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Pepper Yang

Mrs. Morris

English IV

4 September 2016

Medea: A Miserable Murderer

The most fascinating part of a Greek tragedy is the experience of the tragic hero, which

always attracts bigger audience and arouse their emotions. A tragic hero is a noble or royal

character whose atrophy is caused by his own misjudgment, and his experience always makes

the audience feel fear and pity. 'Medea', a play written by Euripides, depicts the story of a unique

tragic heroine. In this play, Medea is betrayed by her husband, Jason, who decides to marry the

princess of Corinth. After learning about this dreadful affair, Medea is determined to get revenge:

she murders the princess, the king, and even her children to hurt Jason. Medea's tragic flaws,

including rashness, an excessively passionate nature, and hubris, are reflected while the revenge

takes place; therefore making Medea a tragic heroine.

The rashness of Medea's words and actions cause the exile of her and her two sons. At the

beginning of this play, it is not uncommon to see Medea curse her enemies, and her own fragile

family. Her words, "let them die, the accursed children of a hateful mother, with their father, and

let the whole house disappear" (Euripides 17), evidently show her hasty temper as well as her

indignation towards the princess and her husband. Another example which reveals her rashness is

that she wishes to see Jason and his new bride "and the whole house violently destroyed" (18).

These words are eventually overheard by Creon, king of Corinth. To assure the safety of his
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daughter, he decides to exile Medea and her children from his territory. The banishment from

Cornith triggers Medea's malicious plan and begins her downfall.

Medea's excessive passionate nature is another factor of her plight. Her passionate nature

can be traced to a time before she lives in Corinth, where she causes many tragedies and

accumulates her sins. Her dilemma is showed when she complains she has no place to go. She

says, "now where do I turn? To my homeland and my father's house, which I betrayed for you?

Or to those poor daughters of Pelias? Wouldn't they receive me nicely in the house where I killed

their father?" (30). Medea has her own rationale for commiting homicide: she falls in love with

Jason and helps him get the Golden Fleece for his uncle. In oder to escape successfully, Medea

kills her brother, chops the body, and scatters the pieces into the ocean. When they finally gets to

Iolcus, Pelias denies Jason's kingship, so Medea tricks the two princesses to kill their father.Her

passionate characteristic drives her to murder so many people immorally. Therefore, what she

experiences afterwards is a punishment to her crime. Sacrificing so much for Jason, Medea is

betrayed, so her anger is reasonable. After she is granted to stay one more day, she is determined

to "display the corpses of three of her enemies" (26). Medea loves Jason deeply, hates him

deeply, and her excessive passionate nature leads her to revenge.

Hubris makes Medea suffer from pain of loss of family and loneliness. She considers

herself to be more intellectual than others, and her pride can be subtly revealed in many sections.

For instance, she says, "I won't have spoken to him or touched him with my hands, but he's

become so foolish that, although he could have ruined my plans and cast me from this land, he

allowed me to stay this day, in which I shall display the corpse of three of my enemies" (26),

Medea considers Creon to be stupid, but Creon lets her stay because of his sympathy rather than
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foolishness. Also, she believes her intelligence can eliminate her enemies, and it seems she never

uses her intelligence in a good way. At one point Medea says she has "little knowledge, some are

filled with jealousy, others think me secretive, and crazy" (36). Here Medea shows the reader

that she is discriminated against because she is clever, which is undoubtedly true. However, she

certainly does not expel these prejudices when she uses her intelligence and knowledge to

murder so many people, and most of them are related. In addition to this, Medea committed the

crime of infanticide in order to hurt Jason, while her own explanation is to protect her children

from "more hostile hand" (55). It shows her pride because she would rather be sinful than let her

children hurt by someone else.

In conclusion, Medea's excessive passionate nature, rashness, and hubris make her a

tragic heroine. These personal traits that lead to her downfall also make her more related and

impressive. Meanwhile, Medea, as a tragic heroine, let the viewers reconsider their own actions,

so the tragic flaws serve as educational tools to some degree.

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Work Cited

J.E. Thomas, trans. Medea. By Euripides. Clayton: Prestwick House Inc, 2005. Print.