Euripides’ Medea is a play that is based on a tragedy where a woman revenges on her husband (Jason), who had betrayed her by marrying another woman. Medea is the protagonist in the play who in the initial stages arouses a reader’s sense of sympathy and admiration because of the situation she is passing through. However, as I continued reading though, my feeling sorry for her changed. She was not justified to kill her children as a revenge on her husband. Even if the husband abandoned her, the method and extent of her revenge ultimately worked to her disadvantage. In fact, media’s killing of her children was a culmination of her monstrous capabilities.
The story develops where Medea initially betrays her father and the people of the family by agreeing to collaborate with Jason in overcoming the challenges that were put for Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece. After escaping with Jason, she again corroborates with Pelias daughters in killing him (King Pelias) for Jason to inherit the kingship. When Jason marries another wife, she takes revenge where she kills her through poisoning. In addition, she kills another King (Creon). She also does not want Jason to take the children away from her therefore, she decides to kill them although she is remorseful about her decision. The plan to kill Jason’s new bride and her children was well organized where Medea planned to seek refuge in Athen’s after making an agreement with King Aegeus. Medea’s action of killing her children was to hurt Jason for abandoning her despite the sacrifices she made for him to rise to become the King, (123HelpMe par 3).
In the whole story, one sympathizes with Medea because of what Jason does. However, at the end, when she kills her own children, this action makes her less- pitiable unlike before. In my view, the bond between the mother and the children was enough to compel Medea to save her children even if the whole world had abandoned her. Medea could have merged a hero could she had been able to overcome the situation as one would expect of women. Instead, her action of seeking revenge on her husband through killing her own children works to her disadvantage as evidenced by her feeling sorry for killing the children she loved, (Chong – Gossad 50).
In some instances, Medea tries to justify her actions for instance where she claims that her children would eventually be killed by Creon’s family therefore it was better she accomplish the actions rather than watch them suffer under some other people’s hands, (SparkNotes par 2). In the last parts of the play, Medea expresses that she would rather endure the punishment of dealing with the guilt of killing her children and everyone who Jason cared than face the humiliation of being abandoned by her husband for another wife. Children in this context have no direct responsibility for what had happened in the life of Medea and Jason. I believe that the best revenge would have been that which was directed towards Jason individually rather than on their children because she loved them. Medea is a strong woman who had all along played key roles in making decisions for Jason and her own. Therefore, it was possible to win Jason back rather than revenge through the murderous act of killing her own children.
Works cited
"The Character Medea's Revenge in Euripides' Medea." 123HelpMe.com. 26 Feb 2014 <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=20286>.
K.O. Chong-Gossard “On teaching Euripides’ Medea.” Viewed 26 Feb2014 at <http://classicsvic.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/chong-gossardvol20.pdf
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/medea/section6.rhtml
