In Euripides ancient play of Medea, a common theme of alienation and vengeance is conveyed. Medea, a barbaric Greek woman, is betrayed by her husband Jason, who abandons her to marry the royal daughter of King Creon. This series of unfortunate events thrusts Medea into a state of deep anger in which she vows to gain revenge. At first, my response to Medea is one of sympathy and sorrow, especially when she pleads with King Creon to give her an extra day of freedom before her exile. Another passage from the play where my feelings towards Medea are those of sympathy is when she offers to help Aegeus, King of Athens with conceiving a child in return for protection. However, these sentiments of sorrow are no longer present in my judgement of Medea when she plots to cleverly kill Jason and his new wife Glauce, along with her very own children. The offer to help Aegeus was merely a sly way of having a safe haven to reside in after she murdered so many people. Ultimately, when she kills Glauce,  Creon and lastly her children, I can only have feelings of disgust for Medea. Her actions are extremely brutal and counterproductive; one can still feel sad for her because, after all, she is still a barbarian women who doesn't know any better and has been the victim to a serious betrayal.
    The ending of Medea escaping to Athens on a chariot pulled by dragons can be interpreted in many ways. I believe that Euripides portrayed the ending in this manner to suggest her might and strength as a Greek woman. Additionally, the dragons represent utmost power and might which can suggest that the actions committed by Jason were unjust and that Medea deserved better. Escaping with the murder of her children can show that even though what she did was an awful deed, she did not bring it upon herself.

Medea