The scenes of violence in Euripides play "Medea" contributes greatly to the overall meaning of the work. During the era of the ancient Greeks, women were oppressed and forced to be subordinate to men, despite the fact Greece claimed to be a land of freedom and democracy. The character Medea is intelligent and clever, but her abilities are hampered by the fact that she is a woman. Medea is far from a role model for her brutal actions during the play, but her hostility exists in order to provide evidence for the ways that women had to go to extreme measures to liberate themselves from their subordinate roles.

Medea is an extremist who willingly gave up everything she knew for her husband Jason, betraying her father, her brother and her country in the process. Shortly after she and Jason returned to Greece, however, he left her to be...