Euripedes' Medea, the rest of the play.
Poem:
Excerpt from "Medea in Athens," a long poem by Augusta Webster, 1879.
Man, man,
Wilt thou accuse my guilt? Whose is my guilt?
Mine or thine, Jason? Oh, soul of my crimes,
How shall I pardon thee for what I am?
Never. And if, with the poor womanish heart
That for the loving's sake will still love on,
I could let such a past wane as a dream
And turn to thee at waking – turn to thee!
I, put aside like some slight purchased slave
Who pleased thee and then tired thee, turn to thee!
Yet never, not if thou and I could live
Thousands of years, and all thy years were pain
And all my years were to behold thy pain,
Never could I forgive thee for my boys;
Never could I look on this hand of mine
That slew them and not hate thee. Childless, thou,
What is thy childlessness to mine? Go, go,
Thou foolish angry ghost, what wrongs hast thou?
Would I could wrong thee more. Come thou sometimes
And see me happy.
Dost thou mock at me
With thy cold smiling? Aye, can I not love?
What then? am I not folded round with love,
With a life's whole of love? There doth no thought
Come near to Aegeus save what is of me:
Am I no happy wife? And I go proud,
And treasure him for noblest of the world:
Am I no happy wife?
Dost mock me still?
My children, is it? Are the dead so wise?
Why, who told thee my transport of despair
When from the Sun, who willed me not to die
Nor creep away, sudden and too late came
The winged swift car that could have saved them, mine,
From thee and from all foes? Tush, 'twas best so.
If they had lived, sometimes thou hadst had hope:
For thou wouldst still have said 'I have two sons'
And dreamed perchance they'd bring thee use at last
And build thy greatness higher: but, now, now,
Thou has died shamed and childess, none to keep
Thy name and memory fresh upon the earth,
None to make boast of thee, 'My father did it.'
Yes, 'twas best so: my sons, we are avenged.
Thou, mock me not. What if I have ill dreams,
Seeing them loathe me, fly from me in dread,
When I would feed my hungry mouth with kisses?
What if I moan in tossing fever-thirsts,
Crying for them whom I shall have no more,
Here nor among the dead, who never more,
Here nor among the dead, will smile to me
With young lips prattling 'Mother, mother dear'?
What if I turn sick when the women pass
That lead their boys; and hate a child's young face?
What if —
Go, go; thou mind'st me of our sons;
And then I hate thee worse; go to thy grave
By which none weeps. I have forgotten thee.
After reading the except above, and in the spirit of Valentine's Day, write a love poem from Medea to Jason. Then, in honor of Singles Appreciation Day, write another one that takes place after their divorce (but not necessarily after her flight into exile). Make it bitter or make it pleading; make it deadly in its sweetness or blunt in its outrage and indignation. The poems together must total at least 28 lines. This is not meant to be a satire or parody, but it would be appropriate to employ the wit that Medea often uses.
OR
Consider our upcoming marathon read event. Using whatever artistic medium you choose, design a concept image for our flier and for a banner to be used in the Livestream. Your art will involve choosing which colors to use for the event in all design elements, what font to use, and a general "feel" for the visuals we display. If you would like to create a full flier, go ahead! If you're making it digitally, make sure you keep your layers so that it can possibly be edited as the group collaborates on a name and the wording.
Writing Assignments:
As we discussed in class, spectators at Medea were shocked by the feminist message. However, some took his villainous depiction of Medea (and other female characters) to be an attack on the female gender. In a organized essay of 300 words, illustrate the duality of Medea - how do we reconcile the amazingly ahead-of-its-time message of Medea's earlier monologues with the play's villainous depiction of the tragic heroine? Was Euripedes a protofeminist or was he putting these words in Medea's mouth only to set her up for a fall?
OR
Write a press release for our upcoming marathon read event. Take a look at this article, How to Write a Press Release With Examples from CBS News, or recall the lessons of last year's guest speaker. The press release will need a tagline; information about the venue, time, and place; instructions on how to participate; a description of what will be happening; a message about the reason for and purpose of the event; and anything else you feel will attract media attention to our project. Remember that the purpose is to invite contact, and make sure to include information on us and how to get in contact with us. Write at least 300 words, being aware that it's better to write more material than needed and edit it down.
Quiz
The quiz will take place orally in class on Tuesday, closed book. It will test your reading comprehension of the text of the play Medea, and also these videos:
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