Euripides' Medea: Structure
- Prologue: lines 1-130: Nurse and Tutor worry
about Medea
- parodos:131-212: chorus
discusses Medea with the Nurse
- 1st episode: 212-411:
- 214-270: Medea explains her situation to the
chorus and gets them to promise to keep silent
- 241-411: Medea gets Creon to allow her to stay
in Corinth for one more day
- 1st stasimon: 412-445: chorus says that
men, not women are deceitful
- 2nd episode: 446-626: agon: Medea and Jason
wrangle
- 2nd stasimon: 627-662: chorus expresses
sympathy for Medea and anger at Jason
- 3rd episode: 663-823:
- 663-763: Medea gets Aegeus to promise her
refuge in Athens
- 764-823: Medea tells chorus she will kill her
rival and her children
- 3rd stasimon: 824-865: chorus sings praises
of Athens
- 4th episode: 866-975: Medea sends Jason with
children to Glauce with poisoned dress
- 4th stasimon: 976-1001: chorus mourns for
Glauce, children, and Medea
- 5th episode: 1002-1080: children return and
Medea resolves to kill them
- 5th stasimon: 1081-1115: chorus bemoans the
fate of mothers
- 6th episode: 1116-1250
- 1251-1235: messenger speech: messenger reports
deaths of Glauce and Creon
- 1236-1250: Medea resolves to kill her
children
- 6th stasimon: 1251-1270: chorus mourns for
Medea as they hear her killing her children
- epilogue: 1271-end: Medea reveals dead
children to Jason and flees to Athens
back to CC 303/352
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last modified October 21, 2001 by timmoore@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu