Miscommunication In Medea

In the start of Pasolini’s Medea, we see a very young Jason, five to be precise, being enlightened by Chiron, the Centaur about the sacrifice of the golden fleeced ram to Zeus, by Aetes, the king of Aea, for welcoming Phrixus. The Centaur then tells Jason about him being the descendant of Aeolus. In the same frame, the Centaur also tells young Jason about how his uncle, Pelias, imprisoned his father and took over the kingdom of Iolchus, which is rightfully his. In the next frame, as Jason turns thirteen, we see the Centaur transform his ways. Instead of preaching Jason, he is now teaching him. This is quite obvious by his sentence, “Everything is holy, but holiness is also a malediction. The gods that love, at the same time hate.” The Centaur is then seen telling a grown Jason about the purpose and the adventures of his life. He also informs Jason about encountering a world different from his on his endeavor to capture the ‘Golden Fleece’. The last sentence of the Centaur is, “In fact, there is no god.” Through the
words of the Centaur, Pasolini gives its viewers a prologue about the movie and also emphasizes on the fact that as we grow up, we tend to leave our childhood beliefs and become more rational and realistic. This is clearly evident by the Centaurs’ example of agriculture. Throughout the movie, Pasolini answers or feeds us glimpses of his thoughts on contrasting affairs such as barbarism and civilization, etc. which will be talked about in this paper.
Religion/Belief: In the start of the movie, as mentioned earlier on, the Centaur talks about religion and about mythical stories to a very young Jason. But as Jason grows older, the Centaur tells him that there is no god. Also, the world of Medea is shown to be very religious and the first scene of her world involves a sacrifice for the gods to replenish the soil. Medea is also shown visiting the temple, where she first sees Jason. After she escapes with Jason, she is shown quite tensed when the Argonauts finish their sail and get back to land. She even tries to summon earth and sun, but soon her beliefs are portrayed to be diminished. This is apparent through her dialogue with one of her nurses, in which she says that she cannot call upon her gods as she has been away from her lands for ten years. But she then agrees with her nurse and calls upon her god, who helps him fulfill her plan and destroy her cheating husband, Jason. This is also applicable to us modern people, as we tend to pray to our respective gods only in the time of need. Also, after marrying Medea, Jason imagines two Centaurs. The first one is the sacred one from his childhood, whereas the second one is a more rational and is said to have taken over the first Centaur because his logic was different from theirs. This also illustrates how childhood beliefs are wiped out in the process of growing up.
Stories and Reality: Once again, in the start of the movie, Pasolini talks about stories being complicated as they are full of deeds and not thoughts. He also talks about life being realistic in the mythical land. When Jason sees Pelias for the first time seeking to claim his rightful throne, Pelias gives him the task of acquiring the golden fleece of the sacred goat. While giving Jason this task, he clearly mentions that this is located in a place where no man has ever been, which implies that they have only heard stories about its existence. However, with the help of Medea, Jason gets the Golden Fleece to Pelias and tells him that the task helped him realize that the world is far wider than his kingdom, which reflects reality. The difference between stories and reality is evident in the scene where Jason sees two Centaurs, the first Centaur is half man, half horse, as usual, whereas the second one is a man. This interpretation is nuanced as the former one represents stories whereas the latter one is closer to reality. Moreover, in the scene where the nurse urges Medea to use magic, she tells Medea how everyone was afraid of her as they heard stories about her being a sorceress. Medea initially refuses to do magic and says that those stories were the reality which no longer exists. She is, however, portrayed to be gullible and conducts magic by calling upon her god, her grandfather, Helios.
Barbarism and Civilization: The first glimpse of Medea’s world is shown to be barbaric as a young man is sacrificed and his blood is sprinkled over the vegetation.
After this, Medea is shown exclaiming, “Give life to the seed and be reborn with the seed.” In the very next frame, the people of Colchis are shown conducting some tribal and barbaric celebration, where they spit on each other and are beating one another. Medea, after stealing the Golden Fleece, cuts her very own brother, the prince of Colchis into pieces so that his father’s army would slow down and the Argonauts could escape. However, Corinth, the place where Medea and Jason seek refuge after murdering king Pelias, is shown to be civilized. The people are depicted as educated and their celebration is also shown to be sophisticated and somehow modern. Even the king of Corinth, Creon, is portrayed to be educated and kind hearted as he grants Medea her wish of staying one more day in
Corinth.
Words and Deeds: In the opening scene, the Centaur is seen conveying, “I love telling lies.” He also drives the audience into a holy experience when he says, “All is sacred, all is sacred, all is sacred!” He also says about the sky being possessed by the god and the presence of holiness can be felt all around us. Until now, the Centaur is believed to be religious through his words, but then the Centaur is also shown telling a grown up Jason, “Perhaps I’m too much of a liar for you. Or too poetical.” He then talks about how ancient men are mythical as it is an integral part of their existence. His last sentence to Jason is, “In fact, there is no god.” This proves that words can be faked and misleading, whereas deeds cannot. This is something that Pasolini demonstrates in Medea more than once. This is also depicted when Medea calls upon her husband and her kids, hands them a wedding dress for Glauce and tells them to tell her that she wishes her no ill, but only happiness. She also talks about making her peace with Jason and urges them to forgive their father. She also tells, “My children, you still have long to live!” All these are mere words as her plan is ruthless and barbaric.
Home and Exile: The references that Pasolini presents for this argument are very subtle. In the city of Colchis, Medea is shown commanding her caretakers or nurses to put on her vestments as she wanted to pray in the temple and the nurses oblige without a word. But later on, in exile, Medea is shown being questioned by her nurses for going to Corinth. Also, Medea is shown telling her brother the truth about stealing the Golden Fleece in her home, whereas she lies to Jason in exile. This shows how different the two worlds of Medea were.