Student Essay:
A Chorus of Murders

Æschylus’ Clytemnestra and Euripides’ Medea are two wrathful women who share many character traits and commit similar crimes. There is, however, a striking difference in the way the Chorus interacts with them. The Chorus in The Libation Bearers absolutely hates Clytemnestra, as opposed to its loving sympathy for her daughter, Electra. But the Chorus in Medea adores the title character, and even defends her against her enemies. Why are these two women, who are very alike, treated so disparately by their respective choruses?

The difference in treatment stems from the differences in Clytemnestra and Medea’s personalities. Although they have similar traits, Clytemnestra is much more masculine in her personality, whereas Medea remains wholly feminine. The Chorus in The Libation Bearers does not sympathize with Clytemnestra because of her masculine nature, whereas the Chorus in Medea does connect with her on an emotional level.

Clytemnestra and Medea are alike in many ways. They are powerful women with unfaithful husbands (who ought to be more wary of their wives), and are also both clever and resourceful. In addition, because of their frightening power and reputation, they command fear and respect from nearly everyone.

The most prominent attribute that they share is how exceptionally powerful they are. Clytemnestra’s strength is mainly in her manipulation of people as well as strategic use of physical force, as seen in her confrontation with Orestes in Æschylus:

CLYTEMNESTRA: Ah, a riddle. I do well at riddles. By cunning we die precisely as we killed. Hand me the man-axe, someone, hurry! Now we will see. Win all or lose all, we have come to this—the crisis of our lives.
ORESTES: It’s you I want. This one’s had enough …
CLYTEMNESTRA: Wait, son—no feeling for this, my child? The breast you held, drowsing away the hours, soft gum tugging the milk that made you grow?
ORESTES: What will I do, Pylades?—I dread to kill my mother!

Clytemnestra demonstrates cunning worthy of Odysseus. She uses Orestes’ guilt to her advantage, making him question whether he should proceed with her murder. She relentlessly pokes at his weak points, nearly making him abandon his task. She never loses her poise, and artfully defends herself against his accusations (though unfortunately for her, she does not quite convince him not to kill her). Clytemnestra always takes matters into her own hands, be it murdering her husband and his concubine or challenging her vengeful son; she does not shrink from physical conflict, and confronts everyone who opposes her. Her confrontational attitude and commanding presence give Clytemnestra a very masculine air. She is not overtly emotional, and her lack of feminine virtues makes her off-putting to the other women in the play, including those in the Chorus.

In contrast to Clytemnestra’s masculine qualities, Medea presents a more feminine character. Like Clytemnestra, she is powerful, but in a different way: Medea, instead of calling for her man-axe and confronting the opposition head-on, takes a less direct approach to conflict.

MEDEA: I have in mind so many paths of death for them, I don’t know which to choose. Should I set fire to the house, and burn the bridal chamber? Or creep up to their bed and drive a sharp knife through their guts? … The best is the direct way, which suits my bent: to kill by poison.

Medea prefers to kill her enemies indirectly, in a way the ancient Greeks found to be uniquely feminine: drugs. Drugs and women have gone hand in hand throughout Greek literature. For example, in the Odyssey there is an allusion to women and their proficiency in drugging men:

Then Zeus’s daughter Helen thought of something else. Into the mixing-bowl from which they drank their wine she slipped a drug, heart’s-ease, dissolving anger, magic to make us all forget our pains … so cunning the drugs that Zeus’s daughter plied, potent gifts from Polydamna the wife of Thon.

Medea’s method is also feminine in the way she removes herself from the victim. In using poison instead of more primitive, hand-to-hand assassination techniques like a sword, Medea separates herself from her murders. She employs other people to do the dirty work for her: she famously convinced Pelias’ own daughters to kill him for her, so that she could make Jason a king. Medea only kills people directly when her victims are much weaker than she and cannot put up a physical fight, as in the example of her children. Medea’s passive, removed mode of killing contrasts sharply with Clytemnestra’s enthusiastic and direct approach. Medea murders in a feminine fashion whereas Clytemnestra kills in a masculine one.