CLAS 2051 Lecture Notes - Loyal Wife, Clytemnestra, Melodrama
Document Summary
Euripides- medea, alcestis (sometimes known as melodrama, because he didn"t believe the story needed to end with everyone dead, lead to him being a fan favourite) Medea- good because she protects her husband, bad because she kills his mistress and performs witchcraft (bad because she is accessing power that under the patriarchy she should not be) Helen of troy- in some plays, she is unfaithful to her husband while he is away, in some she is not unfaithful: hippolytus. Hippolytus and phaedra worship artemis (virgin goddess of archery), Hipp. swears off of women to be a virgin archer like artemis. Approdite (goddess of love) is offended, makes phaedra fall in love with. Phaedra is jilted, accuses hipp. of raping her; theseus is outraged. Hipp. is killed by a beast, phaedra kills herself. Hipp. as not fulfilling his role as a man. Euripides as playing with dichotomies, suggesting him to be misogynistic.