Medea

            The point of Medea is that in ancient Greek culture women were seen as lower than men, as the society was patriarchal. However, Medea shows that women can ultimately still have power, even when not permitted to it by society, when she seeks revenge on Jason by killing Creon, his daughter and her and Jason’s children. Medea ultimately gets revenge on Jason by killing his second wife and their children, which ensures that his name does not carry on any legacy. Yet in this her life choices are still based off of a man, and she ends up hurting herself as well. In the end, it is still men who have the control over women in society. A passage that helps illustrate this point is:

“Medea:… While you, as is right, will die without distinction,

Struck on the head by a piece of the Argo’s timber,

And you will have seen the bitter end of my love

Jason: May a Fury for the children’s sake destroy you,

And justice, Requitor of blood.

Medea: What heavenly power lends an ear

To a breaker of oaths, a deceiver?

Jason: Oh, I hate you, murderess of children.

Medea: Go to your palace. Bury your bride.

Jason: I go, with two children to mourn for.

Medea: Not yet do you feel it. Wait for the future.

Jason: Oh, children I loved!

Medea: I loved them, you did not.

Jason: You loved them, and killed them.

Medea: To make you feel pain. “

            Some words that help illustrate this point in this passage are distinction, pain, and love. These three words envelope the point because distinction is what Medea ultimately takes from Jason and it causes pain for them both; him by losing his wife, children and distinction and Medea by losing her children. Love is the emotion that is causing all of Medea’s actions; she is driven by her love for Jason. These words were chosen because they provide the most simplistic illustration of the dynamic between Medea and Jason for the reader.

            This passage affects my understanding of the point by providing a specific example of how the relationship between men and women were in ancient Greece. Medea shows her control of Jason by giving him demands to go to his kingdom and bury his wife. Jason eliminates any feelings of love that he once had for Medea by stating that he hates her, the complete opposite of life. This shows that Medea is run by her love for Jason because while he hates her, she still states that she killed the people she did to cause him pain, which was driven by her love for him. While Medea shows that women can have power and be assertive figures, in the end it is Jason who symbolically wins the battle. Jason may not have distinction through his children, but he may still remarry, while Medea is exiled and she loses their children as well. Additionally, her love for Jason remains unrequited.