“Marginalized” Medea: The Role of Chorus in Shaping Medea’s Political and Feminist Identities

Abstract

Euripides’ play Medea has always been the subject of academic interest and increasingly so in the last few years due to the rise of feminism. However, research concerning the role of chorus in Medea’s characterization is scant, leaving many details unexplored. This paper examines the chorus’s role in shaping Medea’s two most important identities: her political identity as an outsider, and her feminist identity as a wife and mother. By using the methods of textual analysis and close reading, this research seeks to provide in-depth and detailed insights into Medea’s characterization and the broader social background of ancient Greece. Close analysis reveals that the chorus presents Medea’s identities through both direct exposition and implicit suggestion. The chorus’s direct description of and reflection upon Medea’s situations, the delicate relationships between the chorus and Medea and their interactions enrich her identity in various ways. The circumstances of Medea are also an epitome of the entire marginalized female group in ancient Greece, who suffer from prejudice and social restrictions.