When Good Mothers Go Bad

Filicide, the killing of one's son or daughter, is a rare but serious and disturbing occurrence. Throughout recorded history, this subject has fascinated and simultaneously horrified the public as they try to grasp how a parent, and more commonly a mother, could take the life of their own child. While one may see why someone in Medea's position would perform such an act, if every wife were to kill their children upon their husband left them for another woman, the population would be significantly lower. So what makes Medea's case different than another woman's heartache? Was she more dishonored than others or simply crazy? According to psychologists, the biggest trigger among women in this situation is the sexual abandonment by a male figure such as a boyfriend or husband. In Medea's case, after leaving her homeland and giving everything up to be with Jason, she is left alone with her children in a foreign place.

Works Cited:

Cyrino, Monica Silveira. "When Grief Is Gain: The Psychodynamics of Abandonment and Filicide in Euripides' "Medea"" Pacific Coast Philology 31.1 (1996): 1-12. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.