The Role of Vengeance in Euripides’ Medea and Bacchae Essay

Medea and Agaue, the tragic heroes of Euripides’ Medea and Bacchae, represent similar ideas. For both plays, the plot focuses on those two characters’ attainment of vengeance, so that their desire for a form of retribution is the primary driving force behind the plays’ conflicts. In each case, the revenges taken by Medea and Agaue are the results of their acting on their most basic, instinctual emotions without the self-control given by a more reasoned nature. Accordingly, the women and their pursuit of revenge become representative of the emotional side of human thinking. The characters that Medea and Agaue eventually destroy, Jason and Pentheus, support and represent reason, civilization, and ambition. As these male characters†¦show more content†¦Impiety also drives Agaue’s actions. Despite that Agaue’s revenge has little to do with her own feelings, which is very much in contrast to Medea’s all-consuming rage, her actions still take the form of the indirect vengeance of the god Dionysus. However, this indirect vengeance is also the result of anger, as the Theban king Pentheus’ impiety in disregarding the god’s divinity angers Dionysus. Consequently, Agaue carries out the vengeance of Dionysus, through the madness that the god inspired in her, giving her no actual control over her actions. Agaue’s madness and Medea’s anger both lead to the eventual ruin of the characters around them. Their respective types of anger can be seen as driven by irrational emotionality. This works particularly well for Agaue’s situation, as Dionysus, the god most clearly identifiable with that idea of irrational experience, has inspired her with his own kind of madness. As Agaue is one of the Bacchants, she becomes completely given over to the god, governed entirely by emotion with her judgment obscured by the aims of Dionysus. Medea, as well as being completely overcome by rage at the unfairness of Jason’s actions towards her, still has the justification of upholding the laws and justice of Zeus through avenging herself on grounds that Jason had ignored the proper ritual regarding guests and vows. Like the continuation of Agaue’s madness until destruction ofShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Medea And The Bacchae 1325 Words   |  6 PagesIn Euripides†™ plays, Medea and The Bacchae, binary oppositions are present, such as the opposition between man and god, foreigner and citizen, and men and women. Binary oppositions are opposing terms that are put head to head in a piece of literature to show contrasting ideas (Marvin, 1). Binary oppositions can also be â€Å"good vs. bad,† such as in the case of man and god. The first binary opposition that is present in both plays is man and god. Marvin describes binary oppositions as being againstRead MoreThematic Antithesis in Greek Tragedies Essay1358 Words   |  6 PagesThe binary oppositions in Euripides plays, Medea and Bacchae, emphasize the structural techniques seen throughout both of the plays works are â€Å"[described as] a pair of theoretical opposites or thematic contrasts† (Marvin 1). The themes are highly symmetrical throughout and typical of the structure of Greek tragedies. Euripides use of thematic antithesis gives greater irony within Greek plays. The gender roles of female and male challenge the traditional stereotypical roles as observed in Greek societyRead MoreEssay on Medea and Nietzsches Will to Power4275 Words   |  18 PagesMedea and Nietzsches Will to Power When Medea kills her children, audiences react with shock and horror. Any sympathy viewers have built for the woman is, in the words of Elizabeth Vandiver, â€Å"undercut† by this act (15). Since Medea is the protagonist, we question why Euripides chose to make her a child murderer. Most scholars agree that he invented this part of the myth. He also lessened her role as witch by drawing attention to her human qualities. This only highlights the infanticide (14)