Granddaughter of the Sun: A Study of Euripides Medea (Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava Supplementum)

By looking at aspects of "Medea" that are largely overlooked in the criticism, this book aims at an open and multiple reading. It shows that stories presented in the drama of 5th century Athens are not unrelated to human beings who actually exist. "This book attempts to view Medea in a positive light: looking not just at her failed relationships, but also at her successful ones and commenting on her intellect rather than just her clever manipulations of men. It tries to see her (or her author, who brings Medea home to Athens), as something of a political hero. The work considers the multiple facets of Medea, as the ideal wife, as a loving mother, as a woman among women, and how Medea becomes the author of her own story. The author asks what Medea is in the last scene, a demon or one of us, how she relates to the city-state; why this heroic drama is presented through the voices of two slaves."--Jacket Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Preface: A Monster No More 9 Introduction: The Polysemous Medea 13 Chapter One. An Ideal Woman 19 Chapter Two. Medea and Jason 49 Chapter Three. ? ex machina: If she is not a woman, what is she? 75 Chapter Four. Medea and her Children 97 Chapter Five. Medea in Corinth 131 Chapter Six. The Slave's Voice 169 Chapter Seven. The Battle of the Stories 189 Afterword: Medea Among Us 211 Works Consulted 215 Index: Passages of Medea Cited 223 Index: Thematic and Literary 229 By C.a.e. Luschnig. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [203]-210) And Indexes.