Skip to main content

Μήδεια

Sort Name
Μήδεια
Type
Stage play
Language
Greek, Ancient
Ratings
No reviews

Wikipedia

Medea (Ancient Greek: Μήδεια, Mēdeia) is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides based on a myth. It was first performed in 431 BC as part of a trilogy, the other plays of which have not survived. Its plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the world threatened as Jason leaves her for a princess of Corinth and takes vengeance on him by murdering his new wife, father-in-law and her own two sons, before escaping to Athens to start a new life.

Euripides's play has been explored and interpreted by playwrights across the centuries and the world in a variety of ways, offering political, psychoanalytical, feminist, and many other original readings of Medea, Jason, and the core themes of the play.

Medea, along with three other plays, earned Euripides third prize in the City Dionysia. Some believe that this indicates a poor reception, but "the competition that year was extraordinarily keen"; Sophocles, often winning first prize, came second. The play was initially rediscovered with Rome's Augustan drama, and then again in the 16th century. It has remained part of the tragedic repertoire, becoming a classic of the Western canon and the most frequently performed Greek tragedy in the 20th century. It experienced renewed interest in the feminist movement of the late 20th century, being interpreted as a nuanced and sympathetic portrayal of Medea's struggle to take charge of her own life in a male-dominated world.

Continue reading at Wikipedia... Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Editions


Add Edition

There are no Editions yet!

Help us complete BookBrainz


Not sure what to do? Visit the help page to get started.

Identifiers

Wikidata Work ID
Q286381

Related Collections

This entity does not appear in any public collection.
Click the "Add to collection" button below to add it to an existing collection or create a new one.

Reviews No reviews

No reviews yet.


Last Modified
2023-12-18