Revengeful Medea vs. Retaliatory Lysistrata
             At the roots of revenge is pain and suffering which can cause a number of reactions according to the person and situation. Retaliation is another method used to take vengeance against someone who has harmed you. Yet, how can revenge and retaliation be distinguished from each other? Euripide's Medea and Aristophane's Lysisitrata can help to answer that question. In order to find out which of the two "problem solving strategies" provides better results, the two situations need to be looked at closely. By doing so, the conclusion is clear that Medea's hateful revenge leads only to tragedy while Lysistrata's clever retaliation achieves its purpose.
             The two main characters Medea and Lysistrata face two distinct problems which result in two different approaches to the problems. Medea suffers from the pain of a lost love. Not only did she lose her beloved Jason, but also he left her for another woman. On the other hand, Lysistrata battles for the return of the men from the war. The women in Lysisitrata feel abandoned and alone without their husbands and lovers. Although the two situations are different, the emotions resulting from them are passionate and strong.
             It is hard to tell which of the two women feels more passionately and strongly for her "cause." Medea's pain leads her to plot the murders os Jason, Jason's wife and Jason's wife's father. With poison as her weapon, she kills Jason's wife and Kreon. It is not surprising that Medea is capable of murder since she killed her own brother. This horrible truth goes on to haunt her and the regret is also unbearable. To think she did it to escape safely with Jason and now Jason is the man who created the emotional chaos for her. Medea thinks back and cries, "Oh, my father! Oh, my country! In what dishonor I left you, killing my own brother for it." (Norton p. 673 ln...