As her faction resource infamy grows, Zheng Jiang's popularity decreases, making diplomacy more and more challenging as time progresses. She operates by subduing others and forcing them to pay tribute to her. Zheng Jiang loves to have power, and she also loves demonstrating it. Zheng Jiang also has access to certain post-siege occupation options that enable her to loot and destroy on a grander scale than her peers. Zheng Jiang is for players who want the challenge of striking out against the status quo, tearing through the realm on a tide of infamy that must not stop until you succeed.Īs a faction leader, Zheng Jiang’s personal bonuses focus on quicker mustering time and increased income from tributaries. As Zheng Jiang you must stay on the offensive – sitting back and relaxing is not something you can do as part of her campaign. Zheng Jiang is a law unto herself, a fierce warrior who wants nothing more than to see the Han dynasty fall – no matter what the cost. Zheng Jiang seizes her own glory through her merciless fury and unrelenting strength. They know nothing of hunger or fear, their power was given to them rather than earned. While this socio-historical reading of Medea opens up a new field of investigation for the study of ancient Greek tragedy, it also offers an approach that gives new impulses for the study of the humanities in general.Įuripides' Medea Revisited: Athenian democracy and the Peloponnesian WarAs the Han empire crumbles, Zheng Jiang only laughs as she sees an institution she hates go down in flames.
Just as Athens' desire to build an empire led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and ultimately to the demise of the great city-state, so Jason’s betrayal of Medea resulted in the loss of his own. The major points of my argumentation will include, among others, a contextualization of the historical and political situation in Athens in 431 BC, i.e., in the year in which the tragedy was performed a close analysis of how Medea’s societal status is defined and re-defined throughout the play and a discussion as to how Jason's disregard for Medea’s former deeds and sacrifices provides an analogy as well as a haunting image for the injustice that ruled Athens' increasingly self-interested interactions with Sparta. Medea then can be seen as a parable through which Euripides attempts to warn the Athenian public that their unjust dealings with their former ally, Sparta, could deal them a devastating blow akin to the blow dealt by Medea unto Jason. In contrast, this proposed paper is concerned with the question of how Medea’s final act of infanticide squares with the Athenian male’s anxieties surrounding the preservation of the oikos (household) and, by extension, the dawning war with Sparta during the time of the tragedy's performance.īy looking at Medea from a historical-sociological angle, this proposed paper will argue that Euripides'tragedy mirrors the neurosis as well as blind hubris spawned by Athenian democracy. For a number of years, Euripides' Medea has been explored predominantly by feminist approaches, highlighting woman’s struggle in ancient Greek society (Rabinowitz, 1993, Mitchell-Boyask 2008).