Defined by Aristotle in "The Poetics", agon is the “philosophical center of drama,” the center of conflict, and the constant desire for its resolution.  Aristotle argued this struggle for balance existed in both the political arena and in the theatre and was used as an apparatus to investigate cultural issues and anxieties.  Using this Aristotelian model, the purpose of this project is to investigate the actions of Medea, in Euripides’ Medea, and Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Specifically, why both women are characterized as rash and desperate, even though they seek the same balance as their male contemporaries?  

These pivotal texts reveal the cultural anxiety that women in power would be overcome by their “inherent” irrationality and jealousy and this will overpower logic and lead to the destruction of society and, ultimately, the subjugation of men. With our modern understanding of these dynamics and how they manifest in dramatic literature, we sympathize with these tragic characters – specifically relating to how the action of the men in their lives led them to what can be described as destructive behavior. In these scripts, Medea and Cleopatra seek balance, which leads to the destruction of society because it often directly contradicts the desires of the men around them.