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Although feminism is a well-known and accepted political idea in American culture, it was hardly recognized and rarely expressed in the Greek patriarchal society of 431 B. C. Euripides, a renowned playwright of the time, saw faults in the Greek society and so he voiced his opinion to a wide audience by writing and displaying brilliant tragedies. Perhaps one of Euripides bolder accomplishments was achieved in the production of the tragedy Medea, which expressed the radical idea of feminism and revealed the immorality of female oppression to the conservative Greek society.
Euripides, a master of sight and sound, conveyed these ideologies to his audience through the use of symbolic context as well as elegant literary techniques found in the text of Medea. It is easy for one to see the creative content and brilliant literary techniques combined to reveal this underlining feminist theme of Medea in the choral speech contained in lines 627 through 662. In this passage, allusions were carefully scattered about the text to enhance this theme. In this choral passage Euripides alludes to the Greek goddess of love Cypris, more commonly known as Aphrodite, for several reasons.
Aphrodite, who was created when Cronus, the father of the Olympians, threw Uranus severed genitals into the sea, was a woman of great power. Aphrodite and the legends of her adventures symbolize the power of women as well as gender equality. One example of this was when Hermes, who was madly in love with Aphrodite, dispatched an eagle to steal one of Aphrodite's sandals. In order to get the sandal back, Aphrodite was forced to give into Hermes desires.
This produced a double-sexed child, known as Hermaphroditus, who represents the need for equality of men and women. Reference to this legend is very appropriately placed in Medea, for Euripides, more than anything else, is attempting to prove the his listeners that men and women are inherently equal. By alluding, indirectly to Hermaphroditus, Euripides shows the audience that even the gods recognized that the two genders are equal. Medea expresses that she whishes to be treated as a male would by saying I would very much rather stand three times in front of a battle than bear one child (250 - 251) Aphrodite was also known for having very domineering qualities. She reversed the role of betrayal, usually played by the man, and cheated on her own lovers. Hephaestus and Aphrodite were joined in an arranged marriage that was filled with unfaithfulness.
Aphrodite could not confine her love to just one other. She had countless affairs with both gods and mortals. The affair that nearly ended her marriage was one with Ares, the god of war. When Aphrodite and Ares were making love one night, they partook in each other for too long. Helius, after hitching up his golden chariot of the sun saw the two lovers and immediately told Hephaestus what he had seen. Hephaestus, being a metal worker, fashioned a brass net over the two lovers so that every one could see the naked god and goodness embracement, but Aphrodite only gained more admirers from her naked viewing.
In this myth, Aphrodite again represents the idea of feminism, for she switches roles with her husband for the performer of adulterous acts. Also, this myth indicates the weakness of males, for Hephaestus, the leading male god of the myth, is lame and crippled. The myth of Aphrodite and Hephaestus compares to the relationship between Medea and Jason in that Aphrodite and Medea share similar authoritarian qualities and Hephaestus and Jason are both crippled. Throughout the play Medea is constantly dominating her situation and getting exactly what she wants, especially when it is from a man. One example of this is when Medea says to Creon Allow me to remain here just for this one day, so I may consider where to live in my exile, playing on his emotions and weaknesses to overpower him into getting what she wants, one last day in his country (340 - 341). Jason, however, is shown to hold almost no power at all through out the entire tragedy and in the end he is truly crippled by the loss of his entire family including his new bride, Creusa.
Jason states The gods hurled the avenging curse of yours on me revealing his handicap (1333). Euripides also alludes to the myth of Aphrodite and Cinyras when he mentions Cypris in the quote On me let mighty Cypris inflict no words of wordy anger to urge my passion to a different love (637 - 639). Cinyras, the king of Cyprus bragged continually that his daughter Smyrna was more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. Since Aphrodite is vain as well as vengeful she proceeds to punish Cinyras for his boastings. Aphrodite uses her magical girdle to force Smyra fall in love with her own father. One night Smyra crawled into the bed of her intoxicated father, who proceeded to impregnate her.
When Cinyras realized what he had done, he chased his daughter out of the kingdom by sword point. Aphrodite is very similar in this myth to Medea in her feminist ways, for Medea too punishes a man by giving a loved one of his a garment seasoned with evil magic. Medea, after Jason betrays her by marrying Creusa, sends the new bride a gift of a golden dress laced with a poising that will induce a painful death to all those who touch it. Medea describes the gift by stating For I will send the children with gifts in their hands?
a finely woven dress. And if she takes them and wears them upon her she and all who touch the girl will die in agony (784 - 788). At the beginning of the choral ode another important allusion is made to the Greek golden mean, which states that moderation is the key to happiness. The chorus cries, When love is in excess it brings a man no honor? but if in moderation Cypris comes, there is no other power at all so gracious, alluding to the mean by the use of the words excess and moderation (627 - 631). Euripides does not include this reference to indicate that the Greeks themselves are breaking their most predominant rule by having an excess of male power in their society.
The way in which Euripides structured Medea also assists the audience in understanding the idea of feminism. The chorus prays for Cypris to inflict no wordy wars or restless anger upon them. This quote is structured so that it reflects the two things that dominate Medea's dialogue, arguments that lead to hatred and anger. Medea argues with almost every man mentioned in the tragedy and she also seems to arise from the argument the victor. After a long and involved argument with Jason Medea expresses to the chorus the contempt and hatred a women has for a man who has betrayed by shouting When once she is wronged in the matter of love, no other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood (265 - 266). This quote also indicates that women, driven by the hatred for their ex-lovers have a murderous power over them.
The chorus speech is also structured in a way to promote Euripides thoughts of feminism. Whenever the chorus speaks of a man, particularly Jason, they use an excess of negative language. For example, the chorus states, O let him die whose heart will not reward his friends, who cannot open an honest mind no friend will he be of mine (659 - 662). By using words such as die, not, cannot, and no the chorus is indicating that men are inferior creatures. Although the content of Medea dominates in conveying the concepts of feminism to the audience, Euripides also incorporates several poetic techniques into the tragedy to help further promote the theory of gender equality. One of the more prominent techniques that Euripides uses throughout Medea is irony.
Near the beginning of the tragedy the chorus states, O goddess, never on me let loose the unerring shaft of your bow in the poison of desire, comparing poison to love (632 - 633). This comparison is highly ironic for Medea poisons Creusa, Jasons new bride, by giving her tainted gifts in an effort to destroy the love that corrupted the romance between her and Jason. This irony shows one way in which Medea dominates Jason. The chorus declares, O country and home, never, never may I be without you, living the hopeless life, hard to pass through and full of pain (643 - 646).
The irony of this line can truly be realized at the end of Medea when Jason, the tragic hero, is left if a state of hopelessness, proclaiming, Oh my life is over, (1350). He has no friends and no family; the only thing he has left is his country. Medea, on the other hand, has escaped with her pride and dignity, so surely her life will be much easier to pass through than Jasons, even though she has no country or home to call her own. This example of irony suggests that women, who are represented by Medea, can completely over power men, who are represented by Jason.
Euripides also uses repetition and exaggeration to help reveal the theme of feminism. Never, never may I be with out you? says the chorus, describing there over powering fear of being without a country or a home (644). The chorus repeats the word never to communicate to the audience that the general consensus among Greeks is that it is better to die than to lose ones country and home. The chorus supports this idea by later stating Let death first lay me low? there is no sorrow above the loss of a native land (648 - 652).
The repetition presented here represents the fact that a woman must be attached to a country or a home in order to have a sort of life at all. Medea, the character that represents feminism in the play breaks free of the rule by living the majority of her life with out any true home or country. The chorus recites the lonely state that Medea has fallen into after Jason betrayed her by saying, Neither city nor friend pitied you when you suffered the worst of sufferings (655 - 657). To make the audience feel a vast amount of pity and sorrow for Medea the chorus exaggerates her condition. It is obvious that there are far worse things in life than being betrayed by a lover, but the chorus insists that Medea has felt the worst of all pain.
The chorus also exaggerates when they insist that no one will feel sorry for Medea once she has committed her evil deeds of vengeance. The chorus themselves feel sorry for Medea and even express that she is right to avenge Jasons betrayal in this quote This I will promise. You are in the right, Medea, in paying your husband back (266 - 267). The main purpose of this example of exaggeration is to show the audience that the chorus, who represents the women of the society, begin to see relate to Medea and her feminist ways. Reoccurring imagery is yet another poetic technique that helps Euripides express the flaws of patriarchal society to his viewers. Throughout the text Euripides paints the image of one thing being higher than another, expressing the idea of the strong towering over the weak.
This imagery can be seen when the chorus cries, Let death first lay me low and death free me from this day light. There is no sorrow above the loss of a native land (648 - 651). By using the words low and above Euripides shows that a person is weak and powerless to the forces of mortality and that the felling of sadness that comes with the loss of a home land stands tall above all other forms of sorrow. This same imagery is used over the entire play. The most predominant example is in the last scene when Jason stands defeated while Medea floats high above his head in her chariot drawn by dragons, taunting him with the violated bodies of his murdered children. Medea describes her position of power by declaring to Jason that You will never touch me with your hand, such a chariot has Helius, my fathers father, given to me to defend me from my enemies (1320 - 1322).
In this scene Medea, a woman, stands tall above the defeated Jason, in the ultimate image of feminism. Phallic symbols are also reoccurring images that are carefully drawn into the text. In the quote, O goddess, never on me let loose the unerring shaft of your bow in the poison of desire, the shaft of Cypris bow represents the male sex organ, the very thing responsible for making women powerless through passionate desire as well as patriarchal power. Another Phallic symbol that can be seen in Medea is the mention of a sword. In the quote Or sharpen a sword and thrust it to the heart Medea describes her wish of grasping a sword, the hard steal object that grants so much power to those who posses it, and slashing Jasons house down, leaving him in utter ruins. The phallic imagery used in Medea shows the viewer that Medea wishes to possess male qualities.
She compensates for the lack of possessing the male reproduction organ by mentioning the use of sword or shaft numerous times throughout the tragedy. Euripides also uses a vast amount of foreshadowing in the tragedy to further convey the underlying philosophy of the play. The chorus states, When love is in excess it brings a man no honor nor any worthiness, foreshadowing that Jason, who has an excess of partners in love, will be stripped of his honor as well as his worthiness (627 - 629). At the end of Medea, Jason is left with out any honor or self worth, for Medea has slain his children and destroyed his royal house. Jason reveals his horrible dishonor by shouting and crying I go, with two children to mourn for. Oh, children I loved! (1395 - 1397).
The foreshadowing shown in lines 627 - 629 further illustrates the power that Medea has over Jason, further proving the validity of Euripides feminists theories. In another statement of foreshadowing the chorus shouts, O let him die un-graced whose heart will not reward his friends, who cannot open an honest mind no friend will he be of mine, foreshadowing that Jason, a man who cannot open an honest mind, will be left un-graced with no friends to pity or console him. Medea proves Jasons dishonesty by blazing telling him, If you are were not a coward, you would not have married behind my back but discussed it with me first (586 - 587). At the end of the play it is no surprise that Jason dies a figurative death, un-graced by the murder of his family and children. This example of foreshadowing in Medea shows the reader that the chorus has turned to the ways of feminism. The chorus is continually putting down and wishing harm upon the men who disgrace or betray women, indicating that they sympathize with Medea and are even absorbing her feminist values.
Euripides was a Greek poet who was ahead of his time in the sense that he viewed his society in a harsh light. He looked at the world around him and in seeing many flaws questioned the ethics of the patriarchal society in which he lived. He dared to present the radical ideas feminism and equality to his traditional Greek society. Euripides took all these thoughts, fears and discontents and, with use of ingenious content and striking literary techniques, poured them into the Greek tragedy Medea. This resulted in the combination of beautiful flowing poetics with provocative philosophical views into a timeless piece of art that projects feminist ideas from every direction.
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