Medea+Trial



**"Resolved, that Jason, son of Aeson, is a weak, common, and contemptible man. Medea of Colchis is an unusual, heroic, and remarkable woman. Jason is the villain of the play; Medea is the hero who gets justice. The end of the play is as it should be: justice is done." ** //Summer 2011 Debate://

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//Previous Debates://

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//ARGUMENTS FOR MEDEA://

 * Medea is betrayed by Jason.[[image:medea.jpg align="right" caption="Was Medea right? Wrong? Why?"]]
 * After giving everything to Jason (betraying her father, killing her brother, leaving her country, giving him two sons), Jason betrays her for a younger royal bride.
 * Jason made vows of love and loyalty to Medea which he broke.
 * King Creon threatens to banish her and her sons from Corinth.
 * Medea loves her children, but she hates Jason more.
 * To suffer the loss of her children is less important to Medea than to see Jason and her other enemies (Glauce, Creon) suffer revenge.

//ARGUMENTS AGAINST MEDEA://

 * Instead of submitting peaceably to the divorce, Medea got angry, issued threats, and got herself exiled From Corinth.
 * It was the god of love that drove Medea to help Jason, not Medea herself.
 * Jason rescued Medea from a barbarian country and let her come to civilized Greece to live a better life.
 * Jason is doing Medea a favor by divorcing her and marrying the princess, as Medea's two sons will be related to the royal family and their status will rise.
 * It is not that Jason doesn't love Medea and craves a younger bride. It is a political marriage which will benefit everyone involved.
 * Only a horrible person and a terrible mother (a "tigress") would kill her children with her own hands.

[|Medea] and [|text]



In reading recently __Claudius the God: And His Wife Messalina__ by Robert Graves, Mr. Geib came across this general quote about humans: //** “Most men are neither virtuous nor scoundrels, good hearted or bad-hearted. They are a little of one thing and a little of the other and nothing for any length of time: ignoble mediocrities.” **//

Does this not remind you of the protagonist “Jason of the Argonauts”? He was at one time totally dedicated to his wife Medea and their “eternal love,” but then as the years passed that cooled and he was ready to cast his marriage and wife off for reasons of convenience. No longer the young lover following his heart, Jason become the middle-aged politician using his head to get ahead, even if it came at the expense of his heart and the vows he made. Jason was a little bit this and then a little bit that as he changed over time. Not a bad or a mean man, but not a totally trustworthy or honest man. Bold and idealistic in youth and then wavering and calculating as he aged – perhaps Jason was just a very common man. (And maybe this is both good and bad?) Jason was either changeable and mendacious, or consistent and honest, as it suited his convenience and need.

Medea, on the other hand, is surely a most uncommon woman. How many mothers, for example, would take the hardly-believable and totally-unnatural act of killing their own children in cold blood? (Stabbing them with a sword as they begged for mercy?) Yet Medea killed for love when she helped Jason gain the Golden Fleece and escape from Colchis, and again she killed for love when she acted to prevent Jason from divorcing her and happily marrying Glauce. Medea is entirely consistent in her actions throughout her life. Jason changed. Medea did not. Medea was not kidding around; she would do anything for love. (Jason would not.) Or was Medea taking such extreme acts not so much for love but for her pride and self-regard? **Is Medea the hero of the play? Or is she a monster? Is Jason the hero? Or is he the villain?** (Could either of them be considered what Aristotle described as “tragic heroes”?) What do you think? Why? Explain? In a well-organized five paragraph essay, please answer the following question: **Jason, son of Aeson, is a weak, common, and contemptible man. Medea of Colchis is an unusual, heroic, and remarkable woman. Jason is the villain of the play; Medea is the hero who gets justice. The end of the play is as it should be: justice is done. ** Please explain exactly who is to blame and who has acted rightly, in your opinion. Use your best reasoning and your best words to communicate and argue your position as well as you can.