Woman as Narrator in Postmodern Feminist Reception: Olga Taxidou’s Medea

Abstract

In Medea (Eur. Med. 423–426), the chorus of women laments the scarcity of the female voice in literature and, more broadly, the silence imposed upon women in the ancient world. This lament finds a resonant echo in feminist reinterpretations of the classical tradition that emerged within the third wave of feminism in the 1990s. Taking the analysis of gender roles as a primary point in their reception of ancient texts, these authors foreground an abundance of dynamic female protagonists who drive the action, while emphasizing their intellectual capacities—above all, their intelligence and acuity. Most importantly, the female voice has emerged in its full force and authority. Indeed, numerous works position a woman not merely as a principal narrator, but often as the sole narrative authority.

The aim of this article is to examine the woman as narrator in Medea by Olga Taxidou. Reworking the plot of Euripides’ tragedy through narration rather than dramatic action, Taxidou’s play may be said to grant Medea the role of primary narrator (the Nurse/Cleaner is given only a brief part). Accordingly, events are presented through Medea’s own prism.

The article will consider:

(a) how the author employs an eclectic postmodern narrative style to construct a new type of performer—the so-called “postdramatic text-bearer” (a term coined by David Barnett)—who functions more as a carrier of text than as a traditional dramatis persona; (b) the nature of this performer’s relationship with the audience, and the forms of reflexivity that constitute a central aesthetic principle for third-wave feminist authors; (c) the specific emphases with which Medea presents the so-called “women’s issues” of Euripides’ tragedy; (d) the ways in which the Colchian heroine positions herself simultaneously as the mythic Medea and as a former queen living in contemporary Greece; (e) which problems of the modern world are articulated through her depiction as an “outsider”; (f) to what extent, and in what respects, Taxidou’s heroine corresponds to the female figures of classical myth as re-envisioned by third-wave feminist interpreters.

The conclusions of this article will be of interest both to scholars concerned with feminist receptions of the classical tradition and with revisionist interpretations of ancient texts, and more broadly to researchers engaged in the contemporary reworking of the Medea figure.