Both Fifth century B.C. playwright Euripides and Roman poet and dramatist Ovid tell the story of Jason ditching Medea for another woman; however, they do not always share a perspective on the female matron’s traits, behavior, and purpose. Euripides portrays a woman who reacts to injustice by beginning a crusade to avenge all who harmed her which she is prepared to see through even if it means resorting to the most contemptible methods. Ovid, on the other hand, tells of a much less extreme figure whose humble goal is only to persuade Jason to return. Despite these differences, both Medeas create trouble by acting with emotions instead of with reason, and as a result, put themselves in regrettable situations.
Euripides and Ovid present two entirely different sets of motivations for Medea’s behavior which surface through her attitude towards Jason. In the Athenian tragedy, it becomes clear from the onset that Medea harbors an unnatural and overwhelming hatred for Jason and anyone he is connected to. Granted, anger is a natural response when one spouse leaves his or her mate for another partner, but it should not consume the abandoned person’s life. As the Chorus notes, “It often happens…You must not waste away” (156-158).
Medea’s stern rejection of this advice is puzzling to the reader, but her reasons soon become clear in a soliloquy following a meeting with Aegeus in which she states “Let no one think me a weak one” (807).
The Essay on Medea Jason Brings His Own Downfall
In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children ...
Medea is a proud character whose self-image reflects an important person, but as was the case with her anger, she takes this idea to an extreme. The rage that follows Jason’s threat to her authority motivates her to think and act destructively. Ovid, on the other hand, saw Medea behaving for a different set of reasons.
Although the Queen of Colchis displays signs of anger towards Jason, indignation does not kindle her actions which all gear towards winning her husband back. She refers to herself as a “simple maid” (91) and a “suppliant” (185), completely departing from the image of an abnormally confident and proud Medea that Euripides perceived. So what causes her to act the way she does? The Queen of Colchis knows all to well the implications of her dependence on Jason and is reluctant to denounce him because it could leave her with nothing. So it is her fear of being by herself that influences her mission. Thus she is not proud but humble, not angry but hurt, and not conniving but straightforward. Whatever approach, Medea’s motivations correlate strongly with her failures.
For Euripides and Ovid as well, Medea’s perception and interpretation of events in her life cause her the most trouble. In the case of the Greek version, illogical thinking combined with hatred make Medea a very dangerous figure. Irrationality not only leads her to commit horrible crimes against the guilty but also to punish the innocent, and finally not to accept responsibility for her actions. Medea first errors by creating a “false dilemma” which Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook defines as “a statement that limited alternatives exist when in fact there are much more.” Consumed with rage, she concludes that killing her children is something she must do, despite repeated pleas from her servants that some other action would be better.
In response to the Chorus’s request, she says “I can do no other thing” (814) grossly oversimplifying her range of options. The female cast away provides another example of invalid thought when she proclaims concerning her children, “I curse you and your father” (113-114) even though Jason’s activities obviously have no relation to his progeny. Finally, Medea shuns responsibility for her offspring’s murders by issuing an “ad hominem” attack on Jason, claiming, “They died from a disease they caught from their father” (1364) when in fact, she herself is the guilty one. All of these logical fallacies, whether Medea consciously employs them or not, stem from her uncompromising, exorbitant need to obtain revenge.
The Term Paper on Golden Fleece Medea Jason Children
In considering women's history in Greek Drama, one name always comes to mind. Medea remains an influential character in the story of a time where mythological tales intertwine with true history. Euripides' Medea is a play that was written to save the reputation of the Greek city of Corinth. It is a controversial play charting the pain of a woman in love who knows not how to deal with the ...
The Queen as well makes poor decisions which put her at a disadvantage, but they arise less from faulty logic and mainly from naive decision-making and a lack of foresight. More importantly, she seems to be able to identify the flaws that lead her astray. The first mistake Medea traces her current predicament back to is her vulnerability to be manipulated when thinking with her emotions instead of her better sense. On first falling in love with Jason, she recalls “I was ensnared, girl that I was, by your/words” (86), words tapping into her emotions. This of course inspired the all the more magnanimous goof of replacing her family with her husband who as the queen describes “alone…took the place of/ all!” (164-165).
For the Queen of Colchis, bad decisions have been her major shortcoming, a fact that she both realizes and takes responsibility for. Thus acknowledgment is the first step towards her redemption.
Evidence for this can be seen through her pathological appeals to Jason which illustrate how the Queen has used her emotional mind-set as a strength instead of a weakness. Medea “betrayed [her] sire” (109), “lost [her] throne” (163), and killed her own brother for Jason. She reminds him that, in addition to all the sacrifices she made for him, her devotion has not faltered when she says, “At your bidding I have withdraw from/ your palace…and –/ what follows me evermore — my love for you” (140-143).
After winning Jason’s sympathy, the humble woman concludes “by my favours to you…restore me to the bed for which madly I left so much behind” (192-195).
Whether or not this plea curries favor with Jason is out of Medea’s control; however, by recognizing her faults and correcting them, she has made great leaps to improving the quality of her character. As a result, the consequences of her mistakes will not be as severe as those Euripides’s Medea faces.
The Essay on Medea 3 Jason Euripides Children
The tragic play Medea, originally written by Euripides then later translated by Philip Vellacott, describes the intense love that Medea expresses towards Jason, a prince on a quest for the Golden Fleece. In an attempt to become closer to the throne, Jason marries Medea, and they parent two children together. However, Jason divorces Medea and marries a young princess. Many themes present themselves ...
Both Medeas lose control of some part of their lives as a consequence for their deeds. In the case of the Euripides play, Medea’s powerlessness results from going mad and losing touch with reality. The first words she speaks, “Ah, lost in my sufferings” (96) indicate that some other force within has taken over and blurred her vision. The Chorus notices this change and asks the Nurse “Will she come into our presence?” (173), obviously concerned with what Medea might try. Creon shares this concern when, after Medea admits, “I am in the full force of the storm of hate” (278) he states “I am afraid of you” (282).
This “storm of hate” starts her on a mission to do something only an insane mother could: kill her own children. And despite agreeing that infanticide is horrible, Medea feels that “No compromise is possible” (819).
She confirms this when, only moments before the murders, confesses “I know indeed what evil I intend to do,/ But stronger than all my afterthought is my fury” (1078-1079).
Hatred brainwashes Medea into carrying out truly dreadful acts, and in effect, usurps the authority to command her body. In the Ovid piece, the Queen of Colchis retains her right mind but has virtually no power to achieve her wishes.
The Queen of Colchis also makes unwise decisions that leave her vulnerable to forces outside of her control. To begin with, Athenian women of the time were already largely at the whim of a man and had little ability to impact their own lives. Once married, if the husband divorced or got tired of her, she at least had some security because she could then return to her original household. However, the Queen of Colchis forfeits this right when she betrays her family to marry Jason, and now that he does not want her anymore, she is left with nothing. Speaking to Jason, Medea describes how she entrusted him with control over her life: “I saw you, and I was undone” (33).
She laments over the realization of this result, saying “I betrayed my sire, I left my throne and/ my native soil…beloved mother and best/ of sisters I have left behind” (109-112), and after all this, “the reward I get is leave to live in/ exile!” (110).
This deserted wife has nowhere or no one to protect her and no longer has any command over her fate as a result of past decisions made with too much passion and too little reason.
The Research paper on Decision Making and Greyhound
Greyhound Lines is a bus transportation company that had problems with operating costs and customer service. It did not have union in solving vital problems, more concretely, while Greyhound’s executive faced with these issues by reorganizing such as massive cuts in personnel, routes’ and service, along with computerization, middle managers in computer programming, human resource and terminal ...
Using different methods, each author professes the belief that unrestrained emotional behavior leads to disaster. As a result, people will behave illogically and fail to thoughtfully consider situations, leaving the person virtually incapable of shaping the way in which his or her life develops. Instead, they suggest that people should not completely ignore their emotions, but should never leave reason out of the equation. Additionally, each work reflects male stereotypes of women’s affinity to emotional matters as being a weakness that requires significant monitoring. Euripides’Ovid conveys a new Medea who recognizes her weakness and then tries to fix it by thinking rationally. However, she does not abandon her emotional resources altogether! By combining pathological thought with logic and applying sufficient consideration when making decisions, Medea serves as the example of the ideal female in Ovid’s opinion.
Works Cited
Grene, David, and Richmond Lattimore. Euripides I. The University of Chicago
Press: Chicago, 1955
The Homeric Hymns. John Hopkins University Press.
