Medea. Throughout the play Medea experiences many agon within herself and with other characters. Medea is in constant conflict with herself over the matter of wether to kill her sons or to let Jason get away with his betrayal

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‘Medea’ is an ancient Greek tragedy written in 431 BC about a woman, Medea, who is left by her husband, Jason, for the king’s daughter, Glauce and seeks vengeance. The plays protagonist, Medea, can be defined as a tragic hero for many reasons. A tragic hero is a person who is basically good, yet to whom terrible things occur. The person must overcome great odds and the play always ends in their downfall. Medea can be considered a tragic hero as, although she does not possess all the qualities a tragic hero normally does, she holds many of the most important qualities. She experiences agon, goes through catharsis, has a hamartia, demonstrates hubris and the play even finishes in a peripeteia which leads to her emotional destruction.

Throughout the play Medea experiences many agon within herself and with other characters. Medea is in constant conflict with herself over the matter of wether to kill her sons or to let Jason get away with his betrayal by not destroying him emotionally. This is shown on pages 49 and 50 where she says: “Why should I hurt them, to make their father suffer, when I shall suffer twice as much myself?” (Euripides, 431 BC, p49). Later she decides that she must kill her sons even if it would cause her much pathos, which is also a trait of a tragic hero, she states: “My pain is more than I can bear.” (Euripides, 431 BC, p50). Here, she is talking about her pain over the thought of killing her sons. The decision to kill her sons is a difficult one for Medea and this is one of the terrible acts that define her as a tragic hero. Jason and Medea have a lot of conflict as he left her for the king’s daughter, Glauce. Her abandonment causes her much pathos as shown on p21 when the Chorus describe her as, “that unhappy woman from Colchis.” (Euripides, 431 BC, p21).  Jason does not believe he has done any wrong yet Medea states on page 24: “Jason was my whole life; he knows that well.” (Euripides, 431 BC, p24). Medea’s unprovoked betrayal by Jason makes her vengeful and essentially leads to the tragic end of the play. Agon also occurs between Medea and Glauce, as she is Jason’s new wife and Medea therefore despises her. Creon and Medea also experience agon because Creon tries to exile her. He orders her, “out of Corinth.” (Euripides, 431 BC, p25) because he is worried, quite rightfully, of her vengeance. His apprehension over letting her stay is proven on page 25 where he states; “I fear that you may do my daughter some irreparable harm.” (Euripides, 431 BC, p25). This shows how well he knew Medea and how right his fears were; as she does indeed go on to kill his daughter. Medea’s experiences constant agon in the play which combine, forcing her to remove her problems to stop the conflicts, leading to a process of Catharsis.

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Catharsis is the idea of purging or removing negative influences in one’s life and bringing about spiritual renewal. Medea brings about her renewal through returning equal pain to those who have wronged her. Everyone who causes Medea pathos in the play is purged or given retuned pathos. Medea must go through this process even though it causes her pathos; it is her way of righting wrongs. One page 22 she states; “Oh, may I see Jason and his bride ground to pieces in their shattered palace for the wrongs they have dared to do to me, unprovoked!” (Euripides, 431 ...

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