Depiction of Character of Medea

Medea is a powerful sorceress who wants to get revenge on a man named Jason for his wrong doings towards her. Jason betrays Medea by leaving her for another woman. Medea wants Jason to be left with absolutely nothing and make him feel how she felt. In the soliloquy Medea by Euripides, Medea manipulates those around her by inflicting pain on them, outsmarting them, and making deals for her benefit.

Medea begins her journey of manipulation upon the King of Corinth, Creon.

Her goal is to convince the King to let her stay in Corinth and belittles herself to make this possible. It is as if she “choose a lower chair or slump(ed) in order to be lower that others” and used strategies such as innocent conversating( Submissive Body Language). This makes her seem like a helpless woman to Creon to make him more lenient to let her stay. She even goes as far to say that “(her) knowledge does not amount to much,” when it is very clear to most of Corinth that this is not true(med. Act 1.36). This is how she tries to underestimate herself to Creon to make him feel like she’s less of a threat. The king doesn’t buy  into her argument at first, because her skills are supreme and well known.

Medea’s next goal is to find an escape route which just happens to be a man named Aegeus, who does not live where Medea does. Aegeus was easily tricked into letting Medea stay with him after her revenge, in exchange for his fertility. Aegeus would most likely like to think “that (he) mak(d)e (his) own decisions, that (he was) in control. But we’re all open to persuasion by others” when in reality, he could not see Medea’s true intentions and ended up getting tricked into doing a dirty and burdensome deed for her (Los Angeles times- Persuasion). This is exactly what happened with Aegeus when  he thinks he’s in control of the situation, and the one who’s really to benefit, but ultimately Medea uses him as an escape route.  Medea makes him “Swear by every god and godhead. […] Never yourself to drive me from your land, and if an enemy of mine tries to drag me off, never while you live to let go” and Aegeus does swear to this(med. 1.132-133). Medea’s ability to manipulate  is displayed to a great extent when she makes Aegeus swears this oath. She knows that the Corinthians will continue to  hunt her no matter where she goes after she takes her revenge on Jason. Aegeus would most likely not have ever sworn to do this if he knew what she planned.  Now, he is bound to protect her, by the gods, no matter what.

A “classic experiment from the 1970s found that people bought twice as many raffle tickets from a stranger if he first gave them a can of Coke — proof that even tiny favors can

work to your advantage. Likewise, your buddy is more likely to help you move that couch if you’ve ever given him a ride to the airport” (Robert Cialdini). This experiment reflects a lot on our attitude towards others as humans. A similar strategy to one to be on his good side), so that she can use his trust in her to get underneath his skin and greatly punish him with pain. Medea shows Jason a not so sincere apology, that works very well on him, she claims “(She has) been out of (her) mind, hysterical*, and he accepts the apology willingly and even says “I praise you now, Medea, and I did not blame you” (Med.1.150).    Medea is extremely clever and uses this quality to it’s full potential. She  easily manipulates Jason into believing that she’s not mad at him anymore, even though she’s been expressing her anger and hatred towards him for days. She even goes as far as to say things she knows will please Jason, such as comments about how she is Just a dumb woman and that is why she has acted this way.

In the soliloquy Medea by Euripides, Medea manipulates those around her by inflicting pain on them, outsmarting them, and making deals for her benefit. Medea manipulates Creon by convincing him she’s not powerful and she is innocent, She punishes Jason by killing her two sons when she convinced him she was on his side, and she made a horrible deal on Aegeus’s behalf, that could ultimately get him in a lot of trouble. After Medea kills her two children  she is on top of the world with a feeling of success, for she knows she has inflicted the greatest pain on Jason’s heart possible, using her expert level manipulation skills.

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