Medea By Euripides Research Paper

Conditioning of Plays: Medea by Euripides

Anton Chekov, William Shakespeare, Plautus and T.S Eliot all famous playwrights from their generations. There works were greatly influenced by the era in which they lived due to their varying political, social, economic and cultural factors. Euripides, one of the three ancient Greek tragedians, was no different from his fellow playwrights as the Golden Age of Ancient Greece had a godly effect on the writing of the play ‘Medea’. There are three key areas that effect the writing of plays which are the theatre practice, physical conditions and the audience expectations of the time.

The play ‘Medea’ was originally produced in 431 BC and came about due to Euripides following the custom of deriving source

It was the same two Greek states whose thirst for more power and territory, and whose jealousy brought about the Peloponnesian wars which lasted 30 years and left both Athens and Sparta mere shadows of their former selves. The factors of this age are ever-present in the play as Athens was a patriarchal society, which is a social system in which males hold primary power. Thus, the emphasis on Medea not fitting into the mould of what then was considered a “normal woman” is somewhat controversial for the audience. Medea is depicted of having great intelligence and skill, something typically viewed as a masculine trait therefore contradicting the ideals of the patriarchal society of Athens. The play is in our day and age considered on of the great Greek tragedies but that was not the case for the Athenian Audience as they did not react in a positive manner towards the play; it was awarded last prize at the Dionysia Festival. The distaste towards the play mainly stems from the extensive changes Euripides made to the conventions of Greek Theatre in the play as well as including an indecisive chorus, the clear criticism of Athenian society and by showing public disrespect towards the

There is no Euripidean play with close and water-tight construction unique to the Oedipus Rex. Euripides plays were carefree and flowing with their form while with the superficial glance it seemed like they were following the classic model. The form of his plays are different to the rest of the tragedians due to their utter simplicity. As stated early he used myths as his subject matter but truly focused on his interest of what was lying in the human situation and in the diversity of characters. Unlike his fellow playwrights he would not unpack the details of the plot through the action, instead he would take the easy method and simply tell a huge part of it during the prologue. Though he was contemptuous of the old-fashioned stage appliances it is to be noted that on occasion and in-particular during Medea he made use of the mechane which was particularly used to bring gods onto the stage from above. The use of the mechane in Medea is notable due to the fact it is used to lift a character who is a non-divine therefore showing disrespect towards the gods. It should be noted that all the scenes in Medea only involve two actors, Medea and someone else. These encounters serve to highlight Medea’s skill and determination in manipulating powerful male figures to achieve her own end and due to the success of manipulation it would be somewhat