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Medea, Euripides.
Euripides version of the tragedy of Medea is probably the most widely known. His play first appeared at the Dionysiac festival in Athens in 431 B.C. He focused his drama on the breaking up and fierce hatred between Jason and Medea. He began with the skeleton of traditional material known about the adventures of Medea with Jason, then added powerful poetry, shaping it into a play that has lasted throughout several ages of history.
Medea, Seneca.
The Senecan Medea was probably derived from the Euripidean version, although that is a fact debated by ancient Greek scholars. Although Euripides focused on the angst and bitter resentment of the forlorn couple, Seneca goes one step further. He emphasizes the savagery of Medea, for instance, by having her kill her children in the presence of Jason. Seneca does, although, soften the character of Jason, making him seem like a martyr and the undeserving husband of a tyrannical and vindictive wife.
Medea, Jean Anouilh.
This modern version of the play was written in 1946 and gives a more up-to-date look at the ancient love tragedy. Anouilh's Medea is not very dignified in her demeanor, but has an extreme intensity to her that draws the audience's attention. While in her relationship with Jason, her true nature is a bit stifled, but during the catastrophe that their lives become she is her passionate, primitive self. Anouilh's version has been called a "black" version of the otherwise gray Median myth. He seems to enjoy emphasizing the utter depression and misery felt by the characters.
Medea, Robinson Jeffers.
The final drama concerning Medea discussed here is another updated version, but is still kept in the classical sense. Although he wrote his Medea in the 1940's, Jeffers' play still has the character of the chorus to narrate the tale. Also, he includes the poetic verse in the dialogue where Anouilh divorces the rythmic verse for a more conventional manner of speaking. Jeffers also boasts that his version is "freely adapted" from the Euripides. He also deftly expressed the sadness of the tale and gave the scenes a sense of formal melancholia, not emphasizing anger and angst, but rather lamentation and remorse.
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