Revenge and the Will of the Gods

          The story of Medea revolves around the concept of revenge and how every evil action has a consequence. At the beginning of the play, we learn that Jason has decided to marry another woman and Medea is very angry and upset. Creon fears that Medea might want to seek revenge on Jason, so he exiles Medea and her children from Corinth, which only increases Medea’s resentment towards Jason. Medea eventually seeks revenge by killing Jason’s new wife and her own children, showing that Jason’s actions come with a great consequence. The point of Medea is that every decision in life comes with potential consequences. Jason decided to be unfaithful to his wife and lost his children and new wife. Medea decided to seek revenge on Jason and now has to live with the guilt and knowledge that she murdered three people.   

            This passage in Medea illustrates that point:

Medea: If I can find the means or devise any scheme

To pay my husband back for what he has done to me-

Him and his father-in-law and the girl who married him-

Just to keep silent. For in other ways a woman

Is full of fear, defenseless, dreads the sight of cold

Steel; but, when once she is wronged in the matter of love,

No other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood.

Chorus: This I will promise. You are in the right, Medea,

In paying your husband back. I am not surprised at you

For being sad.

            There are a few words in this passage that particularly add to the point that Euripedes is trying to make through Medea. The first word is pay, and it draws out the idea of revenge and that there is a consequence for every action. The word pay implies that the result of Jason’s actions will be bitter and harsh. Euripedes could have talked about revenge or retaliation, but instead he chose the word pay. Pay also implies that there was something owed to Jason (a punishment, in this case). Jason abandons his wife and he pays for it by losing his children and his new wife. The other interesting word in the passage is right. The chorus tells Medea that she is right to seek revenge on Jason. This contributes to the point by further showing that Jason has done a terrible thing and that he must suffer as a result. There is also a bit of irony in this statement because while Medea wants to punish Jason for doing something wrong, she herself is also doing something wrong. She does not address the problem correctly and rationally, yet she is told by the chorus that she is “in the right.” Both the word pay and the word right show that every decision comes with potential consequences and decisions should not be made lightly.

            Although the overall point of Medea is to highlight the fact that Jason has caused Medea terrible pain by his actions and he has to suffer as well, this passage complicates that point a little bit. While Medea wants justice for this situation and is set on making sure that Jason does not go on without proper punishment, she is also committing a serious crime herself. She concocts a plan, deceives Jason and her children, and ends up murdering her children and Jason’s new wife. In the end, we do not see any sign that Medea suffers as a result of her own evil plot. Medea gets exactly what she was hoping for because Jason is heartbroken. She does lose her children and she must live with the guilt for the rest of her life. In the very last statement by the chorus, Euripedes reveals that the true lesson is that the gods are in control and that we do not understand why some things happen and why some people suffer.