Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Revenge Of The Witch The Persuasiveness Of Medea

Revenge of the Witch: The Persuasiveness of Medea In Euripides’ play Medea, the reader follows the final day of Medea’s life in Corinth. The wife of Jason of the Argonauts and the mother of his children, Medea’s life has been paved in blood and death. Some years prior to the events of the play, Medea, infatuated with Jason, â€Å"†¦betrayed [her] father and [her] home, and came with [Jason] to Pelias’ land of Iolcus. And then, showing more willingness to help than wisdom, [Medea] killed him, Pelias, with a most dreadful death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Medea, 16). Though she displayed immense loyalty to her husband, he is remarried to the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. A princess in her own right, Medea is infuriated by her husband’s betrayal, swearing her†¦show more content†¦She inflates his ego by validating his reasoning behind his second marriage, pretending to have fallen on his side of things after thinking, rather than following her womanly heart. Furthermore, Medea states that it is her job as his wife to help him and his new bride. â€Å"I should have helped you in these plans of yours, have joined in the wedding, stood by the marriage bed, have taken pleasure in attendance on your bride† (Medea, 28). Additionally, she states that women, by nature, are foolish and â€Å"perhaps a little worthless† (Medea, 29), further validating Jason and his position as The Man. The true fool, however, is Jason, as he easily falls for her persuasive words. He compliments her for her newfound wisdom and cleverness before noticing that she is crying. While the reader is aware that she is planning to kill her children, her own flesh and blood, she informs Jason that â€Å"†¦a woman is a frail thing, prone to crying† (Medea, 30). She pushes him to accept her evil gifts, and to let her children deliver them to his bride to earn her favor— â€Å"They say the gods themselves are moved by gifts†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Medea, 30)—who dies an agonizing death, along with her father. Throughout the course of a single conversation, Medea, the slighted bride who was cursing Jason’s name, assures her unfaithful husband that she has forgiven him. Even more so, she successfully convinces him that she now believes he was inShow MoreRelatedAthena In Homers Odyssey : The Persuasiveness Of Athena1480 Words   |  6 PagesA Father’s Daughter: The Persuasiveness of Athena in The Odyssey In Homer’s The Odyssey the reader is introduced to a number of powerful women, who, as per the social rules of the time, are expected to bend to the whim of their male counterparts. These women, while persuasive and cunning, fall victim to the patriarchal status of Greek society; Penelope, wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus, must obey the word of her son; the nymph Calypso must obey the command of Zeus through Hermes; Nausicaa

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