Classical characters had an almost overwhelming cultural presence in eighteenth-century Europe, and Medea was no exception. In the short period between 1750 and the turn of the nineteenth century, one of the most complex characters from Greek myth appeared all over Europe, from French tragedies to Swedish operas and German melodramas. But why would a woman who kills her children be ubiquitous on European stages at a moment defined by tender motherhood and the invention of childhood? In this episode, Dr Anna Cullhed from the University of Stockholm talks to Shivaike Shah about how the ever-transforming representations of Medea in this period can help us to trace major cultural changes during this portion of European history. How does Medea highlight the ambiguity of the Enlightenment world, and in what ways did she interact with wider political contexts like empire and slavery? Dr Cullhed argues that combining the study of this epoch with a transnational perspective reveals that the granddaughter of Helios held a key position in the revolutionary eighteenth century.

To find out more about this topic, check out the reading list on our website: https://www.khameleonproductions.org/khameleon-classics/medea-in-politics-from-1750-to-1800