Medea

The desire for revenge is the most visible and dominant theme in the play. While it is left ambiguous as to whether or not Medea’s need for vengeance is justified, Seneca shows that revenge never truly brings peace, but rather begets the desire for even more revenge. Medea’s longing for revenge is clear almost as soon as she begins to speak: she implores, “Come to me now, O vengeful Furies, punishers of sinners” (I.13). Importantly, while Medea repeatedly invokes spirits and divine forces to assist her in her quest for vengeance, she sees herself as having the agency and responsibility to carry out revenge herself. As she notes, “I will be the one to kill the victims on the altar” (I.39).

Medea’s desire for revenge, and sense of why she is justified in seeking it, is rooted in the injustice of Jason abandoning her after she has made so many sacrifices in order to be with him. As she bitterly reminds Jason, “For you I gave up my kingdom, my father, my brother/My shame” (III.488). Medea insists that she wants vengeance no matter what the cost may be, and she is unconvinced by the Nurse’s attempts to dissuade her to endure her suffering without lashing out.