The Medea of Euripides by Gilbert MurrayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This tragedy follows up the myth of “The Golden Fleece.” That hero’s journey culminated in three trials which Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts) must complete in order to acquire the golden MacGuffin. Jason succeeds in large part because (arguably, entirely because) Medea, daughter of the fleece’s owner, i.e. King Aeetes, gives Jason some potions to make the trials a cinch. She does this in exchange for Jason’s everlasting love.
And, herein, lies the heart of this play’s conflict. Jason – like many heroes of Greek Mythology – is kind of a jerk. In flashing forward to the beginning of this play, we find Jason has traded Medea in for a younger and higher stature wife (i.e. a princess whose father doesn’t despise and disown her). [Note: Technically, Medea may not be married to Jason because of legalities, but she did bear him two boys.] To add insult to injury, Jason’s new father-in-law (King Creon) insists that Medea and her two boys be exiled, effective immediately.
What makes this play so fascinating is that we have sympathy for Medea’s plight, but then her inner monologue turns to the nuclear option she will employ – killing Jason’s new princess-wife and, more disconcertingly, her own children. Medea goes back and forth about her plan, showing reluctance to kill her boys, at least. So, the reader (viewer) ends up finding Jason loathsome because he steadfastly refuses to accept any blame for how poorly things have gone, but – on the other hand – he’s being more reasonable. (i.e. He talks kindly and isn’t murdering anyone.) It’s a fascinating reflection on the battle between rationality and passion.
I’d highly recommend this play. It’s a short and straightforward story, but it does present a great deal of food-for-thought.
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The original manuscript for Fatal Attraction. 😀
Interestingly enough, I read something years back about Golden Fleeces likely being real. Not the mythological version, of course. I can’t remember the exact details, but it came down to a sheep’s fleece (pelt) being used to trap and hold gold dust. Maybe something akin to “panning” for gold with a figurative net. Whatever the exact explanation was, the author claimed such a gold laden fleece was even occasionally used as currency.
True? Who knows? Seems like we would have heard more of it if so, but archaeology is extremely resistant to new theories.
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Interesting.
I suspect there’s some tidbits of fact hiding out in most myth.
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