The story of Antigone is one of the oldest, yet most well-known, theatrical pieces. Sophocles, was the first playwright to interpret the myth to create a theatrical performance. The appeal of Antigone to many playwrights, as well as the reason for its longevity, is its ability to adapt to any social or political theme. In 441 b.c. Sophocles adapted the myth of Antigone to a play that emphasises Athenian ideals and cultural values. Centuries later in 1944, Jean Anouilh reinterpreted...
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Think about the last time you were angry and someone told you to calm down. Did it work? Did you go from angry to complete calmness? Of course not. Human brains have developed over time. We have one brain that can be essentially divided into two sections. The modern brain and the primal brain. The modern brain, the front cortex, is in charge of tasks such as memory, judgment, reasoning, problem solving, and impulse. Your primal brain, the hindbrain and...
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Sophocles’ Antigone, written in 441 B.C.E., is over 2000 years old and is still a common element in an average English class reading list. It is a story about a woman who wants to cause no trouble, but will also stop at nothing to honor her brother in his death. Even though King Creon has decreed that anybody who tries to bury Antigone’s brother will be punished with death, she does so anyway. Antigone disregards the threat and buries her...
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Medea by Euripides is centered around a woman that ends up with a broken heart simply because she loved too hard. Medea, who is the protagonist in the play, gives up everything for Jason, who is her former husband and the man she was deeply in love with. However, her acts of love are only repaid with betrayal by Jason. This turns Medea into a woman scorned and she makes it her mission to seek vengeance against Jason. Consequently, this...
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In her eponymous play, Medea, in the name of revenge for Jason’s betrayal, kills her own children. I will argue that Medea’s actions are, in fact, logically justified because they are rational when viewed on a cosmic scale. First, Jason’s severest and highest offense is his violation of his oath to the gods, and therefore the best form of justice for this is on a divine level in return. Medea carried this out after deliberating in a “divine” manner, which...
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Throughout history, there have been various cases in which the people of a nation have to take the matter into their own hands in order to bring justice to everyone. Civil disobedience is a right that an individual has to oppose an unjust law in a manner that is passive. Not only is it a right but it also ties into being a responsibility of the people to fight against laws that may be unjustified to ensure the safety and...
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Greek Literature carries some of the most influential messages and lessons of any grouping of writing in history: The Iliad, an epic poem, and Medea, a Greek tragedy, supply examples of literature that do so. The Iliad, written by the infamous Homer, tells a story centered around the gods, mortals, and war, set in the Trojan war. Through its ongoing depiction of the disputes between Agamemnon and Achilles, the poem carries messages of fate, love, mortality, forgiveness, and more. Additionally,...
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A lady who has been harmed by the one she cherishes will look for vengeance until she never again feels for them. Ladies are brilliant and they know how to utilize what they have to hurt those who have harmed them. They will take the necessary steps to get and give retribution to the individuals who have treated them terribly. Medea is a lady who took drastic measures to get revenge on her husband but, in the end, it flipped...
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In the play Medea, the historical context effects and deepens the understanding of culture, identity, and community. During this period women had no place in society except in the home taking care of family and being looked down at all the time. The Athenian society expected women to submit to their husbands having no privileges and absolutely no power. Madea on top of being a woman was an outsider giving her a lower status within the Athenian Society being viewed...
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The story of Medea by author Euripides conveys the loathsome side of human relationships, especially within a family. The society being presented in the story mirrors major situations happening in our society. Medea is a woman who has suffered a lot, and over time, she became twisted by her own pain. Euripides uses gender roles, love, marriage, and being a foreigner as a common motif in this short story. True power of love lies in the lack of protection and...
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Medea, written by the infamous Greek tragedian Euripides, shines a light on the injustices women faced in Classical Greece. Throughout the play, Medea is constantly ostracized and villainized due to the heinous crimes she committed with Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Despite this, Medea “fights” back against the patriarchy, and shows that she won't confine herself to gender expectations. Moreover, Medea consistently shows that she doesn't consider herself an outcast, but a powerful independent woman. Many people in Classical...
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Since the universe has been created, there are certain patterns of life that the whole world is following. People born, they grow upon, face certain challenges of the life and devout their live towards the will of the God. So basically, all the events of life are written and organized by the God. However the conflict and problems of the life arises when we try to challenge the will of the God, when we try to write our own fate...
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W.E.B Dubois said, “Education among all kinds of men always has had, and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know.” From this, we see the search for truth calls danger and bewilderment. The status quo dictates we accept the knowledge we are given, and skepticism is essential yet often frowned upon. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex portrays the struggles from a cynical view of truth. The pursuit of truth, if conducted...
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In all history men were favored and privileged. Men were given freedom, an education, pride, and an opportunity to share their opinion, however women in ancient Greek were not given any of these privileges. The play Medea by Euripides, shows how women were seen by ancient Greek society and how some women did not fall into these expectations. Therefore, “Medea” gives accurate examples that help with the feminist theory of poststructuralism and deconstruction; this theory focuses on how language supoorted...
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There were so many things that I did not realise as I read the play. The interactive oral made me apprehend those things I could not imagine at first. During the discussion, student D. expatiated on the fact that the curse did not start on Oedipus at first but really began with what Laius did. The curse actually began at the stage of the ancestors. Before Oedipus' parents took over the throne, Amphion and Zeth usurped the throne of Thebes....
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In Euripides’ play Medea, the audience witnesses the ongoing conflict between acting out of reason and of passion, both of which can result in destructive ends. The main protagonist Medea embodies an extremely vengeful and strong-willed character, whose extreme passion often overrides reason and results in irrational behaviour. However, at times, Medea is able to act in control of her actions as seen when it comes to manipulating others and is therefore also capable of putting her emotions aside. In...
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In Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy ‘Medea,’ he explores how women are disadvantaged in society in terms of welfare under the authority of men. Firstly, Euripides speaks against men dehumanising women in their pursuit of higher social standing, criticising such actions as morally wrong. Moreover, Euripides exposes how the patriarchal society places men in positions of authority, inevitably leading women to be seen as inferior. This is demonstrated through how Medea possesses power, however, due to her excessive loyalty towards her...
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“Medea” is a Greek tragedy by Euripides detailing the journey of a woman and protagonist Medea. The play is an immaculate symphony of all the decisions and motivations of Medea and the sharp contrast of those decisions to the Antagonist and Medea’s husband Jason. In “Medea” Euripides explores the theme of rationality and reason contrasted by irrationality and passion through the two main characters Jason and Medea. Jason is a legendary hero and adventurer in many of Euripides plays but...
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The catastrophic Greek tragedy, “Medea” deals with the maltreatment faced by the titular character and how such struggles can lead to immoral retributive acts. Medea challenges society’s paradigm of the typical woman who is a “timid creature” and a “coward” through her headstrong and opinionated character, thereby establishing herself as an exemplar for women. Moreover, Euripides illustrates how Medea, as a woman, struggles against her male consort, as well as the patriarchal Athenian society and how this conflict is only...
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Justice is a theme present in most in Greek Literature, to punish one’s actions or words that are considered wrong or to uphold ideals seen as good. Justice is used to instil that wrongs in society are stopped, and rights will be upheld. Revenge is the act of committing a harmful action towards a person or a group in response to a grievance however in many cases revenge can be seen as justice. While Medea and Antigone are alike in...
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Revenge is a significant theme in most Greek tragedies as it is perceived as a means of justice by the victimized protagonists. In Euripides’ ‘Medea’ (431 BC), revenge takes centre stage as it is foregrounded in an appallingly visible manner in the multiple murders committed by the eponymous female protagonist, Medea. This essay aims to present an argument on (i) the significance and construction of revenge in Greek drama, (ii) the motive for Medea’s revenge and, (iii) whether her acts...
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In mythology, heroes were considered to be any man who fights and defeats monsters. To become a hero, heroes in mythology had to go through a hero's journey which would then make them a hero that everyone knows. In The Odyssey by Homer, a narration of The Odyssey reveals that Odysseus is a hero in this story. The definition of hero has changed throughout history but the meaning from the past and present are still very similar. The modern idea...
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Works of literature are often framed to portray clear distinctions between heroic figures and those who are the complete opposite of them. Typically, readers know early on which character is the one they should be rooting for and are invested in seeing that person prosper. Euripides’ Medea complicates this notion. Medea betrayed her family, killed a king and his daughter and murdered her own children. However, Medea is undeniably the tragic hero of the drama. Throughout the course of the...
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Love continues through Euripides’s Medea. Euripides’s Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy based on the myth of Medea and Jason. The play that was discussed about in class is based on the actions of Medea who was a princess of the Colchis Kingdom. Medea can be described as a fine line just between hate and love but we wonder what one is more than the other. It seems as if she is loving wife but also a dangerous enemy at...
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Female characters in gothic texts both challenge and reinforce prevailing standards of gender difference within the patriarchal society at the time that they were written. In Macbeth and Medea, both Shakespeare and Euripides portray women as a symbol of defiance, challenging the gender constructions and the male-dominant system by appropriating traits then-known to be masculine. Whether we talk about the Athenian audience or the Jacobean audience, both expected women to act elegant and stay calm and collected but the main...
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Humanity revolves around fate in Sophocles play, Oedipus Rex, and constricting the freedom to choose a role within the society. One of the classical Athenian playwrights for tragedy is Sophocles, and is well known for his drama, Oedipus Rex. His plays contain characters who have noble qualities and are liable to their tragic fate. Fate is inevitable in the context of the play. Sophocles intentionally presents fate to be inevitable to ensure the submission of society. In the play, Oedipus...
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One of the classical Athenian playwrights for tragedy is Sophocles, and is well known for his drama, Oedipus Rex. His plays contain characters who have noble qualities and are liable to their tragic fate. Fate is inevitable in the context of the play. Sophocles intentionally presents fate to be inevitable to ensure the submission of society. In the play, Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, displays a society who fully worships the gods and defying them leads to consequences, the certainty...
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Traditions for centuries have defined gender roles in societies. Some critics today may declare that gender role does not exist, but others believe that they do exist. In ancient Greece, women suffered many hardships. Greek society considered the role of a woman to be insignificant compared to their men. Greek plays depict a woman as either a villain, a victim, or the heroine. In the play Medea, Medea depicts all these characters. Euripides gives Medea agency by having her take...
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A man in the likeness of dishonesty is like an illusion, one that hides his deception and guile. Odysseus displays a false representation of merit as his more prominent heroic qualities conceal his dishonorable traits. However, mere strength and bravery alone, does not make a hero honorable. Honor can be defined as an individual who adheres to a right or conventional standard of conduct. Odysseus does not abide by these standards, instead creating his own code of conduct for himself...
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In this paper, I explore the controversy of why human beings suffer; is it because of the gods or is it a consequence of human action? The former is something that I believe in; however, this seems untrue in the Iliad and the Odyssey. As a practicing Hindu, I believe in polytheism; for me, the gods are all knowing and are responsible for maintaining the moral order. Those who do bad deeds are punished and those who do good deeds...
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