Medea Notes
Pages 39-41
-Play opens several years after the events of “Jason and the Golden Fleece”
-Opens in front of Medea/Jason house in Corinth
-Women and foreigners are both looked down on in society
-Jason has left Medea to marry the King’s daughter
-Medea and Jason have two young children
-Medea and the children are to be banished from Corinth
-the nurse fears Medea may hurt the children
-the nurse says it is better to live a humble life with few things than to live a rich life and risk losing it.
-Medea calls on the gods to help her get justice. (Her grandfather was Helios)
Encounter with Creon pgs. 74-79
-Creon is king of Corinth
What we learn about women:
-A woman’s family has to pay for her husband
-a woman can’t say “no” to her husband
- Its ok for a man to cheat on his wife, but not ok for the wife to cheat on her husband
-It’s even worse for Medea because she is foreigner
-Medea makes the chorus promise to not tell anyone her plan to get even.
-Creon is banishing Medea. He admits to being afraid of her
-She is clever
-She is capable of evil
-She has already threatened him.
-Medea is acting calm and pretending to be weak, makes Creon trust her even less
-Medea uses Creon’s biggest weakness against him: his children
-She uses her children to appeal to his love of his own children
-Medea wants to stay ONE more day
-Creon agrees
Encounter with Jason
Medea’s Plan: Kill Creon, the princess & Jason w/ poison
Medea’s Problem – no place to go after killing
Chorus supports Medea & her problems
Jason enters & says Medea got herself exiled
Medea’s arguments:
-They have children
-He was a bad husband (not loyal)
-She did EVERYTHING to help him/save his life (think back to the Golden Fleece)
Jason’s arguments:
-Gives credit to Aphrodite
-Jason made Medea famous
-Only married Glauce (the princess) for her money and title (to support her and the children)
-Wishes there was some other way to have children instead of women
Jason offers Medea help, and she refuses it
Encounter with Aegeus (pages 88-93)
-Aegeus runs into Medea on his way back from the Oracle at the temple of Apollo.
-He was looking for advice on how to have a son.
-Oracles talk in riddles, so Aegeus asks for Medea to help figure out what he is supposed to do.
-Aegeus agrees with Medea that Jason was wrong to leave Medea and Creon is wrong to banish Medea.
-Medea asks Aegeus to take her in and she will help him figure out how to have an heir.
-Aegeus agrees to give Medea safety in Athens IFshe is able to get there herself. Aegeus isn’t willing to risk ruining his relationship with Corinth.
-Medea makes Aegeus promise by the gods to never banish her from Athens. Why?
-Aegeus doesn’t know she is planning to kill people.
-You can never break a promise on the gods.
-Aegeus agrees and leaves
-Medea’s new plan:
-Pretend to agree with Jason
-Ask Jason to keep the children
-Send the princess poisoned presents via the children
-Princess will die and anyone who touches he will die
-Medea will then kill the children
-Chorus: doesn’t agree with Medea. They have switched to Team Human Law
Encounter with Messenger and Final Encounter with Jason
(pages 101-111)
-Messenger enters: brings news that the princess and Creon are dead
-Glauce dies after putting on the veil/crown: she started having a seizure and then caught on fire
-Creon runs in and tries to save her, hugs her, and is stuck to her when he gets us. The flesh is ripped from his bones.
-Chorus asks the gods to stop the murder of the children. Doesn’t work
-Chorus makes a strong point that Medea is not mad (crazy). She is completely aware of what she is doing.
-Jason enters: comes to save the children, doesn’t know they are dead.
**Deus ex machina: intervention from the gods** (Helios gives Medea a dragon drawn chariot)
-Jason talks about how much he hates Medea, compares her to a tiger, a monster, and a demon.
-Jason requests two things: to bury the children, to hold his children one last time