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A Critical Analysis Of Medea By Euripides

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This thesis aims to explore the tragedy of Medea and how she was forced to slaughter her children out of protection. It will initially revolve around the character of Medea and what lead her to make such a heartbreaking decision. Medea is a Greek play that was written by the ancient Greek writer Euripides, who was born in 480 BC and died in 406 BC. Many scholars have viewed him as the most intellectual poet of his generation, and was one of the three great tragedians of Classical Athens. Euripides was also believed, by many scholars, to have been ahead of his time and was not popular among the public because he challenged the traditional Greek beliefs by using old myths to reflect and criticize modern Greek life. He also emphasized on issues in relation to women in his plays, and how he …show more content…

It will explain how he chose to focus on unconventional topics that were deemed intolerable in the Greek society and how he pushed the boundaries. This thesis will also explore the historical background of Euripides 's controversial character Medea, and the purpose behind his choice to write about such a strong independent uncontrollable female character. Also, this thesis aims to further explain how the historical information was able to pave the way for other future writers to push the boundaries and continue with the same labels and ideals he originated. As a result, Euripides was able to uniquely develop a female character who was dismissed by the Greek audience and was labeled as barbaric and revengeful for her treacherous acts. Nevertheless, Euripides was able to use his knowledge to increase a slight indication of sympathy towards the character of Medea in order to make his Greek audience formulate their own conclusion. Thus, Euripides wishes for his audience to feel sympathetic towards his controversial character, but without directly suggesting

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