1. Euripides’ Medea The Life of Euripides Medea
His Life, Death & Reputation
His Works
Medea
Background: Jason and the Argonauts
Themes to Watch for

2. Euripides’ Life and Accomplishments
born around 484 BC
from a prominent family
nothing reliable known about his education
his career began in the tragic competitions in 455 BC in which he earned a third prize

3. Euripides’ Life, Death and Reputation
Euripides won a first prize for the first time in 442 BC one of only five in his career
The scholars of Alexandria found 92 plays attributed to him
The remainder represent some 22 entries in the tragic competitions
78 survived to be gathered into the Collected Works in the library at Alexandria

4. Euripides’ Life, Death and Reputation
Leaving Athens
Around 408 Euripides either accepted an invitation from King Archelaus in Macedon, or some believe Euripides self-imposed exile
He died in 406/7 BC
It was variously reported he was killed by hunting dogs either accidentally let loose on him, or deliberately by rivals.
Some say he was torn apart by women
Sophocles mourned his death

5. Euripides’ Life, Death and Reputation
Euripides receives a lot of his reputation from Old Comedy
Aristophanes and other playwrights would poke fun at contemporary playwrights and Euripides was a favorite to ridicule
Euripides was said to be a follower of a philosophical outlook that cast tragedy’s religious foundations into question

6. Euripides’ Life, Death and Reputation
He was an object of suspicion to his fellow citizens
He was an anti-traditionalist in his art
In reality Euripides was
innovative
well respected by some contemporaries
the last of the great writers of tragedy in the golden age of Athens
As Aristotle calls him “the most tragic of poets,” for it is swift change of fortune that is the life-blood of tragedy

7. Euripides’ Life, Death and Reputation
Euripides’ plays are marked by themes revolving around the precariousness of human existence, the limits of mortality and the unpredictability of the future, especially in view of the power of the gods
In his tragicomic plays, disaster is usually avoided by the narrowest of escapes, and often the escape owes something both to human piety and virtue and to divine intervention

8. Euripides’ Works His surviving plays
Some of Euripides plays survived as a collection of ten “select plays” possibly used for schools
One or two volumes of the Collected Works survived the Byzantine period and were copied onto a single manuscript now in a library in Florence
His surviving plays offer us a cross-section of his works and indicate a high level of writing

9. Euripides’ Works
His works include: Alcestis (438 second prize), Medea (431 third prize), Children of Heracles (ca. 430), Hippolytus (428, first prize), Andromache (ca. 425), Hecuba (ca. 424), Suppliant Women (ca. 423), Electra (ca. 420), Heracles (ca. 416), Trojan Women (415, second prize), Iphigenia among the Taurians (ca. 414), Ion (ca. 413), Helen (412), Phoenician Women (ca. 410), Orestes (408), Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis (after 406, posthumous first prize), Cyclops (date unknown)

10. Euripides’ Works Other Works
Besides plays, Euripides is said to have written a victory ode for the Olympic chariot victory of Alcibiades
He possibly wrote an epitaph in honor of the Athenians who died in Sicily

11. Medea
The Structure of the Text
Drama Terminology
Characters

12. Medea: Structure of the Play
Medea is a Tragedy:
A literary work dealing with very serious and important themes, in which a dignified tragic figure meets destruction through some personal flaw or weakness.

13. Medea: Structure of the Play
Classic Greek Dramas had only one setting. No scenes were changed.
Messengers would often deliver longer vivid speeches describing action that occurred off-stage.
Dramas were highly structured

14. Medea: Structure of the Play
Greek Drama begins with a prologue, a prologue usually depicts a preceding event and always precedes the parados
The prologue is shortly followed by the parados, an entrance of the chorus
The chorus would often have a leader, the choragos. The chorus would often provide the popular opinion during on-stage debates or arguments.

15. Medea
The chorus was traditionally composed of fifteen actors and played the part of city elders.
After the prologue and parados, the play would alternate between episodes and choral odes.
The episodes are similar to what we think of as acts.

16. Medea
The odes were opportunities for the playwright to comment (through the chorus) on events and themes presented in or through the action and dialgoue.
The play ends with the exodos. The exodos is simply the part of the drama where the chorus exits while providing the audience with their final comments.
Background :

17. Themes In Medea
1-Athens was imbalanced in its focus on intellect, materialism, selfishness (social theme)
2-Individuals in such a society are also imbalanced—too much intellect (Jason); or too much emotion and intelligence (Medea)
3-Intellect cut off from emotion and intelligence will destroy itself and others
4-Theme of what happens when a person has no recourse in law—Medea resorts to terrible violence (minorities, foreigners, women, slaves, and so forth)
5-Theme of time—is also a psychological and symbolic theme—Medea, like any human, seeks to erase a bad decision