Medea by Euripides questions and challenges the role of women in ancient Greek society. Most of these social roles are still somewhat compulsory for women to follow today in modern society, although they are slowly becoming less enforced. This is due to the gradual advance of feminism, ‘’the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men’’. Euripides conceives a strong female character with a feminist twist to express strong arguments about the unfair
In Euripides’ Medea, Medea switches between genders roles commonly associated with ancient Greek society. The protagonist is contrary in many ways to the stereotype of a woman in Ancient Greece at that time. She demonstrates an abundance of behavioral and psychological patterns that differentiate her from typical Ancient Grecian women. For example, many of Medea’s characteristics, such as her pride, determination, cruelty, passion, as well as talent in manipulation often appear through her actions
Intimate and intense with a balance of mortal desire and divine influence, Medea makes up a family tragedy with sharp psychological observation, and plenty of bite. Medea, portrayed as barbarian women, finds herself threatened in the Greek world, as Jason leaves her to exile for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes revenge on Jason by killing his new wife and her own children with him to teach him a listen, and then she escapes to Athens to start a new life. Clearly, this play portrays and highlights
The Ancient Greeks were instrumental in advancing the theater when arts were just beginning to be recognized as important during the Fifth Century B.C.E. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were key factors in this, and some of their works have survived and continue to receive praise today. Each playwright left his own mark on the world of theater and were the building blocks of modern playwriting, which shows just how critical these three were to the theater many years ago. First to make his mark
the distinction and hierarchy of genders. In the patriarchal setting of classical literature, strong and complex female characters are often hard to find. Some texts, however, are known as quite misogynistic to the general public but, with a better attention to details, can be read a proto-feminist. Taking the example of Homer’s Odyssey and Euripides’ Medea, I will attempt to demonstrate how these texts engage in debate over the distinction and hierarchy of genders. I will first observe how women