Ist eine Medea ohne Kindermord überhaupt denkbar? Medea-Morphosen bei Euripides und Christa Wolf. Oder: Freispruch für Euripides

Abstract

The aim of this study is to discuss the significance of the child-murder for the Medea myth. For this purpose two of the most important adaptations of the myth are examined: Euripides’ tragedy and Christa Wolf’s novel (1996). The study attempts to shed new light on the invention of this mythologeme by Euripides. Contrary to the acceptance of the majority of the researchers this study assumes Euripides' Medea is not just a bourgeois marriage drama, but a political and social sketch of the microcosm of the Polis. Using various „messages in a bottle “Euripides succeeded in emphasizing on the needs of the suppressed ones and opening a new perspective for the female element. While however in the male tradition, from Euripides to von Trier, the suppressed comes to the light as cruelty, Wolf suggests another model of feminity. As a result her protagonist does not need the childmurder any longer. The myth is not a context, but a frame. Therefore all versions belong to the myth. In a time characterized by violence and fear, Wolf turns the attention to the origins of violence by setting other priorities, while telling the story of a person, which frightens both men and women.