There are a lot of long monologues, and characters with iffy motivations in this (though that's probably true for a lot of Greek myths). Medea and Helen were interesting to read, mainly because I didn't know that much about either story. I liked how you the introduction to ancient philosophy book I read before this gave me an insight into how different schools of philosophy would give varied insights into the character of Medea and how her actions could be interpreted. Not really a big fan of Hippolytus, and I hate Electra as a character, though the play was interesting enough.

I've now read Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and for me Sophocles is the clear favorite. I adore Oedipus the King. Aeschylus was almost painful to get through, though I should probably give him another chance. Euripides was easy to read, but I never got properly invested.

The original vengeful woman. No one does it like her. Is she unhinged? Yes can I defend her actions? No. But if you vilify this woman one more time in my presence I will throw you off a cliff. Medea haters are misogynists and this statement needs no elaboration. You slay them girlboss queen!

(Wish I read a more poetic translation the first time tho.)

Read for my English class, The Classics of Western Literature.

“then wipe off on me all your uncleanness, all; i do not shrink from it.”

loved the first 2 plays but the other 2 were based on myths i wasn't really interested in

I usually don't like tragedies, but the four in this book (Medea, Hecabe, Electra, and Heracles) were really good.

Medea: A short summary of this play is that Jason has brought Medea back from Colchis (Georgia) to Corinth. However, after 10 years of marriage and two children, he abandons her for Glauce, the daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Medea takes revenge by poisoning Glauce and Creon and killing her and Jason's two children. What makes this play interesting is how it sets up this drama as a showdown between Medea's "barbarian" (non-Greek) passion/emotion and Jason's Greek rationality. Seeing Medea's distress, Jason explains his thought process to Medea, and why abandoning her for Glauce is really the best move for everyone:
"My action [abandoning you] was wise, not swayed by passion, and directed towards your interests and my children’s... When I came here from Iolcus as a stateless exile, dogged and thwarted by misfortunes – why, what luckier chance could I have met, than marriage with the King’s daughter?... I wanted to ensure first – and the most important – that we should live well and not be poor... You need no more children, do you? I thought it worth while to ensure advantages for those I have, by means of those I hope to have. Was such a plan, then, wicked? Even you would approve if you could govern your sex-jealousy."
Of course, Jason's reasoning is completely specious, as Medea points out: "If you were honest, you ought first to have won me over, not got married behind my back." And moreover, and something that Jason is absolutely incapable of comprehending, is that no amount of reasoning, even good reasoning, can overcome his abandonment of his wife and children.
Medea responds to her betrayal with overwhelming emotion - first she cries for days on end. Then she hurls raging words at Jason, Creon, and Glauce, to the point that Creon decides to banish her. Jason tells her, "You could have stayed in Corinth, still lived in this house, if you had quietly accepted the decisions of those in power. Instead, you talked like a fool; and now you are banished." Having been abandoned by Jason, Medea is completely helpless - "I am alone; I have no city; now my husband insults me. I was taken as plunder from a land at the earth's edge." So there is something almost heroic in how she uses her desperation and murderous ingenuity to do the unthinkable and take control of the situation. She first sends a poisoned crown and dress to Glauce via her children; her gifts horrifically kill Glauce and Creon. Next, she stabs her own children to death. Jason can barely comprehend what Medea has done, especially to her own children.
"JASON: In all Hellas there is not one woman who could have done it; yet in preference to them I married you, chose hatred and murder for my wife – no woman, but a tiger; a Tuscan Scylla.
...
MEDEA: Hurl at me what names you please! I’ve reached your heart; and that is right.
JASON: You suffer too; my loss is yours no less.
MEDEA: It is true; but my pain’s a fair price, to take away your smile."
To me, those lines summarize the play. I think that this play is powerful because it depicts a battle that goes on in every one of us, between our rationality and our emotions. Throughout our lives we convince ourselves to do things we don't want to do in order to avoid trouble; all we have to do is "quietly accept the decisions of those in power." When faced with these sorts of decisions, we are often as helpless as Medea was, which is why we are expected to quietly acquiesce. The consequences of rebellion are typically unthinkable, as they would involve harming ourselves as much if not more than those in power. In order words, it goes against reason to rebel, which is why Jason says that "in all Hellas (a land of reason and moderation) there is not one woman who could have done it." The tragic heroism of Medea is that she goes against reason to rebel and assert control over her circumstances, even if it means murdering her own children.

Hecabe: Hecabe is another powerful play. To summarize, Polymestor, a Thracian king, was entrusted with Priam and Hecabe's youngest son, Polydorus, along with a lot of gold. Polymestor kills Polydorus to get his gold, and Polydorus's body washes up on the beach of the Greek camp. Meanwhile, Achilles' ghost has demanded the blood of Polyxena, a young daughter of Priam and Hecabe. These two deaths occur on the same day, and Hecabe blinds Polymestor and kills his children in revenge. The interesting aspect of this play is how it portrays two very different murders.
As Polyxena is ripped away from her mother, she could have chosen to resist fate and be taken screaming and kicking to her death. Her mother Hecabe is beside herself with grief: "In her lies my joy, in her I forget troubles, and find comfort for all I have lost. She is my city now; my nurse, my staff, my guide." And yet Polyxena somehow rises above her fate by embracing it.
"There in front of the grave stood the whole multitude
Of the Achaean army, to see the sacrifice.
Achilles’ son led Polyxena by the hand
Up to the summit of the mound. I stood close by.
Behind us, a picked group of young Achaeans stood
Ready to hold her if she struggled to escape.
[Neoptolemus] grasped
His sword by the gold hilt, drew it from the sheath, and signed
To the young men appointed, to take hold of her.
Polyxena saw; and this is what she said: ‘You Greeks,
Who laid my city in ruins, I die willingly.
Let no one lay hands on me; I will give my neck
Steadfastly to the sword. So, in the name of God,
Let me stand free, and kill me; then I shall die free.
Since I am royal, to be called slave among the dead
Would be dishonour.’"

By embracing her fate, she gains control of it in a way. The reaction of the Greeks is telling:
"Then, when the deadly stroke had ended her last breath,
Each Argive there found his own way to do her honour.
Some strewed fresh leaves over her body; some brought boughs
And built a pyre; while those who stood with empty hands
Were roundly abused. ‘What do you mean,’ the others cried,
‘By bringing nothing for Polyxena? Have you
No dress, no ornament to offer in her honour?
Hers was the most courageous, noble heart of all.’"

Hecabe then arranges her revenge on Polymestor by inviting him to her tent and setting upon him and his children with her servants. Unlike with Polyxena's sacrifice, it doesn't feel like this revenge brings any redemption. In fact, the blinded Polymestor delivers damning prophecies to both Hecabe and Agamemnon: That Hecabe will transform into a dog and fall into the sea, and that Agamemnon and Cassandra will be murdered by his wife.

Electra: Electra was an interesting play because it turns the old story on its head. This play recounts the second part of the Oresteia in which Orestes returns from exile to Argos and finds his sister Electra. Upon Electra's recognition of her brother, they make a plot and kill both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. In Aeschylus, both Orestes and Electra are portrayed as dutiful and heroic. In Euripides' retelling, not so much. Electra is particularly unheroic - throughout the play she bemoans her poverty and her loss of dignity. As the introduction to the book says, it seems like she almost enjoys self-pity and cringes when the time for action/redemption arrives. She takes ages to recognize Orestes; she seems to willfully ignore heavy hints that Orestes is her brother. It takes their old shepherd friend to spell it out to her for her to finally acknowledge that Orestes is her brother. She then claims Clytemnestra's murder for herself, but when the time comes to actually stab her, she loses her grip on the sword and relies on Orestes to deliver the killing blow.
Meanwhile, the murders themselves are not feel-good murders as they are in Aeschylus. When Orestes finds Aegisthus, he is merrily preparing a sacrifice and feast. He hospitably invites Orestes and his companion Pylades to join in the sacrifice and celebration, only for the sacrifice to be turned into his own sacrifice. It feels dirty. Next, Electra lures Clytemnestra to her house by telling her that she has given birth. They have a heated exchange, in which Clytemnestra does a half-way decent job of justifying her murder of Agamemnon (mostly revolving around his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia). However, Electra destroys her argument by pointing out that Clytemnestra already had eyes for Aegisthus before Agamemnon had left for Troy. Electra finally invites her into the house where she and Orestes pounce on her. Once again, the murder feels dirty.
Clytemnestra's deified brothers Castor and Pollux then arrive at the scene. Castor summarizes the situation: "[Clytemnstra's] fate was just; but your act is not justified. Phoebus, yes, Phoebus – but he is my lord, so I am silent. He is wise; but his command to you was not wise."

Heracles: This play was just sad. In the first half, Heracles has left his father Amphitryon, his wife Megara, and his three children in Thebes under the protection of Megara's father Creon in order to go to Hades to drag the hell-hound Cerberus to the earth's surface. However, this task has taken years and Heracles is presumed dead. In the meantime, a tyrant named Lycus has taken over Thebes and is about to kill Heracles' helpless family. This play really toys with the emotions as we are so worried about Heracles' family, and they are only saved when Heracles arrives at the last second. This scene shows us just how vital Heracles is to his family - without him, they have nothing. With him, they have everything. When they were about to be killed, Megara summarizes it like this:
"You, eldest one,
Were to rule Argos, you were destined to possess
Eurystheus’ palace and the rich Pelasgian plains;
[Heracles] used to hang about your head the lion-skin cloak
Which was his own proud armour. You [turning to the second child] were king of Thebes
And all her chariots; these broad lands my father gave
To me, were your inheritance. You were his son:
You asked, he gave. Then he would place in your right hand,
Pretending it a gift, his huge carved fighting-club.
To you, his youngest, he would promise Oechalia,
The spoil, long since, of his far-conquering arrows. Thus,
Proudly and confidently, he planned for his three sons
Three firmly-founded thrones."
Without Heracles they were friendless nobodies, about to be killed at the whim of a tyrant; with Heracles, they were future lords of Greece.
This makes the next half of the play all the more tragic. Immediately after Heracles saves his family from the jaws of death, Hera sends Madness to infect Heracles's mind, and in a demented rage he confuses his own children for the children of his hated master Eurystheus and slaughters them all along with his wife. As the introduction to the play mentions, and interesting scene occurs after this slaughter when Heracles contemplates his bow:
"My bow! which I have loved, and lived with; and now loathe.
What shall I do – keep it, or let it go? This bow,
Hung at my side, will talk: ‘With me you killed your wife
And children; keep me, and you keep their murderer!’
Shall I then keep and carry it? With what excuse?
And yet – disarmed of this, with which I did such deeds
As none in Hellas equalled, must I shamefully
Yield to my enemies and die? Never! This bow
Is anguish to me, yet I cannot part with it."
In a way, Heracles comes to term with his anguish and guilt - he recognizes that it is suffering that he must live with, not run away from. He had already, for a time, given Atlas a break by carrying heaven on his shoulders, but his slaughter of his wife and children was the greatest burden he would ever have to bear.

MEMORABLE SCENES:

1. Medea gives Glauce a poisoned crown and dress. Glauce's death scene is a horrific spectacle. I can only imagine what it would look like with the full CGI treatment:
"two torments made war on [Glauce] together: first
The golden coronet round her head discharged a stream
Of unnatural devouring fire: while the fine dress
Your children gave her – poor miserable girl! – the stuff
Was eating her clear flesh. She leapt up from her chair,
On fire, and ran, shaking her head and her long hair
This way and that, trying to shake off the coronet.
The ring of gold was fitted close and would not move;
The more she shook her head the fiercer the flame burned.
At last, exhausted by agony, she fell to the ground;
Save to her father, she was unrecognizable.
Her eyes, her face, were one grotesque disfigurement;
Down from her head dripped blood mingled with flame; her flesh,
Attacked by the invisible fangs of poison, melted
From the bare bone, like gum-drops from a pine-tree’s bark –
A ghastly sight."

2. Heracles' hunting and slaughter of his children could easily be extended into a horror movie (let's call it Hercules 2):
"Amphitryon clung to his mighty hand, and cried, ‘O dearest son,
What is this madness? Surely killing Lycus here
Has not deranged you?’ Heracles imagined this
Was the father of Eurystheus clinging to his hand,
Trembling with fear. He pushed him back; handled his bow
And quiver, ready to shoot his own sons, thinking they
Were children of Eurystheus. Terrified, they rushed
This way and that; one hid behind his mother’s dress,
One in the shadow of a pillar, one behind
The altar cowered like a bird. Megara shrieked,
‘What are you doing? They’re your children!’ Amphitryon
And all the servants shrieked. Nimbly and swiftly he
Spun round the pillar, faced the child, and shot him dead.
He fell back gasping, spattering the stone with blood.
Heracles yelled in triumph; ‘There lies one,’ he cried,
‘One of Eurystheus’ cubs has paid his father’s debt.’
Down by the altar steps, hoping he was unseen,
Another boy was crouching. Heracles aimed at him;
The child was quicker – he darted to his father’s knees,
Reached for his beard and neck, and cried, ‘I am your son –
Yours, not Eurystheus’. Father dear, don’t kill your son!’
His father’s eyes were like a Gorgon’s – twisted, cruel.
He could not use his arrows – the boy stood too close;
So, like a blacksmith forging iron, he raised his club
High, and upon his son’s fair head he crashed it down,
Shattering the skull. His second victim dead, he now
Made for the third; but Megara swiftly snatched the child
Away, and rushed with him into an inner room
And locked the doors. He, just as if this were in truth
Mycenae and the Cyclopian walls, with pick and bar
Heaved, hammered, burst the door-posts, and with a single shot
Dispatched both wife and child."

La mejor tragedia griega para mí, habla sobre el amor según la mentalidad de la época y la ira femenina. Eso sí, se nota (como siempre) que Medea está escrita por un hombre, aún con todo, se lee en un momento y se disfruta todo el rato.

only read medea but i own this copy so wanted to mark as owned

4.5

euripides loves angry women and child murder

Medea, Hecabe and Electra are the original girl bosses. Also, Theseus is a true bro.

i support all of medea’s rights and all of medea’s wrongs