MEDEA ESSAY RESPONSE

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1 MEDEA ESSAY RESPONSE 2015 Essay Answers which received a 5. These essays are not perfect, but they do a very good job of answering the question with the skill level that they have for the beginning of the year. As the year continues, my expectations change and become more complex. If these students DO NOT improve, then this same essay response will receive a lower grade. You are graded in comparison with your own improvement. You ARE NOT BEING COMPARED TO THE SKILL LEVEL OF YOUR PEERS. Question 3: Animal savage, barbaric, beast Juxtapose contradict, opposite Tone attitude, how to feel, like or dislike The savagery associated with animals in the play allows the audience to be more sympathetic towards Medea s pitiful, desperate attitude. Animals are typically seen as barbaric and uncivilized as justified by the Nurse s characterization of Medea as one with that wild animal glare. By comparing Medea to a beast, the audience is more inclined to be empathetic to her situation. Her distraught state of mind is evident when she is portrayed with her anguish cries and the howls of a caged animal. By using the vivid imagery of savage, angry animal, the audience is open-minded to the intensity of emotional pain she feels. Thus, the audience is more sympathetic to the severity of her actions because they have a deeper understanding of the reason for her pains. The barbarity of the animals contrasts the supposedly delicate nature of Medea s emotional state. By exaggerating her despair, Euripides succeeds in giving her greater power. She is portrayed a weak, vulnerable being when in reality, she does embody the physical strength of a caged animal. So, the animal imagery functions as a means of understanding why Medea is so distraught and thus, allows the audience to feel pity for her. Her fragile emotional state is contrasted with the severity of angry animals to prove that she is a victim of great cruelty and betrayal. Therefore, the audience and the other characters in the play pity her, allowing her to surround herself with an aura of power because she can now manipulate how others see her. By giving Medea this cynical motive, she is more powerful than those who betrayed her in the first place (Jason). Question 6:

2 Sun brightness, hope, light Shadows uncertainty, darkness The clarity of the Sun juxtaposes the uncertainty of the characters tones in the play to highlight the manipulative power of Medea. When Medea succeeds in convincing Creon to grant her one more day in Corinth, Creon responds with if the coming light of the sun finds you and your children inside the borders of this country you will die. He alludes to the Sun, giving it the power to banish Medea from life completely. However, the audience knows that Medea succeeded in fooling him, therefore, they cannot be sure of the actual power Creon yields since Medea was able to effortlessly fool him. Creon s mention of the Sun causes us to doubt his authority and power, effectively showing the power Medea is slowly building. When Medea insists that Aigeus swear by the plain of Earth, and Helios the Sun, this immediately casts doubt on the intentions of Aigeus. The audience is inclined to believe that his attitude is benevolent, but with Medea forcing him to swear to Helios, the Sun god, the audience perceives a sense of uncertainty regarding Aigeus gracious offer. Nonetheless, this emphasizes Medea s immense amount of skill in manipulation as she is able to deceive Aigeus into feeling pity for her and helping her, whether or not he other alternative, spiteful intentions in mind. When Medea informs Jason she wants to gift his mistress with ornaments which Helios, the Sun, father of my father gave to his descendants, the audience and other characters in the play cannot be certain of her true intentions. Although she portrays her offer in a chivalrous manner, the audience cannot help but wonder whether her attitude is malicious. Medea clearly achieves a very manipulative state of power when she offers these gracious gifts. It is ironic to consider that these references to the Sun would normally imply a sense of clarity but in reality, are used in situations where one s intent and attitude is doubtful. Hence, the coherence and sharpness that the Sun is meant to provide in contrasted with the uncertainty of the characters attitudes, an clear example of Medea s manipulative success. 6) The Sun in Medea casts shadows on the connotative meaning of the character s tone because it further exemplifies Medea s status and role in the play while developing the emotions encountered by her. The Sun god, being Medea s grandfather, puts a higher, respected position on Medea. The role of gods in the play seems to be a very important role as multiple characters are shown to plead for their help. Medea s tone throughout the play seems to develop from agony to power to determination to confidence, and the Sun seems to further strengthen the tone when Medea repeatedly mentions that the Sun is her father s father. Showing relationship with the gods demonstrates that Medea does have values that other Greek people would respect. The Sun backs up Medea s tones throughout the play, especially towards the end when she is up in the sky, close to the sun, stating that, Such transport the Sun god, father of my father has given me, a defense against the hand of my enemies (1320). The Sun is her support to understand the tone

3 that the author portrays through Medea, in this case, the tone of power. The meaning of the tone is connotative because the audience can perceive it in different ways. Medea s tone of anger can be seen as unjustified or insane. However, with her relation to the Sun and the Sun god, values that were highly respected in Greek mythology, it creates a situation hard for the audience to fully bash on her feelings. It creates a sense of justification towards her tone so the audience can find a balance between Medea s point of view and Jason s point of view, so they can fully understand the message Euripides intends to exemplify. 3) Medea is not a tragic hero in the traditional sense because she does not experience a fall from grace, rather, she undergoes an elevation in status from disenfranchised woman to god is an invalid claim. Tragic heroes are ones who possess heroic qualities that can range from determination to skillful. Medea definitely has these qualities. Her determination in her plan shows how confident and dedicated she is to get Jason back. Throughout this journey, she sacrifices physical items such as killing her children. I grieve over the deed I must do. For I shall kill my children (790). Through this she is also sacrificing her maternal values as she knows this would hurt her, but the sacrifices she makes to successfully have the plan go through exemplifies her determination for her situation. Additionally, Medea is found sacrificing mental items, such as her identity. Let no one think that I am mean or weak nor peaceful, but of the other sort, a weight upon my enemies but to my friends most kind (805). This quote that she states demonstrates how she is willing to give up her identity and change herself to this new powerful figure, which takes a lot of effort and sacrifices on her image and the general image on Greek women, to successfully have her plan flow through. A tragic hero is not considered one until they have escaped their destructive fate by going through conflict and reaching their desired success, which is what Medea exactly did. She possessed the fate of Jason destroying her marriage by getting married to a different wife. Her fate gets even more destructive as Creon, king of Corinth, plans to banish them all from Corinthian territory (70). However, at the end, readers realize that Medea changes this fate as she flies off in her chariot and have Jason weeping/pleading towards her, illustrating HIS weakness and now HER strength. Through Medea s heroic qualities and her determining her own fate, she is considered a tragic hero in the traditional sense. Medea has some of the same characteristics of a classical tragic hero; she is powerful as evidenced by her achievements and, it could be argued, suffers from the fatal flaw of Hubris. However, a traditional tragic hero begins their journey at an elevated position, or a position of great potential. The hero then loses all of that due to the fatal flaw. This is totally different from Medea s journey. Firstly, she is not totally in control of what happens, and in fact, neither are the gods. It is Jason. She herself says "The gods know who began this tragedy (1372). A traditional tragic hero loses in the end because they did things that screwed them over. Medea is getting kicked to the gutter by Jason, that s what s causing this chain of events to begin. Further, she does not experience a real fall. A traditional tragic hero would have been powerful at the beginning and would be

4 destitute at the end. Medea, in the beginning, is near powerless. Although it could be argued that morally she goes through a fall as the play develops, she goes from wailing in her house about the situation in the beginning, to riding of in a chariot pulled by dragons in the end. She doesn t end up destitute or powerless, she ends pretty powerful she even prophecies (correctly) Jason s death "But you, a coward, you will die a coward's death as you deserve,/ struck on your head by a remnant of the wreck of the Argo/ seeing a bitter end to your marriage to me. (1385) A traditional tragic hero would go from god to lowest of men; Medea goes from being the lowest of mankind (a woman) to being a demon. She clearly isn t a great hero at the end, but she is very powerful. So really her development doesn t compare to that of a traditional tragic hero. The development into power is important because it helps push across themes related to female empowerment that Euripides was putting in there this isn t a sad little tragedy, this a statement about what women could be, and what they would have to do in this society to get there. 4. Medea cannot be considered a tragic hero because her journey through the play results in her progressive gain in a broader perspective, and causes her ability to exert power. Although she does express the flaw of hubris like the traditional tragic hero figure does, this flaw does not lead to her demise, but rather catalyzes her rise to domination. Medea thus exhibits a reverse, juxtaposing consequence of her flaw, using this to reach the outcome she had desired all along. Medea's hubris overpowers her feminine, motherly instincts and allows her to channel her anger toward her desire to seek revenge upon Jason; her murderous plans even go so far that she has so "many ways to kill" that she has trouble deciding how. This continual ascension Medea undergoes is mirrored in her gain in her perspective of reality. In terms of the Allegory of the Cave, Medea as a "battered" victim of betrayal did not have a sense of reality outside her role as a wife and a mother. However, as this role was stripped from her in Jason's betrayal of her, she was exposed to the allegorical light, which opened the way to her plans of revenge. This newfound perspective outside of her past reality allows her hubris to step in, creating a sense of entitlement to justice in the form of revenge, which overtakes her life. Thus, as she goes through the play, Medea transforms from a woman who had been defeated and broken by "the man who was everything" to her, indicating the power he held over her, to a woman who defeats this man by murdering his mistress and children. Therefore, as Medea gains perspective, she is able to rise to a position in which she can perpetrate revenge, rather than plummets to her demise as a tragic hero traditionally would. 4. The tragic hero is invincible except for a single fatal flaw, which leads to their downfall. This weakness in Medea is her love for Jason after being shot by Cupid in the quest for the Golden Fleece. However, this weakness is overcome at the end of the play making Medea a hero but not a tragic hero. Medea is introduced at the beginning of the play as a tragic hero, having already fallen from her husband's grace, after the sacrifices she has made for him "This is how it is. I have made myself an enemy to my loved ones at home, the very ones I should not have hurt; in helping you I have enemies. And for this you have made me an icon of Greek womanhood (Medea; )

5 Medea is an icon of Greek womanhood because of her dependency on Jason. While she is powerful, her love for a man has made put her powers at his demand. Medea contradicts this stereotype by killing off Jason's loved ones. The claim that Medea is not a traditional tragic hero is valid because she overcomes her weakness rather than allowing it to lead to her own demise.