Is Andrea Yates Another Medea?
As I’ve frequently written, the concept of tragedy was invented by Greeks, and an understanding of the inevitability of tragedy is deep in our bones. The prosecutors in the Andrea Yates case argued that a possible motive for her murder of her five children was to get revenge against her husband for being poor. To understand Andrea Yates, it might be worthwhile to take another look at the tragic play Medea, written by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. As the play opens, Medea’s husband, Jason, has told her he’s leaving her for another woman. Medea is very depressed, but addresses the chorus of Corinthian women with a feminist speech as follows: MEDEA This unexpected blow which has befallen me has broken my heart. It’s all over, my friends; I would gladly die. Life has lost its savor. The man who was everything to me, well he knows it, has turned out to be the basest of men. Of all creatures that feel and think, we women are the unhappiest species. In the first place, we must pay a
