Women's Role In Euripides Medea

Euripides, the writer of Medea and one of the most famous playwrights in ancient Greece, can be considered centuries ahead of many people in his time. His new ideas presented in many of his works were very controversial, and, as a result, unappreciated. However, most of his ideas such as equality for women’s rights and more rights for slaves correspond to our modern-day norms. In one of Euripides 's most renowned plays, Medea, the female protagonist possess characteristics that are generally found in male characters such as power, intelligence, and cunningness. The lower class characters such as the slaves and servants, who culturally are considered to be unimportant, are presented as being intelligent and also play a significant role in the drama. The playwright uses these characters to attack the upper class by showing that a life of humility and moderation is better than that of a quest for personal desires.

Throughout the first part of the play, Medea is suffering and crying about how hopeless she is after Jason has abandoned her. She is hysterical at times and at one-point wishes for her own death. According to the Nurse, her suffering is the consequence of being too passionately in love with Jason. The trait of being obsessed can be considered Medea’s tragic flaw which eventually leads her to her downfall. Later, the Nurse shows us her wisdom by constantly and correctly predicting that Medea will do something ruthless to her children. Referring to Medea, she says, “She’s bound to do something quite serious / before this rage of hers comes to an end” (171-172). The Nurse’s ability to make these correct predictions shows that she is wise and not just a simple uneducated slave. The fact that Medea is about to do something quite serious shows how people can get insane by wanting too much which gives evidence that a life of humility is actually better than that of a desire for