Centering Medea amid lawless spaces

Abstract

Medea by Euripides sets up two spaces: Greece (the West or Europe) standing for the masculine, rationality, and law on the one hand, and Colchis (the East or Asia) for the feminine, emotion, and (from the western perspective) lawlessness on the other. These two spaces are given physical, spatial representation in various modern productions of the play and other interpretations of Medea. Some examples: Euripides has Medea and Jason arguing, without understanding each other, across a chasm in the final scene; stage directors clothe the Greeks in austere white; they live in a city; the Asiatics have no city, Medea’s colors are black, or earth colors such as green. By defining Medea and her heirs – terrorists, outlaw nations, illegal aliens – as lawless and her nation as a space of lawlessness, nations claiming to stand for rationality, legality, and civilization are able to justify suspending these traits when dealing with those who do not adhere to these norms, all the while overlooking inconsistencies between their own ideas and behavior.