Euripides’ Medea

This article is the first in a series of comments on the play Medea by the Athenian playwright Euripides (circa 480-404 BC).

Background.

In the time of Euripides, the current national state of Greece did not exist. The Greek world of the 5th century BC consisted of hundreds of independent city-states scattered throughout the Mediterranean region, especially in what is now known as Greece and the Greek islands, Bulgaria, western Turkey, southern Italy, Sicily, and the South of France. What united these cities was a shared culture (religion, language, origins, histories) but with different dialects, political forms and other local differences. Some cities were democracies, some oligarchies, and other military dictatorships. Some cities, mainly those outside present-day Greece, were founded as colonies of other cities, and over time these colonies developed their own distinct cultures. Athens and Sparta were the most powerful cities in Euripides’ time. They had fought side by side with the Persians in the years immediately preceding Euripides’ birth, but during the fifth century they began to form alliances with other Greek cities and gradually dominate them. Rivalry and conflict ensued. Medea was first produced in 431 BC. C., only a few months before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, which would last the rest of Euripides’ life.

Athenian theater.

Athenians did not go to the theater all year round and they did not go solely for entertainment. They had a comedy festival in January and a tragedy festival in March or April. Both were important state events with deep religious significance. The festival of tragedy was known as the Dionysian City in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine, vine and agriculture and celebrated the arrival of spring and the planting of crops. For the city Dionysia, three playwrights were invited each to present three tragedies and a satyr play. The latter was a kind of obscene comedy, slight relief after tragedies. Playwrights presented their plays on successive days, with production costs covered by a wealthy patron. A panel of judges voted on the works and awarded an award to the winner. In 431 a. C., Euripides came last. In fact, even though he wrote about 90 plays (so he must have entered Dionysia City 30 times), he only won first prize four times, and the last time was a posthumous victory.

Dionysian City took place when navigation around the Mediterranean Sea was resumed after winter storms. This meant that the Athenians could invite representatives from all other Greek cities and show their cultural (and military) superiority. Thus, when Medea was first performed, the theater was packed with all the Athenian citizens (the free-born males) and their guests. The only women present were some high priestesses. The wives and daughters of the Athenians would have been safely locked up in their homes, in the women’s quarters.

The game.

Medea is set in Corinth, and Athenian tragedies generally took place outside of Athens so that playwrights could comment on local politics without seeming to criticize the city directly.

An interesting aspect of the Athenian drama is that although the actors were men, many of the central characters are women. That is certainly the case with Medea, as once the heroine appears, she dominates the stage for the remainder of the play. The other female characters are the elderly Nurse who has cared for Medea since she was little and knows how her mind works and what she is capable of, and a Choir of women. The Chorus functions as supporters, advisers, critics, and ultimately judges of Medea.

The main male characters are Jason, Medea’s husband; Creon, king of Corinth; and Aegean, the king of Athens. We see Medea interacting with these three powerful men in turn as she tries to shape her own destiny.

People have been arguing about the meaning of the work for two and a half thousand years, and more recently the arguments have tended to focus on what Euripides was trying to say about women, often phrased as: “Was Euripides a feminist or a misogynist? ? “

The answer to that question depends on what you do with Medea’s words and actions, which we will consider in the next article.