An Analysis Of Medea In The Ethical Way

Medea as one of Euripides'most famous tragic drama, which focuses on moderation. In Medea what exactly does the poet want to show us in a ethical way and how to understand his new connotation of moderation are just we want to respond in this paper. To solve these questions, we adopt literature analysis, the context of reduction and logical reasoning by dividing the whole article into three chapters.In chapter 1, in order to understand the 5th century BC Greek abstemious ethical thoughts, We enter the theme from three aspects. Firstly, revealing the historical context and Clarifying ethical characteristic of Medea'era which with the establishment and development of polis moderation replace brave became the most important virtue. Secondly, in the context of abstemious ethical, we analysis the concept of moderation by selecting several typical characters from Homer to Plato. Moderation has been praised highly by the Greeks since homer's era but not been used as a virtue of human beings. Socrates was the first one who introduces the moderation concept into the category of ethics. Finally trough the analysis of Euripides'tragic dramas, we know that one of the themes of his plays is encouraging the Greek citizens uphold moderation virtue.In the second chapter, firstly for understanding the tragic Medea more easily, we have to summarize the manuscript of this drama. Then in the analysis of this paper, we point out what the poet really wants to present to us. Affected by Contemporary wise men, he thinks that fate is controlled by free will not by spirit. Through medea the poet also expressed his concerns about the women's fate who have a low status in that era. But on the other hand, as a member of patriarchal society and an advocate for Athens democracy, he blames medea's deficiency of moderation virtue. from the poet's point, medea's deficiency of moderation has two aspects. The first one is as a woman she lusts for her desires. The second one is she does not obey the order of the polis.In the last chapter, on the analysis of the text, we summarize and criticize Euripides'view of moderation. The contradiction of poet's standpoints has a lot to do with the background of the patriarchal society and the historical limitations of his thoughts. With the decline of the Athens democracy, the connotation of moderation virtue should be changed. The investigation of moderation should be established in fair basis. We shall bring moderation into the domain of justice.