Lastly, 'Helen' presents an alternate tale regarding Helen of Troy than that which sparked the Trojan War. In 'Heracles' we find a hero racing to save his family from a death sentence.

In 'Electra' we find the daughter of a slain king plotting her revenge. 'Hecuba' is the tale of a fallen Queen, the grief she feels for the death of her daughter, and the revenge she takes for the murder of her son. 'Hippolytus' relates the tragedy of its titular character, son of Theseus, and his tragic fall at the hands of Phaedra. The first play in this collection, 'Medea', tells the horrific tale of a woman who seeks revenge on her husband by killing her children. Coleridge: 'Medea', 'Hippolytus', 'Hecuba', 'Electra', 'Heracles', and 'Helen'. Collected here are six of Euripides' tragedies in prose translation by Edward P. Both ridiculed and lauded during his life, Euripides now stands as an innovator of the Greek drama. Of his roughly ninety-two plays, only seventeen tragedies survive. It was in the 5th Century BC, during the height of Greece's cultural bloom, that Euripides lived and worked. By the Greeks, she is considered wild, almost animal, and this opinion is substantiated (or, perhaps, forced upon her) when Jason's betrayal of her incites her to kill her own children to punish her cheating husband.Euripides, along was Sophocles, and Aeschylus, is largely responsible for the rise of Greek tragedy. She is passionate, vengeful, and unrelenting in her pursuit of justice. At the same time, Medea is a powerful woman who challenges the prejudices of the male-dominated societies that seem to have no place for her or her powers. In other words, Medea gave up her entire past and home to help and be with Jason.

As she and Jason escaped with the Fleece she then killed her own brother and tipped him overboard so those chasing her would have to stop to retrieve the body. Medea used her almost magical, witch-like powers to help him harness fire breathing oxen and steal the Golden Fleece from where it was guarded by a dragon. When Jason arrived at Clochis on his ship the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece, Aphrodite made Medea fall in love with him. Medea is the daughter of king Aeetes of the island of Clochis and granddaughter of Helios, the sun god.

Medea play book