‘Medea is ultimately careless of family ties, while the men – Creon, Jason and Aegeus – are obsessively concerned with their family interests.’ Do you agree?

Euripides Medea portrays a variance in the familial connections within the characters that reflect what actions they carry out. Jason and Medea’s actions make it obvious that their family ties are put aside when it comes to the strong forces that guide their actions. For Medea, the voracious desire for revenge for Jason’s abandonment and betrayal influences her actions, while Jason’s motivation and power motivates him towards achieving his ambitions. In contrast, Creon and Aegeus solely focus on the needs and interests of their families which determine their behaviour. While Creon and Aegeus have their families support in times of need, Medea and Jason betray each other and the ones they love for their ambitions, resulting in them having no one to help them due to their selfish natures.

Both Medea and Jason are driven by strong forces that result in them being apathetic of their family ties, and betraying those they love. Medea is portrayed as helpless at the beginning of the play and the audience are inclined to feel pity for her situation which has resulted from her deep “love for Jason”. Jason, however, is depicted as the “most despicable of men” due to his passion to pursue his ambitions, even if that means leaving his wife. Jason’s past adventures in pursuit of the Golden Fleece makes it evident that Jason is single-mindedly ambitious, putting himself in front of others if it means he is able to achieve his desires. Despite Medea helping Jason retrieve the Golden Fleece, Jason is reluctant to marry her as he wishes to be King, however takes the opportunity to start a family. When the prospect arises for Jason to abandon his wife and children in favour of marrying a princess and having an alliance with the Royal family of Corinth, Jason jumps at the chance without considering the future of his family, instead only of himself. Jason is so overwhelmed by his new wife that he is oblivious to Medea’s vengeful nature, of which is empathised by the Nurse in the Prologue of the play. The Nurse prepares the audience of the upcoming occurrences by highlighting that “none who makes an enemy of [Medea] will win an easy victory” due to Medea’s “dangerous” nature. Medea and Jason are relentless in their ambitions and goals, not giving up until they have been accomplished, regardless of who suffers.

Medea’s focal motivator is the strong emotion she feels for how Jason humiliated her by betraying her for another woman. She is persistent in her revenge and will “not give up her anger till she has struck” Jason in the worst way possible, so he will live a life of regret and loneliness. Medea is constantly being portrayed as the betrayed wife, causing sympathy to be felt for her; however she becomes “wild and hateful in her stubborn pride”, resulting in her “enemies...pay[ing] the price” for how they treated her. Medea takes away Glauce’s beauty, the one thing Jason prized, by devising a poisonous cloak that devoured her flesh which left her “unrecognisable” to all except her father. As Medea’s preparations fall into place, she is overwhelmed by “horror” of the last part of her plan of murdering her children, showing she still has some humanity left in her and love for her children. After an internal debate, Medea realises that “passion masters my resolve” and “there is no choice” on whether or not the action must be undertaken; if Medea doesn’t want her “enemies to laugh at me...[nor] let them off unpunished” then she must not “hesitate to act”. Despite Medea being a “wicked mother” and “guilty of the most unholy crime”, at the end of the play Medea is taken up into heaven on Helios’ chariot which empathises the triumph she has over her enemies, especially Jason, and her god-like nature and inheritance, which was the underlying source of her anger. Medea’s passion to seek revenge on Jason due to his abandonment and betrayal leads her to ignore her family’s best interests, and instead bases her actions on harming her family to accomplish her vengeance on Jason.

Jason greatly underestimates Medea’s supremacy which leads him to allow himself to be motivated by his ambition and power rather than his love for Medea and his sons. Jason is naive to Medea’s “royal temper” and misjudges the power she has, which is evident when he claims all his actions have been “acted out of love for” Medea and she is just too “upset” to think rationally like he is, causing her to overreact to the situation without thinking about what is “best” for the family. Jason puts his “new marriage...first” before his old family with Medea, being prepared to allow the exile of his sons for the possibility of becoming King when Creon dies and fulfilling his ultimate goal to become wealthy. After Glauce’s death, Jason’s immediate thought is to “save” his children’s lives from his new relatives, unaware that Medea is the biggest threat to the children and of her original plans. Since the beginning, Jason put aside his knowledge of Medea’s power and abilities, instead focussing on his new wife and the possibilities that could arise from the marriage, until this is crushed by Medea whose ultimate goal is to “destroy” Jason for the harm he caused her, of which she accomplished. Jason “deserved” the death of those he loved as he was unable to commit to his first marriage due to new ambitions he set for himself which couldn’t be fulfilled with the help of Medea, leading him to betray her for the royal family. Jason lived his life acting on his desires rather than committing to his family which resulted in negative consequences for him because of how he betrayed Medea.

In contrast to Medea and Jason, Creon and Aegeus’s actions are solely dependent on the needs and interests of their families rather than their own desires. Creon is aware of Medea’s “fury at [her] husband” and is “terrified [she] is plotting evil” against his family for revenge on Jason. Creon is adamant that he will “not put [Medea] before my family” which is evident when he “banishes” Medea from his country to ensure his family is safe. Despite Creon’s attempts to stop Medea from accomplishing her plans, he is unable to do so, and is overwhelmed by grief when his daughter is murdered by Medea and “let[s himself] die” with his daughter. Even in death the “daughter with aged father” represents their immense love for one another that they are willing to give up their life for the other within a heartbeat, which is contrary to Medea’s view on her family where she willingly murders her sons for vengeance. Aegeus, a man who travelled far distances “to enquire how I may beget children” because of his strong desires to start a family, immediately agrees to helping Medea without being entirely sure what it entails, due to her word that she “will put an end to [his] lack of children” if he helps her. Aegeus is aware that he “must suffer the fate of all sinful men” if he “break[s the] oath”, however is willing to endure any consequences if it means he has the hope of being a father. Creon and Aegeus’s purpose behind their actions are completely opposing to Medea and Jason’s, as the two men take into account the wishes of their loved ones without considering the harm it could do to them.

Medea and Jason’s lack of familial relations leads them to have a life of loneliness with no children, no partner and a lifetime of guilt for the consequences of their actions. Although Creon died in an attempt to save his daughter, the love for one another is evident even in death due to their strong family connections. Aegeus is willing to go to great lengths to expand his family and have children, and even risks his life for the slight possibility. The characters in Medea show that having concern of family interests results in a life free of revenge and conflict, which otherwise leads to negative consequences for everyone involved.