Medea, a powerful sorceress, daughter of the king of Colchis, the central figure of the myths about Jason and the Argonauts. Medea - who is she in mythology? Leader of the Argonauts, Jason

One of which is Medea. A brief summary of this tragedy will take you deeper into the atmosphere of Ancient Greece and tell you about the complexities of human relationships and human vices.

Philosophy of Euripides

The ancient Greek playwright Euripides argued that man is wiser than the gods, therefore he was one of the first to decide to take a critical attitude towards the inhabitants of Olympus. Any supernatural force, as he believed, is a figment of human imagination.

Euripides writes his famous tragedy called "Medea", reviews of which are still very mixed. The author's main merit is to portray not an ideal person, but a vicious one who suffers and commits terrible crimes. The characters in the play are negative. Events develop in such a way that human suffering comes to the fore.

Characters. Excerpts from the biography

For Euripides, the heroes of tragedies could be gods, demigods or mere mortals. Medea is the granddaughter of the sun god Helios, the daughter of King Aeetes and the Oceanid Idia, whose parents are Oceanus and Typhis. It is curious that in the tragedy the sorceress is not able to correct the situation without bloody reprisals, because if she had punished Jason and his bride without the intervention of the children, the end would have been less tragic. However, Medea becomes a humanoid bearer of vices.

The main characters were married for twelve years and gave birth to two boys - Mermer and Feret. Their marriage was organized with the participation of magical power: the gods cast a love spell on Medea and she helps Jason and the Argonauts get the Golden Fleece. In gratitude, the hero marries her. Although Jason was not a god, he came from a noble family and was the son of King Eson, ruler of the city of Iolka.

After meeting with Jason, Medea immediately shows her cruelty: she flees from Colchis with him and, in order to detain the angry Eetus, kills her brother Apsyrtus, who was her traveler. Pieces of the body were scattered on the seashore - because of this cruelty that Medea showed, reviews of this legend are very mixed.

Glauca is the daughter of the Corinthian king Creon. According to Jason, he is marrying her not out of great love, but in order to provide his sons with a happy future. Having become related to the royal heirs, the boys could later live among noble people.

"Medea": a summary of the tragedy of Euripides

The king of Corinth invites Jason to take his daughter Glaucus as his wife, to which he agrees. The actions of his wife Medea sometimes begin to frighten the hero, and he is not averse to leaving her to her fate. An angry woman calls her ex-husband ungrateful, because it was with her help that he mined the Golden Fleece and regained his former glory. However, Jason says that he fulfilled his duty to her. He gave her two sons, and now he can live out his life as he pleases. Perhaps this position will seem incomprehensible to women, so reviews of Jason about the tragedy “Medea” may be negative.

The Corinthian king expels Medea, but she tries to take revenge on her ungrateful husband and decides on a desperate act - to kill the children so that Jason will die of despair. The villainess persuades her boys to take Glavka a wedding gift - a poisoned crown, which instantly eats away the face of the beautiful queen. A desperate father, determined to save his daughter, dies after her. Medea condemns her children to death: the angry Corinthians would tear them apart, so the unfortunate mother herself decides to kill them and does not even allow Jason to say goodbye to them.

About the main character

Medea is not able to put up with humiliation, so she begins and looks for a way to take revenge. She does not immediately decide to kill the children, but the boys’ teacher instantly guesses her plans. Creon appears to Medea - the father of Jason's future wife orders her to leave Corinth along with his offspring.

She makes the final decision to kill after meeting with the childless Athenian king Aegeus. She understands how a man without offspring suffers, so she decides to take away the most precious thing from her husband. Medea and Jason were once a happy married couple, until the fateful day came when the leader of the Argonauts made his harsh decision. The main character is thinking about leaving the city alone - Aegeus offers her refuge, but the thirst for revenge is much stronger: with the help of her little ones, she wants to take revenge on her rival. According to the myth, Medea's children were killed by the inhabitants of Corinth, and Euripides changed the ending and depicted the unfortunate mother taking this sin upon herself and reassuring herself that the boys died a less terrible death. In the play, Medea changes her decision four times - this is where Euripides’ exceptional psychological skill is demonstrated, which shows the complexity of human nature.

The trial of Medea or how the heroine was punished

Euripides' contemporaries criticized the tragedy "Medea", the reviews were most often unflattering. The main opponent was Aristophanes, who believes that a woman had no right to kill her children. If Greek comedians and tragedians tried the heroine, the charges would be as follows:

Everyone knows that even the most recent traitor,

Keeps and protects his child,

And she is ready to throw herself into the mouth of a formidable beast for him.

But the granddaughter of Helios, the accused Medea,

He considers his anger higher than life

Their little ones - two sons.

She killed four at once:

Corinth lost its king and his heir

And her unborn Jason descendants.

Murder is the most terrible sin,

Kill four at the same time

And ruin the life of the fifth

For my own satisfaction -

The decision is rather crazy,

Than reasonable, therefore bear

Medea must be severely punished.

The further fate of Medea

Despite the bloody crimes committed, the killer was not executed and disappeared into distant lands. In Athens she married Aegeus and gave birth to his son Medus. Soon their home is visited by Theseus, famous for his fight with the bull Minotaur. Medea wants to kill the guest, but Aegeus recognizes him as his son in time and makes sure that the villainess Medea leaves their country. The summary does not tell about the further fate of the heroine, but other works tell about this.

On the island of the blessed, the exile becomes the wife of Achilles. The sorceress lives a long life, which is the most terrible punishment for her. She constantly lives in exile, suffers from the mere thought of the crime committed, everyone despises her. Perhaps this punishment is worse than death - such is the fate of the granddaughter of Helios.

Vakhtangov named after. theater about the play "Medea"

Medea

On the eve of the anniversary season, the artistic director of the theater R. Tuminas addressed the team: “I want to awaken in you the need to independently search for plays, directing, the need to try, experiment, dare, make mistakes, create, win.” This call was heard and supported by the troupe. This is how Y. Edlis’ “Farewell Tour” appeared and rehearsals began for Anuya’s “Medea” (directed by M. Tsitrinyak, starring Y. Rutberg).
What prompted you to turn to the tragedy of Anuya? - Time, our days with a globally impending lack of communication, destroying personality, society, culture, politics - on the one hand, and on the other - an attempt not to notice this problem, hence the irresistible craving for entertainment, shows, mindless fun. It is alarming that the modern world does not record the history of its illness - xenophobia, racism, and aggression are raising their heads. Against the backdrop of a catastrophic decline in morality, cynicism, the desire for well-being, and the power of money, human destruction is taking place. To be different, to defend independence, not to join the philosophy of “success”, to reject the seductive postulate “I am like everyone else”, to overcome the philosophy of philistinism and to realize that faceless equality is disastrous - this is the lot of the strong.
“Medea” by Anuya came down from Euripides’ buskins; it is closer, more understandable to us, its vocabulary is modern. The dialogue of the heroes of the tragedy seems to move in a spiral, in circles - from the past to the present and again to the past. The creators of the play tried to extract meaning from the flow of words and events.
Julia Rutberg's Medea lives not today, but yesterday, she has no tomorrow. Her memory ineradicably returns to its origins, when she, the daughter of the king of Colchis, stole the Golden Fleece for the sake of her beloved. For Medea, Jason’s betrayal is not only a violation of love, it is the destruction of her living space, the harmony of her soul.
There can be no winner in their duel. In single combat, different worlds collide, where duty, honor and “common sense” are antagonists. Death is the limit of their enmity and choosing it is the highest manifestation of personal freedom.
Medea goes into oblivion along with the children, because she cannot leave them to such a Jason, prospering in the world of philistine indifference he created. She will not allow them to become hostages to the vulgar philosophy of well-fed equality. Death is not Medea's defeat, but her moral victory.
In the tragedy of Anuya, two Worlds collided - Medea and Jason, freedom and the bourgeois standard of living.
The final mise-en-scène is a metaphor. The figure of Medea rhymes with the mythical Nike - a symbol of Victory.

The duration of the performance is 2 hours 15 minutes without intermission.

Stage director - Mikhail Tsitrinyak
Production designer - Maria Rybasova
Costume designer - Victoria Sevryukova
Lighting designer - Maya Shavdatuashvili
Translation - Valentin Dmitriev
Composers - Boris Kiner, Alexander Prokopovich

Characters and performers:
Medea - Julia Rutberg
Jason - Grigory Antipenko
Creon - Andrey Zaretsky
Nurse - Inna Alabina, Natalya Moleva
Boy - Vasily Simonov, Vladimir Logvinov, Vasily Tsygantsov
Guards - Fyodor Vorontsov, Vladislav Gandrabura, Vasily Simonov, Yuri Polyak, Valery Ushakov,
Andrey Zlobin, Pavel Yudin, Vladimir Shuliev
Priestesses - Anastasia Vasilyeva, Irina Kalistratova, Elena Melnikova, Nino Kantaria, Ekaterina Kramzina,
Alexandra Cherkasova, Polina Kuzminskaya, Anna Kalabina, Natalya Kiyko, Lada Churovskaya, Adelina Gizatullina

Greek myths are rich in descriptions of extraordinary heroes. Their characters are gods, fantastic creatures and mere mortals, whose lives and biographies are closely intertwined. Medea is one of the important female images of mythology. Several myths are dedicated to her. Painters, sculptors and filmmakers were inspired by her story.

Origin story

The name Medea translated from Greek means “my goddess.” The meaning of the name corresponds to the origin of the heroine. The daughter of the king of Colchis Eata and the oceanid Idia, the granddaughter of the god Helios, Medea is endowed with magical powers. The goddess gave strength to the girl in the form of a kind of help to her pet and -. The man arrived in Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece and met a girl with whom he connected his life, becoming her husband.

Mythology is distinguished by the presence of chronological inconsistencies, the duality of the plot and literary devices, which are not always correctly interpreted by historians and researchers. Perhaps related to this is the fact that today the public knows two characters with the name Medea. The girl is mentioned twice in the story of the Argonauts, but her appearances do not coincide chronologically, from which we can conclude that the authors were describing two different heroines. The key lies in her relationship with.

Myths about Jason are inextricably linked with the biography of Medea. , Theseus, Jason and are images bordering on semi-divine principles, therefore two worlds are available to them: the pagan one, in which shamans, old deities and matriarchy have power, and the new one, in which the gods. Initially, Medea was compared to the Greek goddess, as she could fly and had magical powers. In addition, she was loved by the people of Colchis and was similar to the witches from Thessalian fairy tales and the heroines of the Corinthian epic.

The plot telling about Medea and the campaign of the Argonauts led by Jason is described in the work of Apollonius of Rhodes in the 3rd century BC. e. In 431 BC. dedicated a play of the same name to the heroine in 424 BC. e. wrote the tragedy "Medea". He also worked on the image of the famous woman in his work. used her image in the tragedy "Colchis Women". Many lesser-known authors of Ancient Greece devoted their works to the biography of Medea, drawing facts about her from myths.

Myths and legends

The myth about the adventures of the Argonauts has reached modern readers in different variations, so the characterization of Medea in them is presented in a different light. The girl is always one of the main characters in the story, because Jason’s feat would not have happened without her help. From the myth of Jason, the image of the queen passed into the legend of Theseus. The heroine appeared before the public in different images: she was seen as a murderer of her own children, a passionate woman dying from disappointment.

The myth of Jason says that Medea helped the leader of the Argonauts take possession of the Golden Fleece thanks to a magic potion. Jason overcame all the trials set up by the king with the help of the girl’s advice. He plowed the field with fire-breathing oxen, sowed it with dragon teeth, from which warriors grew, and was able to defeat them by pitting them against each other. Medea put the dragon to sleep, and Jason stole the fleece. The origin of feelings between the characters is questionable. One version says that the love between Jason and Medea was the work of his patrons - Hera and Athena.

Medea ran away from home with Jason and the Argonauts, taking with her her brother, Apsyrtus. He became the girl's victim when their father's ship began pursuing the Argonauts. Medea dismembered her brother, and the king of Colchis had to stop the chase to pick up his remains. According to an alternative version, the brother led the pursuit of Medea and was killed by Jason. The young people got married on the island of Scheria. Medea found salvation from grave sins from her aunt, Circe.

The Argonauts' ship headed to the Mediterranean Sea and near Crete collided with the bronze giant Talos. The warrior, created, walked around the island three times a day and threw stones at those who threatened to attack. Uninvited guests became victims of the fiery streams that Talos directed at them. Medea helped deal with the warrior by pulling out the nail that plugged the hole in his body, and the ichor, which was a life-giving liquid for Talos, flowed out. There are different interpretations of this myth, but their ending is the same: Medea contributed to the death of the warrior.

Having reached his homeland, Jason gave Uncle Pelius the Golden Fleece, which was a condition for receiving the throne. The king refused to give up power. Medea assured his daughters that they could give their father youth. The result of her persuasion was the death of Pelias, who was impossible to resurrect. The heroes fled to Corinth. Famous for her magical abilities, Medea invented a paint that can rejuvenate. In addition, she stopped the famine in Corinth. Medea and Jason became rulers of the city.

In alternative variations, he fell in love with a woman, but she rejected his claims, for which Medea’s children gained immortality. Jason found out about this and left for Iolk. Medea killed her offspring - this is how Euripides and Seneca describe it.

According to another version, the king of Corinth, Creon, offered Jason his daughter as his wife. Medea poisoned the king and fled. Since she could not take the children with her, the woman killed them so that innocent souls would not be trampled upon by the Corinthians.

The third variation tells about the feelings that flared up between Jason and Creon’s young daughter. In a fit of revenge, Medea made a magical dress, which she presented to her rival as a gift. The outfit caught fire, and the girl burned down along with her father.

The woman, in anger, killed her children born from Jason and fled to Thebes. She was expelled from there by the townspeople who knew about the crime committed.

Film adaptations

Myths about Medea are classic dramatic material for theatrical productions. With the development of television, the genre of teleplay became popular. In the Soviet Union, productions of classics were often broadcast on screens. In 1967, a film adaptation of the play “Medea” was presented to the public, directed by Nikolai Okhlopkov, Alexey Kashkin and Alexander Shorin. Spectators saw the performance of the theater. Mayakovsky accompanied by a symphony orchestra. Evgenia Kozyreva performed the role of Medea.

In 1969, Pier Paolo Pasolini, inspired by the play of Euripides, released the film “Medea”, where she appeared in the image of the main character. For the opera singer, this role became the only one in cinema.

The Dane presented an interpretation of the mythological plot about the crime of Medea in 1988. Kirsten Olesen appears as the main character.

There is a myth about the hero Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. He was the hereditary king of the city of Iolcus in Northern Greece, but power in the city was seized by his eldest relative, the powerful Pelias, and in order to return it, Jason had to perform a feat: with his heroic friends, on the ship "Argo" sail to the eastern edge of the earth and there , in the country of Colchis, obtain the sacred golden fleece, guarded by a dragon. Apollonius of Rhodes later wrote the poem “Argonautica” about this voyage. A mighty king, the son of the Sun, ruled in Colchis; His daughter, the sorceress princess Medea, fell in love with Jason, they swore allegiance to each other, and she saved him. Firstly, she gave him witchcraft drugs, which helped him first withstand the test feat - plowing arable land on fire-breathing bulls, and then putting his guardian to sleep - the dragon. Secondly, when they sailed from Colchis, Medea, out of love for her husband, killed her brother and scattered pieces of his body along the shore; The Colchians pursuing them delayed burying him and were unable to overtake the fugitives. Thirdly, when they returned to Iolcus, Medea, in order to save Jason from the treachery of Pelias, invited the daughters of Pelias to slaughter their old father, promising to then resurrect him as a young man. And they killed their father, but Medea refused her promise, and the parricide daughters fled into exile.

However, Jason failed to obtain the Iolk kingdom: the people rebelled against the foreign witch, and Jason, Medea and two young sons fled to Corinth. The old Corinthian king, having taken a closer look, offered him his daughter as a wife and the kingdom with her, but, of course, so that he would divorce the witch. Jason accepted the offer: perhaps he himself was already beginning to fear Medea. He celebrated a new wedding, and the Medeetsar sent an order to leave Corinth.

On a solar chariot drawn by dragons, she fled to Athens, and told her children: “Give your stepmother my wedding gift: an embroidered cloak and a gold-woven headband.” The cloak and bandage were saturated with fiery poison: the flames engulfed the young princess, the old king, and the royal palace. The children rushed to seek salvation in the temple, but the Corinthians, in a rage, stoned them. No one knew exactly what happened to Jason.

It was hard for the Corinthians to live with the bad reputation of child murderers and wicked people. Therefore, legend says, they begged the Athenian poet Euripides to show in the tragedy that it was not they who killed Jason’s children, but Medea herself, their own mother. It was difficult to believe in such horror, but Euripides made us believe it. “Oh, if those pine trees from which the ship on which Jason sailed had never been destroyed had never collapsed...” - the tragedy begins. This is what Medea's old nurse says.

Her mistress has just learned that Jason is marrying the princess, but does not yet know that the king is ordering her to leave Corinth. Medea's moans can be heard behind the stage: she curses Jason, herself, and the children. “Take care of the children,” says the nurse to the old teacher. The chorus of Corinthian women is in alarm: would Medea not have brought upon worse trouble! “The royal pride and passion are terrible!

Peace and moderation are better." The groans have ceased, Medea comes out to the choir, she says firmly and courageously: “My husband was everything to me - I have nothing more. O wretched lot of a woman! They give her to someone else's house, pay a dowry for her, buy her a master; it hurts her to give birth, like in a battle, and leaving is a shame. You are here, you are not alone, but I am alone.” The old Corinthian king comes to meet her: immediately, in front of everyone, let the witch go into exile! "Alas!

It’s hard to know more than others: this leads to fear, this leads to hatred. Give me at least a day to decide where to go.” The king gives her a day's time. “Blind man! - she says after him.

“I don’t know where I’ll go, but I know I’ll leave you dead.” Who - you? The choir sings a song about universal untruth: oaths are trampled, rivers flow backward, men are more treacherous than women! Jason enters; starts an argument.

“I saved you from the bulls, from the dragon, from Pelias - where are your vows? Where should I go? In Colchis - the ashes of a brother; in Iolka - the ashes of Pelias; your friends are my enemies. O Zeus, why can we recognize fake gold, but not a fake person!” Jason replies: “It was not you who saved me, but the love that moved you. I am counting on this for salvation: you are not in wild Colchis, but in Greece, where they know how to sing the glory of both me and you.

My new marriage is for the sake of the children: those born from you are not full-fledged, but in my new home they will be happy.” - “You don’t need happiness at the cost of such resentment.” - “Oh, why can’t people be born without women! There would be less evil in the world."

The choir sings a song about evil love. Medea will do her job, but then where to go? This is where the young Athenian king Aegeus appears: he went to the oracle to ask why he had no children, and the oracle answered incomprehensibly. “You will have children,” says Medea, “if you give shelter in Athens.” She knows that Aegeus will have a son on a foreign side - the hero Theseus; knows that this Theseus will drive her out of Athens; knows that later Aegeus will die from this son - he will throw himself into the sea with false news of his death; but is silent.

“Let me perish if I allow you to be driven out of Athens!” - says Egey. Medea doesn’t need anything else right now. Aegeus will have a son, but Jason will have no children - neither from his new wife, nor from her, Medea. “I will uproot the Jason family” - and let the descendants be horrified. The choir sings a song in praise of Athens.

Medea recalled the past, secured the future, and now her concern is about the present. The first is about my husband. She calls Jason, asks for forgiveness - “that’s just how we are, women!” - flatters, tells the children to hug their father: “I have a cloak and a bandage, the heritage of the Sun, my ancestor; let them present them to your wife!” - “Of course, and may God grant them a long life!” Medea's heart contracts, but she forbids herself pity.

The choir sings: “Something will happen.” The second concern is about the children. They took the gifts and returned; Medea cries over them for the last time. “I gave birth to you, I nursed you, I see your smile - is this really the last time? Dear hands, sweet lips, royal faces - will I really not spare you?

Your father has stolen your happiness, your father is depriving you of your mother; If I feel sorry for you, my enemies will laugh; this should not happen! Pride is strong in me, and anger is stronger than me; it’s decided!” The choir sings: “Oh, it’s better not to give birth to children, not to lead a home, to live in thought with the Muses - are women weaker in mind than men?” The third concern is about the homewrecker.

A messenger runs in: “Save yourself, Medea: both the princess and the king perished from your poison!” - “Tell me, tell me, the more detailed, the sweeter!” The children entered the palace, everyone admires them, the princess rejoices at her attire, Jason asks her to be a good stepmother for the little ones. She promises, she puts on an outfit, she shows off in front of the mirror; suddenly the color drains from her face, foam appears on her lips, flames engulf her curls, burnt meat shrinks on her bones, poisoned blood oozes like tar from bark. The old father falls screaming to her body, the dead body entwines him like ivy; he is trying to shake off the thoughts that the singer Orpheus told people about: a person must be pure, and then he will find bliss beyond the grave.

And for this, the goddess of love Aphrodite also hated him. Theseus's third wife was Phaedra, also from Crete, the younger sister of Ariadne. Theseus took her as his wife in order to have legitimate children-heirs. And here Aphrodite's revenge begins. Phaedra saw her stepson Hippolytus and fell in mortal love with him. At first she overcame her passion: Hippolytus was not around, he was in Troezen.

But it so happened that Theseus killed his relatives who rebelled against him and had to go into exile for a year; together with Phaedra he moved to the same Troezen. Here the stepmother's love for her stepson flared up again; Phaedra was distraught over her, fell ill, and no one could understand what was wrong with the queen. Theseus went to the oracle; It was in his absence that the tragedy occurred. In fact, Euripides wrote two tragedies about this.

The first one has not survived. In it, Phaedra herself revealed her love to Hippolytus, Hippolytus rejected her in horror, and then Phaedra slandered Hippolytus to the returning Theseus: as if her stepson had fallen in love with her and wanted to dishonor her. Hippolytus died, but the truth was revealed, and only then did Phaedra decide to commit suicide. It was this story that posterity remembered best. But the Athenians did not like him: Phaedra turned out to be too shameless and angry here. Then Euripides composed a second tragedy about Hippolytus - and it is before us. The tragedy begins with a monologue from Aphrodite: the gods punish the proud, and she will punish the proud Hippolytus, who abhors love.

Here he is, Hippolytus, with a song in honor of the virgin Artemis on his lips: he is joyful and does not know that today punishment will fall on him. Aphrodite disappears, Hippolytus comes out with a wreath in his hands and dedicates it to Artemis - “pure of pure.” "Why don't you honor Aphrodite?" - the old slave asks him. “I read it, but from a distance: the night gods are not to my heart,” answers Hippolytus. He leaves, and the slave prays to Aphrodite for him: “Forgive his youthful arrogance: that is why you gods are wise, to forgive.”

But Aphrodite will not forgive. A chorus of Troezen women enters: they have heard a rumor that Queen Phaedra is sick and delirious. From what? Anger of the gods, evil jealousy, bad news? Phaedra is brought out to meet them, tossing about on her bed, with her old nurse with her. Phaedra raves: “I wish I could go hunting in the mountains!”

To the Artemidin flower meadow! To the coastal horse arena” - all these are Hippolytus’s places. The nurse persuades: “Wake up, open up, have pity, if not for yourself, then for the children: if you die, it will not be they who will reign, but Hippolytus.” Phaedra shudders: “Don’t say that name!” Word by word: “the cause of illness is love”; “the reason for love is Hippolytus”; “There is only one salvation - death*. The nurse opposes: “Love is the universal law; to resist love is sterile pride; and for every disease there is a cure.” Phaedra takes this word literally: maybe the nurse knows some healing potion?

The nurse leaves; the choir sings: “Oh, let Eros blow me!” There is noise from behind the stage: Phaedra hears the voices of the nurse and Hippolytus. No, it wasn’t about the potion, it was about Hippolytus’s love: the nurse revealed everything to him - and in vain. So they go on stage, he is indignant, she prays for one thing: “Just don’t say a word to anyone, you swore an oath!” “My tongue swore, my soul had nothing to do with it,” answers Hippolyte. He utters a cruel denunciation of women: “Oh, if only it were possible to continue our race without women! A husband spends money on a wedding, a husband receives in-laws, a stupid wife is difficult, a smart wife is dangerous - I will keep my oath of silence, but I curse you!

" He's leaving; Phaedra, in despair, brands the nurse: “Curse you! By death I wanted to save myself from dishonor; Now I see that death cannot escape him. There is only one thing left, the last resort,” and she leaves without naming him. This means is to blame Hippolytus against his father. The choir sings: “This world is terrible!

I should run away from it, I should run away!” From behind the scene there is a cry: Phaedra is in a noose, Phaedra has died! There is alarm on the stage: Theseus appears, he is horrified by the unexpected disaster, the palace swings open, and general crying begins over Phaedra’s body. But why did she commit suicide?

She has writing tablets in her hand; Theseus reads them, and his horror is even greater. It turns out that it was Hippolytus, the criminal stepson, who encroached on her bed, and she, unable to bear the dishonor, committed suicide. "Father Poseidon!" - Theseus exclaims. “You once promised me to fulfill three of my wishes, - here is the last of them: punish Hippolytus, let him not survive this day!” Hippolytus appears; he is also struck by the sight of the dead Phaedra, but even more so by the reproaches that his father brings down on him. “Oh, why are we not able to recognize lies by sound!

- Theseus shouts. - Sons are more deceitful than fathers, and grandchildren are more deceitful than sons; Soon there won't be enough room on earth for criminals. A lie is your holiness, a lie is your purity, and here is your accuser. Get out of my sight - go into exile! - “Gods and people know that I have always been pure; “Here’s my oath to you, but I’m silent about other excuses,” answers Ippolit. “Neither lust pushed me to Phaedra the stepmother, nor vanity to Phaedra the Queen.” I see: the wrong one came out of the case clean, but the truth did not save the clean one.

Execute me if you want." - “No, death would be a mercy for you - go into exile!” - “Sorry, Artemis, sorry, Troezen, sorry, Athens! You didn’t have a person with a purer heart than me.” Hippolytus leaves; the choir sings: “Fate is changeable, life is scary; God forbid I know the cruel laws of the world! The curse comes true: a messenger arrives. Hippolytus rode out of Troezen in a chariot along a path between the rocks and the seashore.

“I don’t want to live as a criminal,” he appealed to the gods, “but I only want my father to know that he is wrong, and I am right, alive or dead.” Then the sea roared, a shaft rose above the horizon, a monster rose from the shaft, like a sea bull; the horses gave way and ran away, the chariot hit the rocks, and the young man was dragged along the stones. The dying man is carried back to the palace. “I am his father, and I am dishonored by him,” says Theseus, “let him not expect either sympathy or joy from me.” And then Artemis, the goddess Hippolyta, appears above the stage.

“He’s right, you’re wrong,” she says. “Phaedra was also wrong, but she was motivated by the evil Aphrodite. Weep, king; I share your sorrow with you." Hippolytus is carried in on a stretcher, he groans and begs to be finished off; whose sins is he paying for? Artemis leans over him from a height: “This is the wrath of Aphrodite, it was she who destroyed Phaedra, and Phaedra Hippolytus, and Hippolytus leaves Theseus inconsolable: three victims, one more unfortunate than the other. Oh, what a pity that the gods do not pay for the fate of people!

There will be grief for Aphrodite too - she also has a favorite - the hunter Adonis, and he will fall.

The Greek hero Jason sails to Colchis to obtain the Golden Fleece. However, getting it is not so easy. The king's daughter Medea, who knows witchcraft, comes to his aid. With her help, Jason receives the Fleece and sails away, taking Medea with him. To delay her pursuers, the girl kills her brother and scatters pieces of his body along the shore.

Returning to Jason's homeland, Medea persuades the king's daughters to kill their father. After this, the sorceress will supposedly be able to return him to the young. However, after the murder she does nothing, and the people expel the ruler’s dishonest daughters. Now Jason's reign is not threatened, but after some time the inhabitants of the city rebel against Medea.

Having taken the children, Jason and Medea flee to Corinth. But the king of this polis, fearing the power of the witch, persuades Jason to divorce her and marry his daughter. With this supposedly the hero will be able to save not only himself, but also his children. Jason, who himself is beginning to fear his wife, agrees. After this, Medea is asked to leave Corinth, but she has nowhere to go.

She finds shelter with the ruler of Athens, Aegeus, who suffers from the lack of heirs. Taking advantage of this, the witch promises that if the king shelters her, he will have a son. Having found a new home, she decides to take revenge on Jason. Even before leaving Corinth, she pretended that she had come to terms with her husband’s choice. Now she is preparing a gift for his young wife. The woman asks her children to take the poisoned cloak and bandage to their stepmother, which they do. Upon the return of the children, Medea cries, says goodbye to them and kills them, realizing that if she does not do this, then others will.

Jason's new wife tries on the cloak, but suddenly it bursts into flames. Her father rushes to her aid, but an enchanted flame wraps around them both and they burn. Jason runs to Medea, but she and the bodies of the children run away from him in a chariot.

The main idea of the tragedy is to show how a person’s soul can be torn apart by passions to such an extent that his human personality is destroyed.