Boyle

Allison Boyle
Melanie Sucabus
Race in the Ancient Mediterranean
April 17, 2016

The Medea: Intersections of Race and Gender

In Euripides The Medea, the struggles of gender roles are highlighted and readers get a
look into the societal standards of ancient Greek society. Medea, the protagonist of Euripides
play, sacrifices many important people and things in her life due to her love for Jason, in order to
help him acquire the Golden Fleece. Although Medea is a sorceress and a princess, she is seen as
a woman and women in ancient societies were supposed to be seen and not heard. Therefore,
after changing around her whole life for Jason, Medea loses him to another woman. This
ultimately leads to her killing spree revenge on him. Medea is a representation of the women of
ancient Greek society who were taken advantage of by men due to the differences between
gender roles and social status. In The Medea, Euripides challenges and complicates the idea of
stereotyped anxieties of what it means to be Greek by highlighting Medeas strength as a woman
to stand up for herself, Creons accusing nature, and Jasons disbelief that he is at fault for
leaving his wife. Through these characters, the presence of race and gender confront the idea of
Greek identity by dictating the characters choices and relationships with each other.
Medeas strength as a character presents itself during her rage against her husband, who
recently betrayed her by accepting a marriage to Creons daughter. In her lament she states, I
have lost all pleasure in living and I want to die, my friends. The man who was everything to me,
try to understand this, has turned out to be the vilest man alive, my own husband (The Medea

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225-228). She openly states her frustrations and disbelief in such a way that shows she is a
woman who demands self-respect. In the play, it is evident that women were seen as objects of
mans desire. This is a reflection of how women were treated during this time. Men could do
what they pleased but women could only do what the man allowed. Medeas lament challenges
the ancient Greek ideals for women because she is angry that she has been mistreated and
demands revenge. Against her husbands decision to leave her, Medea was truly helpless in this
matter. In order for Jason to part from Medea, he only had to say so. It seemed as though she
could do nothing to help herself.
However, she is attempting to fight back, which put pressure on the men of ancient Greek
society because she refused to accept her fate in silence. For women in the ancient Greek world,
the character of Medea threatened to change the way they could be treated by men and could
ultimately give women more power in society. Medea makes the Greek female a true human by
portraying a woman who states her thoughts and feelings and acts on them. In The Medea,
Euripides further highlights the female struggle by writing, Of all creatures that have life and
reason we women are the sorriest lot: first we must at a great expenditure of money buy a
husband and even take on a master over our body: this evil is more galling than the first (The
Medea 229-233). In this part of her speech, Medea outlines how women are treated calling them
helpless in the constraints of societal standards. Medea further states, For a women in all other
things is full of fear and a coward when it comes to looking on deeds of valor and the sword but
when she is wronged in her marriage there is no heart more bloodthirsty (The Medea 261-265).
Due to her pain, Medea plots a plan for revenge, which propels into action after Creon, King of
Corinth, banishes her.

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After Medeas lamentation against her husband, she is exiled from Corinth by the king,
Creon. When asked the reason for her banishment, Creon states, I am afraid of youno need to
cover up my reasonsin case you do some irreparable harm to my daughter (The Medea 281282). At this point in the play, Medea has only spoken of her anger and immediately she became
a threat. This scene truly highlights race and gender role superstitions within ancient Greek
society. Since Medea refused to handle her situation in silence, she was immediately abandoned.
In response to Creons banishment, Medea states, This is not the first time, Creon, but over and
over again, peoples opinion has injured me and done me great harm (The Medea 291-292). In
this line, Euripides again highlights the stereotyped behavior of women in ancient Greek times.
Due to Greek superstitions of outsiders or unusual behavior, civilians were often exiled or
banished. Women faced much scrutiny because they were not considered full human beings. This
idea relates to events throughout history and up into todays world. True evidence takes a back
seat against speculation and superstition to the point of ruining reputations and lives. Medea has
yet to due anything wrong at this current moment in the play; therefore, Creon is relying solely
on the gossip hes heard not true fact.
In addition to Creons unfair behavior towards Medea, it is evident that this scene also
shows how men and women behaved towards each other. As the scene progresses, readers see
Creons unwillingness to listen to Medeas plea stating Go, you foolish woman, and relieve me
of my troubles (The Medea 332). This line relates to racial and gender conflicts because Medea
is an outsider to Corinth and she is a women; therefore, her value is much less then a native man
to the land. However, Medea finds a way to stay one day more in Corinth by coaxing Creon to let
her make plans in order to manage in exile. This is when Medea truly confronts the man who
ruined her life and ignite her revenge plot into action.

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Medea encounters Jason shortly after her exchange with Creon and he immediately faults
her for letting her anger get out of hand. This is another example typical to the time period
proving that women were to do as they were told. Jason insults her actions by stating, You had
the chance to stay in this country and keep your home by patiently putting up with what your
betters decide, but now you have had your say and for it you are to be deported (The Medea
448-450). Jason is basically condemning Medea for speaking up for herself in this unjust
situation. As his wife, Medea is expected to accept her husbands choices because he is her
master. In return to Jasons comments, Medea shames his lack of manliness stating, This is not
daring; this is not courage, to abuse your loved ones and look them in the face, this is the most
virulent of all human sicknesses, shamelessness (The Medea 468-471). This is one high point of
the play where Medea poses a threat on Greek society. She faults her husband to his face by
confronting him with his actions against her. This is one of the earliest instances in literature
where a woman takes a stand to the wrong doings against herself. It was very controversial to the
standards set up by men for the women of ancient Greece. This type of woman breaking the
societal restraints put on her scared the men of this time period because women like Medea were
considered dangerous to the power men created for themselves.
In The Medea, Euripides challenges the societal boundaries specifically put on outsiders
and women specifically through the character of Medea. Euripides ignites a vengeance in Medea
and expresses her grief and anger through her lamentation about betrayal. She laments
passionately about the struggles of women and how their race as a whole is treated more like
prizes then human beings. In addition, Euripides highlights the Greek superstitions of outsiders
through the character of Creon, King of Corinth. Creon chooses to exile Medea due to rumors
not true evidence. Since Medea is not a native to his land, he is more likely to be skeptical of her

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motives; therefore, he banishes her. Lastly, through the betrayal of her husband Jason, Medea
experiences the true unfairness put on women against their male counterparts. In their scene
together, Medea accuses Jason of his actions and he refuses to take blame for doing anything out
of the ordinary stating that her anger has gotten the better of her. These three instances prove
Euripides motives to speak out against the social standards of men by portraying a strong
woman in a time when women were meant to stay silent.

Bibliography

Euripides, and Gilbert Murray. The Medea of Euripides. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1912. Web.