Medea's Personification Of The Golden Dress

Euripides’ Medea uses the personification of the golden dress to symbolize the aggressive power takeovers of the BC Greek era. “She, when she saw the dress, could not restrain herself. She agreed with all her husband said, and before he and the children had gone from the palace, she took the gorgeous robe and dressed herself in it, and put the golden crown around her curly locks. She arranged the set of the hair in the shining mirror, and smiled at the lifeless image of herself in it. Then she rose from her chair and walked about the room, with her gleaming feet steeping most soft and delicate” (Euripides 37).
Euripides uses the messenger to recite the situation that happened to the princess. He states that the princess was angry at Jason for bringing Medea’s children into the palace. This was before she
The dress slowly fastens on the girl’s “fine flesh”, the flesh representing her power slowly draining from her. Once Medea drained the princess of her power, her grip on power was permanent and there was no way to escape it. Her fate was already sealed when she was naïve enough to take the golden dress and diadem. The princess refers back to the “lifeless” image of herself in the mirror that not only shows her inner power is gone, but her physical self is gone as well.
The cultural analysis in Medea is the power takeover in relation to BC Greek culture. Medea takes place in Athens, and throughout Greek culture Athens was dominated by Sparta during the fifth century. This power struggle lasted until the Rule of the Thirty in 405 BC where Sparta defeated Athens. Sparta and Athens could be seen as Medea and the princess with Sparta being Medea and Athens being the princess. Sparta deceived Athens until Athens dropped their guard and acquired the “dress” from Sparta. The dress being less troops to hold the line of attack from Sparta and Athens was left wide