Euripides Mede Mental Illness

Euripides’ Medea, is a play that follows the journey of a young woman seeking vengeance against her husband, well now ex-husband. The steps she takes to get her revenge make Medea seem like a monster. However, her actions and the torments she has endured make it appear as though she may suffer from a mental illness. So the question is, does Medea have some form of mental illness, or was she just enraged by the injustices committed by her “loving” husband? Evidence leans more toward her being mentally unfit than her being a murderer.

Mental Disorders There are many different mental illnesses that have diverse effects on people. These disorders can be hereditary, meaning that the disease is passed down through generations, or according

The events leading up to the play are what had driven her mad. It is a possibility that Medea had always suffered from a mental illness and it was just triggered by something in her life, or she could have developed it as her life began to fall apart. The loss of a family member, being responsible for a death or deaths, and the end of a marriage, all things that the Harvard Health Publications (2009, pg. 31-33) had said could lead to depression. Each of these individual events were traumatic enough as they were. So, when they are all combined a mental breakdown was

She went from moping around all day being sad, to having fits of rage, and then back to being sad. At times Medea expressed thoughts of suicide, which is a symptom of both Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder. She also went through periods where she swore revenge against Jason.

Depressive Phases As the play begins, Medea has stopped eating and spends her days locked within her own house. She can be heard moaning and rambling from within her home. She even wishes she would die, saying things like, “I am miserable, unhappy in my labors! Oh me, I wish I were dead.” As we as, “I wish I could cast off this hateful life and take my rest in death!” (Euripides et al., 2005, p. 16-18). Medea even spends time praying, and remorsing the wrong doings she has committed against her own family.

Manic