Autochthony, Misogyny, and Harmony: Medea 824-45

This paper focuses on the central choral ode of Euripides' Medea in order to argue that the utopian image of Athens presented there is simultaneously a distillation of the central conflicts of the drama and an attempt to produce an aesthetically satisfying resolution to those very issues. The ode celebrates the homogeneous male citizenry through the discourse of autochthony, while simultaneously making provision for the positive aspects of heterosexual reproduction. Moreover, Euripides exploits the dramatic conventions of the stage to blur distinctions of time, place, and gender in a way that contributes to the production of a utopian vision.