Medea-Parents and Children in Greek Tragedy Flashcards
Why is Medea considered the antithesis of contemporary ancient Greek families?
She always targets the core of families which are children.
What is ironic about Medea being the antithesis of greek families?
Its ironic because she herself is a mother.
Her, a mother, killing children and even her own, is meant to shock the audience, which shows that the ancients did care about the children and played a core role in families
How can Medea be compared to Hektor and Achilles in the Iliad?
Medea is represented as a Homeric hero based on her dialogue. Ancient Greek heroes are very self-interested, determined and powerful. This is compared to Hektor, who fights for the sake of his family in battle and Achillies, who fights for vengeance.
What trait does Achillies share with Medea?
These two share the philosophy of ‘Benefit your friends and harm your enemies’. This means to do your utmost to help them and utmost to harm your enemies. In both stories, Achillies and Medea are set on a quest for vengeance which causes them to do anything for it
How does Medea’s quest for vengeance affect her children?
Medea was trying to exact revenge upon her ex-husband, Jason, who decided to marry the princess for wealth and power. In order to inflict the most amount of pain onto Jason, Medea destroys the royal line that Jason was marrying into and kills the children that they shared.
What is the relationship between Medea’s motherhood and heroism?
Medea gave up her heroism in order to be a wife and mother to Jason and her children. However, once Jason betrayed her, Medea choice the path of heroism and went on a quest of revenge. Heroism and parenthood are two things that cannot coexist in ancient Greece so on her quest, she sacrifices her motherhood (killing her kids) in order to inflict the most amount of pain onto her enemy.
Why did the ancient Greeks find Medea’s actions so shocking?
In contemporary ancient Greece, Medea, a woman, was not expected to be a hero in ancient Greece as mothers were only instigators on behalf of their children’s wellbeing. Medea violates this norm and takes the active role of killing those who wrong her. Most importantly, Medea, a mother, kills her kids to achieve revenge which is comparable to heresy in ancient Greece.
What else is shocking about Medea killing children?
Despite the heretic nature of a mother killing her own children, another factor that is shocking of a parent killing their children is that the ancient Greek audience recognize the importance of the children in not only a greek family but to ancient Greek society.
What is the main focus of the Medea story?
The main focus on the story is children and how important children are to families and to their parents.
How can the importance of children be Medea as a character?
At a certain point in the story, Medea remains unwavering in her goal to kill her children to hurt Jason. However, once she sees the faces of her children, she argues with herself if she should go through with it because she deeply cares about her kids.
What is the irony of Jason and Medea’s archetype in the story?
Medea gave up the hero role to care for her children but reclaimed the hero status to exact revenge
This contrasts with Jason’s role, who was supposed to be the hero but became the caring parent
How does Medea eventually convince Creon to stay one more day in the city before the banishment?
When Medea’s pled to the king and to the Gods fail, she exploits Creon’s fatherly love for children.
What does Medea riding off in Helio’s chariot represent?
The actions of Medea were so inconceivable that she transcended humanity and can be comparable to a god. Medea, a mortal mother whose role is to care for the children and be passive, personally murders her children in a calculated and thought-out manner
How did Medea convince the King of Athens to use his city as a haven?
Aegeus, King of Athens, is convinced by Medea to have sanction in Athens because Medea promises to use a spell to give him children as he is childless. Again, this shows the importance of children to fathers
What is the importance of Medea abandoning the thought of killing Jason at the start of the story and choosing to kill the princess and, most importantly, their children?
After Jason breaks her heart, she first thinks of killing Jason but decides to kill her children and Jason’s new girlfriend, the princess, as it will cause him the most amount of grief. This is proven true because once Jason learns of the princess’s death, he rushes home to confirm the safety of his children.
