The characters in the play make many references to the gods as the cause of the conflict, this is not only by religion, but by fact as well. One line in said by Medea that is most arresting is, “The gods/ And my evil-hearted plots have led to this.” (1014-1015) The “gods” that Medea references to, are the gods detailed in the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. In the myth Eros, Aphrodite and Hera are the gods that are behind Medea’s love for Jason, love which was artificially induced. Medea also explicitly blames the gods of the outcome of the play, since her evil-hearted plans stem from her love for Jason. However, the choices made in her throughout the book, appear to be free will.
The most prominent section of the play that is associated with free will is when Medea makes the choice to murder her children. At this part, Medea is torn between the decision to kill her children or take them away with her. The mere presence of her indecision shows that it is free will which will determine the outcome. Her original plan was to kill the children, yet at one point she says, “Why should I hurt them…Myself? I won’t do it.” (1044,1046) However at the end she responds to herself with, “The thing’s done now.” which affirms that the children’s fates are sealed. (1062) Her circumlocution shows that despite her efforts to consider an alternative, she still arrives at the same ending; killing her children. Her children will die because they delivered the gifts that killed Glauce, and Medea wanted Glauce killed because Jason betrayed her love, love which was induced by artificial means, therefore her final decision is influenced by the gods.
In Jason’s reasoning of his actions, he references another action by Medea that he points out was free will. “But in return for saving me you got far more/ Than you gave. Allow me, in the first place, to point out/ That you left a barbarous land to become a resident/ Of Hellas.”(533-536) This implies that it was her own choice that she left Colchis, and that she was rewarded for that choice. However, it was her love that made her sail with him, an unfortunate side effect, thus the rewards she reaped was not of her own choice. In this situation, fate is the cause of the problem, since if she had not been shot by Eros, she would not have sailed with Jason, and therefore never faced the current conflict.
One of the more obvious parts of the play that can be seen as more fate, than free will, is Aegeus’s arrival in Corinth. On the free will side, Aegeus did not have to come to Corinth seeking help about the oracle. However, if the oracle was not so confusing, Aegeus would not have needed to come to Corinth, leaving Medea with nowhere to go. Medea supports this by saying, “What good luck chance has brought you.” (717) The “chance” that Medea is talking about is the oracle itself, and the situation around it. Therefore fate, in this case, is more prominent than the free will.
Fate, it appears to be lurking behind every choice, every action, and every event that takes place in the play. For the audience, this makes them blame the gods for the overall outcome of the play, however the audience still sees the individual choices made by the character, to be the fault of the character. Although, through much thinking, the audience will start to see the fate behind the actions, therefore the whole play is just fate.
