Madea and Marriage

Comparative Literature
The Glamorous Life of a Greek Wife…

“We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (Euripides 695). This worn-out grievance has poured through the vocal chords of all women since the first pains of childbirth, but more importantly the atrocious day men began to pervert the customs of marriage. Prominence and provocation clothe the declaration as Medea, a forlorn woman abandoned by her husband, explains the status and circumstances women of ancient Greece were subject to desolately endure. Scholars are blinded by the era of great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, but the institutions and governments built by these “great men” denied the admittance of women into their institutions and therefore closed the door to potentially incredibly intelligent minds. All women, even those leading satisfactory lives, were subject to the unfair laws and barriers men created. Although women have been cast into the depths of submission through out the course of history, Medea daringly broke the ideal perception of weak and ignorant women in the Greek tragedy, Medea, where she made an aggressive speech by mournfully proclaiming,

Firstly, with an excess of wealth it is required
For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies
A master; for not to take one is even worse.
And now the question is serious whether we take
A good or bad one; for there is no easy escape
For a women, nor can she say no to her marriage
She arrives among new modes of behavior and manners,
And needs prophetic power, unless she has learnt at home,
How best to manage him who shares the bed with her.
And if we work out all this well and carefully,
And the husband lives with us and lightly bears his yoke,
Then life is enviable. If not, I’d rather die.
A man, when he’s tired of the company in his home,
Goes out of the house and puts an end to his boredom
And turns to a friend or companion of his own age.
But we are forced to keep our eyes on one alone. (Euripides 695)

The basic circumstances of Medea’s quandary is an exact replica of all Greek wives, including the union between Penelope and Odysseus in the epic poem The Odyssey, even though one marriage is perceived as blissful and the other horrendous. The results of the love stories or marriages are contradictory, but both women are held to the same customs or qualifications a Greek marriage requires despite the attitudes or perceptions of their husbands and the wives themselves.
Medea’s Criteria In order to relinquish the bitter taste of her failed marriage, Medea composes a dramatic speech, which outlines the criteria for wives in Greek marriages and then is confirmed by the commentary of the chorus. The first requirement consists of “buying” husbands or presenting a dowry and in return the husband shall become the master over his wife’s body. Life for those who do not obtain “masters of their bodies” or husbands enter a more dismal state than the potential of a dreadful life from a bad husband. The second criterion includes the inability of daughters to refuse a marriage arranged by their father or guardian. Lastly, the criteria allows men to find comfort outside of the home, where the woman must remain true to one only or will be considered unfaithful. “In archaic times, marriage did not entail sexual exclusivity for men…” (Anhalt 155). Woman must learn new behaviors to please their husbands by turning allegiance towards her new family and forsaking blood relatives and continue generations for their husbands family, but not their own. Learning the appropriate behaviors of marriage is the pinnacle of whether an enviable life will be achieved. Every marriage fits into these criteria no matter the circumstances or the outcome.
Masters and Dowries Both Penelope and Medea entered their marriages with dowries and submission, especially the surrendering of their bodies to their husbands. Penelope’s dowry was paid in traditional forms of wealth, therefore fulfilling the first criterion for a Greek marriage. However, Medea fulfilled the criterion in a nontraditional form as her roots began in a foreign country, but she still submits into the bondage of a Greek marriage. Greek marriages are not constituted from Greek blood or origin, but by the criteria it meets. Media’s dowry and submission are paid through allegiance to Jason while he is on his quest to obtain the Golden Fleece. Medea commits heinous acts of murder, including the slaughter of her own brother in order to earn or “buy” Jason’s affection. The submission occurs as Medea takes drastic measures to ensure the well being of her coveted Jason, rather than that of her family and country. Medea’s payment is accepted as a dowry and submission because allegiance and respect can be worth more than valuables, especially when remembering the tragic story of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. The submission of the body is the common thread of the surrendering of the body during the consummation of marriage for both woman, but child bearing is also considered surrendering the body to their spouses ruling. Their bodies are simply being used to produce sons or heirs to continue their name, wealth, and position. However, without a husband Greek woman have no opportunity of a great life or name. An Achaean woman finds fame through husbands and more importantly the sons they bear. This is evident when Odysseus travels to the underworld and is confronted by a parade of mothers who distinguish themselves through the honor and accomplishments of their sons.
Refusal of Marriage When marriages are arranged for Greek woman, refusal is not an option because only the benefit of men are taken into consideration. Penelope’s father and Odysseus came to the agreement of marriage through social status and wealth which would benefit both families. Medea was not offered the chance to refuse or accept Jason because of the circumstances in which they met. Critics claim Medea warranted her own marriage, because of her betrayal to family and country by stating,
Any contract involved in a marriage would normally be between the husband and the wife’s father or guardian. Medea, however, represents Jason’s oaths and pledges as having been given to herself. In contraction her marriage on this basis she has already translated herself into the role of a male citizen, operating in the public sphere as Jason’s equal. (Anton 13)
The claim of Medea taking on a male role and an equivalent position to her spouse in marriage does not account for the higher authority she was obeying. The gods, Aphrodite specifically, played the role of guardian for Medea by initiating and arranging the union when she bewitched Medea into falling in love with Jason to procure a way to steal the Golden Fleece. As a goddess Aphrodite trumps Medea’s father and plays the role of guardian while using her magical abilities in the persuasion of love, consequently Medea was unable to refuse her husband. Aphrodite created an arranged marriage, therefore fulfilling the third criterion for a Greek marriage.
Remaining Faithful The final criterion for a Greek marriage addresses the subject of “faithfulness” where women may only have one partner in every aspect of life, but men may share a bed with multiple women and continue to be considered faithful to his wife. The tragedy, Medea, is based on the infidelity of Jason and Medea’s inability to accept the traditions and rights of men. Although Odysseus has mimicked Jason’s behavior to a much larger magnitude during his years of wondering, readers continue to lend sympathy to Medea and glorify Penelope and Odysseus’s marriage. Why do readers pity Medea when Penelope’s plight is much greater? Even though one marriage is considered happy and the other depressive, both contain infidelities committed by the men, but it is socially and culturally acceptable. The other half of this criterion is that the women must remain faithful to their husbands and no other. Through the abandonment and betrayal of her family, Medea religiously devoted herself to Jason. However, Penelope reaches a difficult position with riotous suitors waiting for her hand in marriage, while grappling to stay faithful to her missing husband. Penelope wishes to wait for Odysseus, who can only be assumed as dead, but she must also keep her persona of a faithful and virtue to be accepted by her husband at his vague but impending homecoming. Penelope’s allegiance can be questioned after the suitors claim they will leave if only Penelope will command them to do so, but she refuses to turn them away and continues to dangle an enticing opportunity of marriage in front of them. Only when Penelope and Odysseus are reunited is her allegiance and faithfulness proven as she relates a parallel of herself and Helen.
One can hardly imagine a better example of a lack of caution than Helen, who rashly took the stranger to her bed. Penelope is explaining to Odysseus that she has always been very careful to avoid being deceived, even remaining hesitant until now to accept him… She contrasts herself with Helen and thereby underlines and justifies her own exacting caution that has been necessary until this moment. (Morgan 2)
Penelope must prove her faithfulness and fidelity by comparing herself to Helen, but Odysseus admits nothing, nor is he expected too. Both women were forced to leave their families and be adopted into their husbands, instead of the idea of merging the two families. Medea betrays her whole family and even kills her brother, while Penelope has no close relatives even though Odysseus’s parents live with him in Ithaca. Full allegiance is expected of the woman even through pledging loyalty to their husband’s family exclusively, where nothing is asked of the men.
Conclusion
What makes one marriage more successful when both meet the same dismal criteria of Greek marriages? When measured in terms of happiness, the potential success or failure of a marriage depends solely on the woman, even though males subjugate the relationship. With men in the dominant position, they decide; who to marry where woman have no choice, become master’s to their wives’ bodies, demand full allegiance but are not required to return the favor, and may choose to be unfaithful with no repercussions. At this point Greek wives seemingly have neither a voice nor any choices concerning their lives, but Achaean woman can formulate their own attitudes towards the predicament formulated by their husbands. This is the sole difference between Medea and Penelope’s marriages and outcomes. Medea’s marriage ends in tragedy because in her mind she decided to fight the system or criteria of the Greek marriage, therefore in her mind infidelity was not an option that was acceptable by either spouse. The rage of jealously from Jason’s unfaithful behavior left Medea in a dismal state and tragedy engulfed her once happy marriage. On the other hand, Penelope accepted the opposite approach towards her marriage by accepting and enforcing the traditions of Greek marriages. Instead of asking Odysseus of his fidelity, which she was required to prove at his homecoming, she accepts the culture concerning unfaithfulness and the mindset that “ignorance is bliss”. By adhering to the criteria and rules of Greek marriages, Penelope is able to please her husband and create the enviable marriage Medea described. The criteria for Greek marriage is designed for men and women to be happy in each position deemed appropriate for each sex but, the system also is created to keep the women in a submissive position through traditions and the cultures expectations. When the system is fought against, like Medea portrayed, the marriage is unsuccessful and unhappy, but when the criteria is embraced, the culture accepts the outcome of men maintaining control and women finding happiness only in the happiness of their husbands.

Work Cited

Anhalt, Emily Katz. "A Matter if Perspective: Penelope and the Nightingale in 'Odyssey.'" The Classical Journal19.512-534 ser. 97.2 (2002): 145-159. Jstor. 11 Dec. 2008 .
Anton, Powell. Euripides, Women, and Sexuality. Routledge. Jstor. 11 Dec. 2008 .
Euripides. Medea. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Vol. 1 ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 690-720.
Morgan, Kathleen. "Odyssey- Adultery, Shame, and Marriage." American Journal of Philology 0002-9457 ser. 112.23.218-24 (1991): 1-10. Jstor. 11 Dec. 2008 .