Medea

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Overview

Medea is a Greek tragedy by Euripides about a foreign woman who is abandoned by her husband Jason and takes revenge by killing the princess he intends to marry, the princess's father, and her own two sons. First staged at the Athenian festival of the City Dionysia in 431 BCE, it is one of the most disturbing and discussed plays of the ancient world. It matters because it examines rage, betrayal, honour, the position of women and outsiders, and the cost of revenge.

Context

Greek tragedies were performed in Athens as part of a religious festival, and the playwrights competed for prizes. Euripides wrote in a period of growing war with Sparta. The story of Medea, a princess from Colchis who had helped Jason win the Golden Fleece, was already known in myth. The play is set in Corinth, where Medea and Jason have settled as exiles.