Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, had the power to use her influence and persuasion to get what she wanted. She lived a life in which she had little control over the events going on around her, even on issues that had a direct effect on her, such as the sacrifice of her own daughter, Iphigenia. The women of this society were given no opportunities to voice their opinions and were forced into this war without any chance of winning honor for themselves. Each was and would remain as voiceless as Iphigenia as she fell to her death.
Clytemnestra
was powerless to save her daughter; her whole existence was prescribed for her.
In effect, there was no place for women in this masculine and
violent society. Clytemnestra
was defiant in the way that she refused to be ignored. You speak
as to some thoughtless woman: you are wrong. My pulse beats firm. I tell what
you already know: approve or censure, as you will; alls one to me. This is my
husband, Agamemnon, now stone dead; his death the work of my right hand, whose
craftsmanship justice acknowledges. There lies the simple truth (Agamemnon,
377).Even
without a war, without a voice in decisions, Clytemnestras opinions
would have never mattered because she held no political power. She was destined
for a life as a second-class citizen, as a guardian
of the house while her husband was away winning his glory. And when he returns
he slights her by having his mistress accompanying him. If
she had obeyed all the codes of the society there would be no
justice or glory; but
by taking the ax in her hand she, for once, gained control of her destiny.
In
choosing to take her revenge on her own, she became what men would fear for ages
afterward: an empowered woman.Power
is the basis of the issue;
and in every case when the powerless do battle with the powerful; the outcome is
determined before this dispute. Clytemnestra was aware that she
would be condemned for eternity once she lifted her hand to her husband and yet
she decided to go ahead with it. She
realizes the double standard she will be held to when she states:
His
child, and my own darling, whom my pain brought forth He killed her for a charm
to stop the Thracian wind! He was the one you should have driven from Argos; he,
marked with his daughters blood, was ripe for punishment. But my act shocks your
ears (Agamemnon, 377).Clearly,
Clytemnestra will never gain sympathy from her
fellow citizens. Yet she appears undeterred and possesses an amount of
self-confidence that must have been surprising to the ancient Greeks. She
understands her justification for the murder, and thats all
that matters to her. Her husband, on the other hand, didnt have
the courage or the self-confidence to protect his daughter,
Iphigenia. Clytemnestra
is clearly the stronger of the two unions.Medea,
on the other hand, is among the most notorious women in Greek tragedy. A
princess of Colchis, a non-greek region on the Black Sea, fell in love with
Jason and employed her destructive powers that came naturally to
her, to
help him steal the Golden Fleece from her father. In the process, she killed her
only brother and instigated the murder of Pelias, who had usurped Jasons throne.
Medea had sacrificed her life and her power in exchange for Jasons love. Medeas
character has an
implacable will-to-power. She thirsts for revenge upon Jason who, in his desire
for power, betrays her by marrying the daughter of the King of Corinth, Creon,
who banishes Medea and her children from Corinth.Medea
is
a woman and as a member of the patriarchal, man concerned, Greek community she
is considered less than that of male
species and is treated appropriately. She is restricted in her actions by social
understandings and is positioned in society
to fit the conventional role of the passive, emotional, irrational and
completely powerless women. But what we come to realize is that
Medea is a passionate, emotional, deceptive, and a predominantly angry
individual, capable of decidedly evil deeds. It is ironic that
Medea, a woman in a man-centered society, could command such power over those
who specifically set out to suppress her. The fact that she is capable of
organizing the murder of the King, a
Princess, the greatest ruling powers within the society, from her prison-like
doorway is indication of the great power she, herself, controls, despite her
societies attempt to suppress her. By banishing me at once he
could have thwarted me utterly; instead, he allows me to remain one day. Today
three of my enemies I shall strike dead: father, daughter, and my husband.The
best is the direct way, which most suits my bent: to kill by poison (Medea,
456).Here
Medea makes clear her power over the princess, the bride of Jason. She
demonstrates the extent of her power in that she has total control over the
situation and it is she who decides when the princess shall die. These ironic
conflictions between
Medeas position as a women and the fact that she still controls so much power
calls attention to the ineffectiveness of the social system.Medea
has a tenacious will to get what she wants. Her
single-minded determination was a characteristic associated with heroic men, not
women. Women, the ancient Greeks believed, possessed wild and dangerous
emotions. Medea embodies both these traits, male and female, a deadly
combination. After murdering
the sons she bore Jason, Medea takes her bloody revenge and acquires the power
that was denied her at the start of the play. Everything
you have said; but Zeus the father of all knows well what service I once
rendered you, and how you have repaid me. You were mistaken if you thought you
could dishonour my bed and live a pleasant life and laugh at me.
The princess was wrong too, and so was Creon, when he took you as his
son-in-law and thought he could exile me with impunity. So now, am I a tiger,
Scylla? Hurl at me what names you please! Ive reached your heart;
and that is right (Medea, 479).Throughout
both plays a womans voice was heard.
It is a true voice because it includes many voices: a woman as mother, as wife,
as bride, as lover, as daughter,
as dependent on men and as a uniquely free entity. A woman who
has been hurt by the things men say and believe about women, but who uses these
stereotypes in her own interests and to advance her own plot, none only then
Medea and Clytemnestra. We see them both as heroes and as powerful goddesses, as
helpers and as demons.In addition both plays display the furious revenge of a woman scorned. As for her two sons by Jason, whom Medea murdered, we see the heart-rending motif of the slaughter of beauty and innocence, an especially poignant example of which is only too evident in the sacrifice of Iphigenia. It was common in ancient Greece for a woman to be identified with nature and there is an additional theme of what happens when nature is mistreated. In conclusion, all I can say is: What goes around, comes around!