Medea Marriage Quotes

These lines reflect the ancient Greek idea that in a healthy marriage, men had all the control. As long as women behaved and did what they were told, everything was cool. Euripides's Medea could be seen as a cautionary tale, warning its Athenian audience of the dangers of such an imbalance of marital power.

Check it out: Medea isn't the only one who thinks Jason's second marriage is messed up. Even the slaves think it's not a nice move. Of course, the Tutor's whole position in life is threatened by the new marriage. If Medea and the boys get exiled, what will happen to him?

The Chorus begins the play by trying to talk some sense into Medea. You shouldn't be freaking out so much, they say. It's not like Medea is the first person to get dumped. Over the course of the play, however, Medea seems to win the Chorus over to her side.

Jason rips a hole in Medea's soul when he takes another wife. The severing of her marriage creates an unholy rage in Medea. You'd think he'd know better than to mess with her after the bloody deeds he's already witnessed her do.

Jason's claim here that he was hoping that Medea would stay, even though he'd taken a new wife, isn't as crazy as it sounds. It was totally respectable for a Greek man to have a wife and a concubine. Today, he seems like a total jerk, but to an Athenian audience his argument would've been a lot more credible.

Part of a woman's perceived duty in marriage was to provide her husband with sons. Medea feels extra cheated because she fulfilled her end of the bargain. Jason has what many men, like Aegeus, crave, yet he throws it all away.

Medea seems to have a good point here. If Jason would ditch his current family to gain social status, isn't he likely to do something similar in the future? This theory never gets a chance to be tested, of course, because Medea kills his new wife.

In some myths, Medea went on to marry Aegeus once she got to Athens, evidently giving his wife the boot. Medea eventually gave Aegeus a son named Medus, though there was some speculation as to whether Medus was really the son of Jason. Once again though, Medea gets kicked out of a Greek city. When Aegeus' long-lost illegitimate son Theseus shows up, Medea tries to poison him. Aegeus figures out who Theseus is just in time and Medea is kicked out of Athens.

Jason's statement shows that he's not totally devoid of sympathy. After Medea tricks him into thinking that she's sorry for her behavior, he concedes that maybe he was a little insensitive. It's too little too late, for Medea, who relentlessly proceeds with her revenge.

Medea becomes moved when she imagines the boys' nonexistent futures. It's interesting that she focuses on marriage here, since hers has turned out so badly. Could she be longing in a way for the purity of love that her marriage once had?