Medea play euripides biography

His family was most likely a prosperous one; his father was named Mnesarchus or Mnesarchide, and his mother was named Cleito. He reportedly married a woman named Melito and had three sons. Plays and Major Works Over his career as a poet and dramatist, Euripides wrote approximately 90 plays, 19 of which have survived through manuscripts.

Of the three most famous tragic dramatists to come out of ancient Greece — the others being Aeschylus and Sophocles — Euripides was the last and perhaps the most influential. Like all the major playwrights of his time, Euripides competed in the annual Athenian dramatic festivals held in honor of the god Dionysus. He first entered the festival inand he won the first of his four victories in He was acquainted with many of the important philosophers of the 5th century B.

Medea tells Kreon that it is better to be born stupid, for men despise the clever. Part of her difficulty is that she has no real outlet for her gifts. Eleanor Wilner calls Medea "a Machiavel without a country to rule" 4. Her force, her intellect, and her strength of will all exceed her station. The Greeks, though they have some respect for her, often treat her smugly because of her sex and her barbarian origins.

She is surrounded by people less intelligent and resourceful than she, but social power and respect is theirs. Remember that Aristotle considered the "unscrupulously clever" woman so distasteful as to be a subject unfit for drama; his statement reflects typically Greek attitudes.

Medea play euripides biography

Medea is despised for talents that should win her praise; she is also terrifyingly free. Because she is an outsider to normal order, she behaves without restraint or morality. Her genius, denied an empire to build, will instead be used on the smaller playing field of personal revenge. Manipulation Manipulation is an important theme.

Medea, Jason, and Kreon all try their hand at manipulation. Jason used Medea in the past; he now manipulates the royal family of Corinth to secure his own ends. Kreon has made a profitable match between his daughter and Jason, hoping to benefit from Jason's fame as the hero of the Golden Fleece. But Medea is the master of manipulation. Medea plays perfectly on the weaknesses and needs of both her medeas play euripides biography and her friends.

Medea plays to Kreon's pity, and to the old king's costly underestimation of the sorceress. With Aegeus, she uses her skills as a bargaining chip and takes advantage of the king's soft-heartedness to win a binding oath from him. Against Jason, she uses his own shallowness, his unmerited pride, and his desire for dominance. She plays the fawning and submissive woman, to her husband's delight and gratification.

Jason buys the act, demonstrating his lack of astuteness and his willingness to be duped by his own fantasies. Passion and Rage Medea is a woman of extreme behavior and extreme emotion. For her passionate love for Jason, she sacrificed all, committing unspeakable acts on his behalf. But his betrayal of her has transformed passion into rage.

Her violent and intemperate heart, formerly devoted to Jason, now is set on his destruction. Medea, deranged and vengeful, has just learned that Jason intends to marry the princess of Corinth. The Chorus of local women arrive and Medea appears, persuading them to remain quiet about any plans she might make. Creon enters, banishing her from Corinth immediately, but Medea persuades him to give her just one more day.

Aegeus, the king of Athens, visits Medea and promises to provide her refuge if she will help him over his childlessness. Her escape assured, Medea decides that killing her children is the only way to properly punish Jason for his betrayal. She pretends to make peace with Jason and sends the boys to the palace with a gift for his new bride: a gown and tiara soaked in poison.

After wrestling with her conscience, Medea steels herself to the act of killing her children, whose death cries can soon be heard off stage. Jason returns to the house, in shock from the disaster at the palace, only to find a greater tragedy at home. The nurse, overhearing Medea's grief, fears what she might do to herself or her children. Creon, in anticipation of Medea's wrath, arrives and reveals his plans to send her into exile.

Crouching at Creon's feet, Medea begs him in the name of her children to allow her one day's delay. At this Creon is moved and grants to her one more day in Corinth. Medea's unexpected power of persuasion or even of fascination lies in her change of attitude: instead of preaching to Creon about the unpopularity of the sophoi she plays the role of a desperate mother, needing one day to prepare for exile.

I wouldn't have even spoken or touched him with my hands". He explains that he could not pass up the opportunity to marry a royal princess, as Medea is only a barbarian woman, but hopes to someday join the two families and keep Medea as his mistress. Medea, and the chorus of Corinthian women, do not believe him. She reminds him that she left her own people for him "I rescued you [ Jason promises to support her after his new marriage "If you wish me to give you or the children extra money for your trip into exile, tell me; I'm ready to give it with a lavish hand"[22] but Medea spurns him: "Go on, play the bridegroom!

Perhaps [ He reveals to her that despite his marriage he is still without children. He visited the oracle who merely told him that he was instructed "not to unstop the wineskin's neck". Medea relays her current situation to him and begs for Aegeus to let her stay in Athens if she gives him drugs to end his infertility. Aegeus, unaware of Medea's plans for revenge, agrees.

Medea then returns to plotting the murders of Glauce and Creon. She decides to poison some golden robes a family heirloom and gift from the sun god Heliosher grandfather and a coronet, in hopes that the bride will not be able to resist wearing them, and consequently be poisoned. Medea resolves to kill her own children as well, not because the children have done anything wrong, but because she feels it is the best way to hurt Jason.