 1 day's delay, & begins to project a deaths of Jason, Glauce, & Creon, when Jason arrives to look at her & tell you himself. He believes he may not pass higher the chance to marry the royal princess, when Medea is merely a barbarian woman, but hopes to someday join them families, by owning Medea when his mistress. Medea, & a chorus of Corinthian women, do not find his story. She reminds him that she left her have barbaric population for him ("I am the mother of your children. Whither can I fly, since all Greece hates the barbarian?"), & that she got driven Pelias, whom he feared, to exist as flushed by his have girl. She refuses by using scorn his base gifts, "Marry the maid if thou wilt; perchance full soon thou mayst rue thy nuptials."

Next Medea is visited by Aegeus, King of Athens, who shares a prophecy that might lead to the birth of Theseus; Medethe begs him to protect her, within return for her serve in conceiving a toddler. Aegeus doesn't understand what Medea is attend neutralize Corinth however promises to give her refuge in any instance, in case she might escape to Athens.

Medethe comes back to her scheming, weaving a wedding dress for Glauce which she has poisoned. She resolves to obliterate her use at times youngsters too, non because them have done anything incorrectly themselves, however because she feels these are a better way to pain Jason. She calls for Jason again, falsely apologizes to him, & sends a poisoned dress by using her youngsters as a gift.

A asking is granted & a gifts come accepted. Offstage, spell Medea ponders her actions, Glauce is flushed per poisoned dress, & Creon is besides flushed per poison when attempting to save her. These cases come related by the courier.

Medethe is supprised, & gives a soliloquy pondering her next action:

She rushes wing by owning the knife to stamp out her babies. When a chorus laments her guide, them come heard screaming. Jason rushes to the scene to punish her for the execution of Glauce & learns that his babies as well keep around been flushed. Medea so appears above a stage in the chariot of the sun god Helios; this was probably accomplished using the mechane device usually restrained for even the appearance of the god or goddess. She confronts Jason, revelling within his hurt:

She escapes to Athens sustaining a bodies. A chorus is left contemplating a may of Zeus in Medea's actions:

Themes

Unlike the plays of Aeschylus or Sophocles, Euripides shows the inner emotions of passion, love, and vengeance. Medea, uncharacteristically for a female character, is strong and powerful; the play is often seen as one of the first works of feminism, and Medea is seen as a feminist heroine. However, Euripides, rather than celebrating the strength and independence of Medea, may have been showing Athenian women how not to act. Medea is, after all, a barbarian from Colchis (''οὐκ ἔστιν ἥτις του̂τ' ἂν ̔Ελληνὶς γυνὴ ἔτλη ποθ' '', "there is no Greek woman world health organization would keep around dared such deeds"), and the play is more likely an admonition than a celebration.

Reaction

Although the play is considered one of the great plays of the Western canon, the Athenian audience did not react so favourably, and awarded it only the third place prize at the Dionysia festival in 431. This was largely because of Euripides' extensive changes to the conventions of Greek theatre. To have included an indescisive chorus, his criticism of Athenian society and his eventual disrespect for the gods - inhibit in Artemis, the acclaimed goddess of light and justice, acting for the now apparently evil Medea in carrying her to King Aegeus, was to repeal the purpose of the Dionysian plays: to appreciate Grecian society and uphold the power of the gods. However, it has also been argued that Medea was awarded third place because the competition at that particular Dionysia was so fierce, not because the Athenians were in any way opposed to the play's content.

With the rediscovery of the text in 1st century Rome, 16th century Europe and in the light of 20th century modern literary criticism, Medea has provoked differing reactions from differing critics and writers who have sought to interpret the reactions of their societies in the light of past generic assumptions; bringing a fresh interpretation to its universal themes of revenge and justice in an injust society.

Dramatis Personae

Medea Creon Jason Aegeus, king of Athens Medea's two children Nurse Tutor Messenger Chorus of Corinthian women