Which Witch is Which?

[A study on that quite sour, un-dowered

witch of a witch, Medea]

Hctor Gonzlez
Melissa Gonzlez
Literature Humanities
14 December 2009

I remember not wanting to move to the United States in 1996. I was

living a splendid little childhood in the Dominican Republic and honestly saw
no reasonnone at allto move away (especially to another country). I had
no idea what America would be like: New York City, apple pie, and lots of
moneythat was my interpretation of the country from what I had heard
from friends and family. When I reached America, I noticed none of these;

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rather I noticed something far less idyllic than apple pie. I noticed that I was
a foreigner, an extranjero as I knew myself to be then.
I learned first-hand that human beings oftentimes ignore or fear
whatever appears foreign or strange to each individual. In twelfth grade my
AP English Literature professor assigned the class to read the Medea by the
ancient Greek tragedian Euripides. Euripides paints the main character,
obviously known as Medea, as a stranger in a foreign landa topic not so
foreign to me. This conventional weaving of exile and alienation in turn
establishes uneasiness between Medea and the spectators (the audience
itself and the cast of characters who interact with her) in order to complicate
perceptions of Medeas character. Even though Medea cannot be typified as
a tragic heroine, her inherent alienation and foreign attitudes confound the
audience so much that they ultimately sympathize with her.
The sorceress Medea is herself the sole representation of the unknown
throughout the tragedy. Originally from Colchis, Medea escapes with Jason
and flees to Corinth. She gave/ Pleasure to the people of her land of exile, /
And she herself helped Jason in every way (Euripides 11-13). Strangely,
Euripides emphasizes how Medeas previous popularity in Colchis was
immediately known upon her arrival to Corinth. Additionally, he
acknowledges the womans recent exile as well. This juxtaposition of past
fame and the present unpopularity of Medea in a foreign land immediately
establishes the territorial conflicts Medea experiences such as her heated
relationship with three of [her] enemiesfather, the girl, and [her]
husband (375). The enemies Medea speaks of are Creon the King, his

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daughter Glauce, and Jason of the Argonauts. Also, Medea lived in Colchis
which, unlike Corinth, was not a Greek nation.
Thus, Medea is different from this new Greek society in more ways than
one: she was a sorceress, a non-Greek, a murderess, a mother of two
children with an unstable marriage, etc. Euripides has a way of establishing
an elevated awkwardness between the audience and the sorceress Medea.
With every scene, the audience is perplexed by her character in such a way
that it is difficult, if not uncomforting, to decide whether to like the woman or
not. This discomfort adds to the intricate complexities within Medeas
character in that the audience does not want to suddenly rush to cushion her
downfall (which never occurs). Medeas character overwhelms the thoughts
of the audience, making them feel much more like foreigners than she. Being
a sorceress, Medea possesses the ability to charm the audience with her
divinity. Euripides increasingly unveils Medeas strength with each episode
that occurs from the murder of Glauce with the beautiful diadem to the
appearance of the dragon chariot which whisks her of to Athens.
Medea also enjoys the increased level of confidence she still retains in
a foreign land: Now, friends, has come the time of my triumph over/ My
enemies, and now my foot is on the road. / Now I am confident they will pay
the penalty (Euripides 765-767). The tragic heroine outlined in Aristotles
Poetics is neither so quick nor happy to speak of her enemies impending
doom. Classifying Medea as a conventional tragic heroine thus because
much less appealing. Euripides, known more or less as the bad boy of
Greek tragedy, hence succeeds in diverging from the accepted Aristotelian

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perfections penned by Sophocles (Oedipus being the so-called pinnacle of
Greek tragedy). The audience now shifts uneasily in each of his or her own
seats as they try to figure out what Medeas motives are, what drives her to
such a point of near insanity. The audience is stifled by the contradictory
attitude Medea displays whether she is the excellent orator that Aegeus
encountered or the miserably happy (meaning she is happiest when thinking
of killing someone like, oh I dont know, a princess or a king) witch that the
chorus constantly weeps over.
Interestingly, Euripides develops Medeas character sometimes
through the words of others. For example, the Nurse wails for Medea at the
beginning of the play, stating: Except that sometimes she twists her white
neck and/ Moans to herself, calling out her fathers name, / And her land, and
her home betrayed when she came/ away with/ A man who now is
determined to dishonor her. / Poor creature, she has discovered by her
sufferings / What it means to one not to have lost ones own country
(Euripides 30-35). The Nurse refers to Medea as a poor creature conveying
the sympathies typically reserved for heroes and heroines. This
unconventional appeal to pathos typically leaves the reader wondering
whether Medea can be classified as a tragic heroine or not. I mean this
woman has already killed her brother and chopped him up and strewed the
body parts into the water, leaving her father behind to, well, pick up the
pieces. The Nurse exudes a post-cathartic audiences reaction in that
elements of pity and fear exist, where the Nurse pities Medeas sufferings

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yet fears any chance of experiencing Medeas misfortune: [w]hat it means
to one not to have lost ones own country(35).
Medeas early recognition of her betrayal is foreign in itself. Typically in
Greek tragedy, the protagonista label which Medea does not fully embody,
if at allspends the entirety of the drama discovering his or her own
hamartia or tragic flaw. Medeas lamentations and regrets as a result of this
betrayal display her complete acceptance and innate comfort with her flaws.
Medeas overall ease in terms of her hamartia heightens the uneasiness
already established between the sorceress and the spectators. Medea does
not act as a common citizen would and she does not lament her injustice
she only grieves for the comfort of home. Therein lays the irony related to
Medeas exile: though she caused her own expulsion, Medea pines for the
previous esteem she experienced in Colchis.
This irony exists insomuch as Medea displays no consistency in her
desires. She previously wished to flee her home and succeeded by killing her
brother and wreaking havoc in Colchis. Now she wishes to return. Medeas
lack of thorough examination appears foreign to the audience who would
imagine a sorceress possessing a keen sense of judgmenta Tiresias of
sorts, or even the Furies. Medea now seems to be thinking irrationally though
she is apparently the wisest of minds. It is unsettling that such a woman
skilled in the crafts of divinity and the occult would be blinded by such
foolishness as love. However, all humans possess this same stupidityharsh
words, but true nonethelesswhen matters of love arise. Thus, the audience
is once again thrown! Euripides expresses Medeas vulnerability which the

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audience relates to in turn. Now the audience sympathizes with Medeas
case of unrequited love because most humans, if not all, have experienced
this feeling.
Medea experiences this unrequited love in two ways by two men.
Creon forces Medea away from the land which diminishes Medeas love for
the kingdom of Colchis (the small amount of love she initially showed that
is). Jason not only attempts to banish her from the land, he goes off with the
princess of that land and shows no shame in name-calling. However, the
general public never considers Medea as inferior or as not belonging. No
other citizens attempt to drive Medea away from the land, nor do they never
offer her the warmest of welcomes. Just look at the chorus of women: Medea
constantly terrifies and amazes but in the end that chorus is still chanting at
her and conveying their sympathies. Medea is not regarded as savage or in a
bestial context so much as she is regarded as merely strange. Interestingly,
it is Medea who drives herself away from the land:
My children, there is none who can give them safety./ And when I have
ruined the
whole of Jasons house,/ I shall leave the land and flee from the murder
of my/
Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed./ For it is not
bearable to be
mocked by enemies/.I have no land, no home, no refuge from my
pain./ My
mistake was made the time I left behind me/ My fathers house, and

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trusted the
words of a Greek (Euripides 793-801)
Medea feels the pressures of her exile as much more of an internal conflict
than an environmental onemeaning it is not the actual society surrounding
her which attributes to her alien status. It is the woman, the mind of the
woman herself specifically, which exiles herself from the land. Medea listens
to herself more often than she listens to others. One prime example is her
complete refusal to leave Creons kingdom. It is as if Medea listens to Creon
but all the while thinks of how she can ruin his life. In effect, she listens but
she does not hear; she does not comprehend Creons words because she
chooses not to.
Unfortunately, Creon allots Medea too much time to strategize the
demise of the whole of Jasons house. He did not do this on purpose more
so than he just wants Medea to leave comfortably of her own volition rather
than force her out of Corinth at the very moment he exiles Medea. Medea
now, like the audience, is uncomfortable. She is uncomfortable not because
she cannot deduce whether she is a tragic heroine or not (which remains the
plight of the audience), but because this feeling of obsession, of sadness
over a Greek man is foreign in itself to her. Medea is a very self-reflective and
internal character. She keeps to herself and all of her contrived, evil
machinations are known only by her and the audience since Euripides allows
the spectator inside of Medeas mind. Medea, so far as the audience can
deduce, has never encountered the abundant charm of a Greek man until
she trusted the words of a Greekof Jason. Jasons words ultimately

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represent his nationality: the Greeks are portrayed as both witty and
untrustworthy. Medea, though, realizes too late her mistake: she fell for
that age-old deity Love which, again, is completely alien to her. Medea now
not only feels foreign to the land surrounding her, she now feels foreign to
herself for she has never felt this sort of obsession before. Medea cannot
handle the fact that someone, a man such as Jason, allows her to lose all sort
of self-control.
The only remedies for Medeas indefinite feelings of alienation
and unfamiliarity are realization and an awareness or reflection on her own
senselessness. When I considered this I saw that I had shown/ Great lack of
sense, and that my anger was foolish. / Now I agree with you. I think that you
are wise/ In having this other wife as well as me, and I/ Was madNow, I
give in, and admit that then I was wrong./ I have come to a better
understanding now (Euripides 882-886, 892-893). However, this admittance
of foolishness is more or less a deceitful and well played method of accruing
sympathy on Medeas partthe witch is lying, folks. Medea may be foreign
to the land, but she is no stranger to words (and neither is Jason). Euripides
pens Medea as very sharp and extremely procedural. Medea may not follow
the rules spelled out by societythose certain covenants where one does not
harm the other and the property of your neighbor must go untouchedbut
she sure as hell draft her own set of rules and procedures. This adds to
Medeas self-centered attitudes, the same attitudes which make her so
foreign.

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Medeas alienation in this new Greek land is in some part Jasons fault
but this blame can only go so far. Medea has established her wishes to not
associate with the others around her. Medea could have very well been
greeted with open arms had she not wreaked havoc or instilled fear in the
Greeks or King Creon. Medea is much too predatorily focused on the ruin of
others and her own successes. Medeas foreign status gives her a reason to
be alone, which is dangerous. When Medea is alone, she thinks. When she
thinks, people die. That has been the product of her internal conflict for all of
the tragedy. The only lands which will never appear strange or unfamiliar lie
within the expanses of her mind. As the Beatles say, its all in the mind,
yknow. Thus, Medea will never be comfortable with any other person or any
other land ever again because the only person she shared this comfort with
betrayed it (Jason). Thus, the audience will never accept Medea
wholeheartedly since they are unable to ever fully relate to her.
Medea must ask herself the question, as well as the audience, which
witch is which? Medea is foreign to herself in that she is either nice or a
sorceressno clear distinction between the good and the bad ever appears
unless she is trying to bend the will of another person. Medea is so focused
on achieving the future demise of her enemy (again, Jason) and all of those
who her enemy loves that she forgets the wrong she commits. Medea
furthermore does not notice how terrible her actions are because she has
experienced considerable loss: she has lost herself, her old self that is. In the
end, Medea will always be the foreigner for she will never return to Colchis.

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Even in Athens, her new home as a favor returned by Aegeus, she will still be
the new neighbor with the bad reputation just like she was in Corinth.