Euripides: Medea

Jason, in exile in Corinth, is marrying the king's daughter. It looks as though his problems are over, though it's hard on Medea, who has betrayed her family for him, followed him all the way from Colchis, killed for him, and borne him two sons.

Euripides' Medea is a compelling study of love turned to hatred and a rejected woman's burning desire for revenge. Its central, shocking, act of infanticide comes as the climax of a psychological thriller in which Euripides' dramaturgical skills are shown at their finest and the audience's emotions are ruthlessly manipulated. Medea's conflicting urges and her dazzling rhetoric have exercised an enduring fascination over audiences and readers since the play was first performed in 431 BC. This edition examines a wide range of aspects of the play, including text, performance, interpretation, Euripides' sources, other lost plays about Medea and Euripides' portrayal of character and gender. Greek text with facing-page translation, introduction and commentary.

Judith Mossman is Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham. She has also published Wild Justice: A Study of Euripides Hecuba (Oxford 1995, repr. BCP 1999) and edited Oxford Readings in Euripides (Oxford 2003).