"Those who are held wise amongst men and who search the reason of things are those who bring the most sorrow on themselves. For of mortals there is no one who is happy. If wealth flows in upon one, one may be perhaps luckier than one's neighbor, but still not happy."

Intense marriage counseling desperately needed.

Though I am disgusted by Medea's behavior and her manipulation, I love how Euripides provides reasoning that can be accepted and understood by the reader. Her being a foreigner in a land wherein they are scorned, a refugee with no sanctuary to fall back on in her times of need, and a woman, part of a gender treated as second-class citizens with little rights, especially when it comes to husbands and marriage - these all factor into the overwhelming need she feels to do what she does. Medea had to believe Jason loved her and this love was worth betraying her father, her country, and killing her brother, so when he ended up betraying her love after all she sacrificed, it was just too much for her to bear, resulting in the apparent abandonment of sanity.

Neither Jason nor Medea are good people. One would argue that they deserve each other. They are both each other's villains, and they both have been scorned to a great degree by one another. This blinding fury and raging desire to hurt the opposite - and refusal to see one's own faults in the matter to instead paint themselves the sole victim - only brought about further misery for the two. Revenge does not and cannot assuage the wounds of past wrongdoings, instead serving to simply burden the deliverer's heart as seen by Medea killing her own children to get back at Jason. She cannot let go of the hate inside of her, and, by holding onto it, she ruins all she held dear.

However scorned and faced with feelings of indignation we may be, we are all responsible for our actions and what we do when we let the dark part of us roam free. We are not justified in inflicting pain unto others because pain was inflicted unto us. Jason's series of immense betrayals does not absolve Medea of killing an innocent bride, her father (who granted Medea mercy after she manipulated him), and her two innocent sons. She lost her mind in her unbridled anger, believing herself to be saving her children from the same fate but at the hands of her enemies who would not have killed so lovingly. This is clearly illogical and insane thinking. But it goes to show what the mind can be driven towards when enough external pressure is applied.

The origin of the crazy ex-girlfriend archetype and the divorced wife getting back at her unfaithful ex-husband trope.