Medea (entry #1)

The play begins with a nurse, who we soon find out is Medea’s old nurse, walk outside of the house she is employed at and begins to open up the background of the play to the audience. In this brief background the nurse explains that she wishes that Jason and his ships had never come to them by saying, “How I wish the Argo's sails had never swept through the dark blue Clashing Rocks into the land of the Colchians” (1-2). She says that if Jason had never come to them then her mistress, which is Medea, would have never gone off with Jason and fallen in love with him. It is explained later on that Jason and Medea worked together to accomplish many feats, for example Jason with the help of Medea was able to acquire the Golden Fleece and Medea tricked the daughters of a rival king named Pelias to kill him with poison. Then the nurse says that Medea and Jason started a family together and had two sons. Soon after it is said that Medea and Jason had two sons, the nurse explains, “Jason has cast aside his children and my mistress, and now goes to bed in a royal marriage with the daughter of Creon who governs this land” (16-18). My first question has to be why do you think that Jason was so quick to abandon his family? Especially after Medea had help Jason throughout his adventures and has now given him two sons? The story the nurse is telling quickly becomes a bitter and angry one, in that it started out with Medea falling in love with Jason and having a family with him to now according to the nurse Medea cannot even stand the sight of her own children. “And she hates her children, takes no pleasure in seeing them” (35). Soon after the nurses soliloquy she is met by Pedagogue who enters with the two sons of Jason and Medea. These two characters converse and the nurse tells Pedagogue that she worries about Medea and her mental state. Soon after a cry out from Medea is heard in which she says that she “hates her life” and wonders how she can end it. My next question is why had Medea now so quickly turned on her own children? Taking Jason out of the picture the children have done no wrong to Medea and in my opinion do not deserve any of this, what are your thoughts on that thought? The conversation then evolves into one between the nurse, Medea and the chorus; in which Medea more or less rants about how she hates her family and her life. After hearing the conversation the nurse wonders nervously whether or not Medea will act upon these emotions. I hope that she will leave the children alone, however Jason may deserve whatever Medea’s wrath can conjure up. What do you think?