CMLT316 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Pentheus, Labdacus, Theban Cycle
3 Jun 2018
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Class 20: The Age of Heroes - Medea and Jason
The Legend of Jason
● Medea and Jason settle into their lives at Corinth
● They have two children together
● Both Jason and Medea attempt to be domesticated
● Jason seeks a legitimate Greek marriage (no foreigners allowed citizenship)
● Creon (‘Power’) agrees to give his daughter Glauce - “blue (eyes)” - to Jason
● With a legitimate royal marriage, Jason would be set for life and achieve his goals
The Legend of Medea
● Medea argues with Jason: she had done literally everything for him, but now he throws
her aside
● Jason responds that he did her a favor by bringing her to Greek from a barbaric land
● Medea can do nothing to stop him
● Prepares a “wedding gift” for Glauce, Jason’s bride, a crown/robe imbued with caustic
poison
● Glauce and Creon both die
● Medea and Jason’s children deliver the crown to Glauce
● What can Medea do now?
○ She’s a foreigner who has murdered the princess and king
○ Her husband left her
○ She has two children now complicit in the murder
The Legend of Jason
Euripides’ “Medea”
● Perhaps first author to have Medea kill her children
● Reasons for doing so are vague:
○ To take revenge on Jason?
○ To prevent her children from being persecuted by the Corinthians?
○ To prevent her children from becoming like their father?
● At the end, Medea summons a serpent chariot of her grandfather Helios
● A mechanical device (a crane) lifts her up to the sky as she escapes
● The crane is usually reserved for gods/goddesses (hence the term deus ex machine -
“god from the crane”)
● After other adventures, she eventually returns home to Colchis to rule (gives rise to the
“Medes” and the Persian Empire)
● No certain accounts of her death
○ Late sources suggest that she did die and married Achilles in the underworld
What is he without Medea?
● Some say that he committed suicide in despair
● Most common ending has him withering away in Corinth
● Hungry to relive his past glories, he regularly visits his ship the Argo, now on blocks as a
tourist attraction
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Class 20: the age of heroes - medea and jason. Medea and jason settle into their lives at corinth. Both jason and medea attempt to be domesticated. Jason seeks a legitimate greek marriage (no foreigners allowed citizenship) Creon ( power") agrees to give his daughter glauce - blue (eyes) - to jason. With a legitimate royal marriage, jason would be set for life and achieve his goals. Medea argues with jason: she had done literally everything for him, but now he throws her aside. Jason responds that he did her a favor by bringing her to greek from a barbaric land. Medea can do nothing to stop him. Prepares a wedding gift for glauce, jason"s bride, a crown/robe imbued with caustic poison. Medea and jason"s children deliver the crown to glauce. She"s a foreigner who has murdered the princess and king. She has two children now complicit in the murder. Perhaps first author to have medea kill her children.
