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Euripides’ Medea and the Oresteia: Cyclical Revenge

Dawson Fraser

Dr. Leona MacLeod

Classics 5112

April 28th, 2023

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Throughout Euripides’ Medea, the theme of revenge plays a major role. Medea’s

revenge serves to rectify the injustice Jason perpetrated unto Medea. Jason’s crime involved

abandoning Medea and their children for Creon’s daughter. Moreover, Medea’s outrage at

Jason stems from his disregard for his marriage oath. Euripides utilises this injustice as the

catalyst for Medea’s infanticide. In this essay, I will demonstrate how Euripides illustrates the

complexities of Medea’s revenge, and utilises similarities to Aeschylus’ Oresteia to further

his illustrations of justice. Additionally, Euripides’ Medea shares many Greek tragic

characteristics with Aeschylus’ Oresteia, such as; the struggle between family and revenge,

and the cycle of revenge. Euripides echoes similar word choices as Aeschylus, which furthers

the comparisons between Orestes and Medea’s characters. Furthermore, Euripides utilises the

term δῐ́κη to demonstrate the lawfulness of Medea’s vengeance. Moreover, Euripides’

retelling of Medea’s story provides a strong example of the cyclical nature of retribution.1

Firstly, it is crucial to acknowledge the pre-established relationship between Jason and

Medea. The relationship between Medea and Jason began during the Argonautica. In book III

of the Argonautica, Jason meets Medea when he arrives in Colchis for the Golden Fleece.2

Moreover, the reason Medea falls in love with Jason derives from Hera and Aphrodite’s

influence. Furthermore, Hera assists Jason because of her disdain for King Pelias, whom

Jason impacts with his theft.3 Following Jason’s theft, Medea travels westward with him,

after she betrays her family.4 In sum, the Argonautica introduces audiences to Jason and

Medea’s relationship. However, Euripides’ Medea introduces audiences to a separated Medea

1
The cycle of revenge is a logical fallacy that summarizes the claim that ‘two wrongs make a right’
2
Apollonius, The Argonautica, trans. Peter Green (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,
2007), 3.275
3
Ibid, 1.250
4
Ibid, 4.1525
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and Jason.5 This separation stems from Jason’s abandonment of Medea and their children.

Moreover, Jason abandons Medea and their children to marry a Corinthian princess. Jason’s

marriage to the Corinthian princess represents Jason’s attempts at political advancement.

Moreover, Jason seeks this political advancement because of his exile from Iolcus. Jason’s

exile stems from Pelias’ usurpation.6 Moreover, Jason’s politcal abandonment and oath

breaking begins the cycle of retribution in Medea’s life.

With Jason and Medea’s relationship acknowledged, it is possible to analyse the

theme of revenge in Euripides’ Medea. Notably, Euripides utilises a cyclical revenge to

demonstrate the consequences of retribution. Just as Orestes spills familial blood in the

Oresteia, Medea kills her children, Creon, and his daughters to punish Jason’s crimes against

her and their family.7 Euripides’ cyclical revenge echoes aspects that the Oresteia established

throughout its trilogy. Notably, Orestes kills his mother and cousin to avenge the murder of

his father, Agamemnon.8 This revenge-killing continues the cycle of revenge because it leads

the Furies to pursue Orestes. Marianne Hopman supports this comparison between Orestes

and Medea:

The word Furies is used to signify the avenger who would punish Orestes for the
murder of his mother and thus perpetrate the cycle of retributive justice. Like the
chorus, Jason senses that the infanticide resembles the murder of Agamemnon and
thus expects Medea to undergo Clytemnestra's fate.9

Hopman’s assertion supports the comparison between Medea and Orestes’ revenge stories. In

addition, Jason’s response implies that he believes Medea echoes Clytemnestra’s role, when,

5
Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant, Women's Life in Greece & Rome (London, UK:
Bloomsbury, 2016), 16.
6
Michael Wood, In Search of Myths & Heroes (London, UK: BBC Books, 2005), 73.
7
Anne Burnett, “Medea and the Tragedy of Revenge,” Classical Philology 68, no. 1 (1973): pp. 1-24,
https://doi.org/10.1086/365918, ln.1280.
8
Aeschylus and Andrew Brown, Libation Bearers (Liverpool, UK: Liverpool university press, 2018).
9
Marianne Hopman, “Revenge and Mythopoiesis in Euripides' ‘Medea,’'Transactions of the
American Philological Association 138, no. 1 (2008): pp. 155-183,
https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.0.0002, 178.
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in actuality, Medea resembles Orestes.10 11 Moreover, Jason echoes similar terms as used in

the Oresteia. Jason asserts that his children will rise again as Furies who will punish Medea

for her kin-murder.12 Moreover, Anne Burnett compares Medea and Orestes in her paper:

“She comes to her resolve, however, only after a shattering inner argument and in the

difficulty of her decision she shows her first signs of a redeeming weakness and becomes an

Orestes at last.”13 Burnett’s analysis, accurately, recognizes the similarities between Medea

and Orestes, notably their role in a cycle of revenge. Furthermore, Euripides’ Medea

illustrates the Greek view of cyclical revenge and the struggle between family and obligation.

Medea’s desire for revenge derives from her marriage oaths. However, she struggles

between seeking retribution and protecting her children. Furthermore, Medea desires to

punish Jason for his betrayal by destroying everything he holds dear. Stewart Flory supports

the crucial aspect of oaths in Euripides’ Medea: “In the Medea the action is precipitated by

Jason's violation of an agreement which he made with Medea, an agreement sanctified by

oaths in which the gods were called as witnesses and which they confirmed by joining right

hands.”14 Flory’s acknowledgement of oaths supports the notion that Medea feels obligated to

10
Medea’s resemblance to Clytemnestra derives their shared infanticide and gender. Additionally,
Medea and Clytemnestra are both independent feminine characters in Greek Tragedy.
11
Elaine Fantham, Women in the Classical World: Image and Text (New York City, NY: Oxford
University Press, 2007), 68-71.
12
Donald J. Mastronarde and Euripides, Euripides' Medea (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press,
2010), ln. 1389-1390.
13
Anne Burnett, “Medea and the Tragedy of Revenge,” Classical Philology 68, no. 1 (1973): pp.
1-24, https://doi.org/10.1086/365918, 22.

Stewart Flory, “Medea's Right Hand: Promises and Revenge,” Transactions of the American
14

Philological Association (1974-) 108 (1978): p. 69, https://doi.org/10.2307/284236, 69.

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punish Jason. Moreover, this obligation aligns with Euripides’ use of δῐ́κη.15 16 Additionally,

the bulk of these ‘δῐ́κηs’ belong to Medea, or the chorus’ echoes of her. Jason’s use of δῐ́κη

occurs at the end of play, after he suffers his losses.17 While Euripides’ Medea primarily

focuses on Medea’s retribution, Jason’s desire for vengeance plays a crucial role in the finale

of the play. Notably, Jason calls for his retribution against Medea after he discovers the truth

about his family.18 Moreover, Jason’s call for revenge echoes Aeschylus’ Eumenides.

Notably, Jason refers to his dead sons as ‘Ἐρῑνῡ́ς.’19 This references aligns Medea and

Orestes’ stories further because of the shared ‘consequences’ of their murders.20 Moreover,

Orestes and Medea both escape the judgement of the Furies because of divine intervention.

Firstly, Apollo and Athena rescue Orestes from Furies’ rage over the murder of

Clytemnestra.21 These gods rescue Orestes through the use of a trial where they demonstrate

that Orestes murders Clytemnestra because of his obligation to his father, and “that a mother

is a field where a child grows from his father’s seeds.”22 This divine intervention resembles

Medea’s rescue because of her escape from the Furies whom Jason calls forth. Euripides

depicts Medea aloft her grandfather’s chariot:

15
Henry George Lidell and Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded upon the
Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, UK: Benediction Classics,
2010), 202.
16
Euripides uses the term δῐ́κη twelve times through his Medea. The bulk of these utterances belong to
Medea and the chorus’s echoes of her. Jason’s use of δῐ́κη appears at the end of the play, after he
discovers the bodies of his sons.

17
Donald J. Mastronarde and Euripides, Euripides' Medea (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press,
2010), ln. 1298.
18
Ibid, ln. 1315-1316.
19
Ibid, ln. 1371.
20
Marianne Hopman, “Revenge and Mythopoiesis in Euripides' ‘Medea,’'Transactions of the
American Philological Association 138, no. 1 (2008): pp. 155-183,
https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.0.0002, 178.
21
Aeschylus and Alan Herbert Sommerstein, Eumenides (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 2004), ln. 658-661.
22
Ibid, ln. 658.
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Medea: Why do you rattle these gates and try to unbar them, in search of the corpses
and me who did the deed? Cease your toil. If you need anything from me, speak if
you like. But your hand can never touch me: such is the chariot Helios my grandfather
has given me to ward off a hostile hand.23

This example of Deus Ex Machina illustrates Medea’s escape from Jason’s retribution. Ian

Reilley acknowledges Medea’s escape: “she reappears in the final scene of the play above

Jason and the audience in Helios' chariot, her heroic reputation intact, her apotheosis

complete.”24 Medea’s heroic status stems from the lawful nature of her vengeance. Notably,

Medea rebuffs Jason’s plea to the gods for justice: “The gods know who struck the first

blow.”25 Medea’s rebuffing harkens back to her outrage at Jason’s oath breaking. Moreover,

Medea’s divine rescue derives from Jason’s betrayal because they swore before the eyes of

gods.26 Additionally, Medea’s escape weakens Jason’s implication that she resembles

Clytemnestra. In contrast, Medea’s escape strengthens her comparisons to Orestes.

Overall, Euripides’ Medea demonstrates the complexity of revenge in Greek tragedy.

Euripides’ similarities to Aeschylus’ Oresteia enhances Euripides’ depiction of Medea’s

complex retribution. Notably, both protagonists struggle to complete their murders because of

their familial connections which oppose their obligations. However, Medea and Orestes, both,

complete their retributions and escape unharmed because of the Deus Ex Machina in both

plays, such as; Helios’ chariot, and Apollo and Athena’s trial. In sum, Euripides’ Medea

demonstrates the complexity of revenge, and effectively uses similarities to Aeschylus’

Oresteia to illustrate the complexities of his characters and their actions.

23
Donald J. Mastronarde and Euripides, Euripides' Medea (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press,
2010), ln.1319-1321.
24
Ian Reilly, “‘Revenge Is Never a Straight Line’: Transgressing Heroic Boundaries: Medea and the
(Fe)Male Body in ‘Kill Bill,’” Studies in Popular Culture 30 (2007): pp. 27-50, 33.
25
Donald J. Mastronarde and Euripides, Euripides' Medea (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press,
2010), ln. 1372.
26
Apollonius, The Argonautica, trans. Peter Green (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,
2007), 4.752.
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Bibliography

Aeschylus, and Alan Herbert Sommerstein. Eumenides. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press, 2004.

Aeschylus, and Andrew Brown. Libation Bearers. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool university press,

2018.

Apollonius. The Argonautica. Translated by Peter Green. Berkeley, CA: University of

California Press, 2007.

Burnett, Anne. “Medea and the Tragedy of Revenge.” Classical Philology 68, no. 1 (1973):

1–24. https://doi.org/10.1086/365918.

Fantham, Elaine. Women in the Classical World: Image and Text. New York City, NY: Oxford

University Press, 2007.

Flory, Stewart. “Medea's Right Hand: Promises and Revenge.” Transactions of the American

Philological Association (1974-) 108 (1978): 69. https://doi.org/10.2307/284236.

Hopman, Marianne. “Revenge and Mythopoiesis in Euripides' ‘Medea.’” Transactions of the

American Philological Association 138, no. 1 (2008): 155–83.

https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.0.0002.

Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. Women's Life in Greece & Rome. London, UK:

Bloomsbury, 2016.

Lidell, Henry George, and Robert Scott. An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded

upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, UK:

Benediction Classics, 2010.

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Mastronarde, Donald J., and Euripides. Euripides' Medea. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ.

Press, 2010.

Reilly, Ian. “‘Revenge Is Never a Straight Line’: Transgressing Heroic Boundaries: Medea

and the (Fe)Male Body in ‘Kill Bill.’” Studies in Popular Culture 30 (2007): 27–50.

Wood, Michael. In Search of Myths & Heroes. London, UK: BBC Books, 2005.