Crime, punishment, and revenge are central themes in both Medea, the Greek play by Euripides and “The Odyssey” by Homer. When comparing “The Odyssey” to “Medea” there are significant plot differences between the two ancient texts, much of the action in each is driven by a need to reclaim something through the act of revenge or punishing someone for a perceived crime. In Medea, revenge constitutes the main action of the play as the Medea attempts to exact punishment upon her former husband, Jason, for wanting to leave her and marry another woman for his own selfish reasons. After this is announced in the very beginning of the text, nearly all other scenes are based on her attempts to secure the perfect act of revenge, even if it is at the expense of her own children’s lives. In The Odyssey, revenge forms the frame narrative as well, and even though they are long periods throughout the tale when stories are being told, both Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, are planning for the day when they can punish the greedy suitors and regain what belongs to their family. Although there are several other smaller tales of revenge and punishment in Odysseus’ adventures home, this is the central issue of revenge and is thus very much like the frame narrative Medea is centered upon.
Medea is a tale that hinges upon crime, punishment, and revenge. Jason, Medea’s husband, whom she helped rise to power and fame through the discovery of the Golden Fleece, has decided to abandon his wife in favor of a woman who will benefit his social position. Medea has given up everything to help her husband be powerful and is, of course, very angry that he would let her go so easily. Furthermore, his reasons are not strong for leaving her and he is constantly trying to make excuses for his decision. For instance, he tells her in one of the important quotes from Medea by Euripides, “this was the main reason, that we might live well, and not be short of anything… also that I might bring my children up worthy of my position” (lines 547-551) as though it were a purely selfless act. He goes on to try to defend his selfish decision by saying, “it was not because of a women I made the royal allegiance in which I now live, but, as I said before, I wished to preserve you and breed a royal progeny to be brothers to the children I have now, a sure defense to us” (lines 581-585). Medea does not like his reasons and vows revenge. Since she has given up everything and even been forced into exile several times because of her acts, she is uncompromising and vows revenge. She begins thinking about a plot and once it’s been decided upon, even though it means murdering her own children, she states, Anger, the spring of all life’s horror, masters my resolve” (line 1076). In saying this, she is openly claiming revenge since she feels she is justified in committing murders for the sake of her own lust for retribution against Jason.
Even though it is difficult to defend murder, especially of children, to Medea, her reasons were perfectly sound. At the final moment when Jason realizes his punishment, he screams in one of the more important quotes from Medea, “Oh God, do you hear it, this persecution. These sufferings of this hateful woman, this monster, murderess of children? Still what can I do that I will do: I will lament and cry upon heaven, calling the Gods to bear me witness how you have killed my boys” (lines 1405-1410). As Medea goes off in her dragon-drawn chariot, she has achieved her revenge. It would not have been enough for her to have just killed Jason in retaliation for his abandonment of her, she wanted to make him suffer and leave him to live in the world that was now devoid of all the things he cared about. Again, while murder should never be justified, in this epic case it somehow seems it is (since it is not “real.”) Since Jason cared about his own selfish ambition and royal bloodlines, Medea left him with none of these things and thus it is almost a more severe punishment than death.
Crime, punishment, and revenge form part of the outside narrative of The Odyssey as the character who is the son of Odysseus, Telemakhos attempts to rid his house of the greedy suitors and as Odysseus tries to make it back to his homeland to regain what is his. Although there are other scenes of punishment in the text, such as when Odysseus kills the Cyclops (who in turn was seeking his own revenge because of the slaughter of his sheep) but this overall narrative about crime and punishment forms that outside part of the story. While Odysseus is gone, the suitors are eating all of the food in the place and taking it over as their own, even though Telemakhos keeps trying to tell them, “I hold the reins of power in this house” (I.414). He grows frustrated at the lack of respect from the suitors and decides that it is time that he becomes a man and seeks eventual revenge on these men who are plotting to kill him, saying, “We’d keep his house as dowry for his mother—his mother and the man who marries her” (II.355-356). These men are certainly criminals and there is a sense of justice being served when both father and son come back home and clean out the grounds of their presence.
In an ultimate scene of revenge and punishment, Odysseus and his son go crazy and mow down the suitors who are quite surprised that the famed leader has come back. As one of the important quotes from “The Odyssey” by Homer states, “They would have cut the enemy down / to the last man, leaving not one survivor, / had not Athena raised a shout / that stopped all fighters in their tracks” (XXIV. 387-390). It is clear that like Medea, these two men are insatiable in their need for revenge and retribution. While the end of The Odyssey is far more happy and less tragic, both of these texts share a similarity in that they are both framed in a narrative that discusses crime, punishment, and revenge.
Other essays and articles in the Literature Archives related to this topic include : Father and Son Relationships in “The Odyssey” by Homer Character Analysis of Telemakhos in The Odyssey The Narrow Role of Women The Odyssey by Homer
