Accademia Editoriale

Roman Marriage Law and the Conflict of Seneca's "Medea"

Author(s): Laura Abrahamsen
Source: Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, New Series, Vol. 62, No. 2 (1999), pp. 107-121
Published by: Fabrizio Serra editore
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Roman Marriage

and the Conflict

Law

Laura

of Seneca's Medea

Abrahamsen

of Medea
has been
The figure
endlessly
throughout
fascinating
to retell
the history
Poets and dramatists
of Western
literature.
choose
eras and cultures.
The "facts"
of
her story over and over in different
over time, but each poet
constant
remain
Medea's
history
mythological
in ways
tradition
inherited
that reflect the
that
reshapes
mythological
context

societal
cists

is

in which

the Medea

epic and elegy,

tragedy,
des to Seneca,
spanning
to early Imperial Rome.
of Colchis

s/he writes.
survives

who

approached
nearly 500
She

who

The Medea
from
as a

best

known

to classi

in
antiquity
from
subject by poets
Euripi
from late 5th century Athens
Greco-Roman

years
is the young Medea
of epic,
her Greek
lover Jason obtain

the witch
the Golden

princess
helps
of tragedy and elegy, betrayed
and she is the mother Medea
Fleece;
by
same
kills
their mutual
children.
the
mother
who
that
Jason,
the child-killer
Because
of textual
of the vagaries
transmission,
to us by only two extant
is represented
that of Eu
Medea
tragedies,
has
often com
and
of
Seneca.
that
Unfortunately,
chronology
ripides
as the
to consider
version
of
the
critics
Medea-story
Euripides'
pelled
a defective
imitation.
It is more
Seneca writes
model
based upon which
as a
to consider
of its time
Seneca's
fruitful, perhaps,
product
tragedy
and

to discuss

but

in terms

its difference
of how

those

not

in terms

differences

of originality
and imitation,
to create a thor
Seneca

allow

of the Medea
legend.
retelling
oughly Roman
issues driving
is
the action of Seneca's Medea
One of the primary
as Jason's wife.
over who
retains
the legitimate
the conflict
identity
in the way
charac
this contested
the different
Seneca marks
identity
use the Latin
ters of the
vocabulary
play
issues of Seneca's
dramatic
the
situating

itage
bling

Medea

with
into

marriage.
the context

By
of

we can
to per
and divorce practice,
marriage
begin
on
with
the
her
has
level
which
Seneca
mythological
played
more
trou
in order to make
her legendary
of Medea
criminality
to a
In
Roman
audience/reader.
taking this
imperial
specifically

normative
ceive

associated

Roman

one

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108

L. Abrahamsen

texts were
for some
I assume
the Senecan
dramatic
intended
approach,
or
kind of performance,
whether
1.
private
public
a
of the play
Such
the acceptance
of two
requires
reading
to
in
addition
the
of
Al
premises
assumption
public
performance.
are
sense
in
of Senecan
drama
the characters
"fictional"
the
though
an inherited
that they are bound
their sto
tradition,
by
mythological
ries nonetheless
take on the coloration
of the life and times of the poet
who chose to use this tradition.
the action of the Medea
Furthermore,
in an ostensibly
Greek
the characters
of Ja
place
setting, with
as Greeks,
and the Chorus
identified
while
son, Creon
specifically
as a barbarian.
a
I would
is marked
Medea
nonetheless
that
suggest
"audience"
CE would
Roman
of the first century
assimilate
Seneca's
of "Greek"
in a way
identification
and "other"
that the normative,
takes

civilized
Rome,

of Corinth

community
while
Medea

foreigner.
A Roman
Seneca's

would

would
retain

be understood
as
status
her

audience
would
mentally
into a Roman
and
context,

plays
a

as

equivalent
barbara,
being

to
a

translate
the situation
of
so it is not extreme
to view

issues revolve around marriage,

dramatic
di
play whose
the
of
the
lens
standard
Roman
children,
through
practices
1st century
of the
CE. This
will
determine
whether
exploration
or whether
to usual Roman
situation
Medea's
practice
corresponds
a world
a character
Seneca
and particularly
whose
behavior
portrays
norms
situation
of
both
the
of
and
violate
the societal
world
the play
context
in which
and the larger Roman
the play was written
and pre
the Medea,
vorce and

sumably
presented.
Let us turn, then, to a consideration
of Roman marriage
and di
vorce
status
in
and
situation.
the
of
children
each
In
this
pre
practices
am
monu
to
I
indebted
Susan
discussion,
liminary
heavily
Treggiari's
on Roman
~.
mental
work
marriage
The
the Roman
institution
of marriage
jurists define
by capacity
were met
and intent. Provided
that certain
and
legal qualifications
a
not
certain
to
did
then
who
intended
exist,
disqualifications
couple

For

that

the plavs

see L. Herrmann,
of stage production,
Le Theatre
de S?
see O. Zwierlein,
For arguments
Die
against
staging,
Meisenheim
1966. While
other
scholars
have
considered

152-232.

pp.

the question,
these
Calder
HI, "Seneca:
gests

in favor

arguments

Paris
1924,
neque,
Rezitationsdramen

S?necas,
two remain

the centra]

statements

of
Class.
Rome',
Tragedian
Imperial
were
in private
theatres,
performed

on

the

issue

of production.
W. M.
72,1976,
pp. 1-11,
sug
in the manner
of "home movies"
Journ.

(p. 5).
2

Susan

Treggiari,

Time of Ulpian,

Roman

Oxford

Marriage:

Iusti

Coniuges

from

the Time

1991.

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of Cicero

to the

Roman

Law

Marriage

and

109

of Seneca's Medea

the Conflict

to enter a
in fact, married.
The issue of legal capacity
as age, consent
such
of
the
if the
father(s)
questions
still in potestate-,
and
groom were
degree of relationship

were

be married

involved

marriage
bride and/or

the

conubium,

gives

Ulpian

to marry

right

succinct

based

legitimately

of conubium

definition

on

status.

legal

(Tituli Ulpiani

5,3-5):
Conubium
Romani

est uxoris hire ducendae

facultas. Conubium
habent
cum civibus Romanis:
cum Latinis autem et peregrinis

concessum

sit.

servis

Cum

est

nullum

cives
ita, si

conubium.

oc
to Seneca's Medea
in relation
of this definition
key words
cum
con
autem
et
in the second sentence:
Latinis
ita, si
peregrinis
cessum
sit. Roman
citizens have conubium
with non-citizens
only if it
then no conubium
has been granted.
If the right has not been granted,
The

cur

and it is impossible
for them to have a iustum
the couple,
are
a
as
in which
the children
matrimonium,
legal marriage
recognized
us
status
and
the
their
also follow
of
fathers. Let
legitimate
legal
apply
to Jason, Medea
this definition
and Creusa.
exists

for

If we
was

are to assume

an elite Roman

resent

free to marry

citizen

that Jason would,

for a Roman
audience,
rep
citizen male,
then the issue becomes
whether
he
assimilated

Creusa,
or whether

he was

female,
a
or
The
Medea,
peregrina,
foreigner.
is complex.
the play,
Medea
considers
names

as coniunx

him

him.

Jason, however,
her as
Creon names

such

not

to Jason.

married

she

shares
once,

only

She
with
and

at all.

Seneca
indicates
that
philosophical
writings,
citizen born and
lack of it, was an issue for a Roman
in provincial
break off marriage
negotiations
Spain, who would
of
ben.
of
the
lack
conubium
(De
4,35,1):
learning

conubium

upon

refers

herself

to the
coniugium
as his coniunx
to Medea
refers

in his

Elsewhere
raised

and

to the position
of an elite Roman
to
in marriage
bound
legally
as
out
it
in
Seneca
situation,
lays

still

or the

Promisi
tibi
non est mihi

in matrimonium
??liam; postea
cum externo conubium;
eadem

peregrinus
adparuisti.
res me d?fendit, quae

vetat.

From

a Roman

citizen's

perspective,

conubium

was

an

essential

for not only a legal marriage,

but a socially desirable mar
prerequisite
to exist. The Chorus
in for Roman
in
soci
the
Medea,
riage
standing
as
of
reflects
celebrate
the
these
values
Jason and
ety,
they
marriage

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110

L. Abrahamsen

Creusa,

106) 3:

explicitly

into

back

Jason

welcoming

civilization

102

(w.

ereptus thalamis Phasidis horridi,

effrenae solitus pectora coniugis
invita trepidus prendere dextera,
felix Aeoliam
corripe virginem
nunc

The
reluctance
invita...

soceris

primum

on

emphasis
as a

volentibus.

sponse

the

first wife's

Jason's
(Phasidis),
foreignness
first marriage
trepidus/
(ereptus/
of Creusa's
father to the new mar

in that

bridegroom
and the consent

dextera)

all indicate
soceris
that this
sponse
(nunc primum
volentibus)
riage
new union
to
is iustum matrimonium,
unlike
Medea.
Jason's marriage
consent
is explicitly
is implied with
and conubium
Parental
present
to the first
The phrase
the contrast
invita... dextera
marriage.
implies
was absent
that ajfectio maritalis,
the intent to be married,
from his
meet
first marriage.
the minimum
Jason and Creusa
age re
certainly
are not within
and
of
quirements,
clearly
kinship.
prohibited
degrees
In the eyes
Creusa

of the Chorus
and presumably
the Roman
Jason
audience,
to a
have no impediments
legal marriage.
as an obstacle
is an impediment.
But Medea
She views herself
be

and

in her mind,
of the
she is still Jason's wife;
the other characters
not
to the status of wife, but they
do
her
claim
play
acknowledge
legal
crimi
do fear her supernatural
and legendary
powers
understandably
as Jason's co
to
retain
Medea's
her
nality.
desperate
identity
struggle
is denied by the other characters
that identity
of the play,
niunx, while
as well
as a dramatic
at a
is underlined
level
level by
linguistic
use of marital
uses coniunx
as his over
Seneca's
Seneca
vocabulary.
word
of choice
for "spouse"
because
of its non
4, perhaps
whelming
as well
as its metrical
a
in
that
accords
convenience,
way
specificity,
with
the prevalent
and
marks
Medea's
literary usage
struggle. Medea
coniunx
calls herself
five times and Jason once; she also refers to her
cause,

coniugium
the word
3
edition

with
coniunx

Jason two times.

to Medea
5.

twice

Only

All

from Seneca's
Medea
quotations
Seneca.
Medea,
(C. D. N. Costa,

are

do other

taken

Oxford

from

1973).

characters

Costa's

1973

Variations

from

apply

Cambridge
Zwierlein's

1986 OCT are noted (0. Zwierlein, L. Annaei Senecae Tragoediae, Oxford 1986). The
quotations from Euripides' Medea follow Diggle's 1984 OCT (J.Diggle, Euripidis Tabu
lae, Oxford 1984).
Translations

4
?

Treggiari
The

first

for

all

Latin

and

Greek

passages

are my

own.

1991, p. 6.
passage,

w.

102-106,

was

discussed

immediately

above.

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Jason

does

Roman

Law

Marriage

the Conflict

and

of Seneca's Medea

111

a husband,
as a maritus,
Jason is identified
twice; each time the
constant
context
of his
tension
the identities
between
the
augments
new wife and the old. The Chorus
mari
refers to him as &peregrino...
at the end of the
to at v. 115, while
Medea
banishing
wedding-song;
husband
the mar
that they can refer to him as Medea's
acknowledges
but

riage,

context

the

in the past.

it firmly

puts

The

second

usage

comes from Medea herself, highlighting her duelling perceptions of the

As Creon

marriage.

to cast her out of Corinth,

attempts

Jason is equally guilty

cur

lacerumque
docet

maritus

desertum

fratrem,

quidquid

coniuges,
sum
facta,

nocens

totiens

sontes

duos

non nobis

adice,

rapi?as

fugam,

that

(w. 275-280):

illi Pelia,

distinguis?

she argues

iacet;
patrem

etiam nunc

novas

est meum:

non
sed

mini.

numquam

two guilty parties?

between
Why do you distinguish
Pelias lies dead for him, not for me; add the flight,
the theft, my father betrayed and brother butchered;
even now teaches his new wives,
the husband
whatever
times I have been made harmful,
it's not my fault: so many
but never for my own benefit.
as well as herself,
in a way
is bitter,
Creusa
including
plural
on to an
union.
In Roman
that shows Medea
law,
impossible
hanging
as spouses, was a
to regard one another
intent
the
maritalis,
ajfectio
to exist 6. Consequently,
the
for a legal Roman marriage
prerequisite
or bilateral,
could create a di
unilateral
of intent, whether
absence
is
vorce. What
evidence
is certain from the Roman
legal and anecdotal
one of the former partners
that
confirmed
of
that subsequent
marriage
maritus
if
had ended 7. Jason cannot be Medea's
the original marriage
women
the
herself
numbers
but Medea
he has a new bride,
among
The

to Jason has corrupted.

One
should note here also
marriage
her
of the loss of her father and brother with
first linking
a
that
to
starts
of
valuation
here
Seneca
Jason.
pattern
marriage
a pattern
her marital
Medea's
family,
family against
original
weighs
whom

Medea's

to Medea

refer
his

only

as his

at 435,
just once,
she has done
of what

coniunx

acknowledgment

where

his
he weighs
The Chorus

for him.

limited
also

It is
options.
of the le

sings

gendary wrath of wronged wives in the first part of the Argo ode (v. 579 f.); the coniunx
viduata taedis / ardet et odit at v. 581 is clearly inspired by Medea's speech, but the
context

6
7

makes

Treggiari
Treggiari

coniunx

proverbial

Everywife.

1991, pp. 54-57.

1991, p. 450.

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112

L. Abrahamsen

which

in the murder

culminates

the

of

at

children

the

end

of

the

play.
of the marriage
exclusive
that Medea
perceptions
mutually
as
a
use of the
to
in
her
herself
Her
coniunx.
references
emerge
a
as
can
if
she
claim
the
word
has
title
cast,
always
negative
only in
v.
curse
at
of
is
and
bitterness:
her
that he
Jason
23, part
upon
anger
v.
notes
at
she
should want her for a wife
418,
8;
(me coniugem
optet)
to her; at v. 501, she calls herself
that he was afraid to say a final word
tota
At v. 928,
contrasted
with
infamem.
coniugem
expulsa,
coniuge
as
she
her
marks
her
indecision
the
murder
of
mater,
contemplates
scene
mur
and in their final horrific
after she has
children;
together,
their children
before
his eyes,
she demands
dered
final ac
Jason's
The

holds

tuam?
(v. 1021).
ingrate Iason.
coniugem
agnoscis
knowledgment:
on her
is given no honor as a wife,
Since Medea
the word
tongue
a threat not
to herself,
becomes
but also in her ironic
only in reference
In all three of
of the title to Jason's new bride, Creusa.
applications
as a coniunx,
to Creusa
is threatening.
the context
Medea's
references
is
Creusa
her
From her earliest
for
of
death
part
speech,
plan: coniugi
letum novae
of re
(v. 17); and this new wife will be part of her means
est
esset
in
utinam
Uli frater!
coniunx:
hanc / ferrum
venge:
exigatur.
is a wife:
There
that he had a brother!
let the sword be
("Would
an
at v. 999, Medea
drawn
her", w.
125-126).
Finally,
against
nounces
to Jason: coniunx
and Creusa
the deaths
of Creon
socerque
iusta iamfunctis
habent
/ a me sepulti
and
father-in-law
have
("Wife
the rights due the dead / buried
by me").
As she applies
it to herself
coniunx
and to her rival, the word
de
notes

it is interesting
both enacted
and suffered. Thus
that of
violence,
to Jason,
in
coniunx
her three uses of the words
reference
/coniugium
two are neutral,
and the other, part of her declaration
of fidelity
and
to
service to him 9. As Helen
is
link
Medea's
the
Jason
notes,
Fyfe
only
to
in
is
maintain
which
she
finds
Greek
she
herself;
society
attempting
to no avail 10. Seneca puts the definitive
that relationship,
application
co
nurse: Abiere Colchi,
to Jason in the mouth
of the word
of Medea's

niugis nulla est fides

Colchians
8

have

Zwierlein

/ nihilque superest opibus e tantis tibi ("The

there

departed,
1986,

prints

opto

is no

for

trust

in your

optet

in p.

qui...

coniugia

23,

husband

/ and noth

Axelson's

following

sugge

stion.
9

At

v.

144,

she blames

to flee Corinth (w. 447-489),

At

v. 740

f. she calls

Creon

as one

solvit-,

in her

last

plea

to Jason

she calls her sacrifices for him coniugi testes mei (v. 481).

for a graviorpoena

to be

imposed

on

Sisyphus,

coniugis

socero

(v. 746).
10

Helen

Fyfe,

1983, pp. 77-93,

An Analysis

of Seneca

9sMedea.

Seneca

Tragicus,

80.

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Berwick-Victoria

mei

Roman

ing from
statement
and

Law

Marriage

your great
the Nurse
like

the Conflict

riches

remains

of Seneca's Medea
w.

for you",
the marital

bond

acknowledges
she recognizes
the Chorus,

113

164-165).
between

In this
Medea
to note

the union
only
its rupture.
use of the Roman
of marital
Seneca's
alliance
vocabulary
clearly
a
creates
of exclusion
for Medea
the
Since
pattern
tragedy.
throughout
to Medea
in the
of the word coniunx
five of the seven applications
play
come from Medea's
own mouth,
it becomes
part of the tragic conflict
that the other characters
of the play
by parameters
identify Medea
a
situation
which motivates
her violence.
other than her marital
status,
Jason,

but

and

further
her belief
that underlines
gives his Medea
language
w.
to
that she is legitimately
married
she requests
Jason. At
488-489,
to their union:
the return of the bloody
tib? patria
she
dowry
brought
sua
tib? pater frater pudor
/ hac dote nupsi.
redde fugienti
cessit,
to
all
have
fallen
father, my brother, my chastity
you
(amy home-my

Seneca

/with such a dowry Iwed. Give the exile her due"). The definition of
At w.

are
her father and brother
277-278,
should
share
the
blame.
Now
Jason
crimes,
only part
her
and
will
Medea
have
become
cooperate
they
dowry,
only if her
to her. The return of such losses is of course
is
returned
impos
dowry
of her children will be
sible, but through her angry logic, the murder
come her means
her father, brother,
homeland
of regaining
and inno
cence. Her words
here underscore
the notion
that her fury stems from
a
sense of
she has given much,
but gotten
legal
having been betrayed
return n.
in
nothing
in a context
in which
she
Seneca has situated his Medea,
however,
one
to be
is the only
her marriage
All
of
who believes
legally binding.
Corinth
celebrates
the wedding
and Jason, and no character
of Creusa
uses
but Medea
cf. n. 5, above)
Jason
(and once, briefly,
language
that contradicts
the existence
of the new union. Furthermore,
Seneca's
a
use of socer and gener,
about
secondary
relationships
by
brought
also
the
marital
of
exclusion
and
inclu
bond,
pattern
primary
tightens
sion. The words
denote what we call in English
uin-law"
relation
create
As
of
bonds
between
charac
ties, they
kinship
ships.
language
can serve to exclude
ters which
the
others. Euripides
barely
employs
at vv. 990-991
in
his
does
Greek
Medea.
vocabulary
Only
equivalent
the Chorus
address
of kings":
Jason as the uson-in-law

her

losses

11 G.
Teatro
divorce

52,

has

escalated.

of her

for which

Barthouil,

'Coherence Psychologique

1981,

(retentio),

pp. 477-513,
see
Treggiari
see also Ch.

Dowry7;
claiming
men
in Roman
Law

and

de laMed?e

For

Bloomington,

1986,

p.

e il

de S?n?que', Seneca

the practice
of returning
dowry
Ch.
10: 'Dos', esp. pp. 350-353,
1991,
13: 'Divorce',
See also Jane
pp. 466-467.

Society,

486.

112.

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in the
'Rules
Gardner,

event
for Re
Wo

of

114

L. Abrahamsen
ov ?\

x?kav

(b xaxovDftqpe xrj?eiaojv

TUQ(XVV?)V.

in the play,
the three-way
interdependent
is expressed
and
Creon
Jason,
among
by participles,
with Medea
on's confrontation
(w. 287-289):
Otherwise

Glauke

relationship
as in Cre

xXikd ?9 ?mikelv os, ob? anayyekkovoi

fxot,
x?v ?ovta xai yr\\iavxa xai yaiiov\i?vr\v
xi.

?oaaeiv

as they tell me,

I hear that you are threatening,
to do something
is giving in marriage,
him
who
against
him who marries,
and her who is being married.

The participles
functions

particular
follow his

reference

Euripides, Medea

identify the members

of the triad through their

in the act of marriage.

Creon's
to Jason at v. 286 as Medea's

words

immediately

husband.

Compare

373-375:

tt)v?9 ecpfjxev rifx?oav

ux?vat |i' ?v fji TQe?? x v ?ji v ?x^ocov vexoo??
drjoa),

Jtat?oa

xe xai

x?o/nv

jt?oiv

t'

?uov

He has said that I remain for this day,

this day on which I will bury the three bodies
and my husband
ther, the daughter,

of my

enemies,

the fa

with

of Seneca, Medea
coniunx
above.
999-1000,
socerque
quoted
same
as
a
two passages
inten
the
future
idea; Euripides'
express
as a
use of the
tion and Seneca's
action.
Medea's
completed
primary
as well as the
and daughter,
terms, father
possessive
kinship
adjective
in Euripides'
for husband
her, at least linguistically,
passage
keeps
statement
of
the
unlike
the
in the Senecan
part
family group,
parallel

The

play.
a close
and socer establishes
the use of gener
Medea,
between
Creon
and Jason,
further
Jason's
relationship
legitimizing
to Creusa
at
of
his
union
the
with
Medea.
The
Cho
expense
marriage
rus celebrates
names
at v. 106. Creon
soceris
...volentibus
Jason as
to Medea,
in which
in his first speech
he banishes
her from
gener
names
as
Corinth
12. Medea
Jason
421,
gener
(w. 240,
repeatedly
even as she tries to
on to her status as coniunx
the
460),
(v. 418);
hang
In Seneca's

12

The

speech

is at v.

179

f.; it is worth

noting

that

nowhere

in it does

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he

refer

to

Roman

Law

Marriage

and

of Seneca's Medea

the Conflict

115

the theme of the conflict

intensifies
of family alliances
13.
juxtaposition
as socer, for Jason, at w.
Both Medea
and Jason refer to Creon
538
as a source of
and 546,
the word may
reflect a reliance
upon Creon
as
uses
a
it
in the same
and
but
Medea
threat,
power
14;
authority
as coniunx.
manner
as her
in
of
the opening
Creusa
Thus,
naming
she
wishes
death
for
the
she
of
the
after
novae,
speech
play,
coniugi
socero
on
to
it
the
wTish
for
goes
(w. 17-18).
socer can also be used to evoke
it to
The word
pity. She applies
v.
run
to
at
Creon
she is still begging
Jason
522, while
away with her,
in her incantation
and uses it at v. 746 to refer to Sisyphus
speech.
to
is in a request
"in
The reference
her husband's
punish
legendary
. Al
socero mei
uni poena
sedeat
law": gravior
(v. 746)
coniugis
in Latin
there are many
literature
of socer and gener
though
examples
to indicate
rather
than actual
used
in-laws
16, the posi
prospective
socero in the line, flanked
as it is
of
and
mei, again
by coniugis
tioning
the tension
alliances
and Medea's
lack of
of the conflicting
heightens
status. The words
should not go together:
if Jason were
still
marital
own
his father-in-law
should be her
father. Throughout
her husband,
is
in an impossible
situa
the play,
who
then, we see a Medea
caught
tion: in her mind
she is married,
and her language
this belief;
reflects
but surrounding
her is incontrovertible
that her husband
has
evidence
a new wife and new
must
terms
in
alliances.
She
them
identify
family
em
to her interlocutors,
and so Medea must
readily understandable
own status as a wife.
denies
her
that
ploy
language
to a real Roman
fictional
situation
We might
compare Medea's
to Seneca's
situation
union with
audience:
well-known
Cleopatra's
was
the
social
Ptolemaic
queen
certainly
Antony's
Antony.
Although
was not a Roman
nor had Ptolemaic
not superior,
if
she
citizen
equal,
into the Roman
and conubium
"with
yet been absorbed
Egypt
Empire
in
iniustum matrimonium
Roman
citizens
17. Their union was
granted
a
Roman
law and did not prevent Antony
from entering
Roman
legal
Medea
her

with

words

Colchian
13
Costa
14
Costa,

10Axelson

(above,

n.

3),

that

family:

a role
give her
noxium
Colchi
n.

(above,
(above,

n.

3),
3),

p.
p.

in Jason's
Aeetae

138-139,

for

sees her

only

as a

product

of

110.
118.

deleted v. 746, which

pp.

He

family.
genus.

Sisyphus'

Zwierlein
identity

(above, n. 3) brackets.
as

See Costa

socer.

16
Judith Hallett, Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society, Princeton 1984, pp.
102-105.
17 The
slurs cast at Cleopatra by the Augustan poets (nefas! Aegyptia coniux, Ver
Aen.
688;
8,
coniugis obscenii (Propertius 3, 11,31) and meretrix regina Propertius
gil,
3, 11, 39) are evoked by some of the language applied to Medea in Seneca's
play.

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116

L.

also royal,
18. Medea,
conubium
with Jason. He

Octavia

with

marriage

does not have

Abraliamsen

a for

nonetheless

but
can

put her aside

easily
eigner,
for politically
when
the opportunity
appears.
marriage
advantageous
the rest of the
of Jason,
and
Creon
from
the viewpoint
At best,
an uxor
a woman
was
with
Medea
Corinthian
iniusta,
community,
was

whom

marriage
conubium
19.

intended

by Jason,

but

by

prevented

their

lack of

to control
the sta
has very little power
a
au
of
Roman
from
the
Jason, therefore,
perspective
and
in
Medea
his
of
is utterly blameless
dience,
marriage
repudiation
to Medea
has ended, and there
to Creusa.
intent to be married
Jason's
a
if it were
Even
fore, so has the marriage.
(matrimo
legal marriage
is no
while perhaps
nium iustum), his intent to divorce Medea,
callous,
elite
Ro
more
marital
than the prevalent
scandalous
among
practices
xAsan uxor

Medea

iniusta,

tus of the union.

man

males

of the

If we

look

at

Medea

in the context

mands

to keep

and early Empire

20.
late Republic
between
of the union
the dissolution
violate

the children

Jason

and

of conubium,
Jason's de
however,
In a le
normative
Roman
practice.

of the notion

house
the father's
within
stayed
generally
not
in
have
did
the
which
iniustum,
couple
status
of
the
the
followed
children
the Minician
law,
one can further
of Cicero
infer from a passage

children

gal marriage,
In matrimonium
hold21.
under

conubium,
non-citizen
(T?pica
mother
entitled

20)

parent;
that children

stayed
to retain

of a Roman

father and non-citizen

as the father
is not
divorce,

citizen

their mother

with

part

following
for maintenance
of the dowry

18

Studies
the Roman
K. R. Bra die v, Discovering
Family:
133-135.
York-Oxford
1991,
pp.
19
see
iniusta
and their effects,
For matrimonia
Treggiari
consideration
careful
from Treggiari's
that emerges
definition

of the children

in Roman

Social

22.

History,

New

could

that Medea

unlikely

he viewed

as a concubina,

once and the union did produce children

20

For

Charlier.
mentalit?s'.

21
after
New
that
gine

case

three

in the Roman

cation

Ordre
Acta

class.

from

histories

Family',
s?natoriale

the

and

The
1991,
pp. 49-51.
it
makes
the evidence

does

name

her

as

'"wife"

(Treggiari 1991, pp. 51-52).

see
Ch. 6: 'Dislo
late Republic,
1991,
Bradley
see M. T.
For the imperial
Raepsaet
period,
un
des
de l'histoire
le haut-empire:
chapitre
161-173.
1981-82.
pp.

pp. 125-155.
sous
et divorce

Debrec.

17-18,

Bradley 1991, p. 131. See also Treggiari

a divorce;

as Jason

of

B. Rawson,
Ithaca
1986,

The

pp.
Perspectives,
and
the children,
he should keep
a future without
the children.
22
1991.
p. 49.
Xreggiari

Roman
1-57,

1991, p. 467 f for the fate of children

in Ancient
Rome:
Family
at v. 544
f.
proposes
explicitly
does not ima
scene, his character

Family',
35-36.
Jason

throughout

the

in The

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Roman

Marriage

Law

and

the Conflict

of Seneca's Medea

117

Medea
first by not returning
her figurative
twice;
wrongs
to
then
the
children
23.
dowry,
by asking
keep
The two are inextricably
linked in Medea's
mind
the
throughout
a
as
status
shows
his
audience
Medea
robbed
of
her
who,
play. Seneca,
is forced into
status as a
mother
and wife,
her
and
preferring
daughter
at first seem unnatural
sister. While
to the
such a preference
may
it
most
modern
reflect
the
actual
familial
ties
in the
reader,
may
prized
So

Jason

Roman
In her 1984 book Fathers
and Daughters
in Roman
family.
a
makes
for
what
she
termed
Judith Hallett
Society,
strong argument
the "filiafocality"
of the Roman
In
this
model
of
understand
family.
of a nuclear
the role of daugh
ing the bonds between members
family,
ter is central because
she links other members
of the family
through
her changing
life roles as daughter,
and mother
24.
sister, wife
Hallett's
view of the relationships
between
members
of the Ro
man
a close
formed
from
of
texts,
family,
analysis
literary
departs
a
from the traditional
view of Roman
valuation
kinship
being agnatic,
an em
view derived
from
and
instead
sources,
primarily
posits
legal
on
those
about by blood
rela
bonds,
phasis
placed
cognatic
brought
to a woman
as
woman
Since
25.
Roman
her
life
every
tionship
began
father's daughter,
term ufiliafocali
Hallett
coined
the anthropological
to convey
the essence
of the importance
of cognatic
ty"
relationships
in the Roman
correspond
literature.

family. The bonds

to the bonds Hallett

that Seneca
finds

has his Medea

emphasized

throughout

emphasize
Roman

are also bonds

that recall an earlier, more
model
They
primitive
to sacrifice
of kinship
The
to
choice
one's
marital
relatives
reckoning.
a
one's
blood
relatives
has
in
classical
avenge
literature,
long tradition
from Nestor's
and Althaea
in Book Nine
of the Iliad
story of Meleager
Histories
of
3, 119, to the famous vexed passage
through Herodotus'
are
women
in
905-920:
there
classical
Sophocles'
myriad
Antigone
to honor brother
and literary retellings
of myth who
choose
and
myth
a female
father over husband
and children.
It is predominantly
act,
use a twisted
until Aeschylus
to
has Orestes
version
of the reasoning
to
in
It
the
avenge Agamemnon.
justify killing Clytemnestra
requires
28

has Medea
Seneca
such an uover
make
the top" demand
(w. 488-489),
not expect
to be fulfilled,
is part of his characterization.
What
Me
surely does
is
to extremes
dea wants
to
and
her
is
in
character
driven
order
recognition,
consistently
wants
the first wife who put her husband
her
school, Medea
get it. Like
through medical
as acts of love. Her
to be
so-called
"crimes"
to Creon
at w.
204
acknowledged
speech
That

which

she

251

employs
24
Hallett

25 Hallett

this

argument

(above,

n.

as her

defense,

to no

avail.

16).

(above, n. 16), p. 320.

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118

L. Abrahamsen
to

tervention

of Apollo
blood
by
only
A point relevant

lated

by arguing
justify that murder,
to one's
father, not one's mother.
to Seneca's Medea
from
emerges

one

that

is re

a consideration

in
has Apollo make
motif.
this argument
Aeschylus
in a context
the Eumenides
the old ways
of ending
of justice, the eye
one to avenge kindred
retribution
that requires
blood. The
for-an-eye
into the Eu
end of the play is a celebration
of the passing
of the Furies
who no longer thirst for blood
beneficent
menides,
justice.
goddesses
the
House
Atreus
material
of
the
of
integrates
Aeschylus
mythological
at the end of
into 5th century Athens
the establishment
of
play with
as the seat of
for
the
civilized
The
the Areopagus
new,
justice
polis.
of divine
resolution
of the play also marks
the transition
authority
to younger,
and
from older,
chthonic
masculine
sky-gods,
goddesses
a
transition
the victory
the
of Apollo's
from
female
with
argument,
to a male-based
based,
system of kinship
agnatic
cognatic
reckoning
a
since
time Seneca
is writing
entrenched
the
system,
system
by
long
of this folktale-like

his

play.
his Medea

to the older

system of blood
justice, Seneca
is
His
Medea
acting by rules that
tragedy.
of the play have abandoned.
For a happy
the other characters
ending,
into line with normative
Medea must
be brought
Roman
but
practice,
that is not the way of tragedy. The end of Seneca's Medea,
her horrific
is at last, a clash of cultures.
boundless
violence
By having
creates further

tension

in his

in the
The Medea
of the last act of the play can no longer argue
scenes with Creon and
to
in
civilized
she
had
tried
her
adopt
language
at v. 893, we see this
dis
Jason. In her speech that begins
progressive
in
solution.
She begins
her
murder
of
the
by rejoicing
just-reported
new
to herself
but
admits
that
her
husband's
royal family,
only killing
is not enough
wife
(w. 896-898):
pars ultionis
amas adhuc,
caelebs

ista, qua gaudes, quota

furiose, si satis est tibi

est?

Iason.

in which you rejoice, is it enough?

that part of revenge,
Still you love, mad one, if it is enough for you
that Jason is merely widowed.
statement

Medea's
been
Jason
dead,

expressed
caelebs
but

he

recalls her need

for acknowledgment
in the use of marital
vocabulary
throughout
as coniunx.
denies
her own existence
Creusa

is not

the play.
throughout
veneer
of
The

caelebs.
civilized

He

still has

propriety,

a wife,
through

as Medea
which

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has

that has
the play.
be
may
argued

Seneca

has

Roman

Law

Marriage

and

the Conflict

of Seneca's Medea

119

settlement
with
argue for a just marriage
standards,
by Roman
the return of her dowry and physical
of
the
cracks
children,
possession
as the
She reaches
back to her barbar
completely
speech progresses.
on her own terms. She calls to
ian sense of justice to end the
marriage

Medea

mind

the crimes

she committed

for Jason,

the blood

relatives

she

sac

rificed to aid him; it is as if the loss of her natal family has given her
the

to avenge

strength

nunc

Medea
iuvat,
artus

iuvat
iuvat

spoliasse
armasse

them

(w.

sum; ere vit

et

caput,

arcano

patrem

in exitium

iuvat

malis:

ingenium

fraternum

rapuisse
secuisse

sacro,

910-914):

senis

natas.

Now I am Medea;
the genius for evils has grown:
to have torn off my brother's
It gives pleasure,
it pleases,
it pleases
to have cut his limbs and to have
deprived
it's a joy to have given
my father of his secret wealth,
to the daughters
for the death of the old man.
weapons
she has finally reached
Once
the
embraced
her
barbarian
is,
system of
Orestes
like vision of blood
justice.
for blood
ries, seekers of retribution

head

to
that
slay her children,
an
is
Medea
into
justice,
plunged
She seems to see a crowd of Fu
in her again
crimes, who arouse
the memory
of her father and brother
laments
that she has
26. Medea
not borne more
so that their deaths
more
children
might
fully appease

the Furies

decision

(w. 954-957):

utinam
exisset

turba Tantalidos

superbae
utero

bisque

natos tulissem!
fratri patrique

sterilis
quod

meo

parens

septenos

in poenas fui sat est, peperi duos.

that the brood of Tantalus'

Would
proud girl
had come from my womb,
and that I as parent
had borne twice-seven
I was barren in revenge
children!
but enough for father and brother,
I bore two.

lines make
clear the source of Medea's
rage: she is not a
an
or Al
but
sister and daughter,
like Procne
jealous wife,
avenging
a
to
connection
her
thaea, who finds in her maternity
enemy,
repellent
These

26 The
18)

have

Furies she invoked as witnesses

now

arrived

to

preside

over

its

of her wedding
final

in her first speech (w. 13

dissolution.

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120

L.

en

Abrahams

a means

a
is
of avenging
for more
children
sibling "7.Her wish
a
to Jason; a desire
not
for a more
weapon,
powerful
larger
an
to her
of allegiance
and
also
of
expression
family

but also
a threat
family,
birth.

Medea's

comes

speech

of her

the apparition
seems to hear

appease
but she

the perception

of her

to a furious
brother.

Jason
at all, as
triumphantly
status as
virgin princess

not

him

as she
one child to
slays
bursts
the scene,
upon

climax

regained

in
she rejoices
of Colchis
(w.

982-984):
iam

lam

rediere

germanum

sceptra

recepi

Colchi

spoliumque
regna,

rapta

patrem,

auratae

pecudis

tenent;

redit.

virginitas

Now, now I have taken back power, father, brother

hold the prize of the golden fleece;/
and the Colchians
has returned.
my kingdom has come back, my stolen maidenhood

for the return of the dowry

She has fulfilled the demand made

composed
tracts from

of her

family

back

at w.

488-489.

she adds

Jason's

to her

As Medea

sub
literally
those mem

own,

family,
regaining
the play.
longed for throughout
he tries to reason with her, she will hear nothing
of it. In
Although
one
are
two
for her brother
and the other
her logic,
deaths
required,
will be satisfied
for her father 28. Medea
only if she leaves him wdth
as he tried to leave her in Corinth.
its cli
Her furor
reaches
nothing,
bers

max

she has

(w. 1012-1013):
inmatre

si quod pignus
ense

scrutabor

viscera

etiamnunc
et ferro

latet,

extraham.

If, even now, some hostage lies hidden inmy womb,

Iwill search my entrails with a sword, and drag it out by the blade.

27

et Mediev.
The
Class,
1990,
Ghost',
41,
pp. 151-161,
Edgeworth,
Eloquent
to
that the fratri
of line 957
refers
and pater
Jason.
patrique
frater
Absyrtus
suggested
as at v. 488,
When
Medea
o? frater
and pater,
she means
and
however,
speaks
Absyrtus
Aeetes.
28
The Elusive
in Arktouros:
G. Lawall,
'Seneca's Medea:
of Civilization*,
Triumph
to B. M. W. Knox,
et al., Berlin-New
Hellenic
Presented
ed. G. Bowersock
Studies
York
R.

sees the two murders

1979,
pp. 416-426,
425)
and second,
ted for the sake of the Argo
Jason
text,

however,

that

she

father and brother

equates

the

children

as
avenging
s desertion.
with

the

loss

first
Seneca
of her

the

crimes

states
two

explicitly

priman'

(v. 957).

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she commit
in the
relatives,

Roman

Law

Marriage

Here

and

the Conflict

of Seneca's Medea

121

Seneca

the extremity
of Medea's
portrays
effectively
position
to
As Charles
for vengeance.
used
Segal notes, pignus
the idea of a love-pledge
between
husband
evokes
and
to draw the sword against
is a "literal
wife. Her willingness
herself
tie to Jason" 29. She would
of
her
and metaphorical
out'
be
'rooting
own womb
were necessary,
to violence
it
moved
her
if
in
order
against
to
blood
relations
30. It is a neat summa
Jason of all possible
deprive

in her quest
mean
"child"

tion of the motivation

behind her perceived
reconnection
with her vir
status.
for her natal
the
ginal princess
Through
ongoing
preference
to show in Seneca's
is
Medea
forced
she
has
their
reversed
family
play,
situations.
is completely
He
but
she
has
reconnected
alone,
original
her roots.
with
a
ends with
drama
Medea
the desolate
triumphant
taunting
as
at its
chorus mocked
Creon and the Corinthian
Medea
Jason,
just
Her
tuam?
question,
(v. 1021)
parting
beginning.
coniugem
agnoscis
use of coniunx
is the capstone
in the play. The
for the character's
act of
monumental
her own children,
the act that defines
murdering
can
to
her mythic
force
Medea's
Jason
identity,
finally
acknowledge
can
status as his wife 31. It is also the
she
end
the
only way
marriage.
on Roman
She cannot
divorce
mad
but tri
terms; Medea,
accept
the barbarian's
achieves
of vengeance.
victory
umphant,
The

Cleveland

29

Ch.

'Boundary

Segal,

dy, Antike und Abendland

30

tations.
ternal
Segal

Violation

and

the Landscape

in Senecan

of the Self

Trage

178.

29, 1983, pp. 172-187,

some extreme
and they have
extreme,
interpre
certainly
inspired
n.
reads
the lines as an affirmation
of ma
11), pp. 507-509
(above,
over the
and finds her
in the murders
"un
power
patriarchy
pleasure
orgasme".
to abort
to remove
in a similar
is the threat
them
fashion
her threat
interprets
Her

are

words

Barthouil

any proof of male

Seneca's
ferences
31

sexual domination

Princeton
Phaedra,
less
than
developed
Medea

is

only

looking

1986,
that

from her body (C. Segal, Language

I find
p. 147 n. 31).
connections.
of human

for external

confirmation

the

of her

theme

at v.

identity

in

and Desire

of sexual

power

1021;

dif

in the

vision that led up to the killing of the children, she has already affirmed herself: Medea
nunc

sum

(v. 910).

Elisabeth

and Denis

Henry

read

this

final

scene

as Medea's

self-de

struction by Furor (Denis and Elisabeth Henry, The Mask of Power, Chicago 1986, pp.
113-114).

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