Euripides's Medea

Euripides's Medea is a tragic case, warning against the horrors of excess in emotion, in which a woman's jealous frenzy consumer her and destroys her and her loved ones. Her insatiable hunger for revenge clouds her minds with the one and only thought, murder, to which she seeks comfort from. The message in Medea relates to all readers, because it widens our view of human nature, and what we are capable of doing when our needs are not satisfied. Medea is a stellar example of how emotions can wreak havoc in society. Euripides's psychologically portrayal of Medea shows us an excessive form of revenge, in the manner of the murder of her own children

Although Medea deals with people and society of ancient times, today's audience can easily understand Medea's motivation. The significance of Medea's acts lie in the consequences to her society. The Greeks ruled their world with reason, and understood that emotions must be kept in check at all times, thus making it hard for Medea to deal with such tragedy. Medea having no way to cope with her loss turned to revenge as, in her mind, a logical comfort. Her hunger for revenge led her to wicked and destructive deeds "There are evils that cannot be conquered by other evils," says the Chorus, Medea commits one of those evils. Her actions are shocking and overwhelming, and they are they ones who guide her in this troubled time.

Medea deals with the dark, inner workings of the human conscious. Although customs, societal views and civilizations have changed since Euripides wrote Medea, one thing remains, human emotion, jealousy, envy, anger, and bloodlust. "And she hates her children, takes no pleasure in seeing them. I'm afraid of her, in case she has some new plan in mind. She is a deep thinker, you know, and she will not put up with this kind of abuse. I know her and I am terrified..." the Nurse proclaims in the opening act. Medea's bitterness grows to such a degree that she begins to despise her own children. The nurse begins to fear that Medea's emotions have outweighed her sense of sensibility and that she is brewing a vicious plot in her mind.

Medea's rage, unchecked and unchanged, carries on from the opening of the play to its final horrific moments. Upon acting on her extreme hatred and rage, Medea gets the grim satisfaction, however brutal and self-destructive it may be. Medea's entire motive and sole reason for existence was to do Jason harm. "It is the supreme way to hurt my husband." Medea answered to the Leader. Medea's hatred for Jason was so fierce that she was willing to do anything and go to any lengths to hurt him. She was so committed to destroying Jason and quenching her hunger for revenge that she went as far as murdering her own children, hoping to harm Jason in, what she deemed, his Achilles heel. Towards the end of the play, Jason was destroyed, Medea's insatiable appetite