M.

Mohsin
241575704
ENGL-307
Dr Waqar Azeem
Summary

Medea is a Greek tragedy written by the famous playwright Euripides in 431 BCE. It is based on

the myth of Jason and Medea, particularly Medea‘s revenge against Jason for betraying her with

another woman. Often considered Euripides‘ best and most famous work. Although the play is

generally regarded as one of the great plays of ancient Greece, the Athenian audience reacted

negatively at the time, awarding it just third place at the Dionysia festival in 431 BCE. The play

explores many universal themes such as passion and rage (Medea is a woman of extreme

behaviour and emotion, and Jason‘s betrayal of her has transformed her passion into a rage and

intemperate destruction); revenge (Medea is willing to sacrifice everything to make her revenge

perfect); greatness and pride (the Greeks were fascinated by the thin line between greatness and

hubris, or pride, and the idea that the same traits that make a man or woman great can lead to

their destruction); the Other (Medea‘s exotic foreignness is emphasized, made still worse by her

status as an exile, although Euripides shows during the play that the Other is not exclusively

something external to Greece); intelligence and manipulation (Jason and Creon both try their

hands at manipulation, but Medea is the master of manipulation, playing perfectly on the

weaknesses and needs of both her enemies and her friends); and Justice in an unjust society

(especially when it comes to women). Furthermore, it has been seen by some as one of the first

works of feminism, with Medea as a feminist heroine. Euripides' treatment of gender is the most

sophisticated of any ancient Greek writer's works as well as Medea's opening speech to the

Chorus is perhaps classical Greek literature's most eloquent statement about women's injustices.