Medea

“Away with feminine fears/ Dress up your mind like your own cruel home.”

Medea speaks these lines as she encourages herself to act boldly and ruthlessly in her quest for revenge. In order to contemplate and carry out her revenge, Medea intentionally discards the traditional feminine gender roles of being timid and passive. She also connects her ability to commit violent acts to her status as an outsider and foreigner: by referring to Colchis as her “cruel home”, Medea parodies the prejudices of the Greeks towards herself and her homeland.

“Let weightier rage swell up/Now I have given birth, my crimes ought to increase.”

Medea speaks these lines as she reflects on her personal development. She has already killed multiple people as a young woman, during the time when she was assisting Jason and his crewmates. Medea links her identity as a more mature woman, who is now a wife and mother, to a greater capacity for violence. By doing so, she inverts the traditional role of the mother figure, implying that becoming a mother has made her more ruthless rather than more nurturing or forgiving. 

“Lucky man, take hold of this Corinthian girl/Your in-laws—unlike last time—give consent.”

The Chorus speaks these lines, rhetorically addressing Jason. They refer to Jason’s second marriage to the Corinthian princess Creusa, creating a juxtaposition between this marriage and Jason’s first marriage to Medea. These lines help to establish that the Chorus is unsympathetic towards Medea, and are mistrustful and xenophobic towards her. The Chorus also alludes to the dark and tragic events that took place during Jason and Medea’s courtship.

“But a woman who marries a stranger/ Running away from her homeland—let her go to the silent shadows.”

In these lines, the Chorus takes a critical stance towards Medea. Even though Medea is being cast aside by her husband, the Chorus portrays Medea as at fault for acting too boldly in having left her homeland to pursue a relationship with Jason. These lines mark the start of a reoccurring motif in which Medea is blamed for the suffering she is experiencing, and where the Chorus adopts a critical stance towards individuals who seek to explore, travel, and test boundaries.

“Silence, I beg you! Hide your grievances/ In a secret bitterness.”

The Nurse speaks these lines to Medea as Medea more explicitly considers possible ideas of revenge. The Nurse is alarmed by Medea’s intention to actively seek revenge, and urges Medea to hide her anger instead. These lines are significant because they show the Nurse functioning as a foil character to Medea, and also create a juxtaposition between Medea and a more traditional way that a female character might cope with anger and betrayal. The Nurse (unlike the Chorus) is sympathetic to Medea’s plight, but she still thinks it is inappropriate for Medea to actively seek vengeance.

“Fortune can take my wealth away, but not my spirit.”

Medea speaks this line as she insists on why she is actively going to seek revenge, declaring that she is unafraid of Creon. Medea is proud of her own royal lineage as a princess of Colchis. Her identity as royalty is part of why she is not intimidated by Creon, and why she also sees herself as deserving of vengeance. Medea refuses to give up her agency and power even when fate has turned against her—instead, she clings all the more proudly to her strength of “spirit.”

“This monster has been here too long; take it away!”

Creon speaks this line to his guards and to Medea as he banishes her from Corinth. His choice of language shows to what extent he dehumanizes Medea: Creon refers to her as a “monster,” and uses “it” rather than “she” to refer to her. The quotation shows how, as a woman and a foreigner, Medea is seen as less than human, and as someone who is merely tangential to the Corinthian community. This quotation also shows that while he is disgusted by her, Creon is also frightened of Medea.

“You must submit to power, just or unjust.”

Creon speaks this line to Medea when she questions his sentence of exile against her. Creon’s comment reflects his arrogance and his perspective that he is entitled to absolute obedience. He does not feel any obligation to act ethically or fairly, especially towards a foreign woman whom he views as less than human. Creon’s arrogance in this quotation hints at Jason’s parallel arrogance: both men think they can do whatever they want, without owing Medea an explanation for their decisions.

“Go on, heap all my misdeeds on my head/ I will confess: but this is my one crime/ The Argo’s safe return.

Medea speaks these lines as she defends herself against Creon’s sentence of exile. Medea does not deny that she has killed people, including her own brother, but she insists on the reality that her action saved the lives of many important Greek heroes. Medea calmly takes credit for the Argonauts’ (the men who sailed aboard the Argo) return to Greece. Medea ironically refers to this achievement as a “crime,” highlighting the irony that Creon is trying to punish her for actions that have benefited him and all of Greece.

“He is clean/As long as he is not tainted by your company.”

Creon says this to Medea, revealing the double standard that is applied to her and Jason. Since Jason is a Greek man, Creon feels an affinity with him, and is anxious to blame Medea for any crimes and misdeeds. Jason’s culpability in the death of King Pelias (the father of Acastus) is a central theme and debate within the play: Medea insists that because she was acting in Jason’s interest, and out of love for him, he is implicated in the crime, whereas Creon puts all of the blame on Medea herself, claiming that her presence alone has “tainted” him.

“The world was once divided into strict partitions/But those were broken by the pinewood ship.”

The Chorus speaks these lines as they lament the increase in seafaring exploration, and how travel has facilitated contact between different lands and societies. The Chorus expresses nostalgia for a simpler time where people did not venture outside of their homeland and thus lived simple and happy lives. The quotation reveals the Chorus as a conservative and xenophobic presence, which does not see exploration and contact between different societies as a good thing. This quotation is particularly interesting given that Seneca was writing during a time when Rome ruled a vast empire and was seeking new opportunities for conquest.

“This very day I will do/A deed of which all days will speak. I will attack the gods/I will shake the world.”

Medea speaks this line as she describes how she is going to use the short interval of time that Creon has granted her to enact her vengeance. Medea is not lacking in ambition: she wants to do not just something horrible, but something so horrible that it will shock and awe everyone around her. The quotation builds anticipation and foreboding, since it is not clear at this point what Medea is planning. It also reveals the possibility that Medea is driven not just by fury and vengeance, but also a desire for a kind of infamy: Medea wants to ensure that she is remembered, and she does not mind if she is remembered for an atrocity.

“If I wanted to be faithful/ To my wife—she had earned it—I had to forfeit my life/If I did not want to die, I had to give up—poor me!—fidelity.”

In these lines, Jason reveals his perspective on the decision to leave Medea and marry Creusa. The quotation implies that Jason respects Medea and did not want to abandon her for another woman, but that he was afraid that Creon would kill him or exile him if he did not marry Creon’s daughter. Since Jason came to Corinth fleeing from another king, he was especially vulnerable and likely to concede to whatever Creon wanted. The quotation shows that Jason is not particularly malicious, but also that he has weak ethical principles. He is also almost comically self-absorbed, focusing on how abandoning Medea is hard for him when she is the one whose life is being destroyed by this act.

“You impose exile on an exile/But grant me no place to go.”

Medea speaks these lines to Jason, as she explains why her sentence of being exiled is particularly tragic. Medea cannot return to her homeland because she severed ties there by killing her brother to help Jason; she cannot go to Jason’s homeland because she conspired in the death of King Pelias, also to help Jason. Medea has risked and given up everything to be with Jason, and she has nothing to fall back on now that Jason is abandoning her. Medea wryly and piteously laments just how vulnerable she is in order to highlight the cruelty of Jason’s choice to abandon her.

“If you gain from a crime/You did it.”

Medea speaks this line to Jason, insisting that he is just as guilty as she is. Jason and Creon take a more legalistic view of moral responsibility, claiming that because Jason did not directly carry out acts of violence, he is not culpable for them. This attitude is beneficial for individuals in positions of power, because it allows them to profit from acts that others carry out, while not having to share in responsibility. Medea takes a more expansive view of morality by insisting on intention, motivation, and responsibility being considered when determining who is guilty.

“The reward you have won from your crimes/Is to think nothing a crime.”

Medea speaks this line while meditating on her commitment to hurting Jason as much as possible. She reflects that because she has already committed acts of violence, she is no longer afraid of further violence. Medea is now ruthless and immured to atrocity; she “thinks nothing a crime.” While this quotation establishes Medea as cold and bloodthirsty, it also establishes a link between her past experience and her future brutal acts: Medea is capable of the crimes she is contemplating because of what she has done already. Since she has clearly established that she committed her past acts of violence out of love for Jason, this quotation establishes that Medea’s relationship with Jason is what has primed her for the violence she will now wreak.

“She gathers the poisonous plants and squeezes the venom/Of the snakes, and mixes it with birds of ill omen/ The heart of a melancholy eagle-owl.”

The Nurse speaks these lines as she watches Medea begin to prepare her poisons and spells. This quotation establishes the play’s eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. Given that it is unclear whether Seneca’s plays were originally performed in the traditional sense, or written to be read, these lines might help to create visual imagery and tension for an audience who may or may not have been watching events unfold on stage. These lines also show some enduring tropes associated with witches—the association with night animals and deadly ingredients, the violence in concocting potions—already being used to depict Medea as a powerful and sinister presence.

“May the heat swim to the heart and veins/Make melt the limbs and smoke the bones/And may that newly wedded bride outdo her marriage torch/With her own smoking hair.”

Medea speaks these lines as she establishes the curse she is placing upon the gifts she will bestow to Creusa. The quotation uses grotesque imagery to highlight the painful and gruesome death Medea is fashioning for Creusa, revealing how much Medea longs for vengeance. She is not simply going to kill Jason’s new wife, she also wants the princess to suffer as much as possible. This quotation helps to develop the bloodthirsty nature of Medea in preparation for her final gruesome act of murdering her own children. It is also important because the audience does not see or read a direct description of Creusa and Creon’s death, and so this imagery functions as a kind of substitute.

“Now all is lost, the whole state of the kingdom is fallen/Daughter and father together lie mixed with ash.”

The messenger speaks these lines as he announces the deaths of Creusa and Creon. As is often the case in Classical tragedy, these violent events are not given direct representation onstage, but are instead reported after they have occurred. The quotation reveals that these deaths have political ramifications, heightening the implications of what Medea has done. While seeking revenge on specific individuals, Medea has created instability for a whole society, which is now deprived of leadership and potentially thrown into chaos.

“You are still in love, mad heart, if this is enough:/ To see Jason unmarried.”

Medea speaks these lines to herself, as she reflects on her state of mind after learning that her plan has been successful and that Creusa and Creon are both dead. Rather than finding peace or relief, Medea goads herself onwards to further acts of destructive violence. She reflects that it would be “soft” to be satisfied with having prevented Jason’s marriage by killing his bride. This quotation shows how violent acts tend to breed further violence, as the more blood that Medea sheds, the more she needs to act out in order to attempt to find relief for her pain.

“Now, I am Medea. My nature has grown with suffering.”

Medea speaks these lines as she reflects with pride on how she has gradually committed more and more grotesque crimes. She aligns her maturity and her full development of self with her ability to enact violence, subsuming her sense of who she is into her desire for vengeance. The quotation shows that Medea is a bold and assertive character who is unashamed of the heinous acts she commits. It is also somewhat ironic, in that she lets herself be defined by Jason’s betrayal and her desire to get revenge, rather than by her many talents and accomplishments.

“Why am I led in two directions, now by anger/Now by love?”

Medea speaks these lines as she debates whether or not she will enact her horrific plan of murdering her own children. Even as she contemplates the death of her sons, Medea acknowledges that she loves them. Medea’s hesitation before she commits the murder is important for adding depth and complexity to her character: she struggles and doubts whether she can bring herself to carry out this act. These lines humanize Medea right before she commits an act that an audience may find it difficult to sympathize with.

“If my womb even now contains any pledge of our love/ I, the mother/Will scrape my insides with my sword.”

Medea speaks these lines to Jason as he pleads with her not to kill their one remaining son. Medea brutally and graphically explains that if she was pregnant, she would destroy the fetus because she is determined that no offspring belonging to both her and Jason will stay alive. The quotation shows Seneca’s bold writing style in depicting a character who is so unflinchingly committed to revenge, and highlights that Medea does not let her feminine identities as a woman and mother restrain her from anger, hatred, and violence.