m this tragedy is submission to the divine will and realization of his own impotence. As Freud expressed, the trilogy of Sophocles (Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus) brought the aspect of fate or destiny into light. Fate was evident because although the actions and feelings of the characters were an integral part of the tragedy, nothing could change one’s destiny or fate. Lee A. Jacobus states, “ the main conflict in Antigone centers on a distinction between law and justice, the conflict between a human law, and a higher law.” The title character struggles within herself about the importance of abiding by the laws of her uncle, the king, or abiding by her own principles of truth. Through reasoning, she decides that she must do what she knows in her heart is right, even if it conflicts with the law. Euripides was the first to introduce reason into tragedy, and also introduced the importance of the individual’s thoughts and feelings, or humanism. “Euripides subjected the problems of human life to critical analysis and challenged human conventions…The role of the gods, women’s conflicts, the horrors of war, the power of passion, and the prevalence of human suffering and weakness were all carefully scrutinized in Euripides’ plays.” Euripides shifted the focus from gods to humans. In Medea, the title character is treated as an independent woman, not as someone’s wife or mother, and is the first “fully developed” woman character in all of Greek drama. In the play, Medea’s husband, Jason, marries King Creon’s daughter in order to insure the safety of the children he has with Medea. The play is about the agony, torture, and abandonment that Medea feels. In this powerful play, the feelings of a woman are analyzed for the first time. In the play, Media statesOf all things which are living and can form a judgment/ We women are the most ...
