Finished: Medea (Euripides). I kept waiting to see if this is where the line "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" came from! Alas...the words weren't there, but the actions sure were. Medea is the wife of Jason, of the Greek myth Jason and the Golden Fleece, and the mother of his two young sons. When he returns home from his adventures he informs her that he's going to marry a new wife, the daughter of King Creon. His reasoning is that he'll have more sons by the new wife and the bonds of this royal line will ensure that the royal brothers always protect the non-royal brothers and they'll all have a cushy life together. Of course...he also laments the fact that men can't beget children without the aid of overly emotional women. Anyway....Medea is terribly upset, scorned, betrayed, you name it. She is livid. She starts spewing threats and hatred to the point that King Creon banishes her and her sons from the land. His daughter is going to marry Jason and there's nothing Medea can do about it. Creon gives Medea a one day reprieve on her banishment. She feigns coming to grips with the situation and tells Jason that she understands his reasoning. She knows that she must still be banished but begs that Jason asks for her sons not to be banished. She sends some beautiful robes laced with gold to Jason's new bride-to-be, asking Jason to plead their case. Of course...the robes are also laced with deadly poison. When Creon's daughter puts them on, she dies an agonizing death. When Creon rushes to embrace his child, he is also killed by the poison. Then...the most heartbreaking act of all....Medea will kill her own children so that Jason can feel the epitome of all pain and loss. She also figures, and probably rightly so, that her children will be killed in retaliation by people in the kingdom, so if they're going to be killed anyway, she'll be the one to do it. In a gut-wrenching scene, Medea coos over her children but then kills them. Jason is, as predicted, beside himself. Medea takes the bodies of her young sons and escapes in a chariot not even letting Jason have a final farewell. In their final conversation they blame each other. Jason curses her and blames her for the death of their children. Medea claims that the blame of their death lies with him. Jason started it all by betraying their marriage with another. Zeus would appear to agree with Medea, as Jason tries to invoke his mercy, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.

I can see why this is considered one of Euripides' best works! It's not very long, but so much punch is packed into each verse. I continue to be awed by the writings of these ancient authors, the forefathers of all literature. It's hard to put into words, but just knowing that these first writers took such myths and stories from word of mouth and put them in the forms of books and plays...it's just always amazing to me. So glad I am continuing on this reading adventure! :-)