Heroism In Medea

Medea was written in 431BC by the Greek playwright Euripides during the Golden Age of Athens. His works earned little of the public’s respect and was socially unaccepted due to its unnatural tragic conventions. Medea, and her barbarian identity in particular, antagonized the 5th century Greek audience and the Chorus is used to place emphasis on her position as the ‘Other’. As an unusual protagonist, Euripides uses her to subvert the hypocrisy of traditional values of heroism to subvert the hypocrisy of Athenian culture in Medea. He also depicts the rulers of Greece, King Creon and King Aegeus as weak and immoral, which challenge the power hierarchy between characters. Using a classic and famous myth such as Jason and the Golden Fleece as its

“First, for the god’s sake, then this hope you give me of children – for I’ve quite despaired of my own powers. This then is what I’ll do: once you get to Athens, I’ll keep my promise and protect you.” [KING AEGEUS p39 lines…..] The phrase “for the god’s sake” imply that Medea is stronger than the gods in the sense that she is able to cure him of his infertility where the Gods were unable to which demonstrates the hypocritical nature in which Gods are worshipped and idolized by Athenians. The noun “despaired” connotes the idea that King Aegeus has had complete loss or absence of hope in his own powers, which is those of a King, the highest in the kingdom of mortals. Instead of accepting Medea’s offer to treat his infertility, King Aegeus had many more options yet he chose Medea, which shows the reliance of a powerful being who depends on an outsider, a woman to treat his problems: “quite despaired of my own powers”. Semantic field of the diction “promise” once again echoes the importance of oaths as a sacred act before the gods and the importance of the “protect[ion]” he would provide for Medea when she reaches Athens. The irony seen here is that King Aegeus accepted Medea into the city even after she had committed murderous deeds. This subverts that idea that even the morally corrupt such as Medea can enter the city even though Athens prides itself as the grandest city in Greece, which is hypocritical of