I’ve recently joined The Strenuous Life, a program for men designed and organized by Brett McKay and TheArtOfManliness.com This program is essentially “Boy Scouts for Men”, but involves so much more than camping and knot-tying (though of course, it does involve camping and knot-tying).

One of the more unique of the many badges available to earn is “The Classics” badge. Here, participants must choose to read ten of fifteen different classical writers representing 34 separate works. There’s no requirements regarding whom we must choose, but I’m going for the “which ones can I find at the thrift stores first?” method. That being said, I just finished my first requirement for this badge, the play entitled Medea by Euripides (translated by Paul Roche).

My overall impression was: Quite a story! I hadn’t anticipated how the circumstances of adultery could wreak such havoc on a woman situated several centuries before Christ. The introduction to my volume mentioned that Euripides was among the earliest feminists, but I’d say he’s less about “empowering women” (as one during the 1970s might have considered a generic feminist) than he is about bringing to light that simple fact that women are people too. A breach of trust is a breach of trust.

In this story, Medea’s husband, Jason (of the Argonauts fame) decides to marry a princess and send his foreign wife and their two sons home. His excuse is that he hopes to provide their sons with brothers and more certain future. Her response is, “Then why were you sneaking around with the girl instead of telling me straight out!?” The “drama” in this drama is deep and well-considered. In a fascinating way, Euripides develops Medea’s sorrow and argument and eases us into her tormented plans. The murders are gruesome and the sorrow is real. The story is one I had never heard before, even though “there’s nothing new under the sun.” It was all such a pleasant surprise.

I’ve recorded some of my favorite lines below:

• “Woman, on the whole, is a timid thing: the din of war, the flash of steel, unnerves her; but, wronged in love, there is no heart more murderous.” (Medea, 262-266)
  
• “Bring education to a dolt and, far from being accounted as wise, you will yourself be cast as dolt.” (Medea, 297-299)
  
• “What we poor males really need is a way of having babies on our own—no females, please. Then the world would be completely trouble free.” (Jason, 572-575)

Regarding this last line, I would add that those babies also need to raise themselves!

I really enjoyed this book and am happy for a program that has gotten me into books I never would have considered reading otherwise. I look forward to the next one on my list: Plato’s Crito and Apology.

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