1.   From the beginning of the story Medea’s personality is in contrast to the personalities of other women. The nurse is depicted as a worrier, unable to alter the course of events which she finds herself in; Jason’s new bride has no say in the marriage, merely bowing to the wishes of Jason and her father Kreon. Media, on the other hand, is portrayed as strong willed, motivated, and tenacious. She does not lean on any man, or wait for fate to sway events to her benefit, but instead schemes and acts of her own accord. Kreon sees past the fact that she is a woman and fears her, understanding her capability for strategic thought and revenge. Jason, although he has seen Media act slyly before, does not recognize her as a threat. Media is similar to Achilles in that they are both driven by a fierce desire to revenge the honor stolen from them. They are also both driven by rage and have few friends. Their allies fear them, but would rather not chance making them an enemy.

I think that Media is meant to be a hero figure in this play. It is interesting, however that although Euripides wrote Media’s character as a hero, he attributed to her “man-like’ qualities. Media is hard, violent, analytical, and does not possess any traits that would be thought characteristic of women such as insight, empathy, and sensitivity. I think it was a big step for Euripides to write a character of this sort; Media, although a woman, is shown as powerful. I do wish, however, that Media had been given some more womanly characteristics. Euripides writes as if a woman must possess the attributes of men if she is to be seen as a hero.

2.   Once God begins speaking, it is made plain to Job how little knowledge he, as a man, possesses. God speaks of putting the winds in their places, of storing up snow and hail, and setting the foundations of the earth. Job had previously believed that he could predict the ways of God. He believed that evil only came upon the evil, while the righteous received only good things. When God speaks to Job, the man realizes how wrong he is attempting to cage God’s power. Job cannot even remove the woes from upon himself, much less create and order the world. For this reason he accepts God’s divine power. He realizes that a God able to order the universe must know better than he why the sorrows have come. Were Job to have pressed for an answer he would have shown himself as arrogant, thinking his plans more important than those of God.

We are not told that Job ever finds out even about the dialog between God and Satan. He may have never found out that by his actions he was proved faithful. I think that if a person does not believe in God then this ending is not at all satisfactory because it does not fully answer why men suffer. If a person believed in God, however, the answer given in this story would bring them relief; God’s plans are higher than their own, and although they may suffer, he will not leave them in their suffering.