There are many themes that are shown in “Medea”. In my opinion, the three main themes that give it meaning in modern life is what makes the play worth reading. The themes make it relevant to read even in this day and age. The first main theme that is shown in “Medea” is the women’s place in society. In the play, you could see the current position of women in the city of Athens. The women were not seen as a vital part of society and due to this mindset, they were not seen as a valuable commodity in the society as well. All along through the play, you see the hardships of women and that also relates to today’s society.
Women have made strides even today to be treated equally and their rights still is a important topic today. Euripides showed this throughout the play and showed how Medea really defied this position of women and didn’t accept the position she was given in society. This is why the women’s place in society is a major theme throughout the play that still relates to many aspects of society today. The second major theme is passion. The passion of love that Medea shows in the play is tremendous. Euripides shows this passion in different ways. In the beginning of the play, the passion that Medea had for Jason was great.
She loves him so much that she was willing to give up everything she had. However, later in the play, after Jason deceives Medea, this passion turns negative. She shows extreme emotion throughout the play which is also why this is another major theme. Lastly, what makes this play meaningful to modern life is the theme of Greatness or Hubris. Since the society of Athens was so interested in the concept of Hubris, Euripides shows the qualities of a Hubris character in Medea at the beginning of the play. That later on however is turned around and shows Medea as the exact opposite.
Greatness is still in today’s society which makes the play relatable to today’s modern life. This is also why this is a major theme to the play “Medea”. 1. The first incident that the chorus speaks is when they speak to the nurse. This is not the chorus implicating fear, but rather they speak in a tone of pity. They pity the situation that Medea is in and show the hardships that she is going through. They however send a message that she must endure her pain. But they also at the same time give her permission to seek revenge on Jason. In line 357, the Chorus enters again.
This time, they also are in the same position. Rather then striking fear, they still pity the position of Medea. This time they listen to the plan of Medea. She tells the chorus that she will destroy Jason in twenty four hours. The chorus shows that they are on Medea’s side and approve of her plan for revenge on Jason. Another time the Chorus speaks is when they give the audience a speech about the benefits and the dangers of love. This is when the audience is basically giving advice. They say that love is full of rewards but when love is not controlled, it will subsequently lead to suffering.
This is how the Chorus consequently affects of the mood of the audience. 2. The actions of Jason were perfectly alright in the Greek society that he lived in. As mentioned before, women were not seen as a valuable commodity in that day and age and so they were not treated with eh same respect as men were. For Jason to take a new bride was not all that bad as it is in today’s society. It seems that it was alright for him to do that in his society. But Medea, who had sacrificed so much of what she had for Jason, would not take lightly to this betrayal.
Medea is not shown as a normal Greek woman, but rather a woman who’s beyond the age she lived in. She saw this action as deceiving and unfaithful. This is why the actions of Jason might be acceptable. In today’s age, the actions of Jason would not go to well with society. Society has changed and women are not seen as just possessions anymore. It would be very hard for Jason to justify his actions. 3. One other major theme that Euripides shows in the play is revenge. An example of this is when Medea kills r innocent children to revenge her betrayal by Jason. This action seemed very cruel to me when I first read the play.
It seemed like the revenge was driving Medea crazy and it leads her to do many drastic things such as this. But in my opinion, I think Euripides made Medea kill her children to symbolize that Medea wanted to destroy all bonds she had with Jason. By killing the children she had with Jason, it shows that there is nothing left between himself and Medea. This also symbolizes that she has no intentions to be connected to Jason anymore. She once gave up everything to be with him, and now she is giving up she has with him. This is why Euripides shows that actions of Medea like he did in the play.
