“Medea is a play about power”

Medea is a play in which Euripedes explores the notion of power and its influences on the actions of
various characters. The playwright expounds the reversal of power in gender through his portrayal of
Medea’s triumphs in taking revenge on Jason. Alongside the theme of power, elements of love,
passion, and its effect on the how power is exerted are evident in the play through Jason’s betrayal
of Medea, as well as her resolute to commit murder for revenge. Similarly, Euripedes also explores
how lust of power can cause a character’s demise through the presentation of Jason and Aegeus’
ruin.

Medea, who is the female protagonist in the play, is portrayed to posses a higher level of power over
her male counterpart, Jason, as she successfully turns his “house” to “shambles” in her revenge. This
is significant because there would have been inherent gender disparity among the Athenian
audience viewing the play, and women were often believed to be “weak” compared to men.
Euripedes demonstrates her power as she does not remain “passive” after being “scored” by Jason,
as a female within the social context would have traditionally acted. Medea instead “schemes with…
skill” against “[her enemies]”, and it is ironically portrayed that her lack of social prerogative as a
female can in fact become her avenue of power. It is clear that Medea’s act of “yielding” to Jason,
and admitting to the conventional perspective of a “violent [tempered]”, volatile woman causes him
to facilitate her “purpose” to “poison” his new bride. Similarly, Medea adopts the “timid” façade of a
woman, and was able to supplicate Creon in the face of “banishment” in a humble “position”, which
allowed her to “have what [she] asked”. Through this, Euripedes demonstrates the social anomaly
that “women too” possess “intelligence” and are also “skilled” enough to use it to their advantage
within a male dominated hierarchy.
Furthermore, it is evident that Medea, a “foreign” woman, who was likely to be perceived by an
Athenian audience as a “wild” barbarian, has “blood” from the “veins of gods”. In this sense,
Euripedes portrays another conflicting reversal of power, as she comes from a land of the “earth’s
edge” and thus would have been viewed lowly and “shamed” by the Athenian audience. However,
Medea’s direct lineage of “Helios” and the “help” that “the gods” bequeath her enables her power
to “punish” Jason, who was considered closer to the Corinthian society due to his “alliance” with
royalty. By associating Medea’s character with divine intervention, Euripedes subverts the traditional
Athenian belief of their superiority over foreigners and demonstrates that foreign barbarians can
also possess greater power over citizens.

In addition to this, Medea reveals that llove and individual “passion” can play a major part in
influencing the use of individual authority and power. Euripedes demonstates that “wisdom” and
“love” are mutually exclusive, as Medea ultimately laments her “love” for Jason that has caused her
“whole world” to turn to “enmity”. It is clear that her “helpless passion” for Jason was “a folly” that
encouraged her to use her supernatural powers to “save” him and thus facilitate his “success”.
Delving deeper into this, it can be interpreted that she uses her position in her “native land” to
“desert” her father’s house for Jason. Furthermore, Medea’s “wild love” for Jason can also be linked
to the use of her “skill” to plot revenge. Medea feels “disowned” by Jason who “once.. loved [her]”,
which suggests that her strong feeling of “anger” stems from her “[irresistible passion]”. The
audience would have been able to identify that it is precisely Medea’s “love” that causes her
unreasonable attitude, as an audience of Athenian males themselves would have held a
preconception that women were often “mad” with passion and hence act irrationally. From here,
Euripedes draws a parallel between how Jason and Medea are affected by passion, as the Chorus
describes Jason to be “[crazed]” with “love” for his “young bride”. This “passion” for “new love”
influences Jason to exercise his cultural prerogative and “position” as a male to “[marry] a second
wife” and thus break “great oaths” that he was meant to keep to Medea. This is enhanced as to the
Athenian audience, males were normally not portrayed to be inebriated with love as Jason has been
presented so, which further supports the idea that Jason’s abuse of authority can be linked to his
“[passionate]” desires.

Aside from the direct influence of power, Euripedes also evinces that a selfish desire for power and
personal gain is a direct cause for demise and “ruin”. Through the Nurse’s prologue, it is
unequivoacal that to be “powerful brings no blessing”, as to do so will incur the wrath of “angry”
gods. This association with divine judgement, which was of high importance to Athenian culture,
pre-emptively reorients the perspective of the Athenian male audience, who themselves would have
valued power and status, in order for palatable acceptance of Jason’s subsequent “ruin”. It is evident
that Jason disregards “loyalty” and prioritises his “alliance” with Creon’s family over his “marriage
oaths” to Medea, as the second marriage will “ensure” him “power”, “fame”, and “advantages”.
Even though his actions at face value would have gained solidarity from a majority of the Athenian
male audience, Euripedes instead poses a diametrically opposing view and demonstrates that this
desire for power has in fact “sealed [the] destruction” of his “whole world”. Fate is seen to deal
Jason “justice” through Medea’s “course” to destroy his current descendants as well as to injure his
“house” into the future, thus demonstrating that Jason’s lust for power was what caused his “life” to
be “wrecked”. Similarly, Euripedes exploits the Athenian belief that children were an “increase” to a
man’s “house” to portray Aegeus’ desire for power. It is clear that he wanted an “end to [his]
sterility”, leaving him “anxious to help [Medea]” who makes him a “promise” to “beget children”.
This allows him to be willingly accepting of a “child killer” into his “sacred” nation, which would have
been viewed as “a curse” and “pollution” upon the state of Athens.

The theme of power is central and recurs throughout Euripedes’ 431 B.C tragedy, Medea, and is
explored through various ways. Euripedes depicts an anomaly within the social context of the play
by presenting a reversal of power between male and female, as well as demonstrating power of a
foreign woman over a male character. Moreover, the influence of love and passion over the
individual’s exertion of power within the play is also clearly evident through Medea’s revenge and
Jason’s choices. In addition to this, Euripedes also uses Jason and Aegeus’ interactions with Medea
to convey that a lust for power will lead to adversity.