Page 24 - GALIET INFINITE MEDEA: Euripides IV
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Contingencies. It is possible that p, it is possible that not p. Sourvinou-Inwood generalizes: she sees the audience framing, pre-conceiving a ‘bad, nasty’ Medea before her grand Euripidean performance. Not p. At most, the audience may bring extreme mixed feelings and a blurred moral lens due to the vastness of Medea’s mythical-historical oeuvre, the degeneration in socio-moral-religious standards from greed from a tormenting Peloponnesian War and from a hailstorm of bombarding anti-justice-ideals 3⁄4 sophisms 3⁄4 expounding the ‘false-is-true’ and ‘true-is-false’ mantra: bringing chaos, as ‘king’ and ‘sir,’ throughout the entire 9 anvil sphere. Hesiod’s Medea mentions not one negative trait. Instead, goddess Medea sleeps with mortal men, helps Jason and bears Medeios. Pindar’s Medea has prophetic powers (common antiquity claim: Helenus, Teirisius, Asclepius, etc.) and becomes afflicted by Aphrodite’s incendiary iynx causing Medea to lose her filial head42 (not uncommon either). Medea’s magic prowess enables Jason to kill the dragon, to steal the golden fleece and to flee with her.43 Medea in Pindar (250-55) is labelled ‘Pelias’ death and is too close to the Lemnian she- slayers-of-men, by her Lemnian marriage to Jason. This, however, does not necessarily infer prejudice: her wicked Pelias’ revenge can be perceived as just and as upbeat as her Lemnian ties.44 Consider that Medea ensures Pelias’ death
42No mention of killing her brother in Pindar.
43In Pindar, by cunning; in Apollonius, with the help of Medea’s sleeping potion.
44In a shame, honour, revenge driven society, the Lemnians’ slaying of their men with their Thracian captive lovers, in retaliation for their infidelity, may have been perceived as just. Originally, Aphrodite punished the Lemnian women with foul smell for failing to honour her. As a result, their men caroused with Thracian captives. Fearing retribution, Lemnians massacred
everyone except King Thoas. When Jason and Argonauts arrived, the women welcome them as lovers.
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