Medea in Medea: Character Thursday (54)

Medea—whose name became the title of this Greek play of Euripides—is the leading female character in this play. She is neither protagonist nor antagonist; to me, she is just a victim.

Medea was a young woman from a barbarian country, I suspect, a less civilian one. She abandoned her land and her family because she was in love with Jason. Both young lovers arrived in Corinth and decided to stay in this new country after they were married. I imagined that Medea had been growing up as an independent girl, and she was used to make decision by herself. Entering a marriage life, Medea must obey her husband and accept him, good or bad, as her superior. This must have been quite tough for a young woman of freedom. Medea felt that women were in a weaker position when affronted with the husbands. Men, even after marriage, could have mistresses without ruining his honor, but women couldn’t; they were supposed to be faithful to their husbands.

When Medea knew that Jason would like to marry another girl—daughter of King of Corinth—she was enraged. She felt that after all she must have been sacrificing for the marriage (her freedom, her full obeisance, her submissiveness), she was helpless to her husband’s selfish want. Medea did not have anywhere to run, either she must live bitterly with his husband’s infidelity, or she would be disgraced for divorcing her husband.

The wound from being abandoned by Jason, and her hopeless situation, were more than enough to be born by an independent and self-esteem woman. That was perhaps which lead Medea into her half madness. She could not control her temper, and after the rage was accumulated, she decided to take avenge by murdering everyone who has ruined her life. Considering how she was brought up in a less civilian culture, killing others should not be a strange things; that’s why I think we could not accused Medea of being suddenly mad; it has been in her blood.

The most interesting point in this play is when Medea went forth and back to decide whether she should kill her two sons to ruin their father, or bring them with her in her banishment. I think Medea had her own selfishness too, for, in this matter, she never thought about the kids, but for her own feeling. When she declined from killing them, it’s not because of the kids, but because she felt the affection for them. When she made herself to kill them, it’s more of her needs to take avenge to their father, than to deprive them of the disgrace they might have to endure.

So, in short, it was first her own personal character (being selfish), then the way she was beought, but more than those, the society which did not support women, caused more fracture in the already corrupted soul of Medea, and made her even worse to a level which we call madness.

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Medea by Euripides

After having to skip last month theme for Let’s Read Plays, I have been looking forward to read a Greek play. It’s been few years since I have enjoyed read Sophocles’ Oedipus—translated in Bahasa Indonesia—the only Greek play I’ve ever read, and I had a good time with it. This time I picked a Euripides’ of Medea. It’s a quite short play, but a very strong one.

Medea was a princess of a barbarian land of Colchis. She abandoned her land and her family for the sake of a Greek man she devotedly loved, Jason. The play began with a prologue by the Nurse (Medea and Jason’s) who put the background of the play. Medea and Jason had been husband and wife with two sons, lived in Corinth. There—either for gaining place in the royal family, or merely for his lust on King Corinth’s beautiful daughter—Jason abandoned Medea to marry the princess.

Here, Euripides seemed to underline the disadvantages of being a woman, from Medea’s soliloquy:

Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow,

A herb most bruised is woman. We must pay

Our store of gold, hoarded for that one day,

To buy us some man’s love; and lo, they bring

A master of our flesh! There comes the sting

Of the whole shame. And then the jeopardy,

For good or ill, what shall that master be;

Reject she cannot: and if he but stays

His suit, ‘tis shame on all that woman’s days.

Medea told us what she thought about being a woman. A woman needed a man as a husband under some excessive price (I take it as a dowry). The man then would have control over her, yet, she could not be sure beforehand whether he would be good or bad; while she could not divorce him if he turned out to be bad, as divorcing would ruin her reputation. So either way, she must take that husband. And after that, the husband would take her to his home, a new place where she must adapt herself to whatever the condition, and must accept the husband as he was. If the marriage turned good, she would be grateful, but if it turned bad, she must want to be dead. Then, the husband might get bored to his wife, and began to seek entertainment outside; while a woman must be satisfied with one man only in her entire life, while bearing his children.

But Medea was not a melancholy woman, who accepted her unfortunate faith with bitter tears; she was spiteful and severely enraged by Jason’s infidelity. She was at last banished by King Creon of Corinth for making everyone frightful by her cold and cruel manner. In fact, she has murdered her own brother and has persuaded two sisters to kill their father before arriving in Corinth. Became more enraged with her banishment, she then prepared a most cruel and cold-blooded revenge to Jason, his wife and his father.

I had a mixed feeling while reading Medea; I enjoyed the plays structure, language and the emotional sense in detailed description. However I was a bit inconvenient with the vulgarity of the murder scene. Medea’s intense anger and the turbulence of her feeling were captured very vividly by Euripides, as if I was witnessing the action myself; and for me, it’s the most attracting point of this play.

Some people called Medea’s killing her two sons as madness, but I think it was more of a fight between her hatred versus affection—and in this case the hatred won. I don’t know much about madness, but Medea felt sorry for her children; she altered her decision from killing them and releasing them for several times, it only meant that Medea still have affection for her children.

Cold-blooded she was, I could not put the blame only on Medea’s part. I hated Jason more than Medea, for treating his wife so coldly. How clever he was in his reasoning of marrying King’s daughter, that he actually still loved Medea, and only marrying the princess as a chance to protect their family in their exile in Corinth; that Medea should be thankful to live in Greek instead of Barbarian country where she came from. Here Medea was right, if Jason honestly wanted to marry Creon’s daughter merely for survival, he ought to tell the truth to Medea. I agree with the Chorus, Jason deserved Medea’s punishment. If only she did not take his sons too in this revenge scene, I might have been more enjoying this play. If only after several times altering decision, the last one was departing with his sons to Aegeus’ country, I might have had more sympathy towards Medea.

In the end, I believe, Euripides has written it for purpose, as if to tell us how women—delicate their nature are—could be more cruel and stronger than men when you hurt them. And most of the times, it’s about infidelity in love. That’s why, beware you, men….!

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*I read ebook from Gutenberg Project*

*This book is counted for*

 Greek play theme

35^th book for The Classics Club Project

7^th book for What's In a Name Reading Challenge2013

3^rd book for New Authors Reading Challenge 2013

Weekend Quote 17: Medea

This time I’d like to share a passage from Medea, a Greek play by Euripides.

‘Tis best men tread the equal way.

Aye, not with glory but with peace

May the long summers find me crowned;

For gentleness-her very sound

Is magic, and her usages.

All wholesome; but the fiercely great

Hath little music on his road,

And falleth, when the hand of God

Shall move, most deep and desolate.

The nurse (nurse of Medea and Jason’s children) reflected that she was very grateful to live a moderate life, as she believed that wealth and fortune only brought unhappiness towards men. It’s wisely true, but unfortunately greediness is often overshadow this wisdom from us.

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