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Medea: A Feminist Icon or a Lovestruck Girl?

By Ciara Julia Hall

Dr. Mareile Hasse

TA Jordan Nemec

CLA204H5

LEC0101
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Medea, like most characters in Greek mythology, was a complicated person. Her life was

a rollercoaster, filled with love, adventure, and betrayal. Between her inclination for magic,

presumably received from her aunt Circe1, her overwhelming love for Jason and their sons, and

her love for her parents, the decisions she made throughout her life took a toll on her and her

mental well-being. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of Medea’s alliance and

love, in relation to being loyal to her father and her country or to Jason. I will be taking a

personal stance in this paper and putting myself into Medea’s shoes and base her actions on my

own personal opinions on Medea’s life and journey. From my point of view, I believe that

Medea should have kept her loyalty and support to her family and country, and I will discuss my

reasoning in this essay.

Medea was the first person on Colchis to meet Jason2, and she instantly fell in love with

him. However, this deep desire she had for the warrior did not occur because of her own freewill,

but instead by Eros under the wishes of Aphrodite3, who was asked to do so by Hera4. Under the

influence of Eros’ lovestruck arrow, Medea did all that she could to support Jason, no matter the

consequences. From murdering her younger brother Apsyrtus to protect the Argonauts5, to slyly

deceiving the daughters of Peleus by saying that she would revive their father if they slit his

throat by proving that she could with a lamb6, there is no doubt that this magical woman would

do absolutely anything for her lover. Her love and desire for Jason was so profound that we

never see her living her life for herself, only for her husband. She never acted out of her own

1
Stephen Trzaskoma et al., “Genealogical Charts,” in Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation,
xlix.
2
Powell, Barry B. Classical myth. Vol. 9th, 481
3
Richard Hunter, “Jason, Mythical Greek Hero,” Oxford Classical Dictionary, March 7, 2016.
4
Powell, Barry B. Classical myth. Vol. 9th, 481
5
Hunter, Richard. "Medea, figure of Greek mythology." Oxford Classical Dictionary. 7 Mar. 2016.
6
Digital LIMC, “Monument #8344”.
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wants or needs, instead she did whatever she could to make Jason happy. That is however until

they are exiled to Corinth, where Jason betrays her in the most horrific and selfish way possible.

As a twenty first century woman, I approach Medea’s story with a very different view

than the Ancient Greeks would have. They saw her as an outsider, a foreigner witch who

slaughtered countless people7, including her own kin. However, in this day and age, many

people, and myself included, see her has a feminist icon8. As I have established, Medea’s

somewhat troubled actions were all done in the name of Jason. He, and the arrow provided my

Eros, had complete control over her for the entirety of her adult life, which ultimately led to her

banishment from Corinth and the death of Glauce and her only two sons9. Unfortunately, women

have been under the control of men for as long as the human race has existed. We have been

abused by them in every aspect; physical abuse, vocal abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, abuse

using manipulation and coercion, and so much more. So, if I was put in Medea’s shoes I would

definitely feel a lot of varied emotions, some new and some familiar. For example, new emotions

I would feel would be vengeance, unending love for a significant other, the lust for killing etc.,

but I definitely understand her feelings of betrayal, depression, and intense want for justice.

In Euripides’ Medea, she discusses with the Chorus women about the dominance of men

over women, and how all women have felt the same way she has and makes clear the inequality

between men and women10. She declares that a woman must offer a dowry for a husband who

then takes possession of her body, and then she must adjust to her husband's expectations and has

to have no alternative way of life if he abandons her, etc.11. Medea openly declares that women's

7
ZORN, JEFFREY. “RHETORICAL FEMINISM IN EURIPIDES’ ‘MEDEA.’” The Classical Outlook 83, no. 4 (2006), 129
8
Zyl Smit, Betine van. “MEDEA THE FEMINIST.” Acta Classica 45 (2002), 120
9
Euripides. Medea, 2016.
10
Zyl Smit, Betine van. “MEDEA THE FEMINIST.” Acta Classica 45 (2002), 104
11
Zyl Smit, Betine van. “MEDEA THE FEMINIST.” Acta Classica 45 (2002), 104
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lives require more courage than men's, which in her life makes sense, as she is the sole reason for

Jason’s successes with the Argonauts. She saved his life multiple times and made every attempt

to give him a happy life and get everything he desired. So, the fact that after everything she did

for him and he betrays her in the most horrific way, I believe that she should have stayed with

her family in Colchis, and she would have saved herself a lot of trouble.

On the assumption that I was playing Medea and I had control over all my facilities, I

would have never thrown away the love, comfort, and safety of my family for a man I do not

even know. The fact that she put her care and trust into the hands of a man whose purpose was to

overthrow a throne was not a very conscious thought processes. Considering what happens to

Medea after her decision to help Jason, in my opinion she should have been more mindful and

responsible in her decision making. She could have saved herself a lot of pain if she stayed in her

home of Colchis.
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Bibliography

Trzaskoma, Stephen, R. Scott Smith, Stephen Brunet, and Thomas G. Palaima.

“Genealogical Charts.” In Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation, xlix.

Indianapolis; Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc, 2016.

Powell, Barry B.

Classical Myth. Vol. 9th. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Hunter, Richard.

"Jason, mythical Greek hero." Oxford Classical Dictionary. 7 Mar. 2016; Accessed 19 Jun. 2023.

https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-

9780199381135-e-3483.

Hunter, Richard.

"Medea, figure of Greek mythology." Oxford Classical Dictionary. 7 Mar. 2016; Accessed 19

Jun. 2023. https://oxfordre.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/

9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4034.

Digital LIMC.

“Monument #8344.” Accessed June 19, 2023. https://weblimc.org/page/monument/2078950

ZORN, JEFFREY.

“RHETORICAL FEMINISM IN EURIPIDES’ ‘MEDEA.’” The Classical Outlook 83, no. 4

(2006): 129–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43939096.

Zyl Smit, Betine van.

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“MEDEA THE FEMINIST.” Acta Classica 45 (2002): 101–22.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/24595328.

Euripides.

“Medea.” Kbh.: Hans Reitzel, 2016.