The point
of The Medea, aside from the major
conflict of gender roles, is the tension Medea faces as a foreigner in a new
land. Though not discussed explicitly in the play, Medea is a princess from a
land to the far East. Having betrayed her father by helping Jason take the
Golden Fleece from his land, Medea effectively surrendered her home and chose a
new life with Jason. When the conflict breaks out in the play, Medea and her
children are faced with exile from Corinth by King Creon, and because Medea
burned her bridge with her father, she has no where to go in the world. The
concept of the foreigner is relatively unique in Greece at that point in history
because travel and trade was not very open, preventing the flow of human
movement.
Medea:Yet what applies to me does not apply to you.
You have a
country. Your family home is here.
You enjoy
life and the company of your friends.
But I am
deserted, a refugee, thought nothing of
By my
husband – something he won in a foreign land.
I have no
mother or brother, nor any relation
With whom I
can take refuge in this sea of woe.
(Lines
250-256)
In
reference to this passage, I think the most important words are “home,” “refugee,”
and “foreign.” Each of these words plays a different role in capturing the
situation that Medea is currently locked in. “Home,” is important because it is
the thing that Medea does not have; she has nothing to retreat to now that
Jason has left her to be exiled from Corinth. “Refugee,” becomes a word of
significance because it demonstrates Medea’s current situation. A refugee is
someone who flees home because of negative outside stimuli and is sent to a new
land to escape the danger. In essence, a refugee is much like a vagabond in
that she has no home to go back to. “Foreign,” is a word that is repeated
several times, showing that Euripedes might be trying to give it some
importance. It is also a word that further demonstrates that Medea is completely
alienated from the land she is in and has nowhere left to turn to.
While most
readers understand the point to have something to do with gender roles, The Medea has others significances too
that are often overlooked. Medea’s pain and sadness is evident from the
passage, caused by her subdued gender role. From looking over the passage, it
is clear the Euripedes is not accidentally repeating that fact that Medea is
not at home in Greece. Being a foreign has special implications for Medea
because, though her husband has left her, any native Greek would be able to go
home to a family of some kind, a luxury Medea does not have. Medea would not
devote such a substantial passage to her status in Greece for plot purposes alone;
rather there must be something more to her words.
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