"Medea" ( Seneca ) and "Medea" ( Euripides )

Paper Summary:

This study will compare two plays entitled Medea, by the Roman Seneca and the Greek Euripides. The focus of the study will be on the general superiority of Euripides' presentation of the tragedy. Despite the fact that the plays tell the same story, except for a few minor differences, the dramatic skills and story-telling flair of Euripides outshine the more leaden and much longer-winded Seneca.

From the Paper:

"This study will compare two plays entitled Medea, by the Roman Seneca and the Greek Euripides. The focus of the study will be on the general superiority of Euripides' presentation of the tragedy. Despite the fact that the plays tell the same story, except for a few minor differences, the dramatic skills and story-telling flair of Euripides outshine the more leaden and much longer-winded Seneca. Seneca tends to create interminable-seeming speeches with little dramatic or expository reward, especially from his Chorus. In fact, the editors themselves excise one long and obviously irrelevant speech "of great detail" from the Chorus of Seneca (Seneca 318). In addition, Seneca's tendency to flowery language often stops the play in its tracks rather than deepening its emotional impact as the author must have intended. Euripides, on the other hand, uses down-to-earth ..."

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