Posted by jenko on March 18, 19102 at 21:17:40:

In Reply to: The Chorus ... and Madness ... in MEDEA (a brief commentary) posted by SONNET CLV on March 27, 19101 at 22:25:09:

: The following commentary appeared in the less specifically titled thread MEDEA below on this message board.

: "Why do you have the chorus made up of Corinthian women?"

: The play MEDEA is set in the city of Corinth. In many of the Greek tragedies, the Chorus, a necessary part of the play form, is composed of people of the city, who often serve as witnesses of the events in the play. Often the Chorus is elders, as in the OEDIPUS REX. There the elders provide points-of-view to the King's vision, and do prayers to honor the gods. In MEDEA the women serve also as witnesses to events, and they provide a strangely female point-of-view to the play. Euripides was known for his presentation of women in tragedy, often making them strong willed and masculine. (I think of Shakespreare's Lady Macbeth saying: "Un me here...", a line the Euripides women could say.) The Chorus provides a kind of contrast to Medea's less feminine views. They caution Medea against doing anything rash like harming her children. They also demonstrate the general helplessness of the average woman, which Medea is not. And they add a shocking edge to the witnessing process by being helpless women who must see a most horrifying act: a mother kill her own children. An act they rail against, yet at the same time feeling sympathy for Medea who was "dumped" by her husband, something each of the Corinthian women would be able to sympathize with. So, this double venture of perspective is allowed, which adds an edge of horror to the proceedings.

: "Is it irrationality which is the main theme here?"

: One could consider: is Medea mad when she kills her children? Or is she rational? This question is difficult to answer conclusively. It has that two-edged perspective that so much Greek tragedy gives us (and which I was alluding to in the above question as well).
: I like to see MEDEA as a contrast between emotion (represented by Medea) and reason (represented by Jason). In this perspective, the play is not so much about madness as about emotion on the part of Medea. She kills the children not because she doesn't love them, but because she hates Jason more than she loves them. Very emotional, but also a reasoned approach. Reason for Medea is deeply intertwined with emotion; reason is a sub-strata of emotion. As with Jason, emotion is only a sub-strata of reason. Jason loves his boys, but his real motivations for wanting them are reasoned out, not the result of simple love.

: Does that answer the question at all?

: I posted the message on the wrong board but you have been increadibly helpful. Thankyou.
: --SONNET CLV--

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