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It is hard to tell if treachery and trickery go hand in hand, given the circumstances that the trickster has undergone. Perhaps relating to Apate, the goddess of deceit in ancient Greek mythology, one can understand why trickery is so gross and what leads it. This notion brings to light the premonition that trickery is associated with women since one of the tricksters is a goddess. In Euripides’ play, the main trickster that suits the current time is Medea, although there are other tricksters. The main reason for choosing Medea aligns with Hyde’s definition of a trickster that of a ‘boundary crosser.’ As a woman of their time, Medea dares to cross into a world where no woman during that time would have. Medea, therefore, typifies Hyde’s trickster by betraying her family for her husband, using her enchanting power, and then living the betrayal of her husband through revenge.
The boundaries crossed by Medea cannot be underrated, given the position of women in ancient Greek. This society views women as conniving and deceiving whisperers who should not be trusted at any cost. Ancient Greek appears to be a patriarchal society where men are predominant and rule over their wives and society; they are above the law. Medea says that:
Many men, I know, become too arrogant, both in the public eye and in their homes. Others get a reputation for indifference because they stay at ease within the house. There’s no justice in the eyes of mortal men. (Euripides, 2008, p. 10).
This statement shows how men belittle women since they are perceived as superior creatures. Medea to step up and be treacherous is a massive task that shows how she has traversed the boundaries of a patriarchal society bent on belittling women.
Medea’s embodiment of trickster nature starts from her home, where she abandons all the principles she stood by to marry Jason, the love of her life. Medea rants, “For you, I raised the light which rescued you from death. I left my father and my home, on my own, and came with you to Iolcus, beneath Mount Pelion” (Euripides, 2008, p. 20). Being a princess, Medea has a duty to the people of her kingdom, and marrying Jason would destroy all this. However, she is yearning to escape from this responsibility and is willing to use trickery. It is quite easy to comprehend that Medea is a trickster since she is an enchantress who uses magic. The use of magic requires tricks as they are not real but illusions created to make them appear real.
Medea continues to typify Hyde’s’ trickster by tricking his ex-husband Jason that she has moved on from the relationship and the divorce. She then plots to kill Jason’s children and his new wife. She then tricks them by escaping using a golden chariot belonging to her grandfather, the sun god Helius. This element of trickery is consistent with what Hyde earlier states about tricksters being able to cross boundaries not expected for them to cross. She betrayed her family when she married Jason and killed her brother to slow down her father’s army. Yet, it is the same family that she runs to for help when she wants to escape from Jason; her family had already disowned her. The trickery in Medea keeps to evolves and shows that friends and enemies can all be tricked.
Medea’s trickery indeed knows no boundary as she tricks King Pelias’s daughters into murdering their father. Medea carries out this task in a cunning way; King Pelias was sick and required certain medication. Medea then tells Pelias’s daughters that their father’s medicine is ineffective and cannot help him cure the disease he is suffering from, sterility. Instead, they should use another medication provided by Medea. Medea’s medication turns out to be poison which ends the life of King Pelias. The weight of murdering a parent and the guilt that comes with it is something that no child should have to face the consequences of doing. Medea crossed a boundary that she should not have as people’s consciences are never the same regarding the parent’s death.
Hyde also states that tricksters often find themselves in trouble after their actions of trickery which Medea did. The first trouble that she felt was that of her hand in the death of King Pelias through her trickery. Pelias’s death ensures that Medea has to escape to save her life and that of Jason. Medea also finds herself in double trouble when she murders her children and that of her new wife. She is not only guilty of murder but has also lost her flesh and blood through the death of her children. Throughout the rest of the play, it is not mentioned if Medea had any surviving children after the death of her two sons. The trouble that Medea falls into due to her trickster nature is that she is constantly on the run, fearing for her life, losing her children, and not being welcome back home.
Before Medea murders Jason’s new wife, she tricks them into thinking she has forgiven them and is on good terms with them. Medea says to the children, “You and your mother will end the bad blood in this family. We’ve patched things up, and no one’s angry now” (Euripides, 2008, p. 37). The aim of this pretense is that Medea wants Jason to come with the children to spend a night with them. Medea goes further in her plot to commit revenge by offering gifts to Jason’s wife, Glauce. The gift package is a dress and a coronet laced with a deadly poison that, when worn, takes little to kill. Glauce dies during the delivery of the death as the children are also murdered. Jason is left to recount his life decisions as the trickster carries the day in her plans.
In conclusion, Hyde’s trickster is fully typified by the character of Medea, as Euripides puts it. Medea exhibits core definitions of and characteristics of a trickster as described by Hyde. Medea is a boundary-crosser as she knows no boundaries both with her family and then with her children. She also defines the norms accustomed to being a woman in Greek society, where women are seen as weak and less powerful than men. Her power is seen in how she uses her enchanting tricks to help Jason acquire the Golden Fleece and how she helps Jason defeat her father’s army. Her trickery is concluded in her plot to avenge Jason by killing her children and Jason’s new wife when she gifts her a coronet and dress laced with poison. Trickery is therefore showcased in the acts of revenge and betrayal in the play by Euripides.
Reference
Euripides. (2008). Medea(I. Johnston, Trans.).
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