Medea
Books | Drama / General
3.7
(164)
Euripides
The old songs will have to change. No more hymns to our faithlessness and deceit. Apollo, god of song, lord of the lyre, never passed on the flame of poetry to us. But if we had that voice, what songs we'd sing of men's failings, and their blame. History is made by women, just as much as men. Medea has been betrayed. Her husband, Jason, has left her for a younger woman. He has forgotten all the promises he made and is even prepared to abandon their two sons. But Medea is not a woman to accept such disrespect passively. Strong-willed and fiercely intelligent, she turns her formidable energies to working out the greatest, and most horrifying, revenge possible. Euripides' devastating tragedy is shockingly modern in the sharp psychological exploration of the characters and the gripping interactions between them. Award-winning poet Robin Robertson has captured both the vitality of Euripides' drama and the beauty of his phrasing, reinvigorating this masterpiece for the twenty-first century.
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Author
Euripides
Pages
112
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2009-10-06
ISBN
1416592253 9781416592259
Community ReviewsSee all
"Oh gosh, that’s a hard one! Right now, it’s either Crime and Punishment or And the Mountains Echoed!"
orwxll
"**This is a review of Medea by Rachel Cusk, NOT by Euripides**<br/><br/>Where Euripides' Medea is a complex, ambivalent character, her intentions understandable but her actions unjust, Rachel Cusk's Medea lacks character, values and meaning, leaving us with a hollow story on infanticide. <br/><br/>In the original story by Euripides Medea is completely dependant of her husband, financially and socially. She has no friends, no family and no money. You can feel she is losing her sanity when she finds out her husband Jason (a misogynistic asshole) is getting married with the King's daughter, and plans on leaving her and their two sons behind. To fulfill her ultimate revenge she persuades Jason to take their kids with him. After killing her husband's new love (and her father, King Creon) she murders her two sons, leaving Jason with nothing. On top of it she triumphs as she is finally taking off on a golden chariot, protected by her grandfather Helios (the Sun). <br/><br/>Rachel Cusk has tried to adapt this story to the current era. It sounds very interesting: Medea's marriage is breaking up in a time where gender politics are hot and trending. I expected a piece of social criticism on patriarchy, about a woman who is fed up with being subjugated by men. However, in Cusk's version Medea is already a feminist, with her own income, who goes through a divorce with legal counsel, which totally negates the premise of Medea becoming an unjust victim of her husband's actions. The mere reason for her rage is her husband's sexual attraction to a younger woman. Aegeus is, equal to Euripides' original play, a mere cameo. In this modern retelling his main function is to be the play's gay, advocating for same sex parenting. Cusk's Medea is not social criticism, but rather a celebration of the wokeness that's already well established in Western culture. <br/><br/>Now what would make an interesting Medea, is if we would switch Medea's gender. Picture this: Gold digging wife leaves husband for a richer guy. She promises her husband that his sons will have a better future with a new billionaire father. Family goes to court for divorce settlement and husband loses custody because his wife makes up a story of domestic abuse. Father loses his sanity and kills the kids Chris Watts style. Gets off scot-free as a result of mistrial. Now that would be a true modern adaption with the same effect as the original story."
Lisa Mallinckrodt
