The person01–03
01·Who they are
Who is Glauce (Princess of Corinth)?
Glauce is the Princess of Corinth, daughter of King Creon, and the woman Jason chooses as his new bride in place of Medea. Euripides grants her no lines and no stage presence whatsoever — she is, in formal theatrical terms, entirely absent — yet she functions as the fulcrum on which the entire tragedy balances. Her identity is constructed entirely through the reports and reactions of others: Jason speaks of the match as a calculated social advancement, Creon's protectiveness of her motivates his decision to exile Medea, and the Messenger's speech in the play's closing movement is the only window the audience ever gets into Glauce as a living, experiencing person. Euripides's ability to make a voiceless, invisible figure so dramatically consequential measures the play's power. She represents the Greek civic world — privileged, politically ordered, aesthetically refined — that Jason has chosen over Medea's foreign intensity and passionate devotion.
02·Arc & motivation
What is Glauce (Princess of Corinth)'s arc and motivation?
Because Glauce never speaks, her inner life must be inferred. The Messenger's account (lines 1136–1221 in most editions) is the closest the play comes to characterising her from the inside, and what it reveals is telling: Glauce is delighted by Medea's gifts. She turns the golden crown over in her hands, tries on the shimmering robe, and admires herself in a mirror. There is nothing calculating or cruel in this picture — she behaves as a young woman on the eve of her wedding might be expected to behave. Her motivation, to the extent we can name one, is simple pleasure in beautiful things. That innocence is precisely what makes her arc so devastating: she moves in a single scene from joy to agony to death, with no opportunity to understand what is happening to her or why.
03·Key moments
What are Glauce (Princess of Corinth)'s key moments?
The defining moment — and her only moment — is the Messenger's speech. He describes Glauce receiving the children and their gifts with initial wariness, then melting into delight once she sees the robe and crown. She dismisses the children, retreats to her chambers, and begins to dress. The poison works slowly at first: she pales, staggers, and collapses foaming onto her throne. When she tears at the crown it clings, burning deeper; the robe strips flesh from bone. The Messenger's language is clinically horrifying — he describes the fire consuming her "like pine resin." Creon's arrival and death compound the scene: his embrace of his daughter's body means her destruction becomes his as well. This double death, reported rather than shown, is the hinge on which Medea's revenge pivots from symbolic to catastrophically real.
The cast04–05
04·Relationships
What are Glauce (Princess of Corinth)'s most important relationships?
Medea engineers Glauce's death not out of personal hatred for the princess but because Glauce is the most effective instrument of Jason's destruction. Killing his new bride annihilates his political future, dynastic ambitions, and protector in Creon simultaneously. Glauce is a means, not an end — which is part of what makes her fate morally disturbing.
Jason treats Glauce as a prize and a strategy. He frames the marriage to Medea (lines 547–567) as a sensible arrangement that will ultimately benefit his existing family, revealing how thoroughly he has reduced Glauce to a social asset. Their relationship is never dramatised; it exists only as an act of betrayal already completed when the play opens.
Creon is the relationship that gives Glauce her only moment of genuine emotional weight. His death — caused by the instinct to hold his dying child — transforms her from a plot device into the centre of a very human grief. His love for her is presented without irony or complication.
The Messenger and Chorus together manage the audience's response. The Messenger translates her invisible suffering into visceral imagery; the Chorus of Corinthian Women, who have been broadly sympathetic to Medea, recoil at the news, acknowledging that Glauce's death crosses a moral threshold.
05·Connected characters
How is Glauce (Princess of Corinth) connected to the other characters?
Study06–07
06·Questions
Questions readers ask about Glauce (Princess of Corinth)
Does Glauce ever speak or appear on stage in Medea?
No, Glauce has no lines and never physically appears on stage at any point in the play. Euripides constructs her entirely through the reports and reactions of other characters: Jason mentions her as a political match, Creon's protectiveness of her motivates Medea's exile, and the Messenger's speech is the only window the audience gets into Glauce as a living person.
How does Glauce die in Medea?
Glauce dies from a poisoned robe and golden crown sent by Medea as wedding gifts. According to the Messenger's account (lines 1136–1221), she adorns herself with the gifts in delight, then collapses foaming, the crown burning into her scalp and the robe stripping flesh from bone — described as consuming her "like pine resin." Her father Creon dies moments later when he rushes to embrace her burning body.
Why does Medea target Glauce for her revenge?
Medea targets Glauce because killing her is the most effective way to destroy Jason's future. Glauce's death annihilates Jason's political ambitions, his dynastic hopes, and his protector Creon in a single act — Glauce is an instrument of Jason's destruction rather than an end in herself, which contributes to the disturbing nature of her fate.
What is Glauce's relationship with Creon in the play?
Glauce is Creon's beloved daughter, and his paternal devotion to her ultimately leads to his demise. When he rushes to embrace her dying, poison-soaked body, he is consumed by the same venom. This moment transforms Glauce from a largely symbolic figure into the centre of an uncomplicated human grief, as Creon's love for her is presented without irony.
What does Glauce symbolize in Medea?
Glauce symbolizes the privileged, politically ordered Greek civic world that Jason prefers over Medea's foreign, passionate identity. Her eagerness in accepting the beautiful gifts highlights the tragic irony of that world's refinement — the very pleasure she takes in a robe and crown seals her doom. Through her, Euripides exposes how strategic marriage systems reduce women to social assets.
Is Glauce innocent of any wrongdoing in Medea?
Yes, the play presents Glauce as entirely blameless. The Messenger's account shows her behaving as any young woman on the eve of her wedding might: taking simple pleasure in beautiful gifts, with nothing calculating or cruel in her actions. Her innocence is what makes her death morally complex and forces the audience to confront the collateral damage of Medea's revenge.
How does the Messenger's speech bring Glauce to life for the audience?
The Messenger translates Glauce's invisible, offstage suffering into visceral imagery, making her death the most graphically detailed moment in the play. He describes her initial wariness giving way to delight, her admiring herself in a mirror, and then her agonized collapse — details that briefly humanize her before she is destroyed. Analysts often read this speech as a self-contained tragedy within a tragedy.
How does Jason treat Glauce in the play?
Jason treats Glauce primarily as a political strategy rather than as a person. When he justifies the marriage to Medea (lines 547–567), he frames it as a sensible social advancement that will benefit his existing family, revealing how thoroughly he has reduced Glauce to a dynastic asset. Their relationship is never dramatized; it exists only as an act of betrayal already completed before the play opens.
07·Essay angles
Use this in your essay
Tool · Essay angles
Absence as dramatic technique: Argue that Glauce's silence and invisibility amplify her tragic impact
Gender and objectification: Both Medea and Glauce are defined primarily by their relationships to Jason
Symbol versus person: Consider whether Glauce is best read as a symbol of Greek privilege or as a humanised victim