Euripides' Medea and Fox's The O.C.
The tragedy of Medea is well known and many variations of this play have been written. The revenge-driven plot is full of deceit and action. Audiences are familiar with vengeful and witty male characters that use their qualities to their advantage in order to survive and conquer. In Euripides’ Medea, things play out differently. The clever protagonist is a female character that successfully carries out her plan for revenge. “Euripides’ drama is the first detailed account we have of the Corinthian portion of Medea’s story, and has exerted a powerful influence on later representations in art and literature” (Halperin 150). Medea, as a female archetype, has been reused and recycled repeatedly throughout history. Even today, the archetype of Medea is still prevalent in several television shows. One example can be found in Fox Broadcasting Network’s The O.C., where the character of Julie Cooper is the perfect example of the ancient archetype reflected in modern times. While contemporary television shows are governed by the law, ancient Greek dramas are governed by the gods. “Poets can still give us what civilized society denies us – images of a personal justice, a kind of elemental justice unmediated by modern legal institutions,” hence the term poetic justice, and this is exactly what one sees in Medea (Cantor 34).
exile
Medea’s character “displays many stereotypically Greek male attributes, such as courage, intelligence, decisiveness, resourcefulness, power, independence, and the ability to conceive and carry out a plan effectively” (Halperin 162). It may well be these qualities of hers, which “surpasses every male character in the play,” that made the play such a success amongst the ancient Greeks (Halperin 162). The audience generally expresses an interest in female characters embodying these qualities because it does not occur often. It can be said that love drives all of Medea’s qualities to the extreme. “She would not have persuaded the daughters of Pelias to kill their father,” and would not have murdered her own brother if she were not trying to help Jason succeed (Medea l. 9-11). “Euripides starts his play by gaining sympathy for Medea, who is represented in the prologue as a desperate woman maltreated by a contemptible man” (Halperin 156). In The O.C., Julie Cooper is the equivalent to Medea while her husband, Caleb Nichol, resembles Jason. Like Jason, Caleb is also filing for divorce. Julie is not physically exiled from where she resides, as exile is not something that occurs often in contemporary entertainment. Instead, her exile is that she receives no assets from the divorce because their marriage had not lasted long enough to meet the requirements of the marriage agreement. Medea's need for retaliation stems from Jason's betrayal because she loves him. On the other hand, Julie wants to kill Caleb because of her materialistic needs. If he passes away, she inherits his company and its assets, but if the divorce papers are processed, she gains nothing.
manipulation
Medea’s “name suggests Greek words for ‘cunning’ or ‘full of plans’” (Halperin 151). She is a master of manipulation. She is persuasive and requests for Creon to “allow [her] to stay this one day and to think out how [she] can best go into exile and find a haven for [her] children … you too are a father, you have children. You are likely to be sympathetic to mine (Medea l. 340 – 345). Creon clearly loves his daughter, and Medea takes advantage of this by imitating those feelings towards her own children. By doing so, Creon sympathizes with Medea and gives her the luxury of one more day in town. Again, Medea’s persuasiveness is observed through her conversation with Jason. She decides to “speak soft words to him … that all is for the best … I approve of the marriage he has made to the princess … I shall ask him to let my children stay … for I shall send them holding gifts in their hands” (Medea l. 775 – 787). Here, Medea immerses herself in the role of the vulnerable and desperate wife, and “when Medea plays the compliant idiot, [Jason] buys it – that’s what he expects in women” (Delahoyde 28 – 29). Jason agrees to let their children deliver gifts to the Princess, which leads to the destruction of the household. Julie from The O.C. also pretends to be the compliant wife when she willingly signs and hands over the divorce papers. She gives Caleb what he wants and in turn, she asks for one last night with him.
revenge
Julie with the poisoned drinks.
Medea’s quick thinking allows for her to get her revenge in the short amount of time that Creon has allowed her to stay. “A delicate robe and a golden garland … she will die horribly – as will anyone who touches the girl, with such drugs shall I anoint the gifts” (Medea l. 785 – 789). Although Medea pretends to be a loving mother, she sends her children into their deaths. “Drugs and poisons have been Medea’s stock in trade beforehand, but she has the children carry the poison garb to the princess” (Delahoyde 28). Blinded by her rage and lust for vengeance, she no longer cares about collateral damage. Similarly, Julie’s choice of a murder weapon is also drugs. However, she delivers this on her own. In The O.C., Caleb returns to Julie’s home to retrieve medication he had left behind. Julie, like Medea, snatches up the opportunity in front of her and switches out the bottle of pills. She persuasively asks Caleb, “Do you want to do something tomorrow night? Just think of it as one last hurrah. It’ll probably be the last night we spend together” (“The O. Sea”). Caleb is cautious as Creon and Jason are, warning her, “you’re not going to seduce me out of this divorce,” but agrees to meet her one last time, just as Creon agrees to let Medea stay one more day and Jason promises to try and take care of the children (“The O. Sea”). Creon, Jason, and Caleb all suffer from their decisions. Creon knows that Medea “may be plotting something evil in [her] heart / and so [he trusts her] that much less than before,” yet he still gives in to her wishes. As a result, his daughter is poisoned and he along with her while Jason’s suffering lies in those that he lost, including his own children (Medea l. 317 – 319). “This precise sequence of dramatic events could not have been predicted by Euripides’ audience” (Halperin 152). Julie, on the other hand, does not go through with the murder as Medea does. Despite the fact that she had the poison mixed into a drink, she pulls it away from Caleb as the cup reaches his lips as she is able to decipher right from wrong. The irony of the situation is that while Julie is preparing a normal drink, Caleb has a heart attack and falls into the pool, drowning. The audience would not have predicted this, and the audience would especially never predict Julie’s attempt to save Caleb.