The myth of Jason and Medea presents the archetype of the “manly” women, through the imagery in art depictions and in the oral tellings itself. The archetype can be seen in other landmark stories like Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”.
In the main piece, Medea is depicted in a disfigured, unappealing body. She shows Jason a figurine. The figurine is not labeled, however, I believe it to be Ganymede–who was taken from the earth by Zeus's eagle to serve as cupbearer to the gods in Olympus.(Morford 206) The figurine represents ambition, hope, and aspiration to reach the heights of Olympus. Medea showing Jason the figurine represents their relationship of Medea fostering and encouraging Jason's ambition. Additionally, the depiction of Medea's body as unappealing and lacking represents her fatal flaw: despite being a woman, she "acts like a man". In the myth, Medea helps Jason succeed in obtaining the golden ram's hide because she is influenced to fall in love with him by Hera. However, the king discovers her betrayal and orders her capture. To escape, Jason kills Medea's brother. Later, Medea tricks King Pelias' daughters into killing him, but Jason still does not ascend the throne according to their pact. After Jason divorces Medea to marry Glauce, Medea kills the king and princess of Creon, leading to her children being killed in revenge. The story depicts Medea as a cunning, heartless sorceress driven by her strong emotions for Jason. In the end, Jason is disgusted by her and leaves her to pursue a throne. All her efforts to make Jason happy and share his ambition backfired. This story discourages acts of ambition and the scheming of women, it shows a lack of innocence and is unattractive for a woman. The same quality that might be considered valor of a man (ex. Odysseus), is considered unbecoming for a woman. This archetype of the “smart helper maiden” is not only in Greek classical literature but is also seen in the Elizabethan era.
In Shakespeare, “Macbeth”, Lady Macbeth is depicted similarly to Medea toward the beginning of the play. She encourages her husband Macbeth to kill the king in order to become king himself. Macbeth is repulsed at the idea but proceeds to kill the king out of ambition. However, after stabbing the king to death, Macbeth is horrified by his own actions and is confronted by his wife. This scene in the book is depicted in the second image. Lady Macbeth a scary, ghastly figure speaking to the horrified and terrified Macbeth who is holding the daggers. To push Macbeth into killing Duncan, the king, she questions her husband's manliness. And she has a famous monologue where she exclaims “Come you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here.”(Shakespeare 1.5. 38-42) At this moment Lady Macbeth asks the gods to turn her into something other than a woman in order to execute the murder her “weak” husband is so reluctant to do. Similar to Medea, she is comfortable with murder as long as the one she loves reaches their goals. However, after Duncan’s death and for the rest of the play, she slowly becomes mad. Desperately trying to wash away an invisible blood stain, representing her sin and guilt, she ends her madness by killing herself.
Both women, exude male ambition, actions, and scheming resulting in great loss of lives and tragedy. These stories follow a similar path of a woman helping her significant other through dishonorable means, blood on their hands, then the loss of everything they have–whether it be sanity or family.
Works Cited
Muir, Kenneth. Macbeth. Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2013.
O., Morford Mark P, et al. Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Pencz, Georg, ca. 1500 - 1550. (n.d.). Jason and Medea. [Print]. Retrieved from https://library.artstor.org/asset/ASMITHIG_10314008164
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Wordsworth Classics, 1992.
Tate. “'Lady Macbeth Seizing the Daggers', Henry Fuseli, ?Exhibited 1812.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/fuseli-lady-macbeth-seizing-the-daggers-t00733.