Monday, August 19, 2013

Medea or media











 Medea (Ancient Greek: Μήδεια, Mēdeia) is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on thebarbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman. Euripides produced Medea along with the lost plays Philoctetes, Dictys and the satyr play Theristai, earning him last place at the City Dionysia festival for that year.









The play tells the story of the revenge of a woman betrayed by her husband. All of the action of the play is at Corinth, where Jason has brought Medea after the adventures of the Golden Fleece. He has now left her in order to marry Glauce, the daughter of King Creon.








Euripides' characterization of Medea exhibits the inner emotions of passion, love, and vengeance. Medea is widely read as a proto-feminist text to the extent that it sympathetically explores the disadvantages of being a woman in a patriarchal society, although it has also been read as an expression of misogynist attitudes In conflict with this sympathetic undertone (or reinforcing a more negative reading) is Medea's barbarian identity, which would antagonize a 5th-century Greek audience. [more]












Medea by Euripides, the tragedy of love turning into a terrible and savage hatred, premiered July 5 at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. It was the opening play for this year’s Epidaurus festival.







Spyros A. Evangelatos directed for the second time this play, 12 years after his presentation from the Epidaurus Amphi-Theatre in 2001, with Lida Tasopoulou in the role of Medea. Now the director returns to Euripides’ text under a special condition: The play is staged exclusively with male cast and the protagonist is George Kimoulis. [more]



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