Medea No LP

What can made of Medea's escape at the end of the play?

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Medea insists that her crimes are Jason’s fault because of his betrayal, and though she grieves for their sons as much as he does, Jason’s grief makes her own more bearable. Jason begs to bury his sons’ bodies, an important rite in ancient Greece as souls without the proper burial rites could not join their ancestors in the Elysian Fields. Yet, Medea refuses even this, insisting that she will take care of their burials personally in order to ensure that her enemies cannot abuse her sons’ corpses. Medea flees to Athens, leaving Jason behind to lament his ill-fortune to the gods who do not appear to avenge him. This, combined with Medea’s actions, causes the chorus to question the will of the gods. However, it is apparent that they support Medea’s actions to some degree since they do not appear to succor Jason in his grief. This suggests that the gods may see the justice in Medea’s decision given Jason’s betrayal, a concept very unusual for the patriarchal society of ancient Greece.