In your essay, be sure to:

• Analyze at least two specific scenes or speeches where Medea expresses her grievances towards Jason and the society of Corinth.
• Examine how Euripides employs dramatic irony, imagery, or characterization to influence the audience's moral view of Medea.
• Address the counterargument that Medea's actions detract from any sympathetic interpretation, and counter it with textual evidence.
• Conclude by reflecting on what Euripides ultimately conveys about justice, gender, and power in the ancient Greek context.

Length

4–6 paragraphs (or as instructed by your teacher)

Format

Formal literary analysis with a thesis, supporting evidence, and commentary

In your essay, make sure to:

> Thesis Guidance: A compelling essay will go beyond simply categorizing Medea as "sympathetic" or "monstrous" and will instead present a nuanced argument about what her violence signifies within the world Euripides creates.

• Analyze how Euripides presents Medea as a character stripped of social power — as a foreigner, a rejected wife, and a stateless exile — and how these overlapping injustices propel her toward violence.
• Examine specific dramatic techniques (e.g., the conflict between Medea and Jason, the nurse's opening speech, Medea's soliloquies) that influence the audience's moral reaction to her actions.
• Evaluate how Jason, Creon, and Aegeus exemplify the shortcomings of Greek civic and domestic institutions, and how their roles implicate society in Medea's crime.
• Consider how the ending of the play — with Medea escaping unpunished in her chariot drawn by dragons — serves as either a condemnation or a justification of her choices.

Length

4–6 pages (approximately 1,000–1,500 words)

Format

MLA or as directed by your instructor

In your essay, be sure to:

• Analyze at least two key speeches or scenes where Medea clearly articulates her reasoning, showcasing her rational self-determination instead of a loss of control.
• Explore how Jason's betrayal and the patriarchal social structure of Corinth deprive Medea of legal, social, and economic power, framing her violent response as a reaction to systemic powerlessness.
• Address the counterargument that Medea's actions stem from passion (thumos) instead of reason (logos), and either refute or complicate this interpretation with textual evidence.
• Reflect on how Euripides' depiction of Medea either subverts or reinforces Athenian gender norms, and what this reveals about the broader social critique within the play.

Length

4–6 pages (approximately 1,000–1,500 words)

Format

MLA or as directed by your instructor

Textual Evidence Required

Minimum of four direct quotations from the play