Medea

Medea is a tragedy written by Euripides and first performed in 431 BCE.

Set in Corinth, the play follows a wronged wife and foreigner whose husband abandons her for a royal match, setting in motion a plan driven by betrayal and implacable revenge. As exile looms, she uses wit and deception to secure one day of safety—just enough time to strike.

The retribution unfolds with poisoned gifts that consume the new bride and her father, and culminates in a mother’s terrible choice that severs every remaining tie. In the aftermath, she escapes beyond earthly judgment, asserting an uncompromising vision of justice that leaves the stage stunned.

Through choral commentary and stark confrontations, Euripides probes gender, power, and the outsider’s plight in a rigid society. The result is a lean, relentless drama whose shocking moral ambiguity continues to challenge audiences and affirm the enduring force of Greek tragedy.

"Would God no Argo e'er had winged the seas
To Colchis through the blue Symplêgades:
No shaft of riven pine in Pêlion's glen
Shaped that first oar-blade in the hands of men
Valiant, who won, to save King Pelias' vow,
The fleece All-golden! Never then, I trow,
Mine own princess, her spirit wounded sore..."

This edition of Medea uses the English translation by Gilbert Murray, M.A., LL.D..