Medea by Euripides and Orestia by Aeschylus, Comparing Medea and Clytemnestra Focusing On How They Both View Justice

Introduction

With respect to Greek tragedies, it is evident that catastrophic heroes are characterized by comparable individualities (Beard 2). During the Greeks period, women were either mistreated by the domination of men or oppressed men close to them in order to acquire their deserving position in the society. Both Madea and Clytemnestra from Medea by Euripides and Orestia by Aeschylus respectively demonstrate and hold similar characteristics. Both women are hurt by those that they cared most for despite the fact that they devote their lives to their wellness. As a result, they become vengeful wives with equal individualities in the search for vengeance but also demonstrate some distinctions in their selected retaliation strategies. Both women utilize their cleverness to acquire success in the society where the domination of male places women at severe disadvantages (Killough 1). In their quest for justice, the only available and most effective method was to apply vengeance which cannot, therefore, be categorized as wrong given that men were already advantaged. The outcome of their successful exaction of justice through vengeance resulted in their downfall. Uniformly, Medea and Clytemnestra sought to wound their husbands who turned as a major disappointment to them by betraying them, which brought justice to them.

To begin with, Medea utilizes her intelligence in executing her revenge. She, in this case, uses Jason’s children as his weak point against himself (Euripides 3). In order to guard her pride and not to appear as a chump to everyone, Medea murders Glauce the king’s daughter who is in the quest of getting wedding Jason along with her two kids (Euripides 12). She accomplishes the murder by sending the children to Glauce with poisoned attires which kills the kids as well and later claimed that they all died from an illness that they had inherited from their father. By killing these kids, Medea settled for this revenge path on the ground that it was the most appropriate. In that during the period, women held no authority of taking children away from their father and men that lost their children grew weaker particularly if they had lost their sons.in the revengeful quest, Jason would never be able to see his children which they had with Medea nor have others with the expected bride who had been killed. Her revenge sought her needs best having left Jason with nobody. In that, it was by killing their son that there was no one to take the rule or even carry his name and expand their family (Killough 1). In the period where men’s domination meant power taking away their sons was the most undesirable thing given that it not only erased their masculinity but also left them with low self-esteem.

Medea understood well that her actions would take his masculinity and that is the reason she decided to kill them to ensure that he felt awful endlessly (Euripides 6). On the other hand, this equates with Clytemnestra who solemnly arranges for the death of Cassandra, Agamemnon, and mistress (Aeschylus and Collard 6). However, unlike Medea who hides her actions from everyone, Clytemnestra celebrates her achievements after succeeding by acknowledging it loudly. She asserts that she has put so much effort and time into the mission. Clytemnestra inflexibly trusts that all her actions are not only just but also moral (Aeschylus and Collard 7). In that, she justifies her actions by asserting that she did not break any ethical code by killing Agamemnon. This created dilemma among the elders based on their loyalty to the kingdom, ethical principles and the claims brought by Clytemnestra in defending her actions. This actions and the so-called quest for justice was mainly fueled by vengefulness and hatred that resulted from the betrayal by her husband whom she had cared and loved. It is such moves that leave the audience with the feeling of pity for Clytemnestra as a heart shuttered wife and mother that is driven by fury to murdering her husband and his mistress. It is both the disappointment that is acquired from her husband’s disloyalty and her daughter’s love that instilled her quest and fortitude to revenging the loss by murdering her husband. Clytemnestra believes that she can only acquire justice by punishing her husband by killing him, unlike Medea that killed those that her husband loved to create an awful feeling (Killough 1). Clytemnestra similar to Medea feels that death is the only admissible action for what their husbands did to them. Their only distinction Medea spares her husband as a form of vengeance so that he can bear all the pain that results from losing those that are close and he cared for.

Both Women, Medea and Clytemnestra utilize words in luring the victims but carries the missions in differentiated means (Brucker 1). Clytemnestra mainly utilizes brute power while on the other hand, Medea is focused on the application of knowledge and intelligence in murdering her children. It is after the success that Medea appears to be successful but it is also evident that her suffering is beyond that of Jason (Euripides 8). It is after successfully killing her own children in order to hurt her husband that her life grows even worse based on the realization that she is never to experience any form of love. In this context, despite the fact that she utilized her intelligence in covering for her actions and celebrating the success on her own she realizes the mistake that she has done. It is there that she acknowledges that her actions were unethical by accepting the anguish in which she felt over her son’s death. For Medea, the act might have caused pain to Jason but to her even though she killed them she will forever live with sorrow as they meant much to her as well (Euripides 13). This clearly demonstrates that she realized that her actions were just but not ethical. After she is exiled from the city she is subjected to destruction something that broke her heart all that was caused by her own actions.

While Medea is subjected to regrets for her actions, Clytemnestra feels zero remorse even up to the time that she met her own death. Clytemnestra holds the assertion that everything that happens was all powered by gods since she was in search of vengeance not for her own gain but for her daughter who had been killed and her husband’s cousin (Aeschylus and Collard 9). In this regard, her actions were not only just but they were also permitted by the gods as she sought to eliminate the curse that had befallen her family. Her vengeance was based on the unfaithful act by the husband. This assertion generated mixed feelings because even though her disappointment is well understood by the readers her actions cannot be justified in her defense (Aeschylus and Collard 14). It is therefore comparable that both women believed that by killing then justice would be served best to them for the frustrations that their husbands brought but these actions created diverse feelings.

Clytemnestra similar to Medea is obsessed with the determination of killing her husband while attempting to avenge her daughter’s end. Both women are mainly controlled by betrayal and loss (Brucker 1). While Clytemnestra lost her daughter her husband also decided on betraying her love and trust by having an affair not realizing the pain that he had caused on her. On the other hand, Medea felt that she never deserved such an ill treatment from her husband and thought that by killing their sons then the masculinity of Jason would be destroyed and his life subjected to more pain (Beard 9). This becomes evident that their actions and motives to die were mainly focused on bringing about justice for the loss and pain. Their strategies for carrying out the killings differed as Medea believed that by killing her husband then he would never share the pain in which she felt for what he had done. She utilized cleverness where she secretly planned for the deaths and believed that it is through ending lives that she would be just. However, after the success, she did not appear as enthusiastic because also she was relieved she believed that her actions were not ethical by any means (Beard 19). Clytemnestra was obsessed and in pain and therefore she utilized brutal oppression in ending the life of her husband. He had betrayed her trust and created more pain by killing their daughter and leaving her with no one. For her, the best vengeance would be one that ended the life of the husband because he was the wrongdoer and in order to assert on her power she had no option but to pay him back in the same means that she had lost her daughter. Their approaches were different but it cannot be denied that both of them resulted in the loss of lives for just to be served. 

In Orestia contrary to Medea, the reasons for the unfaithful nature of Clytemnestra’s husband are understood but that does not offer any justification given that he devoted all his time to working thus leaving the needs of the caring wife unattended (Killough 1). The pain that created rage for Clytemnestra is completely justified having plotted for vengeance for close to ten years that were all filed with bitterness regarding an individual that had killed their daughter in the name of sacrifice. It is in this condition that the readers are fully in sympathy for the determination to brutally end the life of the man that decided on ending her relationship with her daughter whom she loved (Killough 1). While her defense for such actions might appear to be insane her reasons for the actions are fully understood for the anguish that she bears. Medea, on the other hand, is contradictory because in the quest of hurting her husband she kills so many people and ends up sparing him to ensure that the pain is well felt. Her actions surely bring justice for her suffering but it is not ethical that she uses others in revenging for the mistake of one person (Brucker 1). The loss of her brother, children and Jason’s mistress only created devastation and guilty on the ground that she had ended the lives of those that mattered and thus her pain was more when equated to that of her husband.

Conclusion

Based on the comparison analysis above, it is rather evident that both Clytemnestra and Medea from the plays are portrayed as authoritative and determined women who commit awful crimes in the quest for justice having being betrayed by those that they loved most. In order to earn a position in the period where men dominated their lives thus leaving them disadvantaged, they were forced to turn to retaliation. In other words, both women believed that justice would best be derived by death but they carried the mission using different strategies. In that, after having being exposed to the domination of men who turned to be heartless by hurting the women’s feelings they both believed that death was the only means through which justice would be served. Both women have been betrayed by their husbands which in turn creates rage leading to the quest for revenge. While Medea utilizes her intelligence Clytemnestra utilizes brutal oppression in asserting her hurt and kills her husband and his mistress. Medea lamented her action by terming them as unethical and unfair as she killed her own children whom she loved and ended up devastated. On the other hand, Clytemnestra justifies her actions by asserting that she was justified because her husband paid her with unfaithfulness even though she had done nothing but pleased him all her life. By maneuvering the killing she felt relieved and never showed remorse as she acted for her justice and that of her family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Aeschylus, and C Collard. Oresteia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.

Beard, Mary. A Pair of Updated Greek Tragedies Startle Us Anew. 2017. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/books/review/house-of-names-colm-toibin-bright-air-black-david-vann.html

Brucker, Jay. Theater Review; Greek Trilogy with a Grand Sweep. 2000. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/01/theater/theater-review-greek-trilogy-with-a-grand-sweep.html Bottom of Form

Euripides, Medea. Strelbytskyy Multimedia, 2017.Top of Form

Euripides. Medea. 2017. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Print.

Killough, Gabrielle. Taking on the Man: Female Rebellion against Gender Roles in Classical Greek Dram. Liberty University Spring 2010.  Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1648&context=honors