Medea is my first dramatic experience of Euripides. The play touches on the themes of infanticide, so I was rather apprehensive of reading it. But Euripides has crafted the play so wonderfully that the reader/audience can endure the horror. I have now read Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and find that they all express violent parts in their plays in moderation to make it easier for the audience. That’s something I love about them.
In Medea, we meet a woman who is ill-used. Jason, her husband, having used her power to his benefit and advancement, abandons her for a royal bride. Now, Medea is not an innocent victim. She has committed atrocities against her own kin and the royal house of Iolcus. But all those were done for the benefit of her husband. And Jason poorly repays Medea for all her labour by abandoning her. Medea not only loses her husband but also gets banished from Corinth with her two sons.
Euripides presents Medea as a wronged woman with a just grievance. It’s true that her past conduct was evil. But they were done for the sake of her husband, who now abandons her. Medea is not a soft woman. It’s not in her character. She flies into a rage and plots revenge. And the vengeance is cruel.
It is horrible to read of a woman who could kill her own children. But Euripides quite wonderfully expresses the state of her mind behind infanticide. She commits the acts unwillingly, driven by her black rage at the husband’s disloyalty. Euripides shows Medea’s inner struggle with her decision to kill her sons. Despite the evil act she is about to commit, she loves her children deeply. But her disturbed mind sees that as the best solution to make Jason suffer.
Forget that once you loved them, that of your body they were born. For one short day forget your children. Afterwards Weep; though you killed them they were your beloved sons.
There is a lot of psychology in this play. Euripides delves deep into the recesses of Medea’s mind to show the depth of her hurt, anger, and despair. From the very beginning, the audience becomes privy to the workings of her mind. Her position is precarious. She is an outcast but cannot go back to her kin. She had made many enemies and had no safe place to call home. She is like a bow stretched to its fullest. And the arrow that is released wounds deep. Her actions are unpardonable, yet she earns sympathy.
What Euripides hoped to convey through the play, I didn’t understand. No god’s will or fate was at play here, like in others that I’ve read. There was only a woman’s grievance and the crimes that she commits in her fallen state of mind. It is wonderfully executed by Euripides in quick and suspenseful doses, building tension and stirring mixed emotions. Despite the unsettling theme, I enjoyed the play a lot.
Rating: 4/5
