[Music] the Greek tragedy Medea is set in the ancient Greek city-state of Corinth Jason the Prince of the Orcas has left his wife Medea and married the princess of Corinth in the plays introduction the nurse summarizes events that took place before the play began while Medea sobs in the background Jason had been given the task of capturing the Golden Fleece a Rams cold skin with a group of men called the Argonauts Jason sailed to Colchis in the Argo and enlisted the help of Medea the king's daughter who has magical powers Medea fell passionately in love with Jason she not only helped him betraying and murdering her own family but married him which forced the couple into exile in Corinth they have two sons but jason has left Medea for his new bride the daughter of King Creon of Corinth Medea rages at being dishonored and abandoned the chorus a group of corinthian women who are madea's friends and serve as the voice of greek society arrives on stage trying to soothe Medea but she will not be consoled in the plays rising action King Creon arrives to order Medea and the children into exile because he fears Medea will harm his daughter the princess Jason left Medea for Medea begs to remain for one day and the King grants her wish but Medea begins plotting the murder of the princess Jason's new wife Jason appears to say that Medea deserves her exile for slandering the royal house when Medea reminds him of all the crimes she committed to help him and their children Jason belittles her help claiming he did more for her than she did for him and says he's marrying the princess to give his children financial security Medea refuses the offer of help saying gifts from a worthless man are without value eg is the king of Athens comes to ask Medea for some advice and Medea asks him to take her in he agrees Medea then reveals to the chorus her plan to send the children to the princess with a poisoned robe and tiara and then kill her own children she feels she has no other choice with no father no home no refuge the plan works soon a messenger from Crayons house comes to say the princess and king are both dead in holding his dead daughter the king became entangled in the poisoned robe and died in the play's climax Medea enters the house to stab the children and the audience hears their cries for help in the falling action Jason arrives to the news that his boys are dead and in the play's resolution Medea flies off in a winged chariot the bodies of the children inside while she taunts her former husband Jason there are two key characters in Medea the first is the titular revenge seeker of the play Medea herself Medea is royalty from Colchis the land of the magical Golden Fleece not only is her father the king but her grandfather is Helios the Sun God she met and fell in love with Jason when he arrived in Colchis on his quest for the Golden Fleece because she's not just a mere mortal Medea possesses magical powers and used them to help Jason in his quest the pair ended up in Corinth where they began raising their children but now Jason is left Medea to marry the princess of Corinth the play opens with Medea raging at Jason's on the trail she plots and execute her revenge on her former husband killing his new wife King Creon the king of Corinth and even denying her parental feelings toward her children when she kills them in the end with a sword to make sure Jason's house lies completely in ruin while her plan is sinister and violent she's often a sympathetic figure having been betrayed by a callous husband who broke his sacred oath of marriage next is Jason Jason was born a prince of the okis but when his uncle usurped the throne from Jason's father Jason was sent to be trained as a Greek hero when he was old enough to seek his birth rights the throne Jason acquired a ship called the Argos and manned it with a crew called the Argonauts in the argonauts set sail to take up the Kings challenge to bring the Golden Fleece to e okis supported by madea's magic Jason used his hero training to complete a series of difficult tasks set by her father the king of Colchis she killed many and her own family to elope with Jason to Corinth so it makes sense that Jason's betrayal of Medea stings all the more because of how she has loved and helped him throughout his exploits he claims to want to help his family by leaving Medea but she doesn't see that as a valid excuse Jason can be unbelievably cruel to Medea in the play and the chorus makes it clear that while they don't want Medea to murder their children Jason deserves severe punishment the poisoned crown off sage cries and the golden chariots are the main symbols in the play Medea the symbol of the crown connects to the royalty of Corinth including Jason who's now married into the family Medea has spoken against the royal crown refusing exile she sends a poisoned golden crown along with a poisoned robe as a gift to the princess who doesn't want to accept them but when Jason urges r2 she dies madea's rage and need for revenge have transformed a symbol of authority into a weapon that destroys the royal house another symbol is offstage cries Medea and Jason's marriage house symbolizes their time together as husband and wife and all action and dialogue in Medea takes place outside of the house during the plays opening madea's offstage cries from within the marriage house can be heard punctuating the nurses recounting madea's tale of betrayal Medea destroys the marriage house completely when she kills her sons within its walls jason arrives too late as the door of the house is now closed never to open again the golden chariot is yet another symbol the final scenes with Medea escaping in a winged golden chariot bring off and fear is the granddaughter of Helios and her use of his chariot symbolizes her partial divinity and her female pride and strength while she escapes punishment in her chariot her flight also reinforces her portrayal as an outsider who's not entirely human Medea is a powerful play that transposes powerful themes to readers especially passion betrayal revenge exile and feminine power Medina's passion for jason supersedes everything else even her motherly love for her sons but the chorus frequently mentions that passionate love is not desirable and Medea herself admits that her passion in the form of anger over Jason's betrayal overwhelms her judgment the chorus insists at love without passion but with moderation and wisdom is better because it does not breed destruction another theme is betrayal your Ripa DS works to make the audience feel sympathy for Medea despite her monstrous actions at the end of the play she reminds Jason of what she did for him in the past and how she has taken revenge for his betrayal in abandoning her Jason has not only betrayed her through dishonor as a divorced woman was not respected but also deprived her of an identity she has lost her homeland forever Medea also commits acts of betrayal and did so long before the beginning of the play she even killed her brother and betrayed her father to help Jason betrayal breeds betrayal as she uses her sons to deliver her deadly gifts to the princess and then kills them to make Jason suffer revenge is another theme and Medea embodies it from the beginning of the play she plots her revenge on Jason laying out her plans and monologues and conversations with the chorus all while feigning understanding to manipulate men to participate in her plot although she feels pain at the thought of killing the children and recognises the crime is sacrilegious her need to triumph over Jason is greater than her motherly love exile is another key theme an exile is part of madea's past present and future by committing crimes against her family Medea exiled herself from Colchis her homeland later she and Jason left his homeland to become exiles in Corinth and when Jason marries the princess of Corinth Medea is threatened with exile by King Creon the Athenian audience in ancient Greece would understand this fear of exile with Medea ancient Greece was composed of city-states that provided cultural identity protection and economic security without this safety those in exile had to fend for themselves as individuals begging for entry and acceptance that might not be granted from the start Medea is cast as other a stranger from a foreign land and an object of suspicion and mistrust in the eyes of the Greeks she's not only not Greek but she's not quite human despite her murderous wrath Medea embodies the theme of feminine power in her monologues she often bemoans a married woman's lack of power and she overwhelms the men in the play with her cunning also your Ripa teases chorus is a group of women who offer wise advice throughout the play presenting another example of feminine power the chorus speaks to this theme when it says that women have their own artistic muse who lives among us to teach us wisdom you