Euripides' Medea, first staged in 431 BCE,
was one of the most horrifying plays to come to the ancient Athenian theater. In the play, Medea
is responsible for the deaths of Creon, Creon's daughter, and her own two children by
Jason.
On one level, it is difficult to find any excuse for Medea's
actions. Even though Jason divorced her, Medea had arranged for protection with King Aegeus of
Athens after leaving Corinth, so there was no issue of Medea being "cast out into the cold" with
nowhere to go. Additionally, Medea's children are completely innocent and so killing them is
morally reprehensible.
From the perspective of the mythic tradition,
Jason survives his encounter with Medea and so to have Medea kill Jason would have run counter to
the established tradition. So, that sort of revenge would not have been "right" from that
perspective.
Although in my view Medea's actions are in no way
"right" in a moral sense, her revenge on Jason could be seen as "perfect" if we take this word to
mean "complete" or "whole." So, if by "perfect" we mean "complete," then I would say Medea's
revenge is "perfect."
Medea kills the children that she has had by
Jason, so Jason no longer has male heirs (the ancient Greek version of a 401k plan). Medea kills
Jason's new bride, so he cannot produce heirs by her to replace his dead sons. Medea also kills
Creon, so Jason is not going to be able to inherit his kingship. Finally, Medea leaves Jason
alive to carry out the rest of his wretched existence with the memories of how Medea, in a matter
of minutes, wiped out everything he loved and everything he dreamed of.
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