by Euripides
First published -431
Medea stands at the crossroads of fury and motherhood. Her husband Jason has abandoned her for a younger bride, leaving her exiled and powerless in a foreign land. But Medea possesses knowledge of dark arts that make her far from helpless. She plots a revenge so terrible it will destroy not only Jason's new wife and father-in-law, but her own children as well. As she wavers between maternal love and consuming rage, Medea becomes a woman who will sacrifice everything, even her own flesh and blood, to make Jason suffer as she has suffered. These four plays also follow Alcestis, who agrees to die in place of her husband, Hippolytus, whose rigid virtue leads to his downfall, and the children of Heracles as they seek protection from persecution.
Genres: drama, historical-fiction, tragedy, greek-mythology, ancient, classical-studies
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, maternal-love
Setting: Greece
Period: Ancient
256 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books
Content warnings: child-death, violence