Emotion in the Greek Iliad and Medea, Essay Example

Introduction

The context of emotion is used in many literary works to convey or demonstrate complex ideas or notions, as is done in both The Iliad and Medea. The Iliad by Homer is one of the most famous of his works and tells the tale of the famous battle between the ancient Romans and Greeks over the beautiful Helen, as recalled by Ulysses, one of the many kings that partook in the pursuit to recover the stolen queen. The play Medea by Euripides tells the tale of Jason’s jilted wife, Medea, and her emotionally charged plot to extract revenge on her husband by murdering their children. Within the context of these two works, emotion is continually presented as the characters endure their trials and attempt to reconcile their realities with circumstances they had not previously anticipated. The emotional responses of the characters in the stories were considered rational in their time, although many of these actions, like Medea’s response to her husband’s philandering, would be considered highly irrational and somewhat psychotic in today’s society, and display an emotional context that remains relevant even in modern times. This brief examination will discuss some instances of emotion within both works and how the modern reaction would be to use the instances as tools for motivation.

The Iliad

Although the gods depicted in The Iliad are not human, they are described as possessing some human emotions, such as jealousy and lust, although they are emphatically lacking in the empathetic emotional range and have no pity for the mortals that fall victim to their petty tiffs, as the suffering of human counts for nothing when Gods settle their divine differences (Knox). The entire poem has a dream-like quality as the primary players seem to be ensconced in a world separate from daily routines and life as kingdoms crash and fall around them at the whims of single men, like Menelaus, Achilles, and Hector (Mackail). Helen is the cause of the deaths of thousands in the Trojan War, as her beauty and her power to enchant men amounts her goddess-like powers, akin to those of Aphrodite, so much so that she acts with no thought of anything but the fulfillment of her own desire, the exercise of her own power, and the demands of her own nature (Knox). When Paris, the Prince of Troy, comes to visit, she runs off with him, leaving her husband and daughter without a thought of the consequences for others, which is very much reminiscent of the actions of the Gods (Knox). Additionally, there is discussion of numerous objects, such as the boar’s tusk helmet Meriones lends Odysseus and Agamemnon’s scepter, that represent virtues, like honor, valor, and bravery, which are presented as extensions of the owners, although Achilles would argue that Agamemnon’s “lust of gain” was not deserving of the many honors bestowed upon him in the form of the objects (Homer, Sammons).

Medea

To the ancient Greeks, their place within society was a thing of great value, which makes the tremendous sacrifices Medea made in honor of her love for Jason all the greater, as is exemplified in the reminiscing’s of the nurse as she speaks on the many sacrifices her mistress has made, such as killing her father and brother so that he could obtain the Golden Fleece and being exiled from her own people to settle with him in Corinth (Hamilton). Medea comments on this as well, stating that she has brought “Pleasure to the people of her land of exile….But now there’s hatred everywhere” and Jason’s comment, that Medea had found favor among her new neighbors was not as trivial as it sounds to the modern ear (Vickers). However, the fact that Medea murdered her own family to run off with Jason was, to ancient Greek audiences, evidence of a flaw in Medea’s ability to remain connected to her family and, even though it is frowned upon in modern society and was unheard of in the times of the ancient Greeks (Hamilton). The fact that Medea was also of royal lineage puts the tremendous slight Jason’s cuckolding means to her in greater perspective as well, since his actions brought her much shame in the eyes of her peers (Euripides). Jason’s decision to secure his own future through his marriage to Glauce, daughter of Creon, ruler of Corinth, is the ultimate betrayal after she sacrificed any hopes of a future without him through her actions in his defense, as demonstrated in the passage:

“And poor Medea is slighted, and cries aloud on the

Vows they made to each other, the right hands clasped

In eternal promise. She calls upon the gods to witness

What sort of return Jason has made to her love” (Euripides; Vickers)

Inasmuch, her triumph over Jason’s misery over the loss of his children and Medea’s burial of her children is deliberately “overturning the ritual of atonement” in representing her “shocking freedom from the consequences of her transgression”, but also demonstrates that she is not as heartless as it may seem in regards to her actions, especially since she has a very uncertain future as a woman with no country due to her husband’s abandonment of her and their children and places Jason partially at fault for the actions of his forsaken wife (Holland).

Conclusion

The emotional responses of the characters in The Iliad and Medea were considered typical and even God-like in their time, although frowned upon, as they would be in modern times, but display an emotional context that still remains relevant. Within the context of these two works, emotion is continually explored, even past the point of madness in order to present the true essence of humanity.

References

Euripides. “Medea”. This translation by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC. (431 BC). 18 Mar. 2012 <http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/euripides/medea.htm>.

Hamilton, Carole L. “An overview of Medea.” Drama for Students. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 18 Mar. 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.

Holland, Lora L. “Last act in Corinth: the burial of Medea’s children (E. Med. 1378-83).” The Classical Journal. 103.4 (April-May 2008): p407. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 18 Mar. 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.

Homer. Translated by Samuel Butler. “The Iliad”. The Internet Classics Archive. (2000). 18 Mar. 2012 <http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.mb.txt>.

Knox, Bernard. “Achilles.” Grand Street. 9.3 (Spring 1990): 129-150. Rpt. In Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. 61. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 129-150. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 18 Mar 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.

Mackail, J. W. “Homer and the Iliad.” Lectures on Greek Poetry. Longmans, Green and Co, 1911. 23-48. Rpt. inClassical and Medieval Literature Criticism. 1.Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. 23-48. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 17 Mar. 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.

Sammons, Benjamin. “Gift, list & story in Iliad 9.115-61.” The Classical Journal. 103.4 (April-May 2008): p353. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 17 Mar. 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.

Vickers, Brian. “Myths in Tragedy.” Towards Greek Tragedy: Drama, Myth, Society. Longman Group Limited, 1973. 268-343. Rpt. inWorld Literature Criticism Supplement. 1.Rpt. in World Literature Criticism, Supplement 1-2: A Selection of Major Authors from Gale’s Literary Criticism Series. Ed. Polly Vedder. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 268-343. Literature Resource Center. Gale. College of Southern Nevada. 18 Mar. 2012 <http://ezproxy.csn.edu:2196/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=las55353>.