“But From the Pen of Euripides the Fatal Words Have Already Been Written"

The Rewriting of Medea in Patricia Calvelo

Authors

Keywords:

Medea, Classical Literature, Comparatism, Women, Rewriting

Abstract

There are several female figures in classical mythology who have caused as much fascination as Medea, the foreigner who betrays her father and her homeland to help Jason. Of all the classical poets who have treated the myth, it is Euripides' Medea that has been the most influential, perhaps because of its depiction of Medea as a figure of female power.

Some scholars noted a proto-feminism in Euripides as her Medea questions the norms, beliefs and value system of his time. Others observed the protagonist's pro-woman discourse as a means of criticising the heroic male ethic.

Bearing in mind that Euripides is a poet who writes about women, the proposal of this paper is to make a reading of the play, particularly on the construction and representation of women, and compare it with a 21st century rewriting: a microfiction called La terrible Medea by Patricia Calvelo, from Relatos de bolsillo (2005). The writer from Jujuy proposes a dialogue between Medea and Euripides, in which she fulfills his designs against her own will.

References

Calvelo, P. (2005). Relatos de bolsillo. Argentina, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy.

Coria, M. (2014). Medea de Eurípides: el personaje y el conflicto trágico. Lecturas filosóficas. [Tesis de doctorado en Humanidades y Artes, mención Filosofía, Facultad de Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de Rosario]. https://rephip.unr.edu.ar/items/66af78e9-aad7-4db5-b423-881a9ec252ae

Eurípides (1991). Tragedias I. Madrid, Gredos.

Gilbert, S. M., & Gubar, S. (1998). La loca del desván: la escritora y la imaginación literaria del siglo XIX (Vol. 52). Valencia, Universitat de València.

Goldban, T. (2012). Redirecting Thematic Perspectives: Euripides’ Version of Medea Myth as The Rise of a Literary Myth. en Analele Universităţii Ovidius din Constanţa. Seria Filologie, 23(2). Constanza, Ovidius University Press, 71-80. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=536745

Graves, R. (2001). Los mitos griegos (II vols.). Madrid, Alianza Editorial.

Herrero Cecilia, J. (2006). El mito como intertexto: la reescritura de los mitos en las obras literarias, en Revista de Estudios franceses Çédille, 2. Córdoba, Universidad de Córdoba, 58-76. https://helvia.uco.es/handle/10396/16475

Leiba, S. (2016). La reescritura del mito de Medea en la dramaturgia argentina de finales del siglo xx [tesis de licenciatura en Letras Modernas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba], https://rdu.unc.edu.ar/handle/11086/4885

Messing, A. (2009). “Protofeminist or Misogynist? Medea as a case study of gendered discourse in Euripidean drama” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271346616_Protofeminist_or_Misogynist_Medea_as_a_case_study_of_gendered_discourse_in_Euripidean_drama

Sampedro Carreño, N. (2019). Análisis de la reescritura de mitos en “La Cité des Dames” de Christine de Pizan. [tesis de master en ciencias de las religiones, Universidad Complutense de Madrid]. https://docta.ucm.es/rest/api/core/bitstreams/dba3c586-6b27-42ee-b30a-881a0c038cc1/content

Published

15-12-2025

How to Cite

Corro, J. (2025). “But From the Pen of Euripides the Fatal Words Have Already Been Written": The Rewriting of Medea in Patricia Calvelo. evista elibea, 19(2), 32–38. etrieved from https://revistas.uncu.edu.ar/ojs3/index.php/melibea/article/view/9631

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Section

Articles