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Aconite, also called wolf's bane. Medea would, after heading to Athens and marrying Aegeus, attempt to poison the hero Theseus with this plant.

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Sunflowers. Medea is the granddaughter of Helios and her relationship with him is mentioned many times throughout the play.

Perhaps the varying colors of sunflowers from bright yellow to blood red can be used in the design.

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White Lilac. Symbolizes youth. The youth of her children is made eternal after Medea murders them.

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Colchicum flowers, a genus of flowers that has around 160 individual species which grow from bulb-like corms. Native to West Asia, Europe, and parts of the Mediterranean coast, along with parts of East and South Africa. It is named after Colchis, the kingdom Medea is originally from (modern-day west Georgian).

Within the mythological stories relating to Medea, she is said to use "colchian herbs". There is no further information given as to what type of herbs these actually are.

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Medea is repeated described as a "lioness" or in general is described as "bestial"

"she-lion"

"bestial"

glares like a "bull or lioness with cubs"

"worse than Scylla" (Scylla is a mythological monster that eats sailors who sail near her cave around the South of Italy... in some versions of her myths, her story is intertwined with Circe, a witch and Medea's aunt).

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There is both a ferociousness and a regality to lionesses.

The shoulders of the leather chest cover are meant to emulate the arched-ness of a lion's shoulders. They also, in general, make her shoulders broader and pointier, drawing her posture up, making her look more put together.

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Medea is from the ancient Kingdom of Colchis, which was located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and consisted mostly of what is now the Western part of modern-day Georgia. Colchians are regarded as an early ancestor to Georgians and are a Kartvelian tribe.

Her status as an "other" or a non-Greek-- a barbarian-- is extremely important to the plot of the play. She, a non-Greek citizen, marries a Greek citizen (Jason of Iolcus), and therefore becomes protected in Greece by her husband. When he abandons her for a Corinthian princess (who is Greek), he takes away her protection. Without protection, she is vulnerable to scorn/shame (something she is very worried about in the play) and, more importantly, she is vulnerable to attack from her enemies (enemies she had made protecting her husband).

Her statelessness is constantly brought up. She cannot go home to Colchis because she has betrayed her father and killed her brother. She cannot stay in Corinth because the King is exiling her. She cannot go back to Iolcus because she has murdered their King. Since she is not a Greek citizen, she will get no rights, no matter the city she goes to. This is why one of her main concerns is finding a place to go to after she gets her revenge. To have a state, a home, is to have protection as a woman. That is why her meeting with Aegeus is so important to the play and why it is viewed as a sign that things are going her way.

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Prior to the play's plot, Medea had helped Jason and the Argonauts successfully obtain the magical golden fleece from Medea's father, King Aeetes.

"Some scholars believe that the legend of the Golden Fleece may refer to an actual ancient tradition in western Georgia: from time immemorial, Georgians filtered gold from rivers using sheep fleeces. They placed sheep fleeces in the rivers in order to collect flecks of gold that were carried downstream." Within the Greek mythological mind, Colchis was a land of gold and magic.

This may or may not have been true. Some archaeologists have found evidence of an agricultural society that lived in wooden houses and worked the land communally. There is also evidence of wooden towers and buildings hidden in forests.

"From the sixth century B.C., Greek colonization of Georgia began. The ancient Greeks left their homeland to travel and explore the world – to find a new home for themselves. The Greeks sailed around the Mediterranean and the shores of the Black Sea; in so doing they came to the Colchian sea-coasts and brought Greek culture with them. They established several settlements and engaged in active interaction with the local inhabitants. These connections gave birth to a unique cultural mix – the convergence of Greek and local traditions."

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Gold did seem to be something the Colchians had a lot of access to (from the rivers and such within Colchis). In many burial sites, archaeologists have found copious amounts of gold items including this very detailed Colchian headdress ornament which seems to show a blending of cultural inspirations from the areas surrounding Colchis.

This headdress ornament was found in an excavation at Vani, which is thought to have been a religious and administrative center for Colchis.

From "Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: the Golden Graves of Ancient Vani" (an exhibition hosted by NYU):

"In technique and form, the piece is firmly rooted in local Colchian production. What makes the piece so fascinating, however, is its wide array of cultural influences.

Framed on three sides by rounded studs, the central area features a stylized stag and three smaller deer set around it––a motif also present in the gold work of the nomadic Scythians in the northwest. The piece’s openwork design recalls objects produced in Luristan in the southeast. Along the folded upper edge is a pair of outward-facing lions that, in composition, seem loosely related to Assyrian door guardians. Between them are three birds, a motif that occurs throughout ancient cultures, but which is particularly present in the goldwork at Vani. Several gold necklaces in this exhibition, for example, incorporate repeating pendants of birds.

As part of a larger headdress that included stylized griffin appliqués, diadem chains with pomegranate finials, temple ornaments, granulated tubular beads most likely worn at the forehead, pendants originally worn around the neck, this intricate openwork ornament most likely took the most prestigious position on the very top of the deceased’s head."

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Herodotus writes in his Histories:

"The Medes were formerly called by everyone Arians, but when the Colchian woman Medea came from Athens to the Arians, they changed their name, like the Persians [did after Perses, son of Perseus and Andromeda]. This is the Medes' own account of themselves."

Herodotus, like many Greek historians of the time, is not a reliable source.

(related to Median and Persian women's clothing) "Indeed, the representations of women show that they usually wore the pleated “court dress” and the voluminous “Ionic” chiton... Occasionally, as on some of the Ergili sculptures and the “Satrap sarcophagus,” they wore an overgarment that, like the modern čādor, covered the head and neck... The face, however, was always uncovered. The hair was often worn in a single plait at the back"

https://www.tumblr.com/reimenaashelyee/190097009115/clothing-design-for-alexander-the-great-when-he <-- from a later period and also a modern, non-scholarly artistic rendition, but interesting in its hybridization of clothing styles.

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"[A chiton] is essentially a large rectangle draped around the body and pinned at the shoulders to form the neck hole. Several pins could be used at the top of the cloth from the shoulder to the wrist to form a sort of sleeve...The whole thing is held together by a belt or sash at the waist. Belts or sashes can also be worn around the hips, under the breasts, or criss-crossed between the breasts."

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Medea is the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, who is the son of the sun god Helios.

Helios, and other sun deities in Greek art, are often depicted with a radiant crown (which frames his face like a sun) and is often seen driving his chariot (which drives through the sky, everyday charting out the path that we see the sun go through).

Throughout the play, Medea's relationship with her grandfather is important. The gifts she gives to the bride (Glauce) are things that Medea had gotten as gifts from Helios. The gown and diadem Medea gives Glauce literally set her on fire and forces her to die agonizingly to poison.

And throughout the play, Medea and her anger are connected to the concept of fire. At one point the nurse says "As her temper grows even more intense, it will soon catch fire. She's a passionate soul, hard to restrain."

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There is a close relationship between Medea and divinity.

1) Some claim that by the end of the play, Medea has become a god.

2) Others claim that Medea has shed her humanity by the end of the play, becoming the personification of Vengeance.

This second while, while still extreme, is the explanation I enjoy the most which explains why Medea is not EVER punished for her actions both in the play and beyond it.

She suffers, yes, but she also goes beyond it. "Medea is no longer a women when she appears in the chariot but she has been one... Killing her sons has cost her... a suffering beyond that of all other women and by inflicting that suffering upon herself she has tainted her human victory while she became at last a truly impersonal alastor [an avenging deity]"

"the granddaughter of Helios may stand in triumph on her dragon-chariot, but Medea the woman is dead."

Not to say that she herself is a god like her grandfather, but that she has become something other than human, metaphorically.

But also one must understand that she, again, is never punished for killing her children. Divine law never makes her suffer for this. The gods punish Jason, but they never punish her for her vengeance.

Or, "Even with her dragon-drawn chariot, she had not become a god. She has not ceased to be human, she has ceased to be a mother. But we see demonstrated in her, against Jason, the same vital force which Aphrodite demonstrates against Hippolytus and Dionysus against Pentheus. It is perhaps not good but it is real and mighty."

Medea as the irresistible power of "thumos" - many meanings but in this case it is associated with the heart or spirit... inclination, anger, emotion, volition, and motivation.

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It is repeatedly mentioned how Jason deserves to be punished by the gods for abandoning Medea and their children. The chorus sings to Medea to let the gods make him suffer divine retribution, "And if your husband devotes himself to some new bed, why get angry over that? Zeus will plead for you in this..." (Zeus as the god of justice and oaths)

Medea also calls out to other gods to see how she suffers. Specifically she calls out to Themis (pictured above), the goddess of divine law, order, justice, and custom, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, childbirth, the care of children, and chastity.

Throughout the play (and beyond in other myths), Medea commits atrocious crimes. She kills her own brother (which Circe, her aunt, cleanses her of), she tricks Peleus' daughters into killing their father, she kills Glauce and Creon, and she then murders her own children. She does each of these things to punish others (sometimes in a roundabout way).

Aeetes refused to give Jason the golden fleece after promising he would give it to the hero after he yoked the fire-breathing bulls. Aeetes must suffer for breaking his promise. Peleus refuses to give the throne back to Jason once he returns from his quest, going back on his oath. Peleus must suffer for breaking his promise. Jason, an already married man, married Glauce, a Corinthian princess. Jason (and by extension Glauce and Creon) must suffer for breaking his promises.

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There is no evidence that Colchian would have often covered their face with veils.

In Homer, Thetis veils her face with a dark indigo veil while mourning her son Achilles. So we can assume the Greeks, while in mourning, did veil.

The beginning of the play would have Medea wearing some type of headdress, with some type of veil. This does not necessarily be based on any Greek veils. It should not cover her face.

After Medea goes off stage to kill her children, there would then be embroidery/ embellishment on the veil now (switching them out) to represent the blood of her children. The embellishment would be on the bottom of her veil (which would be long) and on the front and side of her lower skirt.

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While the specific clothing colors of the final design don't necessarily matter (for nothing that isn't specified), the colors do generally need to be bright and colorful.

The exhibition "Gods in Color" shows plenty of great examples of how such bright colors would have looked: https://buntegoetter.liebieghaus.de/en/

On the types of color that could be used: "Duller, 'mixed' colors were more common for everyday use. The average Athenian wore unbleached garments or used saffron to give robes a warm yellow tint; colorful patterns often were woven in at the hem.

As a culture, Greece 'placed high value on complexity, both intellectual and visual,' says Cleland, so interaction between colors, as well as the use of pattern, was a way to flaunt style – and a sense of the sacred. Detailed temple records show that women about to be married would dedicate favorite garments to Artemis for good luck. Llewellyn-Jones is struck by how color-specific the items are: ''A mantle, blue, with a purple border. A small summer dress, yellow, with red dots. A cloak, frog green.''"

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One major idea for this design was that it should look a little wrong. Perhaps some colors will clash. The rope around her waist is a little too low. And most importantly, her chiton is not placed the right way on her body. It is too long, it drags on the floor.

I wanted it to seem as if Medea, alone in her room lamenting her situation at the beginning of the play, dressed herself. She was alone in her room at the beginning of the play, then she heard the Corinthian women show up to inquire about her. Throughout the play, Medea talks about how this whole situation shames her, so I can imagine her, in an attempt to save face in front of the women of this city, trying to make herself look presentable. Of course, a princess could have some difficulty with doing that by herself, especially in such a short period of time, so things will be just slightly off in the proportions and combinations of the outfit.

The chiton dragging on the floor, along with the natural abundance of fabric around the sleeves is meant to also give off the impression that Medea is "drowning" in fabric. This was meant to be related to her "drowning" in grief and anger.

Also, Medea's clothing should be made of well made linens and tightly woven cloths. There would, should she be wearing it right, many many folds in the fabric, making it look beautifully voluminous. Here, the folds are not even, not perfect; they should look off, like they were done by one woman in a rush.

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The leather chest cover in the final design was heavily inspired by depictions of Greek soldiers wearing armor. The design on Medea's chest cover (it wouldn't be so thick or sturdy as armor) would be done through embroidering designs and, in the few cases of jewels, embellishing via sewing the jewels into the design.

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Medea's hair should be pulled back behind her head, but it should be messy, like she had thrown it up and put her veil and headdress on so that she could quickly see the Corinthian women.

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Throughout the entire outfit, there are many spots of intricate detailing. Multiple motifs and symbols show up repeatedly. Sun motifs, dragons, fire, bulls, rams, and the various flowers mentioned above.

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There are not many references to other depictions of Medea in the final design. The only exception to this is this painting, "Medea" by Frederick Sandys. The final design has the same strands of coral around the neck. In the painting, the coral represents protection.

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There are a lot of different ways one could decorate the leather chest covering.

1) simple leather carving, using depth to show the different designs

2) painting / staining the leather different colors (in tandem with the carving)

3) embroidering straight onto the leather

this would get the brightest colors

For the fire on the top of the chest plate, if one were to embroider the design, should be embellished with gems, as seen above.

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The costuming (and set design) of this production should set up the mythological world that this play is set in. It should be inspired by the historical context that this play was produced in, combined with the actual mythological and fantastical element.

This is so that when you get to the scene where Medea goes off stage and murders her children, where you hear the children call out in agony, begging for help, the fantastical element of the play can contrast the brutal murder of the children.

Lighting, changes in set, and sound cues should help this, but the audience should be pulled out of the world you've placed them in and showed the reality of what is occurring.

And then, as Medea comes back on stage, that mythological aspect should return. You see Medea in her chariot, with the bodies of her dead children, and she is not covered in their blood, but the costuming should allude to it with the embellishments. Should the embellishments be blood, you would understand the brutality of what Medea has done. But the embellishments must be embellishments, not blood. The brutality should be hidden under the elements of fantasy.

The moment of horror, of realization at what Medea has done, has passed. The play continues. The audience is brought back into the original work that was given to them, but something is different now. There is a different feeling about what is happening in front of them.

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All of the jewelry Medea wears should be gold, tying back into the mythological richness of Colchis.

All of the jewelry Medea wears should be based on, if not exactly, actual historical pieces from the era and general location.

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New community features for Google Chat and an update on Currents (1)

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In terms of make-up, I could imagine, normally, this Medea, if this were normal circumstances, would wear something like this, making her stand out among the Greecean women.

This design, should it have any make up, should serve to make her face darker and her cheeks paler (as referenced at the beginning of the play). The inner corners of her eyes should be darkened, perhaps with something similar to styles in which kohl is worn, but the entire eye should not be enveloped in black or even dark brown eye make up.

Should she be wearing make-up, it too should look rushed and slightly off.