Medea under Rehabilitation. From Murderess to “Perfect Mother”

The present study aims to present and discuss the complex and controversial character of Medea in several literary works spanning different periods. Starting from the earliest literary sources, such as Euripides’s and Seneca’s Medea, which present her as a murderess, the study primarily focuses on Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s 1996 novel, Medea and Her Children, where the protagonist appears quite the opposite: a calm and helpful “mother.” Thereby, the paper tries to trace and highlight the characteristics inherent in Medea’s myth that allow the character to change in such a dramatic manner. In this attempt, I shall rely on female archetypes.