Euripides's play, Medea portrays the characteristics of a tragedy. Through Jason's tragic flaws, it is shown how Medea possesses these elements. To begin with, Jason is a person of magnitude. As a boy, Jason lived in Thessaly and became skilled in all the manly exercises and every branch of human knowledge. He was later told to seek his rightful place in society by going to Greece to regain his father's throne. .
Jason demonstrated the act of free will. Jason cast away Medea because he did not want to leave his high place in society. Consequently, Jason's actions were a result of his downfall. Medea, being a woman of pride and royalty wouldn't except defeat as the final answer. She planned her revenge, and ultimately prevailed in the end. The murder of her children and the murder of Jason's new wife and father in-law basically ruined everything that Jason stood for. Everyone that he ever cared for was taken from him, and Jason was left with nothing.
Hubris was a significant character flaw that Jason possessed. Hubris is wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride or from passion. Jason shows hubris when he is challenged to bring home the Golden Fleece; "Now glory was Jason's ruling passion. He would have felt disgraced if he has declined any adventure, however difficult it might be: and the greater the danger, the greater the glory" (The Golden Fleece 213). When is Colchis, Jason realized that he could not defeat the protectors of the fleece and agreed to marry Medea if she helped him obtain it. Even though he did not love her, let alone know her, he agreed in exchange for the power and glory the fleece would bring him.
While hubris is a character flaw, hamartia is an error of judgment that Jason had clearly made. While at the time, Jason thought that he was getting a good deal by marrying Medea. His judgment turned fatal. In the end of the story, Jason questions whether the death of his two sons, wife, and father in-law were worth all the power and glories that came to him from Medea's help.
