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Euripides

Euripides (c. 480–406 BC) was an Athenian playwright and one of the three principal tragedians of classical Greece, alongside Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in the deme of Phlya near Athens, he produced approximately 92 plays over a career spanning from his debut in 455 BC until his death, with 18 or 19 surviving intact today.

Euripides competed 22 times at the City Dionysia festival, securing only four first-place victories—three posthumously in 405 BC with productions including Bacchae and Iphigenia at Aulis—reflecting mixed contemporary reception despite his enduring influence.

In his final years, Euripides accepted patronage from King Archelaus of Macedon, composing works like Archelaus there before dying in 406 BC, after which his reputation surged, with Aristophanes and later audiences praising his rhetorical skill and emotional depth.

Medea

Medea (Μήδεια) was first performed in Athens in 431 BC, where it formed part of a tetralogy that received third prize in the dramatic competition. The play centers on Medea, a sorceress and princess from Colchis, who had previously used her magical powers to help the hero Jason secure the Golden Fleece, betray her family, and flee with him to Greece, bearing him two sons. In Corinth, Jason abandons Medea to marry the daughter of King Creon for political and dynastic advantage, prompting Creon to decree her immediate exile along with her children out of fear of her sorcery. Medea secures a sworn promise of refuge in Athens from King Aegeus, then enacts a devastating revenge by sending her sons to deliver poisoned gifts—a golden crown and robe—to the bride, causing the agonizing deaths of both the princess and Creon, before killing her own children to inflict maximum suffering on Jason and prevent their capture by enemies. She escapes in a dragon-drawn chariot provided by her grandfather, the Sun god Helios, leaving Jason broken and childless.