O “gênero feminino” segundo dois discursos da Medeia, de Eurípedes

Abstract

In the first of the two selected discourses of the Euripides’s play, situated between verses 213 and 266, is possible observe the protagonist of play, under attack of great fury (263-266), listing a series of impositions and injustices suffered by women (232-241). In this context reported by Medea the women can only serve to men, either in bed, or in the affairs of everyday life. Nevertheless, the "revolutionary" heroine, emphasizes the strength and resilience of women (230-231) and foreshadows that she has a desire of take justice into her own hands, and take revenge on the husband who betrayed her (259 - 263). In the next discourse, set between verses 869 and 905, we watch the performance of Medea pretending to have changed his mind and accepting the impositions of Jason. This is the opposite of the previous discourse; Medea accepts not only to share the bed of Jason with his new "Nymph" (888), but also asserts that women are childish (889-890). Medea pretended to be a submissive to masculine and social impositions to get revenge on her husband, we know, in fact, the unfolding of the play, that she has not changed her opinion about the previous discourse. Although the tragedy, while artistic and literary work, doesn’t allow us appropriate the content expressed by the characters of literal or realistic manner, what can be observed in these two discourses of Medea is a supposed picture of the social role that women played Athenian cultural and social context portrayed by Euripides, all these comments are credible and show what probably was imposed on women by society to the Greek Classical Period,