Medea Betrayal Quotes

This is the inciting incident of the play. Jason's betrayal of Medea's bed causes all of the horrific things that follow. How much accountability does he have in the deaths at the end of the play?

Jason's betrayal has unleashed a primal rage in Medea. Here she suggests that all women get just as vengeful when wronged by their man. Though there are many Jerry Springer episodes to support this statement, it seems like a bit of a stereotype to us.

Medea's rage at Jason's betrayal is deepened by the fact that she's done so much for him. If it wasn't for her, he never would've gotten the Golden Fleece and would never have achieved epic hero status. Ironically, it's this status that made him a worthy mate for Creon's daughter.

Jason seems to think that his having made Medea famous somehow makes his betrayal OK. However, Medea never demonstrates the same need for fame that Jason finds so valuable. This weakens his argument greatly

Jason doesn't seem to see his actions as a betrayal at all. He contends that the only reason he married Creon's daughter, was to provide his family, including Medea, with a better life. This is probably his most credible argument, though the idea is alien to most modern audiences.

Medea could be seen as a traitor as well. She's purposely involving her sons in a plot which will make everybody in Corinth want to kill them. You might say that her betrayal is far worse than Jason's.

Besides betraying her sons, might Medea also be betraying her self in some way? Though she's doesn't seem too upset about killing her sons, she does a good bit of crying about it beforehand. You could look at it like her destructive side is betraying the gentler side of her nature.

Medea feels that the gods are on her side. In her mind, she's only bringing justice to the situation. Jason betrayed her and he deserves what he gets. The play seems to support this idea. Medea receives no divine punishment for her actions. In fact, she gets away on a chariot once given to her by her grandfather Helios, the sun god.

To the end, Jason is completely unrepentant of his betrayal. Notice that he doesn't say he wishes he'd never taken another wife. Instead he says that he wishes his children had never been born.

Euripides is often thought to have been an atheist. There is some debate about this, but it's pretty hard to deny that he often depicts gods as uncaring or cruel. If Zeus allowed all these things to happen, could that be interpreted as a betrayal? Or has man betrayed him by doing all these terrible things?