Medea
William Wetmore Story
1865; carved 1868 · Marble · The American Wing
In the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, Medea was the sorceress who assisted Jason in obtaining the Golden Fleece and later became his wife. When he abandoned her, Medea murdered their two children and planned the death of his new love, Creusa. To nineteenth-century theater audiences, Medea was a sympathetic character forced to choose between relinquishing her children and protecting them by destroying them herself. Story similarly deemphasized Medea’s revenge, leaving to the viewer’s imagination the scene of infanticide to come.
- Artist
- William Wetmore Story
- Date
- 1865; carved 1868
- Medium
- Marble
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Gift of Henry Chauncey, 1894
