"Medea in Euripides’s play comes closest to the demand for an equivalence of that feminine self to the male…A woman who insists on the binding nature of a compact she made on her own with a man, a woman who defends her right to honor and self-esteem in terms suspiciously resembling those of the male heroic code, and finally a woman who would reverse the cultural flow in founding a new genre of poetry that celebrates the exploits of women rather than those of men...."

Froma Zeitlin, Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995 (346).

Summary
• Jason has abandoned Medea and the two children, remarrying with Glauce, the daughter of Creon

• Creon banishes Medea and her children from the city of Corinth

• Medea is granted one day before her exile, or she shall be put to death

• Jason explains his intention to remarry is for everyone’s good

• Jason offers tokens to help and Medea refuses

• Argues, king of Athens, passes the city of Corinth and offers protection to Medea in his city in exchange for the curing of sterility

• Medea schemes to revenge which includes killing her two children to make Jason suffer

• Medea sends the nurse to fetch Jason 

• Medea pretends to confess her earlier behaviors, and Jason forgives her

• Medea sends “gifts” in her children’s hands to Glauce, which is meant to convince Glauce to persuade her father to let the children stay in Corinth

• The poisoned coronet and dress sent by Medea causes Glauce’s death

• Creon embracing his daughter’s corpse leads to his death

• A messenger recounts the details of Glauce and Creon’s deaths

• Medea kills her children regardless of the protest of the chorus

• Jason arrives at the house, and is left cursing and bemoans his fate 

• Medea flees in a chariot drawn by dragons with the dead bodies of her children