Interpreting Medea

Medea is a name familiar to everyone. The associations vary but we all know her to be the murderess of her children. This article presents the myth of Medea, the different legends and literary works, the literary history and the many changes in the portrayal of her story and character. The interpretations of her myth in different eras throws a light on our collective understanding of a figure contested throughout the ages. While Euripides allegedly introduces the child-murder as an act of revenge, the new feminist-oriented works try to lift the accusation of child-murder from Medea’s shoulders. Deconstructing the archetype of ‘mother’, French feminism discusses the notion of a patriarchal system of thought which systematically puts woman in the passive, silenced place of ‘the other’. What Medea becomes in the light of such philosophical thought is analysed here.