Medea

What function does the Chorus serve in the play? What types of viewpoints do these figures articulate? Do other central characters (including Medea, Creon, and Jason) appear to hold views aligning with, or diverging from, the opinions held by the Chorus?

To what extent does Medea’s status as a foreigner shape the way she is treated and described by other characters? If Medea was a Greek woman, would Jason and Creon have treated her differently? Would other characters be more sympathetic?

Identify one or more moments in which Medea appears to hesitate or waver in her quest for vengeance. When and why do these moments occur? Why are these moments of hesitation important for the development of Medea’s character?

By the time the play begins, Jason has renounced Medea to pursue a new marriage. Based on each character’s reflections and the interactions between the two, what can be inferred about their past relationship? How do their conceptions of their present separation differ?

Medea challenges many gendered norms, undermining expectations about how a wife and mother might behave. How do the figures of the Nurse and Creusa add additional complexity to the depiction of female characters in the play? What stereotypes about women does Medea embody, and which does she defy?

Is Jason a sympathetic character? Does he miss opportunities to prevent the play’s tragic events? Is he culpable, as Medea argues, for what she has done?

Medea kills Creusa and Creon in an indirect way, but kills her children with her own hands. What might these different modes of death reveal? Why is it so important to Medea that Jason witness the death of his son? If the play is being staged, why is it significant that the deaths of the children happen onstage, while the deaths of Creon and Creusa happen offstage?

Who is the villain of the play? Who is the hero? To what extent can either Jason or Medea be considered a tragic hero?