The Significance of the Ending of Medea

Authorial Intent in Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy Medea investigates the ending where the character Medea, betrayed by her husband Jason, kills her children to take revenge.

By having Medea leave in a divine chariot, the play invites the audience to consider how the events play out when issues of justice, betrayal, and intense passion arise.

The Significance of the Ending of Medea allows readers to see how this choice by Euripides ensures the play’s lasting influence on books and thinking about morals. The Significance of the Ending of Medea is about how the ending affects the tragedy’s themes and feelings.

In the play, Medea kills her children, but is still praised highly by the gods and chauffeured off in a chariot by Helios, which goes against Greek traditions of punishment and gender roles, as described in Edith Hall’s Greek Tragedy.

The act of filicide told in the play, with Medea fighting her love for her children, results in Jason losing his entire bloodline, a punishment seen as tragic as death to the ancient Greeks.

Her being able to walk free after risking death highlights her special power as well as her murkiness, leading debates among specialists on whether Athena is the avenger of crimes or a cruel figure. Because no one comes out ahead in Medea, people attending the play have to confront how powerful betrayal and rage can be, a common theme seen in today’s versions of the play.