RESPONSE PAPER TO MEDEA (THE PLAY)

Response paper to Medea (the play)

Response paper to Medea (the play)

Medea, the Greek playwright Euripides play, explores the Greek-barbarian dichotomy through the character of Medea, a princess from the "barbarian", or Greek, the land of Colchis. Throughout the game, it becomes obvious to the reader that Medea is no ordinary woman by Greek standards. The centerpiece of the whole story of Medea barbaric origin and how they relate to her actions. (Nobles 2005)

In this article I try to answer such questions as how Medea behaves like a woman, how she acts heroically from a male point of view, why she killed her children if she could achieve her goal without killing them, if the killing was motivated by its barbaric origin, and how she is dealing with the pain of killing their children. As an introduction to the game, the position of women in Greek society should be briefly discussed. In general, women had very few rights. In the eyes of the people, the main objectives of women in Greek society had to perform chores such as cooking and cleaning and having children. They could not vote, own property, or choose a husband, and had to be submitted to men in all trials. In some ways, these Greek women were almost like slaves. There is a definite relationship between this subordination of women and what happens in the game. Jason decides that he wants to divorce Medea and marry the princess of Corinth, casting Medea aside as if they were never married. This sort of activity is acceptable by Greek standards, and shows the subordinate position of women, who do not speak on any issue like this. Although some of the actions of Medea were not typical for the average Greek woman, she still had ...