Susan Smith, a 23 year old from South Carolina, drove her two sons into a lake where they later drowned. This story gained nationwide attention and became a modern day Medea. It came out that Smith was suing David, the father of her 3 year old Michael and 14 year old Alexander. She was suing him on the grounds of adultery, a common cause of Medea syndrome. Another example would be Theresa Riggi, who was 46 when she stabbed her 8 year old twin boys and 5 year old daughter. Her marriage had recently broken down, and she was bitter after the divorce. A custody fight was also looming over them.
These are just a couple of examples which involve Medea syndrome. Both women were believed to commit these crimes in order to get revenge on their husbands for their failed marriages. The end,
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-some-parents-kill-their-kids/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1994/11/08/the-medea-syndrome/551db74b-9055-4c00-be32-a1db0082e046/
3 comments:
Wow, I never even knew that “Medea Syndrome” existed! I am fascinated by Jacob’s post because of the way that women think that they are “punishing” their husbands by killing their own kids! I have some serious questions regrading this complex. First, I would think about if the kids are even important to the father! Yes, this is a very sad thing, but it seems to me that Jason didn’t even care about his children! Sadly, killing their children might upset him at first, but I am pretty sure this would not be the end for him. In my mind, killing Jason’s new woman would be enough because this is what he currently “cares” about. Second, the mother must not care about her children at all! She must not have any connection toward them or else she would be punishing herself too!
I think the Medea Complex functions on two levels. First, the mother is killing part of her husband/ ex-husband by killing their kids. Two people are needed to bring children into the world, and by killing one’s child, you are therefore killing the life you created. In a way, Medea kills off part of Jason by murdering their children.
Second, by killing your own kids, you are killing part of yourself. For Medea herself, she is ending her parental duties. She no longer has kids to look after and parent, not that she did that to begin with. I think this also speaks to the duties of women at this time. Women were expected to bear children, even if they did not want them. Maybe, just maybe, the Medea Complex is used to rebel against social norms? Medea might have killed her kids as “revenge” on Jason, but also to prove that she has control over wanting to being a mother.
This post is really interesting because of Medea's plan as a whole. She decides that she wants to kill Glauce and children in order for her husband, Jason, to suffer for an eternity. However, what she does not realize is that she herself would also suffer by committing such an atrocious action, as she herself would have to deal with her kids' deaths too.
Also, Medea's actions and even this syndrome named after her cannot be justified, as murder, even if it is for revenge, is an immoral and unethical action, and it always ends up messing with one's physce and can result in emotional stress and possibly even post dramatic stress disorder.
This is a really interesting topic. When I think of the classic revenge story I think of Lethal Weapon: a husband avenging the death of his wife by killing the man who killed her. That’s the classic way movies like that demonstrate revenge. But realistically, we, as people in the real world, going through real problems aren’t living out a movie plot. When something is done to an individual we FEEL the pain of betrayal and want the perpetrator to FEEL that pain too. If Media killed Jason, he would never feel the pain she felt when he abandoned her. It's a dark way to think, but she used the most effective type of revenge that targets emotions and suffering. More so in the past decade, I feel that the type of revenge that these women have used has become more common within marriages and even within friendships.
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