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GREEK MYTHOLOGY

The Two Sides to Medea

            In Greek myths, a woman is commonly the villain of the story. The women who worship Dionysus, known as Maenads, go mad and become violent, and Pandora is seemingly the source of all evil in the human world, just to name a couple. Men can abandon, hurt, and deceive their wives, but the women own the blame. In Euripides’ Medea, this trend is no different. Dassin’s film, A Dream of Passion, however, retells the story of Medea in a way that changes the expected monstrous portrayal of women. While both the original play and the modern movie use the same story, the characters and appearances are manipulated to say two very different things. Euripides’ Medea uses this myth to highlight the general inferiority of women, while Dassin’s A Dream of Passion uses it to show the unfair portrayal and treatment that women receive both in films and, by extension, in the real world.

            Euripides portrays Medea in a way that shows women as destructive, overly emotional, and monstrous. In contrast, Dassin uses Maya’s Medea and Brenda’s story to show women who are caring and relatable. Throughout Euripides’ version of the story, Medea is painted as someone who is passionate, impulsive, and subject to her own emotional turmoil. Even before Medea seeks revenge on Jason, her reputation proceeds her. In her passionate love for Jason, Medea killed her brother and “persuaded the daughters of Pelias to kill their father” (Med. 9-10). Later, Creon says that he is afraid of Medea, and that there are “many things that support [his] feeling,” referring to her actions of the past (Med. 285). He thinks Medea is a “clever woman, versed in evil arts” and her being “angry at having lost [her] husbands love” makes her dangerous (Med. 285-286). From the outset of the play, Medea is portrayed as a force of evil. Euripides focuses on Medea’s acts of murder and betrayal that led to her reputation. To the people of Corinth, Medea is a dangerous and destructive woman. This portrayal of the story, however, overlooks Jason’s influence. While Medea did act maliciously, her actions were all for Jason. Yet, only Medea is seen and treated like a monster. Following Creon’s decision to exile Medea, Jason approaches her. They argue and discuss all that Medea has done for Jason, and the inequity in the outcome. Again, Medea is seemingly within a fit of anger, calling Jason her worst enemy, and rejecting his offer for help. She says, “Let me have no happy fortune that brings pain with it, or prosperity which is upsetting to the mind” (Med. 588-589). In contrast to Medea’s passionate retaliation, Jason is portrayed as more measured and reasonable, telling Medea to “change [her] ideas of what [she wants], and show more sense” (Med. 600). Again, Medea is characterized as overly emotional and unreasonable. Dassin portrays this same scene within A Dream of Passion, but instead depicts a Medea who is caring and relatable (Dassin 52:40). Medea is calm and subdued rather than retaliating in passion. Her responses are quiet and contemplative, quite different from the outbursts that are so common from Euripides’ Medea. At the end of the scene, Maya cries to show an aspect of a deeply conflicted Medea who gave her all to a man that did nothing but deny her (Dassin 59:30).  In Dassin’s scene the audience does not view Medea as a monster, but as someone they pity and understand. In addition to Maya’s portrayal of Medea revealing a sympathetic side to this character, Brenda’s story also brings new light to the character. When Brenda speaks with Maya for the first time, she thanks Maya for the flowers and talks about them so fondly (Dassin 46:32). She says “I think of flowers as a miracle” and, in that moment, doesn’t seem like she could hurt a fly (Dassin 46:39). Again, Dassin uses the story of Medea, or in this case Brenda’s story, to show that this so often monstrous and destructive character is more than the force of evil that she seems.

            Within Medea, Euripides not only depicts a negative image of Medea, but takes the point of view that it is Medea that should be punished, not Jason. In contrast, Dassin shows Brenda’s side of the story, and therefore Medea’s story, allowing the audience to see that it was Roy–or Jason–that was to blame. It is Medea, for Euripides, that is feared throughout Corinth, and it is Medea that is sent to exile. Medea does lament, however, her demise, along with the demise of all women, in the face of man. She claims, “women are the most unfortunate creature,” because they are made the possessions of their husbands and must do nothing but sacrifice for their satisfaction (Med. 231-266). In response, the Chorus agrees that Jason should be punished for what he has done (Med. 267-268). For a moment, it seems that Medea will receive the justice she deserves, but ultimately her fate is still to face the demise of her character and ridicule from Corinth. The only punishment that Jason receives is the revenge from Medea. Neither the people from Corinth nor the King himself see Jason’s actions as an act of betrayal to Medea. The Chorus echoes this, saying “suppose your man gives honor to another woman’s bed. It often happens. Don’t be hurt” (Med. 155-157). Medea’s actions are seen as a function of emotion and passion, not an effect of Jason’s adultery and mistreatment.  In Euripides world, men are expected to cheat and deceive their wives, but if a woman retaliates, she is in the wrong. In contrast, Dassin focuses on how Jason wronged Medea, influencing her decisions. While speaking with Maya, Brenda explains how Roy used to take his mistress up to the church in the hills and “screw her underneath that church” (Dassin 1:07). After, Brenda explains how she would watch Roy sleep, and loved him more than she can express (Dassin 1:08). In this scene the audience is shown the extent of Roy’s betrayal. Although Brenda loved him more than anything else, he denied her for another woman. Brenda was deeply affected by Roy’s betrayal, so much so that she cannot breathe or think about what he did without struggle. Roy’s adultery and denial of Brenda caused her to act the way she did. Dassin portrays Roy, and therefore Jason, as the source of evil, and the rightful owner of blame. Later on in the movie, Maya’s interview also shows the mistreatment and unjust blame that women so often receive, not only in books and movies, but also in reality. Maya tells the story of her friend Maria, who lost the love of her life to Maya.  Yet, Maya does not blame herself for taking the man away, but the man for leaving Maria (Dassin 1:21). The man never receives the blame, but somehow the other woman is at fault because she is more attractive or appealing. Maya touches upon the inherent mistreatment and perceived inferiority of women often portrayed in movies, as well as in real life situations. A man can cheat, lie, and abandon but the women involved often are blamed.

            Euripides continues to emphasize the monstrous and destructive quality of women by making Medea’s decision to kill her children an act of passion and anger towards Jason. A Dream of Passion instead makes Brenda’s/Medea’s act of infanticide a choice to save the children from the destruction and evil the Jason brings. From the beginning, Euripides portrays Medea’s choice to kill her children as an overly emotional, passionate response to her frustration with Jason. When Medea starts to show signs of punishing her children to hurt Jason, the Nurse says “Great people’s tempers are terrible, always having their own way, seldom checked, dangerous when they switch from mood to mood” (Med. 119-121). The Nurse believes Medea’s actions are a result of her status, which encourages her to make commands and decisions that do not compromise her own will, even when she is consumed with anger. Euripides primarily uses Medea’s emotions and mental state to explain why she hurts her children. Later, while Medea goes into the house to kill her children, the Chorus continues to lament her terrible choice, saying “O wretched one, how has it come, this heavy anger on you heart, this cruel bloody mind?” (Med. 1265-1267). Euripides focuses on how Medea’s monstrous personality is the reason for her infanticide. In comparison, Dassin, asks the audience to more deeply consider the question of Medea’s motivation. Within her interview, Maya is asked if she thinks Medea was justified in killing her children (Dassin 1:25). Maya responds that he is not asking the right question, that he must ask what made her kill what she loves most (Dassin 1:26). Dassin addresses this question through Brenda’s story, and shows that Medea did not just act out of passion. Brenda reveals to Maya the truth about the moment when she killed her children. As the moment to kill her children approached, Brenda prayed that God would “save her children from the lions (Dassin 1:28).  She looked at her three children and prayed that she goes to God alone as they are perfect, and her heart would break before she dropped even a drop of their blood (Dassin 1:29).  In the end, however, Brenda realizes she cannot leave her children to the “antichrist and a whore”, so she must bring her children to God. (Dassin 1:30). Brenda’s account of her decision shows that her actions, and therefore Medea’s choice to commit infanticide, are much more than revenge on Jason. Brenda wanted to save her children from the destruction that Roy would bring if she let them live. In her eyes, leaving her children to Roy would be worse than death, leaving them vulnerable to a man that betrayed and denied his own family. Brenda, or Medea, did not merely kill her children for revenge, but to save the ones she loved most.

            Euripides uses the story of Medea to depict a monstrous woman that acts on passion and destroys all in her path. This common view of Greek mythology is tested within Dassin’s A Dream of Passion, using Medea to emphasize the generally inferior way women are treated. So often, women’s choices are denigrated. Men are not blamed for committing adultery, since it is a sign of masculinity to be with many women. In contrast, women are ridiculed if they deceive their husbands or retaliate for being wronged. Even today, women are not encouraged to exhibit strength or assert their place within a relationship as much as men are. The different portrayals of Medea by Euripides and by Dassin depict two sides to a story, the story that so often that puts the blame on women, but is almost always the other way around.

Works Cited

Dassin, Jules, director. A Dream of Passion. 1978.

Euripides, and Robin Robertson. Medea. Vintage Classic, 2009.