Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What ancient Greek plays and dramatic characters (gods or mortals) can you name?

Teaching Suggestion: This is a good opportunity to talk about oral tradition and the ways in which these myths have been shaped by the societies that produce them. You can also introduce contemporary portrayals of some of the women students name, as well as concepts like in media res and deus ex machina.

• Encyclopedia Britannica has a long list of figures from Greek mythology that provides a useful reference.
• LiteraryDevices.net has an explanation of terms like deus ex machina and in media res.

2. What makes a character a tragic hero? Explain and give examples.

Teaching Suggestion: Medea’s story is tragic, and one of the central themes of this text is Medea the hero. Encourage your students to think of traditional notions of Greek heroes—tragic heroes in particular—and to keep those characteristics in mind as they read the play.

• Tragic Hero on SuperSummary provides a description of the tragic hero as a literary device and several examples.