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"As a female foreigner whose relationship with Jason was only formalized with the birth of the children, Medea would have been viewed as an irregular companion, and after Jason's betrothal to Glauce, she would be reduced to the status of concubine." (Guastella in Claus) This makes them a helpful tool in securing her bond to Jason.
Another means by which they can be useful props for Medea is when she sends them carrying poison to their new step-mother. Medea spends time with them to make and carry out plans to kill her enemies, but she does not spend time with them out of love. "Jason and Medea's two children function as her primary props, her greatest source of power." (Taggle)
Although the relationship is a focal point of Euripides' play, it is not a play about the relationship between mothers and children. The children are not complete characters in the play, but moreso props that are used by other characters. The children are...
Additionally, they are tools which she can use to obtain things she wants, such as the death of the children's step-mother. In the end, Medea is able to kill the children without a second thought because her relationship with them is built purely on her own needs, not on loving them as her own kin.
Works Cited
Euripides. Medea. Trans. Ian Johnson. http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/euripides/medea.htm
Guastella, Gianni. "Il destino dei figli di Giasone (Euripide, Ovidio, Seneca)." In Clauss, James. University of Washington. 2000. http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/mailing_lists/BMCR-L/2002/0162.php
Tagle, Steven. "The Dramatic Appeal of Human Props in Greek Drama." Stanford University. 9 March 2004. http://www.stanford.edu/~stagle/ESSAYS/WIN%20IHUM33A%20E02%20HumanProp.htm
Works Cited
Euripides. Medea. Trans. Ian Johnson. http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/euripides/medea.htm
Guastella, Gianni. "Il destino dei figli di Giasone (Euripide, Ovidio, Seneca)." In Clauss, James. University of Washington. 2000. http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/mailing_lists/BMCR-L/2002/0162.php
Tagle, Steven. "The Dramatic Appeal of Human Props in Greek Drama." Stanford University. 9 March 2004. http://www.stanford.edu/~stagle/ESSAYS/WIN%20IHUM33A%20E02%20HumanProp.htm
Medea relates a story about the power of love, which induces sacrifice as well as jealousy and feelings of revenge aroused by betrayal. Medea, the principal character, is a woman, who is so smitten by her love for Jason that she forsakes her family, country and people to live in "...the land of Corinth with her husband and children, where her exile found favour with the citizens to whose land
Medea Villianness, Victim, or Both? Medea has emerged from ancient myth to become an archetype of the scorned woman who kills her own children to spite her husband, who must then suffer the fate of outliving them. The story itself is horrific, and yet it remains strangely fascinating, and into the mouth of its maniacal heroine many writers have given philosophies which were too subversive to be voiced in open discourse. Many
Medea also uses her children by having them deliver poison in the disguise of gifts, as no one would expect the children to have ill intentions. The children present the gifts as a request to let them avoid banishment, but in reality the gifts have been sent not to aid the children's situation at all. Throughout the play Medea acts like a puppet-master using the children to get her
This double standard is prominent in Medea, for example when Jason admits that it is normal for women to get very angry when their husband is being unfaithful, yet he expects Medea to forget about it. (Euripides, ln 908-910) This is yet another way in which Medea parallels the position of women in our society today who are also expected to keep their feelings hidden. Medea has an inclination towards
The children are their mother's power in a very real sense. When Medea must appeal to the best intentions of Creon, she presents the case of her poor unfortunate children that are no deserving of any punishment. It is through his pity for the children that Medea is able to remain for a time long enough to fulfill her plans to get revenge. Again, her children assist her when
Medea is even further in exile, however, because she is in a foreign land without any of her ancestors to guide her. Her husband has abandoned her for a new bride, and she is being exiled from this city. Medea has been left completely isolated, except for the companionship she is finding in the chorus she confides in. The spirit of womanhood remains with her, despite being left alone