Euripides Medea Part 2

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Euripides Medea Part 2
Recap and Update What Kind of Tragedy? Discussion
Medea Mother? Monster? Other?

• A Different Kind of Tragedy

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Lost in Translation?Medeas thumos
MEDEA I know indeed what evil I intend to
do,But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my
fury (thumos),Fury that brings upon mortals the
greatest evils.(Euripides Medea p. 35, trans.
Warner) Literal renderingI know indeed what
sorts of evils I am about to do, but thumos
(anger? spirit? passion?) is master
of/stronger than/controlling my deliberations
thumos, the very thing that causes the greatest
of evils for mortals.
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Recap and Update

• What Kind of Tragedy?

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A Different Kind of Tragedy?

• Aristotle Poetics
• Plot, muthos
• simple
• complex
• episodic
• anagnorisis
• peripeteia
• hamartia
• complication / reversal
• Ethical component
• ethos-temperament
• thought
• hamartia

• Other schemata
• Blood-guilt
• Cycle of suffering
• Tragic Formula
• koros
• hubris
• ate
• dike
• pathei mathos, from suffering, knowledge

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MEDEA I shall have done a dreadful deed. / For
it is not bearable to be mocked by enemies (p.
26) MEDEA I know indeed what evil I intend to
do, / But stronger than all my afterthoughts is
my fury, / Fury that brings upon mortals the
greatest evils. (p. 35) MESSENGER If wealth
flows in upon one, one may be perhaps / Luckier
than ones neighbor, but still not happy (pp.
40-41) CHORUS For God from mortals asks a stern
/ Price for the stain of kindred blood / In like
disaster falling on their homes (p. 41) JASON
Does she imagine that, having killed our rulers,
/ She will herself escape uninjured from this
house? (p. 42)
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Mythic Versatility

• Tradition (child-killings)
• Innovation
• Medea murderer
• Aegeus visit
• Creon, Daughter killed
• Medea ex machina

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Gender-Ethnic Dialectic
Medea Female metis (cunning), softness submission,
acquiescence Barbarian ba-ba-ba (not in
play) violent, uncouth Other-worldly? beyond
justice?
Jason, Creon Male bia (force, violence) dominance,
honor Greek intelligible speech civilized,
orderly Human within justice
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Dialectic Internalized?
Medea Female metis (cunning), softness submission,
acquiescence Barbarian ba-ba-ba (not in
play) violent, uncouth Other-worldly? beyond
justice?
Medea Male bia (force, violence) dominance,
honor Greek intelligible speech civilized,
orderly Human within justice
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Agon Tragic Sophistic, Jason vs. Medea (pp. 15
ff.)
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Character Dynamics

• chorus helps us side with her
• helps see ms side
• j is determined
• blaming the victim
• j maybe thinks hes justified
• j feels no guilt at all
• covering bases

• j ignorant
• he was feeling guilty!
• damage control

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Sophistic

• sophos
• wise/clever/skilled
• sophia
• wisdom/cleverness/skill
• sophistes
• teacher/practitioner of sophia
• sophistic
• teaching/practice of sophia

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Agon Content Analysis(pp. 15 ff.)

• Medea arguments
• M. helped-saved J.
• at cost
• J. broke vows.
• Where to go?
• shameful betrayal
• Jason arguments
• Aphrodite saved J.
• though Medea helped
• M. gained more than gave.
• by moving to Greece
• Prudent match (argument from expediency).
• for J., for M., for children
• Women as trouble. (Tips his hand?)

• Medea
• a hypocrite who is too glib only multiplies the
  danger that it puts him in
• you felt your glory tarnished by an aging,
  oriental wife
• J. should have persuaded M.
• Jason
• has nothing to do with women
• generous motives

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The agon InsideMedeas Monologue
affectionate maternity- versus -bruised
honor(pp. 33 ff.)
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Exodos

• Medea ex machina
• cult foundation (aetiology )
• prophecy

stage building(skene)
Jason
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Discussion

• Medea Mother? Monster? Other?

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Mother? Monster? Other?

• agrees with m (horrible)
• before/atfer
• after unsympathetic
• non-aristotelian
• sympathized before
• not after
• doesnt sympathize
• gave up her life to jason
• more sym.

• does it matter that the kids are boys?
• j needs male heirs
• more interesting if girls
• by killing kids setting herself free
• shows self better than j
• Medea preventing suffering
• can we sympathize with a villain??
• admire medea
• the scorned women often lose, but not m
• triumphs over disrespect shes shown