Phaedra And Medea Analysis

Phaedra and Medea

The women of Euripides are sympathetic victims of the patriarchy. From the start of both plays it is clear that Phaedra from Hippolytus and Medea from Medea by Euripides are both fated to be victims because their actions, though cruel, are simply reactions to the injustices they have been subject to and occur as a result of the lack of power among women and the subsequent actions of women that can arise from oppression. Both women cause severe pain to their husbands and children in order to preserve themselves. Moreover, Phaedra and Medea are complex and well-developed characters, antithetical to the ideal Greek woman, that utilize their small amount of power in unexpected ways with dramatic consequences.

The theme of women being helpless, having little power and being bound to maternal chains is established early on in Hippolytus. “Unhappy is the compound of woman’s nature; the torturing misery of helplessness, the helplessness of childbirth and its madness, are linked to it forever.” (161-164, H) Since women are under the expectations

Throughout both plays and many others within, the general faultiness yet calculated cruelty of women are noted often by both male and female characters many times, including Phaedra and Medea. Since women only had the ability to be respected for few things, for example, the ability to bear children and keep a husband, it follows that stepping out of line could have severe consequences for them and their status. The imbalance of power in Greek and Roman society has created an outlet of seemingly disproportionate revenge committed by women, in response to their oppression. It is not truly disproportionate if one considers that a woman who had never been able to fight back or speak up in her life will one day respond with a collective blow to the patriarchy when it is vital for