Jennifer Lowe Prof. Culpepper ENGL 1213 January 21, 2016 Commentary-Medea A Thin Line between Love & Hate In the play Medea by Euripides, the plot is set in 431 B.C. ancient Corinth. We are introduced to Medea, granddaughter of the Sun God Helios, who is a foreigner from Asia and her husband Jason, a son of the king of Colchis and along with their two sons. From the beginning of the play, we get an intimate look of how closely love and hate actually are. Although, The Greek gods play an important role in initially attracting the two, we soon find out how human emotions take over as we watch the ill-fated events unfold. There are two theories as to why Medea kills her children in the play. We must decide whether is it out of love and to spare the children from a doomed future or it is because Medea wants to inflict the maximum amount of pain on unfaithful Jason. …show more content…
Medea is left with being alone and at the risk of not finding another mate since she has these two boys by another man who does not want her company anymore. In ancient Greece, one must realize that in order to have a home, money and a means of support, a man must be present as the provider. In theory, Medea does not want her boys to suffer the cruel future they face since they are not Greek citizens and more so for their father producing offspring with another Greek princess. As Medea talks with the leader, her first reasoning for the deaths appear. “But now I change my tone. It grieves me sorely, the horrible deed I must do next. I shall murder my children, these children of mine” (Inc. 50). This quote speaks volumes as to why Medea feels it is necessary to kill her own children. In order to spare the heartache and grief children face, Medea must take their