Hi folks! Antigone and Medea are two of the most provocative readings we'll have this semester. How do you read them? What moments stand out as giving you insight into what the playwrights were trying to say?

The line that resonated the most in Euripides’ Medea, for me, was the one where she unapologetically states that she would prefer to face battle three times than to give birth even once; that line stood out for me because of the raw honesty of it, and that it subverted conventional notions of what constitutes strength and suffering. Medea’s voice reveals the profound ways in which women were and are wronged — married off, shackled to their husbands, denied a voice if they felt fatally wronged. Medea is not only mourning a lost relationship; she is waging a war against a system that has left her alone, dishonored and without power. Euripides appears to imply that when society stifles women and denies them any genuine avenue to justice or autonomy, all that remains is desperation and violence. The text also tells us a great deal about the time and place it originates from; Medea’s status as a foreign, especially female, presence is constantly used against her, painting her as suspicious, dangerous and outside the laws of protection that apply to those inside Greek society. And this play doesn’t merely reflect on a woman’s place, as many ancient readings do; it explodes it. Whereas women in some of the texts we’ve read are presented as victimized or idealized types, Medea gives us a character who is both victim and willful agent: She brutally seizes her story, even at the expense of murdering her children to inflict devastation on her husband. This subverts the image of women as passive and maternal, and offers a haunting looking glass image of what happens when you have nothing left to lose. I’m curious to learn more about how ancient audiences were able to make sense of Medea’s actions; did they see her as evil, powerful, tragic or cautionary about what befalls a woman who does what only men do — act with rage and cunning?

Medea is such a thrilling read! Throughout my read I was stuck between feeling disgust, both at the betrayal from Jason, and the journey Medea goes down. It felt like I slowly watched her descend to a land of no return. The decision to murder your children as a punishment for their fathers betrayal is very dark and terribly Greek. It felt especially cathartic knowing that typically in Greek literature women tend to be on the receiving end of some generational punishment from men. Watching her take this punishment into her own hands was enchanting and revolting as mothers aren't expected to be the demise of their children. As we discussed in class the age of her children aren't mentioned but I personally prefer to imagine them as young adults or teenagers, as it feels so much more terrible that they were slain by their own mother. I wonder how this story wouldv'e ended had Medea been caught?

In this week’s primary source reading of Euripides’ “Medea,” I was enthralled by the exploration of gender roles in ancient Greek literature. The play provides a vivid portrayal of the struggles women faced during that era. One passage that particularly stood out to me was Medea’s lament, where she declares, “of all things with life and understanding, we women are the most unfortunate.” This statement encapsulates the constraints and struggles women endured, symbolizing their subordinate status in Greek society and their dependency on male-dominated structures. Euripides uses Medea to communicate a critique of these societal norms. Through her character, he showcases a woman’s emotional depth and capacity for formidable action, defying the traditional passive roles prescribed to women (Lysanets et al., 2022). Medea’s passionate response to her husband Jason’s betrayal is not just about personal heartbreak, but also an assertion of her agency in a patriarchal world that often silenced women. Euripides, through this narrative, seems to question the fairness of societal norms that confined women to these roles, ultimately portraying Medea as a powerful, albeit tragic, figure of resistance.

This document also offers a window into the societal context of its time. It highlights a growing awareness of women’s autonomy and hints at the complexities within gender dynamics in ancient Greece. Medea’s actions and her articulate expression of her turmoil challenge the passive, compliant image of women, revealing a tension between traditional roles and the emerging recognition of women’s intellect and independence. In relation to other readings from the same period, “Medea” stands out as both a complement and a contradiction. While many ancient texts depict women in roles of submission and support, Medea’s decisive and dramatic actions highlight the potential for female agency and rebellion against societal constraints (Lysanets et al., 2022). This complexity allows us to see a multifaceted portrayal of women that we don’t frequently encounter in other texts from the era.

What intrigues me further is the reception of such a character by the contemporary audience. How did people in ancient Greece perceive Medea’s defiance and the consequences of her actions? Additionally, I am interested in exploring other works by Euripides or his contemporaries to see if similar themes of female autonomy and resistance appear. Understanding these elements might provide deeper insight into how gender roles were perceived and possibly challenged in ancient literary traditions.

The passage that stood out to me was when Medea kills her own sons and Jason’s new bride along with her father King Creon with a poisoned robe and crown. She did this to Jason for his betrayal of choosing a new bride and casting her aside and forcing her into exile. The killing of her sons was a way to protect her sons from mistreat them from the hands of stepparents, and so that Jason cannot have heirs and his legacy for the rest of his life.

The author was trying to emphasize cunning and cleverness. The play also deals with the theme of pride and the theme's of a woman's position. The play is also a warning against allowing ourselves to be consumed by our urges. Jason was portrayed as someone seeking to gain a social status and Medea at fault for her passionate love turned to hate for her husband Jason.

The reading that caught my attention was “Sophocles: from Antigone” the quote “Yes, Zeus did not announce those laws to me. And justice living with the gods below sent no such laws for men.” In this quote Antigone manifests to Creon that Zeus and the gods did not create those laws that forbidding her to burial her bother Polynices. She expresses her strong believes for the divine law. It hold a higher power than the law of men. Her loyalty for her bother, her moral and religious belief make her resistance to Creon rule. The second reading Medea, suffer a betrayal from her husband Jason. Jason left the Madea to marry another women, as a revenge Madea end up killing her children. Both plays Antigone and Medea are strong female character that stoop up for what they believe what's right. Antigone fight for divine justice while Medea took justice into her own hands. 

The play I decided to go with is from Medea / Euripides, and the reason why I picked this reading is because I found it very interesting. The idea of a mother killing her children never sat right with me and honestly borderline made me dislike her a lot, as her children did nothing wrong. I felt like the author tried to represent the strong emotions of women. I had a past reading where the author tried expressing women's emotions and how strong they are, making them act strongly towards something, and in this story, it is revenge. I saw the connection of this reading. This reading supports a lot of the readings we have read; one of the readings I can think of would be The Women at the Adonis Festival, which talks about women and their emotional outbursts they hold, making them say extreme things. 

What I’d like to find out more about is the idea of men that they have of women in stories. Does this also misguide the younger men, making them have a more extreme idea of women, leading to the possibility of not wanting to be with them and possibly mistreatment?

Hello Professor and Classmates,

A part of the story that stood out to me while reading this passage was the following ''Think how we’ll die far worse than all the rest, if we defy the law and move against[60] the king’s decree, against his royal power. We must remember that by birth we’re women, and, as such, we shouldn’t fight with men. Since those who rule are much more powerful, we must obey in this and in events which bring us even harsher agonies.'' This part of the story stood out to me because it explains the part of the story where Ismene tells her sister Antigone to not break the king's law because it will come with consequences. Though it's understandable that Antigone just wants to bury her brother, Polynices, the proper way, she also has to remember that the king's law forbids this from occurring so maybe she should just follow the rules. Here it shows Ismene's worry about the consequences they will face if they go on and burry their brother. But again I understand Antigone frustration and urge to do things right because it is said that they are women and that they should obey laws and not challenge the powerful people that rule, even if those rules cause them pain. It's about feeling powerless because of their gender and being afraid to stand up to authority so here Antigone wants to do what feels right in her mind and her soul, even though it ended with bad consequences, she stood on what she believed in and didn't let no army stop her which is important to be able to do so.

The author of this story is trying to communicate the idea of gender and power, obedience to authority and fear and consequences, some ideas that they had to live by at all times. This also tells us the fact that this story occurred in a time where women felt less than and had to follow every rule, even when they disagreed because it came with consequences. Many of them accepted everything that was given to them because of the fear of loosing it all and this includes the fear of death. This reading also relates to our other readings in class that focuses on gender roles and authority, I can definitely see from this that back in the day this was a problem that happened a lot just because of the power the kings had, which is unfair. Lastly, from this I would like to find out if the fear and consequences ever eventually changed in these towns? Were they ever able to finally decide how their world ran?

While reading Antigone and Medea, one moment stood out: Antigone’s loyalty to her brother. She argues that family duty is more important than the state's laws, directly defying King Creon. This shows her belief that divine law outweighs human law.

In Medea, Jason’s betrayal fuels Medea’s rage, leading to one of the play’s most intense moments. Her response is extreme, but it highlights themes of betrayal and revenge that run through both plays. Both Sophocles and Euripides explore morality and women’s roles. Sophocles presents divine law as supreme, while Euripides shows a woman so consumed by betrayal that she takes drastic action. These plays also reveal the rigid gender roles of ancient Greece—men hold power, but Antigone and Medea refuse to conform. Antigone is brave in the face of authority, while Medea proves women are capable of agency and destruction. Compared to The Iliad or Hesiod’s works, these plays shift the focus from heroic masculinity to the struggles and strength of women.

I’d love to explore the historical context—how political events at the time influenced themes of rebellion and justice. Understanding how these plays were received could also reveal more about ancient Greek values and beliefs.

Medea delivers a searing critique of patriarchal oppression: “We women are the most unfortunate” (lines 230–231). She directly challenges the societal glorification of motherhood as a restrictive burden, rejecting the traditional role of women by declaring she would “rather stand three times in battle than give birth once” (lines 249–251). In doing so, she asserts her own agency and power. However, her pursuit of revenge spirals into grotesque immorality. By murdering her children to deliver “a mortal blow to Jason” (line 817), Medea mirrors modern tragedies in which children become pawns in adult vendettas, reducing her rebellion to a stereotype of female irrationality.

Furthermore, Medea’s lack of self-discipline undermines her agency. Her manipulation of Creon (“Let me remain here one day […] to provide something for my children” (lines 340–343) and Jason (“I agree with you […] I was wrong” (lines 870–890) reveals a desperation that appears less like strategic brilliance and more like emotional chaos. Medea’s extremes call attention to a double standard: her actions are framed as hysterical rather than heroic, even when her grievances are justified.

The detail that jumps out at me as I read through is how Jason decides to marry another woman and he was still marry to Medea at the time according to him to game status when he was already a hero in his own right. He also wanted to send his current wife into exile.

The author was trying to communicate with us how a women feel after she was betrayal by the man she loves when he turn around to marry another woman to game more status. Also the length that a woman would go through when you loose everything and feel isolated away from your family and treatment you get as a foreigner the challenges you face in a patriarchal structures.

My opinion the document is telling us about the place and time that this play was written and the gender roles regarding justice and the status in classical Athens it also shows the expectation of women and the roles they have to a hear to at that time which is to get marry early and have kids.

All the readings that we have done so far all relate to one another in some form showing the gender roles that women have played and were expected to remain in the domestic space and have a guardians the injustices women faced.

What I would like to find more about is if Medea did not get away with the crime she committed what would have happened to her and if the shoe was on the other foot what would have been the consequence.

This detail in the passage stood out to me “If you think what I’m doing now is stupid, perhaps I’m being charged with foolishness by someone who’s a fool”, because Antigone stood her ground when facing death. I believe the author was trying to communicate that there are more important things than the law, for example family/honor. I believe another thing the author was trying to communicate, in life there will always be a tug of war in decisions that you have to face. This document tells us about a time where there was no innocence until proven guilty mentality, in this time of age if you were going against the law you were brutally punished. This passage relates to Medea , Antigone losing her brothers. Medea killed her children out of spite of Jason but later suffered herself mentally for killing her children. In a world where there was no punishment for Antigone, how would she have lived her life after burying her brother? Did Creon ever wish he could undo the deaths of his wife and son or his ego still in the way?

Hello Everyone!

The play that caught my attention was Medea from Euripides because it pointed out the intelligence, insight and organization of a woman that we usually do not get portrayed. The quote that stood for me was “ The evil done to me has won the day. I understand too well the dreadful act I’m going to commit, but my judgment cannot check my anger, and that incites the greatest evils human beings do.” We could experience through her words how painful was committed that crime towards her children and how hard it will be for her to live with that feeling.

I see in both plays (Medea and Antigone) women who stood up for what they believed even when that would make them lose something that they love (first her children and second her life) but they consider a price to pay in order to succeed.

We discuss in class how similar or different they were. In my opinion both were clever, brave and dedicated women but I feel their motives were a little different even when both have personal motives, one lean more on pride than the other.

My questions are: Why did the author tell us those stories with tragic endings? What were his motives? 

Sophocles' play Antigone is about a woman named Antigone who loves her family that much she'll disobey the law to give her brother, Polynices, a decent burial. It was unlawful for Antigone to bury her brother Polynices because the king, Creon, made a law that anyone who did that would be punished because Polynices had rebelled against the city and was a traitor. While the king, Creon, has made it illegal, Antigone feels strongly obligated to obey her brother and the gods by giving him a proper burial. This shows the strong sense of family values that she felt. Her actions show how deep the sense of family loyalty runs and how sometimes breaking the law is worth it when it's for someone you love. No one ought to go ahead on not burying their family member, whoever he or she was during their lifetime. On the other hand, Creon is all about respecting the law no matter what and punishes everyone who breaks it, and this causes a lot of suffering in his life. This play really makes one wonder what is it like when people value rules over emotions and relationships. I can not imagine the hurt she would have felt if she just accepted the rules and not fought for her brother. Would she have felt pain, anger, regret? It also lets me realize how much a human would go through for the people they love. This was a nice written rollercoaster.

In the second read, Euripides focuses on Medea, a woman who is deeply injured and outraged after her husband, Jason, decides to marry another woman. Feeling completely betrayed by what her husband has done, she proceeds to carry out a horrific plan of revenge and she decides to kill her own children. This shocked me really, as a mother is expected to be the defender of her children regardless of what their husbands are doing. This horrific decision proves how much such emotions like pain and fury can lead one into desperate acts, even to the point of killing your own kids. Medea strongly exclaims, "I am a woman, and I cannot forgive," showing how angry she is in the sense of being betrayed. Although, I didn't appreciate how she used being a woman as an excuse for not being the bigger person and accepting that her husband wants to be with someone else, it makes me sad that that's the solution she came up with to grieve her relationship ending. It's tragic, and although her actions are completely despicable, the way the play is written makes you feel sorry for her pain, but at the same time also judge her actions. Both plays really do make one consider the difficult choices individuals make and the way strong feelings like love, anger, and loyalty can lead to major outcomes or human beings making horrific decisions. Although I would never kill anyone, somehow or another I can see how pain can make a human being irrational. Both plays were really enjoyable to read and were really thought-provoking.