Tragic Hero!!!

Webster’s dictionary defines a tragic hero as a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy. In Medea by Euripides the question is, is Medea a tragic hero? I feel that Medea is a tragic hero because her downfall was caused by her own doings.

From the very beginning of the story one can tell that Medea is doomed. She betrays her father and kills her own brother to help Jason, her husband to be, steel the Golden Fleece. She then convinces Pelias’s daughters to kill their own father, so that Jason could become king. All of these acts might not seem rational but to a woman in love they are. The nurse makes a reference on how strong Medea’s love for Jason is; she said, “Her heart on fire with passionate love for Jason.”(Euripides, 8 ) The nurse is trying to give an explanation of why Medea behaved in the manor that she did, betrayed her father and brother, and plotted to have the king of Iolcos murdered.

Medea’s story arouses empathy; one cannot help but feel sorry for all the pain she is enduring. For the first time Medea speaks, she says, “Ah, wretch! Ah, lost in my suffering, / I wish, I wish I might die.”(Euripides, 96-7) one can only feel sorry, for here is this woman who gave up her family and her home to be with a man who betrayed her and her pain is so deep that all she wants is to die.

However, Medea’s own actions sealed her fate. Her suffering could have been avoided if she had chosen to give up her vengeance. Once she was betrayed by Jason, she chose to kill the princess and the king with the poison dress. She also chose to get her children involved by making them deliver the poison dress, knowing what the outcome would be; if she did not kill her kids they would be hunted by the king’s men. Finally, Medea was the one who chose to kill her own children so that they would not be hunted by the kingdom and to make Jason suffer. All of her choices added to her misery.

Medea displayed excessive pride which is a common characteristic amongst tragic heroes; she chose her vengeance over the life of her children. I think that Medea wanted Jason to loose everything that she did; her family and her land. (This story is a perfect example of an eye for an eye.)