Medea By Euripides: Character Analysis

A mother is capable of murdering her own children; however, one may struggle to understand what motivates her to do this. This is the conflict that readers encounter in the play Medea by Euripides. After her husband, and famed hero Jason, leaves her to marry another woman, Medea responds by murdering their children. Yet, readers and even characters in the play are confused at to what Medea’s motives are behind this horrendous act. Many people believe that my murdering her children, Medea was saving them from future suffering and torture. Although one may want to believe that Medea murdered her son out of mercy, Medea killed her children as a form of vengeance. Medea’s actions fits those of other Greek women who sough revenge. Also, Medea created a situation in which her children must be killed, admits that her desire for revenge is stronger than her love for her children, then murdered her children despite knowing she could save them in some other way. In addition, Medea
As mentioned earlier, Medea sent her children to the palace with a golden diadem and gown in order to impress the princess, their new step-mother (Euripides 931). However, neither Jason nor his sons knew that Medea had poisoned these gifts. Yet, Medea it was not out forgetfulness that Medea did not share this information with them. According to Arlene Allan, by having her sons deliver the poison that would kill the princess, knew “that the Corinthians will wish to kill her children” (para. 16). Medea knew that what she was using her children for could result in their death. However, if Medea was deeply concerned about the safety of her children, she would not have used them in her murder plot. Medea was a powerful sorceress who could have devised a way to murder the princess without using her own children. Yet, Medea’s craving for revenge prevented her from making better