Notes on Medea (Part 2)





*  As the play progresses, the psychological torment Medea undergoes is presented in various forms.  At one 
moment she is crying out that she is lost.  At another moment she is trying to decide whether or not she is going 
to kill her children.  At yet another moment she is wondering whether or not she should abandon her plan to 
murder the princess, her father, Jason and anyone else at the palace who gets in her way.  There are moments 
when she is absolutely certain about what it is she has to do (ie gain revenge).  At such moments she considers 
herself strong.  But at other times she reveals real doubts about her actions and the consequences of those 
actions.  At these moments she seems to consider herself as weak.  

*  What is particularly interesting about Medea is her survival instinct.  Though she may think about killing this 
person or that ¡V about killing her children, even ¡V the thought of killing herself is never a real 
possibility.  She may say that life is not worth living but, in reality, she goes to extraordinary lengths to 
protect herself from death.  Her encounter with Aigeus demonstrates this very well.  She is not content 
with his statement that she can live in his palace.  She insists that he swears by the gods to let her live in 
his house, and that he swears also that he will never give her up to her enemies.  This reveals her as a woman 
who thinks ahead and who is calculating.  While at times she seems to be unstable and undisciplined, in fact 
her actions reveal her to be considerably more thoughtful and organized.  

*  The use of poison is a typical device for revenge in the "revenge" tragedy.  Medea doubles her chances 
of achieving success by sending two sources of death to the princess (Kreon's daughter; Jason's new wife) ¡V 
the poisoned dress and the poisoned diadem.  In fact, these lead to a terrible death which is described to us 
in detail by the Messenger.  Further, King Kreon himself is killed when he hugs his daughter's body and the 
poison seeps into his skin as well.  The Messenger makes much of the horrific nature of their injuries ¡V speaking 
of flesh that is torn off the bones of the victims.  This idea that poison could kill so rapidly and cause such 
awful suffering is one with which a Greek audience would have been familiar.  The story of Hercules (Herakles, 
in Greek) and Deianira was one in which Deianira gave a poisoned shirt to her husband not knowing that it was 
poisoned.  Putting it on, Hercules was consumed by agony as the poison seeped into his body and threw himself on 
to a fire in order to relieve his suffering.  

*  At the end, Jason is presented as a rather helpless and pitiful character.  He swears revenge against 
Medea but he does nothing.  This, to be fair, is partly because Medea shows her magical powers by rising into the 
air in a chariot which is pulled by dragons.  But throughout the play he is duped by Medea.  When she tells him she
has reformed he believes her; when she suggests that their children take presents to the princess he eventually 
agrees, even though his instinct advises him against this.  He is quite simply no match for his wife.  In fact, when 
we study the play it is hard to see anyone who is "cleverer" than Medea.  She certainly tricks Kreon into letting 
her stay just one more day; she tricks the princess into putting on the poisoned items; she even tricks her own 
children into taking the presents to the princess and acting as innocent murderers.  Even the Chorus seems to 
misjudge her, not believing that she will be able to carry out the threats that she has made.

*  Although Medea has much to answer for in this play, the Chorus continually reminds us of several factors: 
(1) Jason carries a lot of responsibility for what has happened; and (2) it may just be that "fate" has driven Medea 
to what she has done ¡V in other words, it was decided by the gods (for whatever reason) and she was simply 
acting out a script.  It is perhaps for this reason that the Chorus ends the play with the comment that what the 
gods do is often incomprehensible to us:  what we think will happen often doesn't; and we think won't happen 
often does.  

                Zeus in Olympus is the overseer
                Of many doings.  Many things the gods
                Achieve beyond our judgment.  What we thought
                Is not confirmed and what we thought not god
                Contrives.  And so it happens in this story.
								(lines 1393-97)

It is typical of Greek tragedy that the Chorus ends the play, offering one final insight to the audience before 
the action comes to a close.





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