Mythological Womanhood in Iphigenia and Medea A. T. McGillen College

Medea and Iphigenia, specifically in Euripides’s plays Medea and Iphigenia at Aulis, are two faces of the same issue in Greek mythology. There are cultural expectations of womanhood that involve being gentle, restrained, and obedient. But restrained, obedient women make for boring heroes--in order to be an active protagonist (or antagonist), female characters must display strength and intensity beyond the bounds of what a typical “good” woman should have. Mythological womanhood is a complicated thing for the central figure in a tragedy--it requires masculinity as well as femininity, passion and forcefulness. Through exploring different aspects of their respective relationships to factors around them--family, homeland, love, other women--as well as investigating the level of sympathy the text views them with, a complex portrait is painted. Medea and Iphigenia both characterize two different paths of what it means to be a girl or woman in mythology and the intricacies that entails. It would be easy to call them opposites in every way, but the truth is more complicated than that.

Three Duties, Girlhood and Womanhood

In mythology, a clear line separates girlhood and womanhood. All females have a duty to their fathers, their...