The Heroic Character of Medea - Essay Example

The Heroic Character of Medea Much of Greek tragedy follows a consistent pattern that was once identified specifically by one eloquent orator. According to Aristotle, every tragedy is structured around three key events in the life of the hero. These include hamartia, anagnorisis and peripeteia. Hamartia is commonly referred to today as a tragic flaw (“Aristotle”, 1998). It is the concept that a noble man will fall not as the result of a vengeful god or violation of the god’s laws per se, but rather as a result of some inherent flawed portion of his character that causes him to act in a specific way or make a particular mistake in judgment. This behavior or mistake will be the actual cause of his ruin. Although this mistake or behavior might not immediately appear as an error in judgment as it follows logically from one stage of the story to another, it will eventually become clear that without this, the tragedy would not have occurred. This eventual clarity of perception is what is referred to as anagnorisis. In Aristotelian terms, this word translates to mean recognition (“Aristotle”, 1998). For the audience, this is represented by the usually sudden realization on the part of the protagonist that he (or she) is the primary cause of the suffering or detrimental situation in which they find themselves. This epiphany can reveal not only the true role of the protagonist in the wrongs occurring, but also the true nature of the characters around them. This concept leads naturally into the third element, that of peripeteia. Literally translated, the word means something akin to a sudden reversal based upon logic and intellect (“Aristotle”, 1998). As Aristotle used it, it meant the sudden reversal of fortunes for the protagonist that was at once surprising to the audience, but that also followed naturally as the result of prior actions and events. Although Oedipus the King was identified by Aristotle himself as being the prime example of a complex tragedy containing all of these elements, these traits of the hero can also be found in the Greek treatment of the character of Medea as she is illustrated in Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica and in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Apollonius presents Medea as a victim of love at her introduction in Argonautica as it is only through her and her inherent cleverness that the gods can determine a means by which Jason might escape Aietes, Medea’s father, with the golden fleece in hand (Apollonius, Argonautica: 66). Although she is presented from the beginning as a devotee of the goddess Hekate, the goddess of the witches, she is more forcefully linked with the concept of love the moment Eros’ arrow strikes her: “Full at Jason her glances shot, and the wearying pain scattered all prudent thoughts from her chest; she could think of nothing else, and her spirit was flooded with a sweet aching. … At one moment her soft cheeks were drained of colour, at another they blushed red, the control of her mind now gone” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 72-73). However she is enchanted, though, she is still acting in love for her sister and her cousins when she determines to overcome the grief and shame she feels in acting against her parents (Apollonius, Argonautica: 83). Thus, love emerges as the hamartia, or fatal flaw, that drives Medea to her own destruction and begins to set her up as a heroine in her own right. Medea reaches the second phase of the heroic cycle, anagnorisis, in the Argonautica when she realizes that her actions in helping Jason must be known by her father and her only options are either to commit suicide by swallowing poison or to flee with Jason into the unknown world. “All of a sudden she was sure that her assistance was no secret and that at any moment she would meet utter destruction. She was scared of what her servants knew. … There and then the young girl would have killed herself with poisons, before her due time and bringing Hera’s plans to naught, had not the goddess made her decide to flee in terror with Phrixos’ sons” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 99). She also comes to realize Jason’s intentions in promising matrimony as she becomes a bargaining chip in the war against the Colchians as the Argonauts attempted their escape: “She longed to set fire to the ship, to destroy everything before their eyes, and then throw herself into the consuming flames” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 107). Having placed herself upon this course, however, she is now caught up in its action and can only escape through more treachery, this time luring her brother to an unprotected place where Jason will be able to kill him without threat of his guard. These actions lead her to an irreversible position throughout her entire family, as is indicated by Kirce’s response to her story. Although she feels sorry for the girl, Kirce tells her, “Leave my house, go with this stranger ­– whoever this unknown man is whom you have carried off behind your father’s back. Do not remain at my hearth to supplicate me, for I shall never approve what you have plotted and your shameful flight” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 116). Finally, peripeteia, the sudden reversal, is demonstrated in this story with the happiness of Medea finally coming around. After she has undergone numerous travels with Jason and his Argonauts and overcome many perils as a result of her witchcraft and many disappointments as a result of her father’s relentless pursuit, she is seen at the end of the tale legally wed to Jason and safely returned to his people’s territories. This is highlighted most especially in the joyful celebrations and friendly competitions with which Apollonius concludes his fourth book. The Phoenician servants of Medea are seen to giggle and laugh at the meager yet heartfelt offerings of the men on the island of Anaphe – “The heroes were delighted with their jesting and in turn mocked them with unseemly words, and this kindled a sweet exchange of abuse and mutual wrangling” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 139) – spawning a centuries-long friendly competition between the women and the men. Finally, putting in at Aegina, the men again are seen in friendly competition: “There they engaged in a playful contest to see who could be the first to draw water and return to the ship … To this day, the sons of the Myrmidons carry full amphoras on their shoulders, as they compete with marvelously light feet for victory in games” (Apollonius, Argonautica: 140). Although these actions do not relate specifically to Medea herself, they indicate the spirit of the time she is spending with these individuals, suggesting that she is surprisingly happy despite the many trials she’s undergone and the acts she’s been forced to undertake. In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Medea is also seen as a relatively innocent woman in love at the beginning of the story and progresses through her various actions into a being intent upon taking the world out with her. Although it is not recognized at first, the hamartia of Medea emerges as her lack of control over her emotions. Although she knows the right course of action is to allow her father to set his own course of action for Jason, which will surely lead to his death, she cannot stop herself from loving this handsome young man. “‘Oh, vain!’ she cried, ‘Medea, is your struggle; Some deity must thwart you. Strange if this— Or something surely like — is not called love. Else why do my father’s orders seem too harsh?” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 144: 14-17). Because of this inexplicable love, which she cannot reason her way out of, she uses her magic to help Jason accomplish the impossible tasks that he has been set and to win his devotion to her. It is important to note, however, that there is no small amount of pride involved in her decision as she carefully weighs her possibilities: “… you shall be hymned On every mother’s tongue in every town Of glorious Greece – Jason’s deliverer! – … Great things I shall not leave, Great things I go to, Glory shall be mine – To have saved the youth of Greece … men shall call me blest, Fortune’s darling: my head shall touch the stars!” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 145: 46-48, 54-56; 146: 61-63). In Ovid’s tale, Medea reverts to her witchcraft in response to Jason’s requests to restore Aeson, again acting out of love but to a much different effect. This is an action that will later lead to her downfall as this action requires her to refute her human nature, symbolized in her rejection of Jason throughout the process. It can be argued that she realizes the choice she is making as she looks upon Jason with something of detachment before responding to him, an instance of anagnorisis or realization: “His love touched his wife’s heart – How different from his! – and she recalled Her own deserted father far away. But close she kept her troubled thoughts and answered” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 149: 172-175). After this moment in the story, Medea commits herself fully to her supernatural side from which she can never return to human form. The next image the audience gains of her is under the full moon several days later when she appears “barefoot, her long robe unfastened, Her hair upon her shoulders falling loose” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 149: 181-184), taking on the image of a full-fledged witch rather than the presumably respectable lady of fashion she had appeared before. Finally, Medea, who has thus far acted only out of love for others, primarily Jason, suddenly determines to act on her own will for unexplained purposes in her deliberate murder of Pelias, bringing the heroic cycle to completion in a sudden reversal, or peripeteia. She is seen to have gained power that is greater even than that wielded by the gods as Bacchus, one of the primary gods of Greece, enlists her aid to heal his nurses, but she determines to “continue with her witch’s tricks” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 153: 295-299) in a course of evil. Her murder of Pelias is at her own hands, although she tricks his daughters into taking part in the ritual slaying of him on the promise that she is giving him new life in the same way that she had done for Aeson and proves in her restoration of an old ram to the state of a lamb (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 154). Having fled to Corinth, her final act in Ovid’s tale is to attempt to have Aegeus murder his own son Theseus (prior to his recognizing him). This plot having failed, Medea is no longer able to act as woman or as witch and flees the scene “swathed in a magic mist Her spells had made” (Ovid, Metamorphosis, 157: 427-428), thus acknowledging her defeat and fulfilling the requirements of tragedy. While both Apollonius and Ovid depict Medea in terms that can be considered heroic, both dependent upon her abilities as a witch, they each display this heroism in different ways. Apollonius considers it an object of the gods to place heroism upon his characters while Ovid allows his characters to act of their own accord. In addition, Apollonius, perhaps forced because of the circumstances of the legend, presents his heroine in a sort of reversed format, allowing her to fail before she succeeds. In either case, though, it can hardly be argued that Medea should be considered anything less than a hero. Works Cited Apollonius of Rhodes. Jason and the Golden Fleece (The Argonautica). Trans. Richard Hunter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. “Aristotle.” Critica Links. The University of Hawaii. (1998). Retrieved July 19, 2007 from < http://www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/terms/hamartia.html> Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. A. D. Melville. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. Read More