Medea’s wounds: Euripides on justice and compassion

Abstract

This article explores the political implications of Euripides' Medea. Drawing on Aristotle's and Nietzsche's readings of Euripidean tragedy, I will show that Euripides' play brings to the attention of its audience that the Greek democratic ideal of persuasion can also be used by a foreign woman in her demand for justice. Thus, Euripides at once advocates the civic ideals of the Athenian polis and points to its injustices, in particular with regard to women and 'barbarian' foreigners. But at the same time, Euripides emphasizes that Medea's politics of violent revenge demonstrates not only the error in her judgment (hamartia) but also the deeply wounded moral psychology of the oppressed and marginalised people. The article finally examines the contributions of Euripides' tragic storytelling to political theory and democratic citizenship with particular reference to the concepts of justice, hospitality, compassion and 'enlarged mentality'.