The importance of the exchange between medea and the chorus in euripides tragedy

Later Greek chroniclers believed that Aeschylus was 35 years old in bc when he participated in the Battle of Marathonin which the Athenians first repelled the Persians; if this is true it would place his birth in bc. Every year at this festival, each of three dramatists would produce three tragedies, which either could be unconnected in plot sequence or could have a connecting theme. This trilogy was followed by a satyr playwhich was a kind of lighthearted burlesque.

Metaphors of Illegitimacy 1. Where the Girls Are: Parthenioi and Skotioi 2. Teucer, the Bastard Archer 3. Images of Fertility and Sterility 4. Considerations of legitimacy will spring to the forefront at times in the drama, but always remain a potent source of tension even in the background.

The hero cult established for Hippolytos after his death will attempt to contain the incongruities of legitimacy and the question of the worth of nothoi to the city, yet such an attempt only demonstrates the difficulties that this categorization bears.

The dual parentage that we saw could be problematic for Herakles and even Helen in Euripidean drama is present for Theseus, as well.

She speaks of the illicit affairs of her mother Pasiphae and sister Ariadne, adding to the sexually charged atmosphere but also alluding to concerns of illegitimacy as she worries that her own illicit love will deprive her children of citizen rights.

The Nurse warns Phaedra that she will be betraying her children if she kills herself because Hippolytos will be a master for them —and Theseus says that Hippolytos will make the excuse that Phaedra hated him because the illegitimate offspring is naturally the enemy of the legitimate — Some of these are familiar by now, such as a close connection of the illegitimate son to his mother, lack of public life, and sterility, but we will now also see a new cluster of metaphors dealing with images of counterfeit coinage and deception.

In that chapter, we saw that the nothos shares qualities with the parthenos, who may be his mother without losing her parthenos status. Because of his illegitimacy, Hippolytos does not live with Theseus in Athens. Theseus is, of course, the ultra-Athenian, but Hippolytos shares the outsider status of his mother, who is branded as precisely not Athenian.

And he will become even further removed from his Athenian parent before the reconciliation at the end of the drama.

For the betrayal that he thinks Hippolytos has committed against him, Theseus exiles Hippolytos from all the territory under his sway —, — Additionally important for seeing the overidentification of Hippolytos with his mother is the way she is described in these references.

Michael Halleran points out that in some accounts Hippolytos derives his name from his horse-riding mother, [ 15 ] which would doubly signify his bastard status and emphasize an identification with his mother and her lineage.

That is, Hippolytos takes his name from qualities of his mother as well as being called her son in place of a patronymic. Artemis and the Amazon have much in common, as females who enjoy male pursuits like hunting or war and who live outside of the norms of male-controlled civilization. She thus takes the corresponding position of mourner that a mother normally would when a young man died.

Although to claim inexperience in speaking is somewhat of a rhetorical trope, with reference to democratic Athens the rejection of public speaking to a crowd means that Hippolytos is not an active member of the polis. Like the situation in which the Partheniai were begotten, any Gargarian mates with any Amazon, and when the Amazons bring back any male children after birth for the Gargarians raise these while the Amazons raise the female childreneach Gargarian takes a random son, not knowing which is really his own.

Thus Amazons are known for either complete virginity or chastity in their separation from men or a randomized sexual intercourse when they need to reproduce. Jeannie Carlier compares Amazon society with that of earliest Athens, at a time before Cecrops instituted marriage: The connection is made clear when the Nurse describes Aphrodite explicitly in terms of reproduction: The Nurse goes on to say that if Phaedra will not submit to the ways of Aphrodite, then she should have had her father beget her on fixed terms or in a world where different gods are masters if she does not like these nomoi — As it turns out, Hippolytos, who tries not to submit to Aphrodite, does wish that his father had begotten him on fixed terms, as he explains in his long speech against women.

After exchanging words with the Nurse about whether or not he will keep his oath of silence that he had pledged to her, Hippolytos makes a long recitation of the ills women bring to the world — This speech has many layers of meaning and many implications for the play as a whole, but here I propose to look specifically at its proposition of reproduction without women and how the idea of asexual procreation connects to the issues surrounding the bastard son.

His scheme for the way men should be able to reproduce includes a direct exchange of offerings to the gods in their temples for a child of equal worth in return. For if you wished to propagate the human race, you ought to have accomplished this not from women, but mortals, having made dedications in your temples, either bronze or iron or weight of gold, would buy the seed for children from this payment, each one according to its worth, and in their free homes they would dwell, apart from females.

It also again associates him with his mother the Amazon. The Amazons live apart from men:Challenges in staging Medea include the deus ex machina, the child actors and staging the Greek Chorus.

Thesis/Dissertation Information

An essential question explored in this production is the character of Medea and whether the audience is to consider her as a monster or as a human.

This production explored the deus ex machina as an act of grace, signaling that the gods. Euripides - A Writer of Greek Tragedy - ThoughtCo. caninariojana.com Euripides was an ancient writer of Greek tragedy -- the third of the famous trio (with Sophocles and Aeschylus).

He wrote about women and mythological themes, like Medea and Helen of Troy. He enhanced the importance of intrigue in tragedy.

Origins of Roman theatre. Rome was founded in B.C.E as a monarchy under Etruscan rule, and remained as such throughout the first two and a half centuries of its existence. Following the expulsion of Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, or "Tarquin the Proud," circa B.C.E., Rome became a Republic, and was henceforth led by a group of magistrates elected by the Roman people.

In Table 1 we present excerpts from the tragedy of Euripides in which important characters refer to children, the nurse, Medea and the chorus of Corinthian women. Excerpts with direct reference to the children were selected, although the drama that surrounds them is understood elsewhere in the play.

Jul 04,  · In this paper, we will determine th e quality of Euripides’ “Helen” as a tragedy considering the principles in Aristotle’s “Poetics”, focusing on the two important parts, namely the Plot and caninariojana.com paper will also discuss Thought, Diction, Song, and Spectacle as other parts of Tragedy.

Medea and Witchcraft in Ancient Greek Art,A Discussion by Frederick John Kluth of Kent, Ohio. Questions and Answers about Medea. Medea, and The fifth-century tragic poet Euripides wrote a tragedy about Medea.

Question: I studied a sculpture of Medea by William Wetmore Story at the.