What do you think of Medea so far? What about Jason?? There is no doubt that this play is unique and without equal in the ancient world. Perhaps the Welsh counterpart to Medea would be
a goddess such as Ceridwen. She was a powerful woman who possessed great knowledge and was able to create and destroy. She was the creator of the famous bard
Taliesin which means "Shining Brow" in Welsh. He later had adventures with other heroes and found himself intertwined with Arthurian Legend.
Like the primordial waters of creation, Medea has the power to create, transform and kill; a famously female role in myth. Because of their powers these women became the archetypal witch or hag lurking in the shadows dealing in petty evil. Remember the beginning of Macbeth with the three hags, or if you have seen Clash of the Titans, Perseus must face the three sisters with one eye between them. Clearly there has been a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of their function and power for these great women to be so maligned. The aged woman who has lost her beauty or "hag" has moved fro the realm of generativity and creation of life to post menopausal sterility and becomes in her wisdom a threat to men in western culture. Her domain is that of death. Thus she is feared and reviled in our culture. Others would revere her wisdom and the natural function she represents and serves.
Remember, there is no journal entry today but be sure to do the one for Medea tomorrow.
So far, I feel really bad for Medea. She seems to do everything for Jason, and he just leaves her for Glauce, the king of Corinth's daughter. Although Medea gets her revenge on Jason, I still feel horrible that Jason betrayed Medea. He had promised to marry her if she helped him out, and then he just left her for a prettier younger woman of royalty. I think it is only fair that she gets back at him for the way he treated her. Because of this, I am not a fan of Jason in this myth.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of the correlation between an old hag and the menopausal time in a woman's life.I have to laugh because women that are in menopause are really a scary thing. I almost think that this is true that the women from this age frame could kill and be associated with death because of their hormonal levels. The hot flashes must do it!
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