Medea

Medea is Euripides' tragedy set in Corinth after Jason abandons Medea to marry the king's daughter. Threatened with exile, she uses persuasion and deception to obtain time for a revenge that extends beyond the adults involved. The play gives force to her account of betrayal while showing the catastrophic cruelty of her response. Jason's self-justifying arguments and the chorus's changing reactions sharpen the distance between grievance and moral legitimacy. Through this tension, Euripides makes eloquence itself troubling: the ability to explain suffering does not prevent a character from inflicting suffering on others.