The Great Athenian Tragedian Euripides - 1631 Words

Chaos and disorder have been prevalent throughout all of human history, but from it has emerged a great deal of order and truth. Societies have fallen to ashes, from the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah to the Holy Roman Empire. After their immense reigns and chaotic ends, we have extracted inestimable lessons and truths. Disorder has the potency to align and place things in order once it has rattled through a period. In Greece’s history, several prominent figures have captured this theme in their writings, like the great Athenian tragedian Euripides. In Euripides’ Greek tragedy Medea, one of the pervasive themes is order out of chaos. Medea turns on her direct family for the salvation of her future husband and betrays her homeland. She perceives her repayment as being replaced in the bed of her husband with the Corinthian king’s daughter, along with being exiled from Corinth. Medea becomes an embodiment of chaos, as she is overtaken by furious hatred and passion for revenge against civic and familial order. In this paper, I will argue the chaos that ensues after Medea and her husband Jason’s disastrous breakup unintentionally reveals a moral order. Medea’s decisively drawn plan of revenge establishes the value of loyalty, as she punishes those responsible for her betrayal, and strongly establishes a woman’s role in a patriarchal society. Medea’s chaotic acts draws attention to the truth of marital values and establishes these values even before the chaos has calmed. Medea’sShow MoreRelatedThe Odyssey And Trojan Women1684 Words   |  7 Pages HOMER AND EURIPIDES DEAL WITH THE SAME THEMES BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS INTRO: Despite difference of around 400 years between them Greek poet Homer and tragedian playwright Euripides explore many of the same themes in their works the Odyssey and Trojan Women (written by each respectively). Both works are inspired by the events of 12th Century BCE Trojan War that Homer previously explored in the Iliad. The two examine the worth of cunning over brute strength, the dangers of temptation and the role ofRead MoreEssay on The Lives of Athenian Women1880 Words   |  8 PagesWomen in classical Athens could not have had an extremely enjoyable experience, if we rely on literary sources concerning the roles of women within the Greek polis. The so-called Athenian democracy only benefited a fraction of the entire population. At least half of this population was female, yet women seem to have had very little influence and few official civic rights. `The position of women...is a subject which has provoked much controversy. (Lacey: 1968, 151). Studies concerning theRead More Oedipus the King: Unrealistic or Realistic Essay2008 Words   |  9 PagesOedipus† analyzes the protagonist of the tragedy and finds a balanced, realistic type who possesses the qualities of a king, including the human, realistic desire for more:    Oedipus is a ‘good king,’ a father of his people, an honest and great ruler, while at the same time an outstanding intellect. . . . He even shares the throne, not only with his wife who had been his predecessor’s wife, and in her quality as queen and co-regent merely adds to his own dignity and greatness. . . . He describesRead MoreGreek Tragedy And The Morality Of Greek Culture Essay2193 Words   |  9 Pageswas likely pushing their own agenda and choose playwrights that matched their ideals. This is just one example of how theater in ancient Greece was used to influence the morality of Greek culture by using the stories of tragedies, like those of Euripides. 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Any sympathy viewers have built for the woman is, in the words of Elizabeth Vandiver, â€Å"undercut† by this act (15). Since Medea is the protagonist, we question why Euripides chose to make her a child murderer. Most scholars agree that he invented this part of the myth. He also lessened her role as witch by drawing attention to her human qualities. This only highlights the infanticide (14) because we cannot excuse herRead MoreHAMLET AND ORESTES10421 Words   |  42 Pages has observed that most learned men, sooner or later, go a little : ANNUAL SHAKESPEARE LECTURE, 4 mad on some subject or other, and that I am 1914 just about the right age to begin. My subject is the study of two great tragic characters, Hamlet and Orestes, regarded as Traditional Types. I do not compare play with play, but simply character with character, though in the course of the comparison I shall of course consider the situations in which my heroes areRead Moretheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesheroic stature. One is committed to serving the public, and the other is led by the demands of her conscience. Minor Themes As the central conflict unfolds, Sophocles makes it known that both Creon’s and Antigone’s firm stances stem from the two great imperatives that underlie all political action: the needs of the individual versus the rights of the state. Creon is constrained to act the way he does for reasons of political expediency. He is a newly appointed ruler who has to rescue his people