Medea's Consequences

From a young age, society teaches that every cause has an effect, every action a consequence. Children are taught this in many ways, one being how to follow rules. If one doesn’t follow rules, the consequence is a punishment of some sort. In Euripedes’ Greek tragedy, Medea, the main character, Medea, is mourning the loss of her husband who has left her and their two children to marry the princess of Corinth. As one can imagine, Medea is outraged at how Jason has treated their family after all Medea has done for him. The couple’s story begins in Medea’s homeland where she betrays her father to help Jason retrieve the Golden Fleece and even went to the lengths of killing her own brother in the name of love. Now an enemy to her own homeland and a foreigner to Corinth, Medea is left with her rage and desire for revenge at being abandoned by Jason. Desperate for revenge, Medea forms a plan to kill Jason’s new bride, the King, and in the process her own children as an act of revenge. Both Medea and Jason must face the consequences of their actions by the end of the story, this also happens in today’s society.

The consequence to that decision is Medea’s anger influencing her decision to go through with murder. From there, it begins a domino effect of consequences. The first being Medea formulates her plan to kill Jason’s new bride followed by Medea killing the children that she and Jason shared together. In today’s society, it is not uncommon for fathers to leave their families because of affairs. It is also not uncommon to hear of the wife seeking revenge on the mistress for breaking up their family. Another example to Medea tying in to modern society is Jason never takes responsibility for his actions, much like how many want to “pass the buck” in today’s society. Everyone wants to save their reputation and don’t want to admit that they have done wrong, much like