MEDEA – A GREEK TRAGEDY
A play in 5 Acts
Review questions for video
NAME_____________________
1. ________________________ is the playwright who wrote the Greek tragedy, Medea.
2. In the opening act, Medea’s nurse reveals what has happened to put Medea in a terrible state of
mourning. When the time, place and background are revealed this is referred to as the play’s
_______________________. Medea’s husband, _____________________, has left her to marry a
younger and richer woman, King ____________________ daughter. (Later, we find out her name
is _________________.) The nurse also foreshadows future events when she confesses some of her
fears about Medea. What are some of these fears?
3. We discover Medea’s situation is especially tragic because as a young princess, she
________________________ her family, ____________________ her brother, and
______________________ her homeland to steal the Golden Fleece for Jason. Without her
husband, she and her ____________ children are left abandoned in a foreign country.
4. As a foreigner, Medea is also subject to rumors about her skills with casting _____________,
creating various _________________ from herbs, and ________________ her enemies. In other
words, many of the native Greeks believe her to be a ________________________.
5. King Creon arrives to announce Medea’s fate. He sentences her and her two
___________________ to banishment. Why was this considered a worse punishment than death in
those times?
6. Creon confesses he made this decision out of ______________________ for his daughter. He is
afraid Medea will seek ________________________ on her.
7. According to our notes, Euripedes created plays with more sympathetic women characters. Medea
reveals much about a woman’s role in Greek society, a very male dominated society. She exclaims,
“Women, it is a bitter thing to be a woman.” How is she a sympathetic character at this point in the
play?
8. At the end of Act I Medea rants, “Which one? Which one? Which one?” What is she debating to
do here?
9. What type of conflict do we see established in Act I?
10. What are your first impressions of Medea?
11. Consider what the scene designer and director have created for the set. How do these influence the
themes and tone of this play? Consider colors, shapes, texture, movement, sense of place, and use
of space.
12. What do you think of this style of acting so far
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Act II, III, and IV
1. Jason, Medea’s husband, comes to offer her ______________________________. What are your
impressions of him?
2. When Jason spurns Medea, she reviews the five times she has saved Jason. List them.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
3. Jason refutes Medea’s claims by explaining how he saved her. He credits this goddess,
______________________________, the goddess of love, as being responsible for motivating
Medea to do what she has done for him in the past.
4. The 3 Greek women work as the chorus. How do they contribute to the plot? What do they say
about the situation Medea finds herself in?
Act III
1. Note the set pieces. What is added to the sides of the doorways to Medea’s house? What could
they symbolize?
2. In the meantime…the nurse has gone off to find King __________________ of Athens. She is
hoping he will offer Medea and her sons ___________________. King ___________________
shares a problem he is having. Why does he reveal this very personal bit of information with her?
3. The King tells us he has gone to the Oracle at Delphi for help. What is an oracle?
Which god is connected to this oracle? What did this oracle tell him?
4. Medea and the King make a deal. What is it?
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Act IV
1. Medea is going to present wedding gifts to Jason’s new bride, Creusa. What are they?
2. Medea asks Jason for a favor. What is it? What does he reveal after she makes this request?
3. “Justice builds a firm house. The doors of her house are vengeance!” What does Medea reveal
about herself here?
4. The old man servant comes with news from Creusa. What is her response to the beautiful wedding
gifts Medea has sent?
Act V
“Vengeance makes grief bearable.” - Medea
1. Jason’s servant arrives. He reveals what Medea’s magic has done to her victims.
What has happened to Creusa and Creon? Keep in mind the quotation: “…blood mixed with fire.”
2. “Hate is a bottomless cup.” How do Medea’s actions prove this quotation to be true?
3. Jason returns to talk with Medea. What is his purpose in talking to her? Will his pleas work on
her?
4. What is Medea’s explanation for the actions she has taken?
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5. We reviewed the definition of tragedy on the other worksheet. How does this play fit that
definition?
6. What is Medea’s tragic flaw? How does it lead to her destruction?
7. We said that tragedies, even though they often end in disaster, prove to be uplifting to the
audiences. What lesson or theme do we take away from this play that could be considered
uplifting?
8. How is Medea a complex character?
9. What did you like about this play? Explain.
10. What didn’t you like about this play? Explain.
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