Thursday, October 25, 2018
For Ancient Greek Females, "Clever" Means "Evil"
Although Euripides's play, Medea, presents an example of a strong female figure in Ancient Greece, this potential role model for women is undermined by the fact that "clever" is equated with "evil" or "devious" when applied to women. King Kreon wishes to evict Medea from his country when he has no solid evidence of any questionable actions on her part. Kreon says to Medea, "Many things accumulate to support my feeling. You are a clever woman, versed in evil arts (...)" (line 283). Ancient Greek men feel threatened by any woman who exhibited intelligence. Originally, Medea used her cleverness to aid Jason. She used her magical powers to help the man she loved and was the reason for his success in capturing the Golden Fleece. Later, when spurned by her ungrateful husband, she is ready to fight back and use her cleverness against him--but only because he has broken his oath to her. Medea is portrayed as a vicious, spiteful outcast in the play. She is not even Greek, which may be one reason why she, unlike most married women in Greece, is willing to try to get revenge on her unfaithful husband. Medea's mission is supported by the women of Corinth (represented by the Chorus). However, while they agree with her, the other women remain passive, which I believe is significant. They silently support rather than follow Medea's lead, like most women in Ancient Greek probably disapproved of their husband's affairs but never did anything about it.
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3 comments:
I agree with you in that because Medea is a foreigner, she isn't accustomed to following the social norms of Greek women at the time, and maybe isn't used to staying quiet and doing whatever her husband wishes. I also strongly agree with the fact that when Medea uses magic to aid a man, in this case Jason, it's seen as helpful; but when she uses her magic to avenge a man who broke he vows to her, its evil.
Though one of the main points that is made in the play is concerning the comparison of clever women to evil women. I can understand this idea that is emphasized by the play, especially concerning the many specific examples provided, however, I think a very large part of the idea that is overlooked is that men just as well can be considered having clever qualities that amount to being evil. We have discussed in the past that manipulation is emphasized by females in that most people and works of literature associate manipulation with women rather then men. However, I think it’s valid to say that goes for anyone. A man that could have clever thoughts and clever acts could be considered evil depending on the way they use that cleverness.
Great interpretation of the word “clever” as it is used in the play. When discussing the characteristics of Madea, one of the first ones my group came up with was clever followed by violent, manipulative, and emotional. In the context of the story, these characteristics do seem to make Madea almost evil like King Kreon states. My reasoning for saying this is because of the way Madea acts after Jason cheats on her. She makes a plan to get revenge on her unfaithful spouse, something that was very much out of the ordinary at the time as you say (considering that most women just dealt with their unfaithful husbands by not dealing with it at all and just accepting the fact). Her plan of revenge, however, makes her seem like an obsessed psycho. She is so upset that she is willing to sacrifice her own children to feed her revenge. Because she has both cleverness and manipulation on her side, Medea is very capable of completing her goal of revenge. With that being said, I kind of have to agree with King Kreon. Madea does seem to be becoming a “clever woman of evil arts”. Although, I don’t mean this is the same way he does. Jason probably does deserve what’s coming to him and Madea does have every right to have revenge. However, Madea will most likely regret doing something very awful to an innocent bystander of all this (possibly her children like she says).
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