Subtle Manipulation: A Rhetorical Analysis of Medea Across Time and Genre in Greek and Roman Literature

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the character of Medea, analyzing her ability to adapt her rhetoric across genre and time period. Specifically, I will look at Medea’s speech through three lenses—dialogue, epistle, and monologue—each represented by one of three authors: Euripides, Ovid, and Seneca. By exploring how the constraints of genre influence the way in which Medea speaks and the ways in which she can interact with her intended audience, and invariably how that interaction shapes our own understanding of her character, this thesis explores how Medea manipulates her story so that she appears in a more favorable light to her intended audience in spite of her bloody history.