Entre o amor e a ruína: o fogo do Eros em Medeia

Abstract

The present study deals with the representation of Eros in the myth of Medea, analyzing love as an agent of chaos that drives the character to perform heroic acts in the same measure that it leads her to ruin, causing a psychic subversion in the Colchian princess and being transmuted into a devastating wrath. Furthermore, the study examines the association of Eros with fire and how these elements act as engines of seduction and destruction in Medea. In this context, the study aims to understand, through the narrative, the path that the fire of Eros takes within a person in love, moving from desire to ruin. For this analysis, the study employs a qualitative bibliographical research method, examining variants of the Medea myth that present the fire of Eros as a dichotomous force, such as in Apollonius (2021), Hyginus (2014), Ovid (2014), Seneca (2014), Euripides (2010), and Dracontius (2014). As theoretical background, the research draws on studies about Eros in antiquity by Empedocles (1956), Hesiod (1995), Simonides (2013), among others. It also includes studies on the symbolism of fire in Chevalier and Gheerbrant (2001), Pindar and Ragusa (2012). The research will make it possible, through the example of Medea, to understand how Eros manifested itself in ancient literature, shedding light on important aspects of the human condition: the conflict between love and reason, and the transgression of limits that turns passion into madness.