Medea: A New Translation
By Euripides
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About this ebook
Renowned poet and acclaimed translator Charles Martin faithfully captures Euripides’s dramatic tone and style in this searing tale of revenge and sacrifice.
The Medea of Euripides is one of the greatest of all Greek tragedies and arguably the one with the most significance today. A barbarian woman brought to Corinth and there abandoned by her Greek husband, Medea seeks vengeance on Jason and is willing to strike out against his new wife and family—even slaughtering the sons she has born him. At its center is Medea herself, a character who refuses definition: Is she a hero, a witch, a psychopath, a goddess? All that can be said for certain is that she is a woman who has loved, has suffered, and will stop at nothing for vengeance.In this stunning translation, poet Charles Martin captures the rhythms of Euripides’ original text through contemporary rhyme and meter that speak directly to modern readers. An introduction by classicist and poet A.E. Stallings examines the complex and multifaceted Medea in patriarchal ancient Greece. Perfect in and out of the classroom as well as for theatrical performance, this faithful translation succeeds like no other.
Euripides
Euripides was a tragedian of classical Athens. He was born on Salamis Island around 480 BC to his mother, Cleito, and father, Mnesarchus, a retailer who lived in a village near Athens. He had two disastrous marriages, and both his wives—Melite and Choerine (the latter bearing him three sons)—were unfaithful. He became a recluse, making a home for himself in a cave on Salamis. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. He became, in the Hellenistic Age, a cornerstone of ancient literary education. The details of his death are uncertain.
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Reviews for Medea
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- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holy moly, just finished Medea last night and I gotta say…it did not dissapoint.
I knew from the beginning the overall plot of Medea but the way Medea speaks of her plight, how she’s literally burned all her bridges to help Jason only for him to toss her aside as a barbarian because he desires fame. It was also clear how torn Medea was over the decision to kill her children- but in the end she hardens her heart because her commitment to her wrath outweighs her own grief. She isn't pigenholed as some emotionless monster either; rather, her motherhood serve to magnify her wrath. Despite how much she loves her children, despite that she knows its wrong, she willingly places them on the altar of her vengeance.
Jason was such a tool in the play. He admits that Medea helped him, but says it was only because she was motivated out of lust for him, and that essentially its fine for him to take advantage of her, and that’s he’s motivated by fame, more than his loyalty for her.
Another interesting scene was the dynamic of the slaves, when they lament their situation, remarking how a disaster that touches the master also touches them, and feel compassion for their mistress. What I was surprised by was how a lot of Medea’s feminist concerns are not so different from today; she laments how a woman is essentially sold to her husband, body and soul, how life is beautiful if he is kind, but how she is cursed if he is not, and even divorced leaves her in shame.