Il paradosso di Medea: una lettura modale della tragedia di Euripide

The aim of this paper is not purely philological, but rather to show that Euripides' Medea is a perfect example of the character's construction as divided subject, not only for the conflicting properties that define the heroin. We have to move on from identity to modes of identity: the mode of coincidence and the mode of non-coincidence. The narcissistic injury, due to the abandonment by the beloved Giasone and the being banished from Corinto, leads Medea to surpass the limits of her own subjectivity. Her identity is defined by the relationship among two extremes which, though opposite, do not exclude each other, but intertwine with one another. Medea oscillates between a superior extreme and an inferior extreme, between pulsional force and strategic intelligence. The great Medea's paradox lays in the decision to be faithful to herself and to her own desire for revenge comes to coincide with the terrible and necessary choice of the infanticide, a choice that inevitably involves the annihilation of a part of herself, her maternal identity.