Victims in Medea

A victim is a person who has suffered an injustice or someone who is the object of an attack. In Euripides’s play, as in most tragedies, disorder is brought and maintained by the actions and reactions of the major characters. This disorder is eventually stabilized with the play’s denouement. After instability, the perpetual nutrient of the tragedy, victims ultimately bring balance and order in the play which prepares the order at the end of the tragedy.

The foremost disorder in the play which triggers the entire tragedy is Jason’s marriage with Glauce, princess of Corinth. As Jason was married to Medea, his decision broke the natural order of marriage by violating his promises. Indeed, Medea “invokes the promises he made” (v.20) in her despair, as Glauce “stepped into [her] place” (v.440) in Jason’s heart, a place that was bound to be her own by the oaths of marriage. The shared happiness of the two lovers is shattered as well. Their former bliss turned into unabashed hatred from Medea and disdain from Jason. Insults continuously flow out of Medea’s mouth during their first confrontation (p.42), as she calls him “heart-rotten” (v.470), the “basest of men” (v.490) and a scoundrel (p.580). Meanwhile, Jason has no regard for Medea’s troubles, and declares it is “her own choice” (v.600) which brought her concerns. These diverging aggressive attitudes reflect the irrevocable fracture between Medea and Jason which symbolizes the tempestuous discord reigning between the two former lovers.

But despite her hostile and resolute assaults towards Jason, Medea’s feelings were extremely troubled by Jason’s decision. At the beginning of the play, she is said to be “prostrated” (v.20) and to not have “turned her face from the floor” (v.25). Her stance conveys her misery and the hopelessness of her situation, as opposed to the ending of the play, where she dominates Jason both physically and mentally as she escapes on her flying chariot. The language