A tragicomedy, it has a happy ending and has fascinated critics for countless years. Medea is perhaps Euripides's most famous and most influential play. In Medea Euripides demonstrates that "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and he scolds his fellow men for mistreating women and particularly for treating foreign women as less than equal. But perhaps even more brilliantly, Euripides shows that man is both rational sensible or reasonable and irrational without reason , and that the irrational can bring disaster when it gets out of control, and that a woman is defenseless to passions.
Hippolytus shows clearly Euripides's concern about claims of religion on the one hand and sexuality on the other. The Trojan Women is typical of Euripides's war plays.
Euripides's Electra beautifully illustrates realism the thought based on the belief that reality exists outside of oneself and rationalism the belief that reason is the main authority in controlling one's actions and thoughts. The Bacchae, Euripides's masterpiece, is well thought-out and is a very powerful play. In it he is again showing how the irrational, when not recognized and properly restrained, can get out of control and destroy all those around it.
Euripides managed to call his countrymen's attention to the many obvious abuses and wrongs in his own society. He subjected all to a harsh but reasonable examination; however, he was basically tolerant and understanding and fully sympathized with the troubles and suffering of humanity. Denniston, John D. Euripides' Electra. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, Gounaridou, Kiki. Euripides and Alcestis. Page, Denys L.
Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Ancient History and Latin Expert. Gill is a Latinist, writer, and teacher of ancient history and Latin. The first are the rich, who are indolent and yet always crave more. The second are the poor, who have nothing, are full of envy, hate the rich, and are easily led by demagogues. Between the two extremes lie those who make the state secure and uphold the laws. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format.
Gill, N. Biography of Euripides, Third of the Great Tragedians. Aristophanes, the Ancient Greek Comedy Writer. Most Important Figures in Ancient History. What Is Drama? Literary Definition and Examples. The work of Euripides also includes biting commentary on social issues and Athenian society, and it sounds like he was rather disenchanted with the society he lived in. This master of Attic tragedy must have impressed someone, because his work has endured where the work of others did not.
The fact that people continue to read, perform, and discuss the works of Euripides illustrates the compelling nature of his work, as many people continue to find it accessible and engaging thousands of years after it was written. Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a researcher and writer.
Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors. Though Clytemnestra is moved to remorse over her past treatment of Electra, it does not save her from being killed by Electra and the brother, Orestes, who are overwhelmed by their actions and are bewildered.
A deus ex machina in the form of the Dioscuri Castor and Pollux is needed to bridge the dilemma between an excusable murder and a mandatory punishment. Electra is to be punished by exile; Orestes will be pursued by the Furies until his trial in Athens, when he will be acquitted. Euripides radically changes Electra from a ruthless seeker of vengeance to a tortured human being who suffers intensely as a result of her actions.
Matricide is strongly condemned and the gods are vigorously castigated. The Bacchae, Euripides's masterpiece, is tightly structured and closely follows the pattern of the Dionysiac ritual itself. Pantheus, a young king of Thebes, refuses to acknowledge the divinity of the newly introduced Asiatic god Dionysus, and even though grandfather Cadmus and prophet Tiresias accept him, Pentheus defiantly but unsuccessfully tries to incarcerate him.
Pentheus, attracted by descriptions of the orgiastic rites, attempts to participate in one and is caught and decapitated by his own triumphant mother, Agave. She gradually recovers her senses and realizes the terrible deed she has done. The whole family of Pentheus is to be punished, asserts Dionysus, who appears as a deus ex machina. The Bacchae is a very powerful play, Euripides's swan song. He is again showing how the irrational, when not acknowledged and properly moderated, can get out of control and destroy all those around it.
Dionysus is not a god that can be worshiped in the ordinary sense. He symbolizes the bestiality in nature and in man, and the Bacchic rites provide a release, as the Greeks see it. In his day Euripides managed to call the attention of his countrymen to many flagrant abuses and wrongs in his own society. He subjected all to a merciless rational examination, but he was fundamentally tolerant and understanding and fully sympathized with the troubles and suffering of humanity.
Purely biographical material on Euripides is scant. Gilbert Murray, Euripides and His Age ; 2d ed. Some editions of Euripides's plays with the texts in Greek and long introductions and analyses in English by the editors are Euripides' Medea, by Denys L.
Denniston ; Euripides' Ion, by Arthur S. Owen ; Euripides' Bacchae, by E. Dodds ; and Euripides' Alcestis, by Amy M. Dale Other analyses of specific plays include Reginald P.
Wilson, ed. Georges M.
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