Medea by Euripides 431 B.C. E. - translated by Rachel Kitzinger - 2016 This play is included in The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides-Preface, general introduction, play introductions, and compilation copyright © 2016 by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm

 Medea by Euripides- 431 B.C. E. - translated by Rachel Kitzinger - 2016 This play is included in The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides-Preface, general introduction, play introductions, and compilation copyright © 2016 by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm 

 Euripides- 480 to 406 BCE- Athens CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) NURSE, Medea’s personal attendant TUTOR, teacher and minder of Medea and Jason’s two sons MEDEA, member of the royal family of Colchis, on the Black Sea; granddaughter of the Sun-god; wife of Jason CHORUS of Corinthian women CREON, king of Corinth JASON, heir to the throne of Iolcus, living in exile in Corinth AEGEUS, king of Athens CHILDREN, Jason and Medea’s two sons MESSENGER, a slave in the royal house of Creon 

In Greek mythology, Medea was the granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and ran away from her father’s house to marry the hero Jason. Euripides re-sculpted her story in his play, adding the element that made her the Medea we know today – the woman who kills her own children to avenge her husband’s betrayal.

So the first  audience who saw Euripides’s play would have been in for something incredibly shocking, unfamiliar as they were with a Medea who kills her children for vengeance. When the play was first performed in an Athenian tragedy competition of 431 BC, it came in last place, and it’s often thought that this was because of the heroine’s dreadful actions. But regardless of the first audience’s response, the play quickly became a classic, and Medea’s infanticide supplanted all other versions of the story

The play takes place in front of Medea and Jason’s house in Corinth. Of the two entrances to the stage, one is understood to come from the royal palace where Creon and his daughter live, the other from the town and surrounding countryside. My main purpose here is to just keep a record of my reading. Wikipedia has a decent overall article on the play. YouTube has videos of Plays, an opera and a movie based on the play. Medea seeks revenge, she is known as a sourcer and a witch. The plot centers on Medea's, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering his new wife as well as her own two sons, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life. The depth of hatred felt by Medea is startling even when we know before we read the play what will happen. Like other Greek and Roman dramas I have recently read, the precarious nature of life, which can change in a moment at the whims of the Gods, is on center stage in Medea.

"Professor Kitzinger began teaching at Vassar in January, 1982. She taught courses in Greek and Latin literature, specializing in Greek tragedy, her field of research.She was involved in the development of the college course, Civilization in Question, which she taught for many years, often with Professor Mitch Miller from the Philosophy Department. In addition to articles on Sophokles, she published The Choruses of Sophokles’ Antigone and Philoktetes: A Dance of Words, translations of Sophokles’ “Oedipus at Colonus” and “Women of Trachis”; translations of Euripides’ “Medea,” “Hippolytus” and “Alcestis” in Greek Plays (Modern Library); she also edited with Michael Grant the three-volume Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean. She directed a production of “Oedipus at Colonus” in collaboration with the Drama Department and gave frequent recitals of Greek poetry using the restored pronunciation of Ancient Greek. She sat on the Matthew Vassar Junior Chair of Greek and Latin Languages and Literature. Professor Kitzinger also worked in the administration in various roles: Advisor to the Junior Class, Director of Teaching Development and the Freshman Seminar; Associate Dean of the Faculty." From vassar.edu

I hope to soon read Seneca's Medea.