Medea

If you have read the mythological tale,__The Quest of the Golden Fleece__, then you should already have a grasp on who Medea is. This young maiden, the princess and daughter of Colchian King, fell madly in love with [|Jason] of [|Iolcus] after being shot by Cupid's arrow. The play now takes place after the quest of the Argonauts in Corinth, and by now not only has Jason already married Medea but also has fallen in love with another woman by the name of [|Glauce]. This is a story of revenge and the dangerous prices one must pay for betrayal.

For More Information (References)
//Note that unless otherwise indicated, the information comes from Euripedes play specifically, not Seneca's version. For contrasts in the versions, please see the section on Differences in Versions//.

CHARACTERS

 * **Medea**--The protagonist and eptiome of a "woman scorned"
 * **Jason**--The antagonist, he is the former husband of Medea
 * **Creon**--Not to be mistaken with the Creon in //Oedipus Rex// and //Antigone,// the Creon in this tragedy is the King of Corinth. He banishes Medea, because he felt that she would harm his daughter and/or himself.
 * **Princess Glauce**--Daughter of Creon and Jason's "bride-to-be"
 * **Nurse**--The nanny of Medea and Jason's sons, she tries to comfort Medea in her angst.
 * **Jason and Medea's sons**--They deliever the poison coat to Princess Glauce. Once they have finished the task, "That will be that; but it is the next thing I must do which sets me / weeping. For I will kill my own children! My own dear children, whom none shall take from me" (Euripedes, Act 1).
 * **Aegeus**--He is the King of Athens, and he promises Medea a safe haven for her when she is banished from Corinth.
 * **Chorus of Women**--They listen to and support Medea in her decisions and feelings against Jason.
 * **Messenger**--He gives Medea an account on how Creon and Princess Glauce die.

SETTING
//Medea// takes place in Corinth, Greece circa 440 BCE. More specifically, the majority of the action takes place outside the house of Jason and Medea.

BACKGROUND/GENERAL PLOTLINE
Before the story of //Medea// begins, one must first be familar with the myth of the Quest for the Golden Fleece. It is the story of Jason and the Argonauts (his crew on the //Argo//) and how they must find and bring home the Golden Fleece in order for Jason to claim the throne from Pelias, the current King of Iolchos. On their journey, the Argonauts encounter many trials and would have never survivied without the aid of Medea, a soccorress who falls in love with Jason. When the Argonauts return to Iolchos, Medea tricks Pelias's daughters into murdering him. Due to this crime, Medea and Jason are forced to flee from Iolchos and begin a new life in Corinth.

The play begins with Medea and the nurse outside of the couple's house. Medea is in anguish over her loss, and the nurse is fearful of the harm she may do to herself or her children. Creon, the king of Corinth, noticed her rage and also became fearful of Medea. Medea uses this time he spared her to plot revenge on Jason.

Jason arrives in the next scene to explain his reasoning for the new marriage. He does not truly love the princess, but instead is marrying her just for the royalty and fame. Though he attempts to explain that he would one day hope to bring the two families together and have Medea as his mistress, neither Medea nor the chorus of Corinthian women believe him. When he offers her money to help her in exile, she refuses and sends him off to his bride-to-be.

Aegeus, king of Athens, then visits her because he is unhappy about his lack of children and is unsure of what to do. In exchange for harboring her while in exile, Medea agrees to help his wife have a child. Medea makes him promise her that he will not turn on her or else the gods will seek due punishment.

The plotting woman then settles upon a plan to poison gifts to the princess. She also decides to kill her children, not because she despises them, but so that she can hurt Jason even more. Sending her children off as gift-bearers of the golden robes, a gift from Helios, Medea is left to muse over her actions.

Princess Glauce is poisoned and killed by the dress, her father also dying at the hand of the poison when he held her corpse. When Medea hears this news, she knows that she must murder her children, for now they are to die either way. Jason rushes to the home soon after she leaves with a knife to seal the deed, conspiring to punish her for the murder of the royal family. He realizes, too late, that his children have also been taken from him, and finally realizes the full extent of his grief. Medea is carried away in the chariot of the sun god Helios, escaping with the bodies of her children to Athens, pleased with the pain she has finally caused Jason.

DIFFERENCES IN VERSIONS
Both Seneca and Euripedes wrote their own versions of //Medea//. Because Medea was part of Greek mythology, the story has been told numerous of times in various versions. The most striking contrast between these two plays of the story is the way Medea is portrayed.

In Seneca's play, Medea's characterization is what drives the play. Revenge is set in her mind from the very beginning, and she is in control of her own abilities and choices. She also isn't as reverent to the gods and even rebukes them at one point, which was unheard of in such a time of obedience to the gods. Seneca portrays her as a woman to be feared more than pitied.

Contrasting to this defiance and sense of free-will, Euripedes' play shows Medea in a more revered light where she is truly the most pitied character of the story. He shines her in a light of grief in anguish and gives the impression of her being no more than just a puppet to the gods.

Also, towards the end of the play by Euripedes, Medea appears in the sun god's chariot up in the sky. This shows the godly intervention of Helios, whereas in Seneca’s version Medea calls forth the chariot with a gesture of her arms, emphasizing that she is who is making the events transpire.

There are many other details that vary in the two plays; for an example, Medea murders her sons offstage in Euripedes' play, while in Seneca's version she actually murders one in front of him. For more variations, please see [|this article.]

MEDEA IN POPULAR CULTURE
Medea is well-known as the "woman scorned". This is even her title in the 1977 ballet, "Medea: A Ballet in One Act - A Woman Scorned". Sometimes, people will use the phrase "a Medea complex" to classify parents who have a problem with harming or murdering their children. In at least two PlayStation 2 games she has appeared as a persona, and in various books she has also. One song by [|Vienna Teng] is titled "My Medea," and a few playwrights have been inspired by the myth and written about her or her personality. For a list of specific references to Medea in popular culture, please see [|this Wikipedia article.]

VIDEOS
There are at least ten television shows or movies that Medea has been portrayed in. In 2009, the film //[|Medea]// was made in Russia based on Seneca's play. //[|Jason and the Argonauts]// was a movie filmed once in 1963 and once more in 2000, and Medea was in each. For a list of more references to Medea in television, please see [|this Wikipedia article.]

FOR MORE INFORMATION (REFERENCES)
Thank you for visiting our page on //Medea//, the classic Greek tragedy about a woman scorned. For more information on this topic, feel free to utlize some of the sources that helped us create this site.
 * Cummings, Michael J. "Medea." //Free Study Guides for Shakespeare and Other Authors//. 2005. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. [|http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Medea.html#Setting].
 * "Dictionary - Definition of Medea." //Webster's Online Dictionary - with Multilingual Thesaurus Translation//. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. .
 * Euripedes. //Medea//. Trans. Frederic Prokosch. Henry Regnery Company, 1947. Print.
 * "Medea (play)." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea_(play)].
 * "SparkNotes: Medea: Lines 448-660." //SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides//. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. [].
 * "Medea: Seneca Vs. Euripedes by David Hayes." //INN Harmony - Blogcu//. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. [].