Euripides

Euripides (Euripidēs) (485 or 480 BC, Athens – 406 BC, Macedonia) was an ancient Greek dramatist. He was the author of about 90 plays, of which 17 tragedies and one satyr play have survived. Among Euripides’ works, the tragedy Medea (431 BCE) which later became the basis for the artistic interpretation of the figure of Aeëtes’ daughter, Medea.

The tragedy depicts dramatic events that took place in Corinth: Medea, a Colchian woman, was betrayed by her husband Jason, who abandoned his family and married Creusa, the daughter of Creon, the ruler of the city. Medea exacted a cruel revenge: first she sent her rival a robe and crown soaked in poison, which killed both Creusa and Creon, and then she murdered her own children. By this act, she severed the last thread that bound her to Hellás (Ancient Greece) and to Jason.

According to ancient sources, in original interpretation Medea did not kill her children. This plot innovation was introduced by Euripides, who thereby created a truly tragic image of this woman. In Aristotle’s view, Euripides wrote the most tragic of all plays, portraying the most brutal of acts—a mother murdering her children.

Medea was staged in 1962 at the Kote Marjanishvili State Academic Theatre in Tbilisi (directed by A. Chkhartishvili; translated by P. Beradze; published in 1969).

Literature: გ ო რ დ ე ზ ი ა ნ ი  რ., არგონავტები, თბ., 1999; მ ი ს ი ვ ე, ბერძნული ლიტერატურა. ელინური ეპოქის ეპოსი, ლირიკა, დრამა, გამოც. მე-2, თბ., 2009; უ რ უ შ ა ძ ე  ა., ძველი კოლხეთი არგონავტების თქმულებაში, თბ., 1964; ყ ა უ ხ ჩ ი შ ვ ი ლ ი  ს., ბერძნული ლიტერატურის ისტორია, ტ. 1, თბ., 1950; წ ე რ ე თ ე ლ ი  გ., ბერძნული ლიტერატურის ისტორია, ტ. 2, თბ., 1935.

R. B. Gordeziani