The Power of Drama in Euripides' Medea
Techniques of the genre of drama used to emphasise social and political issues in Euripides' Greek tragedy Medea.
Drama is a powerful medium. It represents specific societies in chaos and can as a result convey serious messages concerning those societies and their structure. Euripides? Medea for instance, is noted for its grandeur in the manner in which Euripides presents the entire Classical Grecian society plunged into chaos as a result of one woman?s fury & passion. The text, written during the golden age of classical Greece, demonstrates the underlying fragility and ultimate failure of the patriarchal Grecian social order. It shows how easily the society could fall apart as a result of its arrogant, intolerant and suppressive nature. This message, the fragility of classical Grecian society and the inaccuracy of gender specific character traits, is made more potent as a result of the dynamic interactions between various elements of the play itself. Two elements that make a significant contribution towards this potency are those of characterization and irony; which once combined make for a most effective tool to highlight the hypocrisy, idiocy and inconsistencies of various elements of the social system; particularly those of gender related clich?s.
The most significant player in the text is of course Medea herself. Medea, the grand-daughter of Apollo, God of the sun, is a passionate, emotional, deceptive and predominately angry individual, capable of decidedly evil deeds. As the play begins we are told of her previous love for Jason, which has recently turned to unrelenting hatred as a result of his betrayal to her. She is a finely constructed and complex character that is composed of various characteristics. Added to this are elements of irony with the inclusion of a number of ironic conflictions to her character traits. Medea is a woman and as a member of the patriarchal, man concerned, Greek community she is considered less than that of the male species and is treated appropriately. She is restricted in her actions by social understandings & ideologies and is positioned by society to fit the conventional role of the passive, emotional, irrational and completely powerless female. It is ironic then that Medea, a woman in a man centered society, could command such power over those who specifically set out to suppress her. The fact that she is capable of organizing the murder of a King and a Princess, the greatest ruling powers within the society, from her prison-like doorway is indication of the great power she, herself, controls, despite her societies attempts to suppress her.
?His bride: she writhes and dies, when I decide.
Who calls me pliant, powerless??
Here Medea makes clear her power over the princess, the bride of Jason. She demonstrates the extent of her power in that she has total control over the situation and it is she who decides when the princess shall die. These ironic conflictions in character structure, between Medea?s position as a women and the fact that she still controls so much power calls attention to the ineffectiveness of the social system, reinforcing our interpretation of the play.
Meanwhile there is also notable irony within the character structure of Medea?s mortal enemy Jason. Myth defines the character of Jason as the ideal model of the Apollonian man. Jason was said to have been beyond the standards by which normal men were measured; not only was he brave, intelligent & rational but also honorable, moral and heroic. Euripides? Jason maintains few of these qualities. The Jason to whom we are presented, conflicts, ironically, with these traditional views and Medea refuses to recognize him in allegiance with the common hegemony: ?What names can I call you - a man who is no man at all??. Euripidies? Jason is arrogant, ignorant and deluded, and does not suspect Medea at all when she so suddenly changes her attitude concerning her exile; but rather he see it as the inevitable agreement on the fact that he was right all along: ?but there we are: I was right, and you admit it. Well done.? He is not particularly heroic in nature but ironically depends on Medea, a ?powerless? woman, to help him out of strife. Medea explains: ?It was I who made your reputation?, reminding him that it was she who made it possible for Jason to steal the Golden Fleece and develop his hero status. Additionally by betraying Medea after all she has done for him he simultaneously invalidates any claim that he is a respectable and honorable individual. This in-built irony within Jason?s character, the notion of a hero who is no hero at all and that of a powerful man that is dependant on the help of women, is a persuasive contributor to the our central theme. Furthermore the fact that Jason, the epitome of the Classical Grecian man, fails to comply too the standards set by his own legend, may be interpreted as parody of the overall Greek social structure. It can be seen that the Greek social order, established by men to serve men, operates based on a number of unfounded assumptions (much like Jason?s legend), meanwhile, however, the individuals running the society fail to meet these criteria (the aspects of being the typical man), leaving an unseen fallibility running deep within the system making it viable to crumble at anytime.
The men where not, however, the only members of society pigeonholed into specific roles and characteristics. The women too were allocated gender specific character traits that were accepted as the proper manner in which a woman should behave. In Medea the chorus is composed purely of women and it is their job to comment on the play?s action & present societies opinion in regards to what is happening on stage. They do so calmly, clearly & rationally, without a hint of the thought clouding emotion that is to be expected of the stereotypical model of a woman. It is ironic that Euripidies should choose to make the voice of society, to whom the entire audience must listen, a group of women who, marginalized by their society, in real life would have no say or voice at all. By doing so he forces the audience (composed predominately of males) to listen to the sound opinions and reasoning of women, challenging societies fundamental perception that women are thoughtless and emotional.
By using an interesting combination of irony and characterization in his character construction Euripidies has managed to indicate possible errors in the social system and challenge beliefs integral to the play?s contemporary way of life. It is within this ability to comment so clearly, concisely and in an entertaining fashion upon matters particularly sensitive and significant to the time in which the play was written that we find the true power behind drama, and indeed Medea itself.
