Throughout the first half of Medea, Euripides presents the audience with an ambiguous understanding of whose actions are justified within the familial dispute between Medea and Jason. While the chorus agrees that Jason was wrong in his action toward his family, the nurse’s concern about Medea’s emotional stability—“her savage mood and the willful ways of her hateful mind”—indicates wrong behavior on her part as well (Euripides 102-103). It is not until introduced to the direct dialogue between Medea and Jason that the audience begins to understand both sides of the argument from which one might develop an intelligent opinion about the matter. In this dialogue, both Jason and Medea call upon the gods to justify their behavior, yet even after hearing both sides of the conflict, the picture of right and wrong remains hazy. This uncertainty appears to be the very message Euripides desires to convey through this part of the play, proclaiming along with the chorus, “The anger when loved ones battle loved ones is terrible; there is no easy cure” (520-521). It often requires the ability to see the circumstance through the other’s perspective which, as one can clearly observe in Medea, is not only a difficult action to take, but also an undesirable one to both parties.
In the very first part of the play, Medea calls upon the goddess of law and oaths to look on her with pity and recognize the injustice she endured; “O great Themis and lady Artemis, so you see what I suffer? I bound my husband with great oaths, cursed man” (160-163). Here, she draws the audience’s attention to the injustice on her side, as Themis is her witness that Jason betrayed his oath of marriage. She later calls on the divine once more to support her case, “May the goddess whom I revere most be my witness—the one I’ve chosen as my aide in the deepest reaches of my house—Hecate” (395-397). In both instances, she acknowledges only her pain, her suffering, and her endurance of unjust behavior, thinking nothing of those around her. Similarly, when the audience finally hears Jason’s perspective, he presents the same sentiment for his cause: “Well, then, I call on gods to witness that I wanted to help you and the children in every way. But you’re not pleased by what is for the best” (619-621). When the audience learns that his actions were founded on the moral intention to aid his family, it is evident that he has not and will not consider Medea’s perspective because, as a woman, she could not know “what is for the best.” This statement further indicates that he believes himself to be justified even in the secrecy of his infidelity, confirming his inability to see another side. With both parties looking solely to their own interests, a tense stalemate becomes the result of the narrative thus far. Both have presented arguments and justifications before the gods, yet neither has covered any ground toward resolve. By stressing both Medea and Jason’s vehement attempts to justify their cause without the consideration of any other person, it is evident that Euripides desires to create some clarity out of the chaos by highlighting this typical human vice for the audience’s own personal awareness and reflection.
March 14, 2019
Works Cited
Euripides. Medea. The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm. Modern Library Publishers, New York, 2017.