A Gathering of Old Men
A Gathering of Old MenA Friendly Enemy
"Death is my wish for myself, my enemies, my children" (Euripedes translated by Robinson Jeffers, Medea 11). Medea is hungry for death. She wants to taste it on her lips and wishes others to do the same. The value which Medea gives death is to use it as a weapon against her enemies. On the other hand, the women and the nurse fear death. Death,to the women and to the nurse is something that should not be wished for. "O shining sky, divine earth,
Harken not to the song that this woman sings" (13). One of the Greek women says this, for Medea is screaming out that she would like to die. The women and the nurse hear Medea wishing for death as if it were a treasure or something valuable. The nurse and women are not in agreement with Medea�s view of death. To them, death would be something that lurks around anything and anywhere waiting to strike. "He strikes from the clear sky like a hawk, he hides behind green leaves, or he waits around the corner of a wall"(12). To a Greek woman death is personified as a hunter or killer. She uses an animal, the hawk,to compare to death. A hawk is a swift predator that attacks unnoticed, but to Medea death is a trophy. For Medea death has a value of importance. A friendship has been established. Death is Medea�s friend. She uses it as a weapon to get what she views as justice. "Then if you have...
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