Women to be feared in Greece: Medea - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World) Exam Questions

Practise 28 exam-style questions on Women to be feared in Greece: Medea for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

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1–8 marks each
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Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Source A: Euripides, Medea 1317-1322 (Jason is trying to break down the doors of the house when Medea appears above it)

'Why are you shaking these doors and trying to force them open, searching for the dead and for me who did the deed? Stop this effort. If you need anything from me, say what you want - but you will never lay a hand on me. Such is the chariot that my father's father has given me, a defence against an enemy's hand.'

Who was Medea's 'father's father', who had given her the chariot?

Model answer

Helios, the Sun god.

Explanation

Medea is the granddaughter of Helios through her father Aeetes, king of Colchis. The chariot shows that she has divine protection: she appears above the house like a god at the end of a tragedy, out of reach of Jason and of any human punishment.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Helios / the Sun (the sun god)
Accept 'the Sun'. Do not accept Aeetes (her father), Zeus or Apollo.

Question 2

2 marks

Source A: a Lucanian red-figure calyx krater, about 400 BC (Cleveland Museum of Art)

At the top Medea drives a chariot drawn by two serpents, framed by a great disc of rays like the sun. Below, the bodies of her two sons lie draped over an altar, with mourning figures beside them. Jason looks up at Medea from below. On each side a winged Fury watches.

Give two differences between the scene in Source A and the final scene of Euripides' Medea.

Model answer

On the vase the sons' bodies lie on an altar below Medea, whereas in the play she has taken the bodies with her into the chariot. The vase also shows two Furies watching, but no Furies appear in the play - Jason only prays that the Fury of the children will destroy her.

Explanation

Vase painters did not record a performance exactly; they combined elements to tell the whole story in one picture. Putting the bodies on the altar shows the crime clearly, while the Furies hint at pollution and vengeance, ideas that the play only mentions in words.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Any one difference: on the vase the sons' bodies lie on an altar below, but in the play Medea has the bodies with her in the chariot; the vase shows Furies, who do not appear in the play (Jason only prays that the Fury of the children will destroy her, line 1389); the vase shows the chariot drawn by serpents, which the play's text does not mention (it is just the chariot given by the Sun); the vase shows mourning figures beside the altar, who do not appear in the final scene of the play (there Jason confronts Medea in front of the Chorus); on the vase the bodies are at an altar in the open, in the play Jason is trying to break into the house to find them.
Each difference must contrast the vase with the play, at least by implication.
1 mark
A second, different difference (as above).

Question 3

3 marks

Source A: Euripides, Medea 1339-1343 (Jason is speaking to Medea after the murder of their sons)

'There is no Greek woman who would ever have dared to do this; yet I chose to marry you instead of them - a hateful marriage, and my ruin - a lioness, not a woman, with a nature more savage than Tyrrhenian Scylla.'

Explain why Jason calls Medea 'a lioness, not a woman'. Make three points.

Model answer

Jason calls her a lioness because she has killed her own children, which seems so unnatural for a mother that he thinks she must be a wild beast rather than a woman. He also links her savagery to her foreign birth, claiming that no Greek woman would have dared to do it. Finally, by blaming her nature he avoids facing his own part in the disaster, since it was his new marriage that provoked her revenge.

Explanation

Jason's insults turn Medea into something outside the human and Greek world - beast, monster, barbarian. The Chorus has just mentioned Ino, a Greek woman who also killed her children, which undercuts his claim; Medea's reply accepts the insults, saying she has 'struck at his heart'.

Mark scheme

1 mark
First valid point.
Three different points from, e.g.: she has killed her own children, when a mother is supposed to nurture and protect them, so she seems unnatural; her act is savage and bestial, like a wild animal's; he links it to her being foreign / a barbarian ('no Greek woman would ever have dared'); like Scylla, a female monster who devoured men, she is a destroyer of men; lions in Homer stand for fierce warriors, so she has acted with a man's (hero's) violence; he wants to blame her nature and avoid admitting his own part (his betrayal and new marriage); irony - a lioness protects her cubs, but Medea killed hers. Max 3.
1 mark
Second, different valid point.
As above.
1 mark
Third, different valid point.
As above.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Euripides, Medea 1323-1338 (Jason speaks to Medea, who is above the house in the chariot of the Sun)

'You hateful thing, woman most hated by the gods and by me and by the whole human race! You could bring yourself to strike your own children with the sword - you, their mother - and you have destroyed me and left me childless. And after doing this you still look on the sun and the earth, having dared a most unholy deed. May you perish! Now I understand what I did not understand then, when I brought you from your home in a barbarian land to a Greek house - a great evil, a traitor to your father and to the land that reared you. The gods have hurled at me the avenging spirit that was meant for you: for you killed your own brother at the hearth before you boarded the fair-prowed Argo. That was how you began; then you married me and bore me children, and for the sake of sex and the marriage-bed you killed them.'

To what extent is Medea presented as dangerous because she is a foreigner? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Medea's foreign origin is an important part of why she seems dangerous, but Euripides suggests that it is not the main reason. In Source A, Jason clearly blames her foreignness. He regrets bringing her 'from your home in a barbarian land to a Greek house', calling her 'a great evil' and 'a traitor to your father and to the land that reared you'. For a Greek audience, her killing of her brother 'at the hearth' and her betrayal of her family showed a terrible lack of the loyalty expected of a daughter. He goes on to claim that 'no Greek woman would ever have dared' to kill her children and calls her 'a lioness, not a woman'. Her background supports this view: she is from Colchis at the edge of the world, granddaughter of Helios and skilled in drugs and magic, and in South Italian art she is shown in eastern costume. Athenians, whose citizenship law of 451 BC excluded children of foreign mothers, might well see a foreign wife as a threat.

However, Jason's argument is self-serving: he was happy to marry the 'barbarian' when she saved his life, and he blames her nature to avoid his own guilt. The Chorus has just recalled Ino, a Greek woman who killed her children, so his claim that no Greek woman would dare is false. Medea's motives are also very Greek: she is angry about broken oaths, dishonour and the fear of being laughed at by her enemies, the values of a Greek hero. In her speech about the lot of women she speaks as 'we women', describing problems - dowries, husbands as masters, the danger of childbirth - that belonged to Greek women.

Overall, Medea's foreignness makes her more alarming to a Greek audience, but she is dangerous mainly because she is a clever, wronged woman who refuses to accept her husband's betrayal, a threat that could exist inside any Greek household.

Explanation

Top answers analyse Jason's language in the source critically - recognising his prejudice and self-interest - and set it against Medea's Greek motives and her speech for all women. A clear judgement on how much her foreignness adds to the danger is essential for Level 4.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of the Medea myth and play, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the cultural context (Greek attitudes to foreigners and to women) and possible interpretations; a well-argued response with a clear, substantiated judgement on how far Medea's foreignness makes her dangerous, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both the source and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of Medea as a dangerous woman, with a limited range of evidence and some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - 'most hated by the gods'; she killed her own children; 'from your home in a barbarian land to a Greek house'; 'a traitor to your father and to the land that reared you'; she killed her brother at the hearth; 'for the sake of sex and the marriage-bed you killed them'. Own knowledge - Jason goes on: 'no Greek woman would ever have dared this', 'a lioness, not a woman', 'more savage than Scylla'; Jason's claim that she gained justice and laws by living in Greece (536-541); Medea is from Colchis, granddaughter of Helios, a worshipper of Hecate and skilled in drugs and magic; in South Italian art of about 400 BC she wears eastern costume (the Cleveland krater); Pericles' citizenship law (451 BC) meant children of a foreign mother could not be Athenian citizens; Medea also speaks for all women (230-251) and appeals to Greek values (oaths, honour, not being laughed at); the Chorus recalls Ino, a Greek woman who killed her children; other Greek women in myth killed (Clytemnestra). AO2: For - Jason explicitly blames her barbarian origins; her betrayal of her own family shows (to Greeks) a lack of the loyalty expected of a daughter; her magic and divine ancestry make her an outsider whom Greek society cannot control; Athenians saw foreigners as emotional and uncivilised, and feared foreign wives. Against - she is dangerous because she is clever, wronged and determined, qualities not tied to being foreign; her motives (broken oaths, dishonour, enemies' laughter) are Greek values; her speech on women's lives describes Greek women's position; Greek women also kill in myth (Ino, Clytemnestra), so Jason's claim is false; his prejudice is self-serving - he married her when it suited him. Judgement: e.g. her foreignness adds to the fear, but she is dangerous mainly as a wronged, clever woman.

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