He took away everything that matters to me. I'll do the same to him!
Thoroughly enjoyed Medea. This one seemed more character-driven than questioning, but the passion of both Medea and the Chorus was stunning. The writing was gorgeous. So far, this and Agamemnon are the prettiest plays in the book.
Jason, btw, was a pig. He shoulda been the one to meet Circe, not Odysseus. I wonder whether this play was written as a warning to men to treat their women right (or else), or whether it was a sympathetic ear to the plight of the women of Greece who had no power over their own lives. Or maybe both. I loved loved loved where she talks about how the ladies are supposed to have it easy:
Should life within-doors vex him, a man goes forth
To solace a despondent heart elsewhere:
While we to him alone must look for comfort.
But we, say they, have a sheltered life
At home, while they are risking theirs at war.
Presumptuous error! Sooner would I three times
Stand in the shielded ranks, than bear one child.
I'm totally on Medea's side--right up till when she kills her kids. She even makes provisions to go to Aegeus' house in Athens, playing him into a sympathetic vow without telling him what she's really planning. A real witch there. Although, considering that she didn't serve her kids up in a stew--she might be ahead of other Greek baddies on that one! (I did enjoy the death of the pretty little princess. Followed shortly by Creon's death. I haven't liked him since Oedipus.)
There doesn't seem to be any redeeming reason for what happened, as the last lines of the play say:
Many fates doth Olympian Zeus dispense,
Many chances unhoped do the Gods ordain,
And events men looked for are not fulfilled,
But to things undreamed Heaven findeth a way.
Of these deeds such was the issue.
The Chorus seems to blame the whole affair on a sort of "the gods work in mysterious ways" attitude. Another possibility is that, while Jason is your average male hero pig and can fall back on the testosterone-poisoning excuse for his behavior (But dear! If I marry this here princess, I can support you and the kids in style!), Medea is the granddaughter of Apollo. Her anger is the anger of a demigod; her lack of respect for the laws of human morality might simply be due to the fact that she's, well, not entirely human.
So--good play, though it left me feeling burned out and slightly sick.
Next up: Hippolytus, also by Euripides. Has Artemis in it, whom I've loved since sixth grade Greek mythology, so I'm hopeful!
Also, it's Friday! I may not wake up at all tomorrow...
Jason, btw, was a pig. He shoulda been the one to meet Circe, not Odysseus. I wonder whether this play was written as a warning to men to treat their women right (or else), or whether it was a sympathetic ear to the plight of the women of Greece who had no power over their own lives. Or maybe both. I loved loved loved where she talks about how the ladies are supposed to have it easy:
Should life within-doors vex him, a man goes forth
To solace a despondent heart elsewhere:
While we to him alone must look for comfort.
But we, say they, have a sheltered life
At home, while they are risking theirs at war.
Presumptuous error! Sooner would I three times
Stand in the shielded ranks, than bear one child.
I'm totally on Medea's side--right up till when she kills her kids. She even makes provisions to go to Aegeus' house in Athens, playing him into a sympathetic vow without telling him what she's really planning. A real witch there. Although, considering that she didn't serve her kids up in a stew--she might be ahead of other Greek baddies on that one! (I did enjoy the death of the pretty little princess. Followed shortly by Creon's death. I haven't liked him since Oedipus.)
There doesn't seem to be any redeeming reason for what happened, as the last lines of the play say:
Many fates doth Olympian Zeus dispense,
Many chances unhoped do the Gods ordain,
And events men looked for are not fulfilled,
But to things undreamed Heaven findeth a way.
Of these deeds such was the issue.
The Chorus seems to blame the whole affair on a sort of "the gods work in mysterious ways" attitude. Another possibility is that, while Jason is your average male hero pig and can fall back on the testosterone-poisoning excuse for his behavior (But dear! If I marry this here princess, I can support you and the kids in style!), Medea is the granddaughter of Apollo. Her anger is the anger of a demigod; her lack of respect for the laws of human morality might simply be due to the fact that she's, well, not entirely human.
So--good play, though it left me feeling burned out and slightly sick.
Next up: Hippolytus, also by Euripides. Has Artemis in it, whom I've loved since sixth grade Greek mythology, so I'm hopeful!
Also, it's Friday! I may not wake up at all tomorrow...