Medea by Euripides

In the play Medea by Euripides, there was a broad range of key passages throughout the play that had meanings on different levels and were interesting. One key passage that interests me is the one where Medea tells all about her plan to get revenge on Jason, the man that betrayed her to be with a rich woman so he can be rich himself. Medea is a person full of revenge and power. These qualities in her led to her plotting against him as well as loved ones, including her children and his wife. Why I chose this passage is because of one reason: it is the beginning of the climax. Another reason why I chose this passage is because of the seriousness of the tone. Medea’s plans are going to be fulfilled soon, and everything will either take a turn for the worse, or her plans won’t happen at all. This passage keeps my interest because of the lurking question of what is going to happen. Throughout this passage, there was a significant amount of themes. Because of that, this passage can be analyzed in many different ways. Therefore, an analysis of this passage can be done through the topics a character study, themes, as well as its significance to the whole play.

First, the analysis of this passage can be done through a character study of Medea. In this passage, Medea seems to be a very ruthless and revengeful person. Even the people who didn’t do her any harm, which are the children, will still have to feel her powerful wrath. She will do anything to get revenge on Jason, even if that means causing pain to her own family. Even though it would hurt her very much, she still decides to do it. She says, “…there is none who can give them safety.” This is very ruthless because she would hurt everyone around her instead of just doing harm to that one person. In addition to Medea being ruthless and revengeful, she is also manipulative. She used Aegeus as “a harbor for [her] in all [her] plans.” She can also “fasten the cable of [her] safety” when she reaches the town and fortress of Pallas. She also uses her children. She says that she will “send the children with gifts in their hands to carry to the bride, so as to not be banished.” These “gifts” that she wanted to send to her actually had poison on them. This also made her a ruthless person because Medea wanted her to suffer. Hence, Medea’s character is one that is ruthless, revengeful, and manipulative.

In addition to a character study, the recognition of themes can also be another way to analyze this passage. The first evident theme in this passage is revenge. Being the revengeful person that she is, Medea’s plans had a lot of hate in them. For example, she had plans to ruin “the whole of Jason’s house.” This shows that not only she wanted to cause pain to Jason, but she wanted revenge on the rest of the house as well. The other person that she wanted revenge on is Jason’s wife. His wife “…is to be forced to die a most terrible death” from the poisons of Medea so she won’t be able to give him children. Another theme in this passage is regret. Before, she trusted Jason’s words and left her father’s house. She said, “My mistake was made the time I left behind my father’s house, and trusted the words of a Greek…” These words show that she finally realizes she made a mistake. The last them present in this passage is manipulation. A part of Medea’s plans was to talk to Jason. She said, “I’ll say that I agree with him, that I approve the royal wedding he has made, betraying me.” By doing this, she will make him believe that everything is fine, and that “it was profitable, an excellent idea.” By manipulating Jason in this way, he won’t suspect anything