Medea

‘To be a woman and to know that you are second to men. We have to remind ourselves that we’re privileged and not forget those who aren’t.’ – Helen McCrory reflecting on her role as Medea in Euripides’ Medea.

I am a proud Classicist so you can imagine how excited I was to see this article the one time I decided to read the newspaper on the tube. For those of you that aren’t Classicists, Euripides’ Medea tells the tale of a Greek tragic heroine who murders her children to exact revenge on her husband Jason after he betrays her for a new wife.

Deep Stuff right?

After studying the play in such an in depth manner (thanks to the most amazing teacher #winslettsthebest), it left me with so many unanswered thoughts and questions that I buried deep in my mind until I saw this article.

Why would she kill her children? Why did he leave her and the children? How could she have possibly gotten away with it? ( I apologize for all the spoilers here but there’s honestly so much more to be gotten from that novel so I still encourage you to read it!) At the end of the day I think Euripides’ novel delves deeper than simple whys and hows because so much of what he writes about is still relevant to society today.

McCrory states: ‘This is just a story but I think Euripides wrote it as a warning’. 450 years on, this warning seems to be have been ignored. There are still places where women don’t enjoy their rights-is it because they aren’t killing their own children like Medea? It should never have to come to that!

Don’t get me wrong I admire and respect how much has been achieved over the past few years as I can’t even fathom the thought of living in the society Medea was forced to be in where the only place she was accepted was the household. However, I still believe there is so much more left to be achieved.

We, as the next generation who will make up the next crop of leaders and rulers in this world need to use our God given talents to allow more to be achieved. It’s as simple as that.

Personally, I feel like if I use my talents for good then I am simultaneously adding to God’s Kingdom because even though it’s said that the world is owned by the devil, I believe God wants to use us to make sure people in this dog-eat-dog world are constantly looking up towards him and knowing that although the world may not be a permanent home, it IS necessary to, in the words of the King of Pop, ‘heal the world and make it a better place’.

Peace & Love,

T

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