“Culture: the cry of men in face of their destiny.”
– Albert Camus
Liberty Nation‘s Culture Corner: The place to sit back, get yourself a coffee, and find inspiration for the next book, play, movie, album to go on your To Do list.
Jealousy, Love, Murder, Passion, Vengeance, and Depravity.
These are several of the many themes explored in Euripides’ Medea, quite possibly the greatest Greek tragedy in this literary genre. It is a powerful story of a wife seeking revenge against her unfaithful husband, Jason, by murdering their two sons in cold blood with a knife.
There are two aspects that make Medea a compelling read.
The first is its simplicity, something that is uncommon among the arena’s heavyweights, such as Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. These authors tend to have made their works comparable to a labyrinth, whether it is The Oresteian Trilogy or The Three Theban Plays. Not that they are not enjoyable – they are really incredible reads!
The second is that the play can be assessed in a neoteric lens during any period and on a myriad of subjects. Contrary to popular academic thought, Medea can be viewed as a critique of modern feminism by alluding to the hysteria and fanaticism of the third-wave movement that has metastasized into a non-compos mentis crusade against decency and genuine equality. She sacrifices the innocent to strike back against the patriarchy, which is ostensibly the basis of feminism in 2020.
When you want to feed your sullen depiction of the world, you can always depend on Greek tragedy to satisfy this appetite.
- Recommended by Andrew Moran
