Love, Death & Glory: Thoughts on Gender Dynamics Through Myth and History
The Myth of Medea & Jason
In 431 BC, one of the greatest ancient Greek tragedians named Euripides, had just finished his most well-known tragedy, Medea.
The tragedy itself centers around the thoughts and actions of Medea, who helped Jason on his quest for retrieving golden fleece and eventually married him. In Euripides’s telling, the plot begins with Medea swore vengeance against her unfaithful husband after she discovered Jason’s plan of marrying the daughter of King Creon and was sent into exile by King Creon. She then poisoned the princess and the King, followed by killing her own children in order to revenge against Jason. The play ends with Medea escaping to Athens driving a chariot sent by her grandfather Helios.
But let’s pause for a second before we dive deeper.
For those of you who have little knowledge about ancient Greece, the general attitude of ancient Greek society towards women will be considered misogynistic by many today. For instance, Pandora, the progenitor of all women, who was created by Zeus to punish mankind for the theft of fire, was regarded as the root cause that brought Man into turmoil according to Hesiod’s Work and Days:
Don’t let a wily, wheedling woman who wiggles her bottom
wholly befuddle your wits: her purpose is rifling your pantry.
One who believes in a woman believes in cheats and deceivers.
Not very pleasant, right?
Well, this is not an isolated case. Take a look at Helen of Troy, who has her name since associated with beauty and destruction, it is not difficult to find women have been used as scapegoats for the cause of all sorts of conflicts in the patriarchal society which almost always revolve around men’s desires for power, status and wealth. To men, it is women to be blamed for the corruption of society because of their “promiscuous” nature, or the fall of a hero because he was distracted from his goal by women. They are Sirens.
Noted, Euripides did not develop the character of Medea just by himself. In the beginning, she was only briefly mentioned in Hesiod’s Theogony. Only with the collaborative effort of various poets and authors the image of Medea was brought to life. Like many other female figures in the ancient Greek literature, Medea possesses both beauty and divinity, but at the same time she is also a vindictive sorceress capable of using powerful magic. The two seemingly opposite sides of Medea is a perfect demonstration of women under male gaze. She is an object of desire, the “trophy wife” of Jason who had conquered the “barbaric land”. On the other hand, her presence is particularly threatening: men fear being captured by women’s magical sexual power, and thus losing control over themselves. They project this fear on her and resent her for it.
But that’s not all.
What’s really intriguing here is Euripides’s interpretation of Medea and Jason which has revealed to us the most interesting gender dynamics between men and women, particularly on the subject of love and social values.
Here comes the real question: do men and women want the same thing?
Answer is, No. Because of the psychological differences that root in our biology.
First of all, the stereotypical gender difference is clearly indicated during the arguments between Jason and Medea: Jason does not understand the devastating effect of his betrayal on Medea because he has never placed love on the top of his priority list; like all the other mythological heroes, earning glory (kleos) through accomplishing great deeds is what matter to him the most.
Likewise, Medea does not understand the importance of kleos for men. From Medea’s perspective, her identity and entire self-worth are determined by her husband — — a woman powerful as Medea is still powerless in front of a man she fell in love with. And no, it is not sexist, on the contrary, it is the truth, a very unfortunate one in regards of human nature. It is exactly why the myth of Medea has been portrayed by countless dramatists throughout the history. And it is what makes the tragedy such a powerful one.
Athena & Aphrodite
Some of you may ask, why would ancient Greeks worship Athena or Aphrodite, if they were truly a bunch of misogynists?
Indeed, it is quite odd to think about. Athena, who was born fully armed from the forehead of Zeus, is often associated with wisdom, handcraft and warfare, which were all considered masculine qualities at that time. And most importantly, she reminds a virgin.
How about Aphrodite? She is essentially the opposite of Athena. Aphrodite was born from the foam from Uranus’s genital and is associated with love, sexuality and fertility. She is depicted as frivolous and seductive, just like Helen of Troy, Medea or Pandora, who are all representatives of femme fatales.
And it makes sense now. Athena acquires respect from ancient Greeks by equips herself with masculine qualities, which means at the same time she must renounce her female sexuality, and therefore remain a virgin. On the other hand, Aphrodite is worshiped by the ancient Greeks because she is the archetype of female — — dangerous, mysterious, and seductive. Yet rarely portrayed in a positive light.
The Legend of Cleopatra
The legendary Cleopatra VII Philopator is famous not only because her status as the queen regnant of Egypt, but especially her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
In 1963, a movie adaptation from the biography The Life and Times of Cleopatra was released. In the movie, Cleopatra quickly becomes obsessed with the dream of ruling the world together with Caesar after he helps her secured the throne. After Caesar’s assassination, Cleopatra turns to Mark Antony, hoping she can achieve her unfulfilled dream through Antony. Eventually they are defeated by Octavian, a ruthless, iron-willed man who desires nothing but power.
Are women facing the glass ceiling in the society?
There is no glass ceiling. If you are ruthless enough.
Women, even those who are in the position of power, generally has less appetite for power, wealth and social status (the modern form of kleos) compared to men. So in order to compete with men, she must renounce her own sexuality, forfeit her sentimentality, abandon any romantic fantasies, and then she can transforms herself from Aphrodite to Athena — — in other words, she must give herself in to take the responsibilities like men do. With great power also comes with great responsibilities, and most of time you must give up something of yourself in order to be in the powerful position. Men understand this as it is what they signed up for. But for a woman, it takes tremendous amount of strength for her to transform, for she is different than men and burdened with feminine qualities that hinder her from advancing in this cruel Darwinistic society since birth, and must undergo massive transformation just to survive, adapt and evolve.
