Euripides supports women's rights It can hardly be denied that in Euripides' works women are often described as weak, uncertain and torn between what they must do and what they can convince themselves to do Do. Other women seem to be the root of serious evils, or simply perpetrators of heinous crimes. In an era where character and plot analysis had yet to be invented, it's easy to see why one might think it was very anti-women. However, if one looks back with the current understanding of what Euripides was doing at the time, armed with knowledge of plot devices and Socratic philosophy, this argument simply does not hold water. In fact, the opposite can be argued, that Euripides was actually a great supporter of women's rights and thought they were treated unfairly. To begin to understand what Euripides was doing, it is best to understand the medium of his art: Greek theater. Theater was a competitive art among playwrights, with several competitions throughout the year, the largest of which was at the Dionysian festivals in spring. Greek drama, and especially tragedy, had little in common with modern acting productions. There was little to no suspense about the outcome of the show; most were based on Homeric tales from the Iliad and Odyssey. The skill, then, lay not in creating a fascinating plot, but in the subtle changes the playwright could incorporate to heighten the dramatic effect. Changing the reasons for conflicts, the dialogue, the order of events, and sometimes even the outcome of the show were all ways to achieve this. With all these devices at the fifth century playwright's disposal, what made Euripides so special as to be almost exclusive... middle of paper... Euripides. Medea. Trans. Paolo Roche. New York: Norton, 1974.Euripides. The Bacchae. Trans. Paolo Roche. New York: Norton, 1974.Euripides. Andromache. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Hippolytus. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Trojan women. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Euripides. Electra. Trans. John McLean. New York: Dial Press, 1936. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The birth of tragedy. Trans. Clifton Fadimann. New York: Dover Publications, 1995.Perseus Encyclopedia. Revised 1999. Tufts University. www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia?entry=Euripides>.Powell, Anton, ed. Euripides, Women and sexuality. New York: Routledge, 1990. March, Jennifer. “Euripides the misogynist?” Euripides, Women and sexuality. Ed. Anton Powell. New York: Routledge, 1990.