Medea: Jason's Demise
The role and Significance of Hubris in the fall of Jason
As is archetypal to all Greek tragedies, ‘Medea’ by Euripides chronicles the downfall of a noble hero, Jason, as a result of a combination of factors like fate, hubris and the will of the gods. In ‘Medea’, the hubris of the main character, Jason, was his pride. This drove him to betray his wife Medea’s trust and defy moral parameters set by the gods. Euripides employed the hubris of Jason and his act of disobedience towards the gods as a reflection of Athenian society of the time and used this as an attempt to correct the progressively immoral ways of society. This piece focuses on pride as Jason’s hubris and its contribution to his imminent downfall.
Jason’s pride is brought out by his desire to attain the Golden Fleece and later on to improve his social standing by marrying Glauce. In his quest for glory, he does not pause to analyse the effects of his actions upon himself and the individuals around him, thus bringing about his eventual downfall. However this delusional justification does not save him from the repercussions of his actions which he has to face for the rest of his life knowing that his hubris caused him everything he loved or desired such as Glauce or his sons Mermeros and Pheres. When Medea meets him within the confines of Creon’s palace we see an open display of his pride and this is most acutely seen when he mentions that it was the goddess that made Medea fall in love with him and he is under this false impression that he was under the protection of the gods. He goes on to provide weak rationalizations to protect that pride, he tries to point out constantly that he had to marry Glauce as if it was a matter of compulsory nature instead of one of choice, yet the viewers of the play as well as Medea see though the veil of smoke he is trying to hide behind. Jason needs to attain the position of king as it had already been robbed from him in Iolcus and as he was a hero as well his pride
As is archetypal to all Greek tragedies, ‘Medea’ by Euripides chronicles the downfall of a noble hero, Jason, as a result of a combination of factors like fate, hubris and the will of the gods. In ‘Medea’, the hubris of the main character, Jason, was his pride. This drove him to betray his wife Medea’s trust and defy moral parameters set by the gods. Euripides employed the hubris of Jason and his act of disobedience towards the gods as a reflection of Athenian society of the time and used this as an attempt to correct the progressively immoral ways of society. This piece focuses on pride as Jason’s hubris and its contribution to his imminent downfall.
Jason’s pride is brought out by his desire to attain the Golden Fleece and later on to improve his social standing by marrying Glauce. In his quest for glory, he does not pause to analyse the effects of his actions upon himself and the individuals around him, thus bringing about his eventual downfall. However this delusional justification does not save him from the repercussions of his actions which he has to face for the rest of his life knowing that his hubris caused him everything he loved or desired such as Glauce or his sons Mermeros and Pheres. When Medea meets him within the confines of Creon’s palace we see an open display of his pride and this is most acutely seen when he mentions that it was the goddess that made Medea fall in love with him and he is under this false impression that he was under the protection of the gods. He goes on to provide weak rationalizations to protect that pride, he tries to point out constantly that he had to marry Glauce as if it was a matter of compulsory nature instead of one of choice, yet the viewers of the play as well as Medea see though the veil of smoke he is trying to hide behind. Jason needs to attain the position of king as it had already been robbed from him in Iolcus and as he was a hero as well his pride