Character Analysis: Medea and Jason

I. Begin your pre-writing by answering some questions about each character. A. What type of person is the character? (NOTE: Use personality traits/qualities and/or metaphors.) B. What are the most revealing aspects of the character? (NOTE: Use adjectives. Consider the characters thoughts, words, and actions.) C. What parts of the storyline make you feel this way about the character? D. What are the characters personal motives? E. What actual motives do the other characters notice? F. What motives do you notice? G. How does the character change from beginning to end in Jason and the Argonauts movie? H. How does the character change from the moment the character meets the future love interest to the end of Euripides Medea? I. What forces or circumstances make the character act in a certain way? (NOTE: Think through the setting, conflicts, and other characters in both the movie and play.) J. In what ways has society or the environment created the character? K. Would the character behave like this in the real world? Explain. L. Does the character have a confidant (someone he/she turns to, talks to, and relies upon) whom is important and reliable? Explain. M. How does the character appear to other characters? N. Is the character aware of how other characters feel about him or her? Explain. O. How does the character feel about himself or herself? P. How did Euripides want you to feel about the character?

II. End your pre-writing time by creating an informal outline for each character to help organize your essays. Introduction Paragraph: o Titles of myth and play (with author) o Brief Synopsis of myth o Brief Synopsis of play o Thesis Statement (A & B) First Body Paragraph: o Type of character in Jason and the Argonauts myth o G, I, &/or J Second Body Paragraph: o Type of character in Euripides Medea because of a conflict with another character o D, E, F, H, I, L, M, &/or N Conclusion Paragraph: o Restatement of the Thesis: Characterize what type of person the character became in the end o D, K, O, &/or P

Essay Model: Medea

The British playwright, William Congreve, said it best in his play, The Mourning Bride, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. In the Jason and the Argonauts myth, Jason, the hero, seeks the Golden Fleece that is held sacred by Colchis; lovingly, Princess Medea of Colchis aids Jason in his task. In Euripides play, Princess Medea of Colchis (and Priestess of Hecate) becomes a betrayed queen, who has already been exiled from her home land and Jasons homeland of Iolcus. In the play Medea, the mythical Greek hero known as Jason prepares to marry Princess Glauce of Corinth to secure a throne for power and wealth. Callously, Jason makes his marital plans without telling his wife, Medea, and their two sons. Therefore, Medea becomes a vengeful, scorned princess without a throne or a place to call home.
Introduction with Thesis Statement as the last Sentence

In the Jason and the Argonauts myth, Medea is first introduced as a powerful ally.
Body #1s Topic Sentence

R1- Medea helps Jason obtain the Golden Fleece after he promises to marry her. They get exiled Colchis. S1- How? Why? R2- Medea helps Jason return the Golden Fleece to Iolcus, helps kill the wrongful King Pelias

TS= Topic Sentence R1= Reason #1 Idea S1= Support #2 Idea ClS= Closing Sentence *NOTE: Write ideas into one or more fully detailed sentences.

so that Jason can become the rightful king, and gets them exiled. S2- How? Why? (Medea promises King Pelias daughters that she will show them how to make their father young againan evil trick to help Jason avenge his family. The trick entails cutting their father into pieces in one version of the myth.) R3- Medea bears two sons with Jason while in exile. S3- Why are sons important to Jason and Medea? ClS- Knowing Medeas determined loyalty and seeing first-hand her abilities to use herbs and the Dark Arts for murder, Jason should never have abandoned Medea for a young, pretty princess. In Euripides play called Medea, Jasons betrayal of Medea and their children for Princess Glauce of Corinth and a future throne makes Medea insanely jealous.
Body #2s Topic Sentence

R1- King Creon banishes Medea and her sons, so Medea cunningly plots revenge against TS= Topic Sentence Jason through the hideous demise of R1= Reason #1 Idea Princess Glauce. S1= Support #2 Idea S1- How? Why? R2- Medea seeks sanctuary with King Aegeus of Athens. S2- Why? R3- Medea kills her sons and refuses to give them to Jason for burial. S3- Why? R4- Medea escapes to Athens.
ClS= Closing Sentence *NOTE: Write ideas into one or more fully detailed sentences.

S4- How? Why? ClS- Medeas premeditated revenge meets with tragic success when she realizes just how devastated Jason feels and how it personally feels to have destroyed her own sons in the process.
Conclusion with the Restatement of the Thesis (verdict) as the first Sentence

Medeas vindictive nature causes her to wreak havoc on the Corinthian royal family as well as on her own family, especially her two innocent sons, to punish the so-called hero Jason for bigamy with Corinths princess. Furthermore, Medea cunningly uses her knowledge and skills in the Dark Arts to avenge herself against her adulterous husband. Frankly, Jasons gullible arrogance leaves him open for Medeas twisted retribution. In the play called Medea, Euripides uses the Chorus to convince the audience that Medea (the tragic heroine in the play) should be pitied and that Jason deserves to be punished; however, only the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus should pass judgments and enact punishments.