Barbarian
The term "Barbarian" is Greek in origin. The Greeks originally
levied
it at any races who were not of a Greek origin; especially those who
threatened
Greek civilization and culture. Because most of these
"strangers"
regularly assaulted Greek cities, the term "barbarian"
gradually
evolved into a rude term: a person who was a sub-human,
uncivilized, and
regularly practiced the most vile and inhuman acts
imaginable. It is obvious
that a barbarian has not been considered as a
member of society as well as a
woman in Ancient Greece. In many Greek
tragedies that we have read women either
play a secondary role or absent at
all. That is why it is so unusual to read a
tragedy where woman is a main
character and not only that – a woman is a
foreigner, a barbarian. Euripides,
however, was the first one who created the
play where he opposed a barbarian
to someone "civilized"; he has his Medea
confront Jason. The civilized Jason
is more barbaric in his emotional
callousness than the barbarian Medea, but
by the end of the play she exacts a
barbaric penalty. The Nurse calls Medea a
"strange woman." She is
anything but typical. Euripides admits from the
outset that this is a bizarre
tale of an exceptional human being. Lest she
may sharpen a sword an thrust to
the heart, Stealing into the palace where
the bed is made, Or even kill the king
and the new-wedded groom, And thus
bring a greater misfortune on herself. Two
great pains tear Medea: the
betrayal of Jason and her betrayal of her country
and family. The two are
interwoven and double her sorrow. Guilt, loneliness,
rejection, love, all war
within her. Ah, I have suffered What should be wept for
bitterly. I hate you,
Children of a hateful mother. I curse you And your father.
Let the whole
house crash. Of course Medea is barbarian, she came from a
different country,
she is violent and everyone knows that she posses the unique
and in somewhat
supernatural power that can make people to do things her way.
These
characteristics correspond to the definition of barbarian in the
Ancient
Greece. On the other hand, we realize that the part of her power
is her
intellect, which is not barbarians’ own distinctive feature. People,
including
the king, are afraid of Medea. Creon: I am afraid of you, why
should I dissemble
it? I believe their fear is based not only on the fact
that she has a great
passion and able to do something terrible, but also on
the fact that people
start to realize that a barbarian is a human who can
think, who has emotions and
feelings and, moreover, who can take control over
them. Another factor that
scares people is her being a woman. Medea’s voice
is not only can be heard,
but also her speeches are manipulative. She is able
to use any rhetoric speech
that appeals to the emotions of the people. Medea
enrages a passion in them in
response to her own. Creon: You are a clever
woman, versed in evil arts, And are
angry at having lost your husband’s love.
Medea is smart, she is greatly aware
of being a "foreigner" and the
Corinthians seem to echo that
awareness; she understands why she is not
welcomed in the society, she realizes
that she has to leave, but her
emotional pain makes her to do unthinkable. Pain
is often the source of anger
and then violence. That progression is one of
Euripides' main themes.
"Great people's tempers are terrible." The
greatness of the temper is one
measure of the greatness of the person who is
angry. Medea’s passion causes
human tragedy. Medea also understands that her
passion and anger is based on
the betrayal. Jason did not keep his word, he has
broken the oath and this
was unacceptable for Medea. Jason: Change your ideas of
what you want, and
show more sense. Medea’s primitive passion is pitted
against the civilized
demands of a Jason. He is empty inside, he has no
emotions, no passion; the
only thing that he has is the desire. The desire to
stabilize his political
position. He used Medea for his own good: she helped him
to escape and to
survive. Right now it is the time for Jason to move on with his
life; he
doesn’t need Medea any more. Moreover, in some way he thinks he
helped Medea
and she should be thankful for that. Jason: In so far as you helped
me, you
did well enough. But on this question of saving me, I can prove You
have
certainly got from me more than you gave. Jason, as he thinks, lives by
the law
instead of "the sweet will of force". But what is the law? Who has it
been
written for? Ancient Greece. Jason is a perfect example of a
representative of
this society. He even admits, that women are the
unnecessary creatures. They are
needed only for producing children. Jason: It
would be better far for men To
have got their children in some other way, and
women Not to have existed. Then
life would have been good . Medea wants to
make Jason suffer by making him
listen, but for Jason her argument is
invalid. I think Medea is trying to prove
that the society, in which money
and one’s political position are two things
that matter, will not have any
future. There are some other things, such as
love, dedication and ability to
keep your word, that are needed in the society
for its success. In this sense
Medea’s ideas are more civilized than Jason’s
emotionless and a blind desire
for a power. As I mentioned earlier, these
Medea’s ideas are not valid in
the Greek society, so she plays her barbaric
game until the very end of the
play. Lessons are learned and tables are turned.
The oppressor cannot
oppress forever.