1.) Achilles and Medea both let their anger overtake their thought processes. They both share a certain amount of pride that leads them into resentfulness and making decisions that do not benefit anyone; not even their selves in the end. They both were betrayed by those closest to them. It is recommended to forgive and forget; not go on barbaric rampages of killing everybody.
I do not consider Medea as a a hero. Yes she was betrayed and her husband did her wrong. She and her children should have not been sent into exile. But she could have handled the situation a bit differently. Certainly not using manipulation of her children and killing them in the end. There is nothing heroic about that. She could have sought out another form of revenge certainly one that does not result in her own children’s death. I was pretty horrified by that.
2.) Though Job had faith in god, he seemed to have questioned his faith in god when pain and suffering was sent his way. Thus the voice of the whirlwind did not answer jobs questions; it was a reminder to Job of the power god holds over humankind and how little knowledge humans know of the creature of all earth. Though Jobs family was not replaced to him, he has faith in god that is why he is satisfied with what he is given.
I did find the ending very satisfactory. If you believe in god that does not mean you are exempt from any sort of pain and suffering it means that you are not alone and he will not leave you to suffer alone. Many times when someone is experiencing pain and suffering that is when they are brought closer to god. For example; Job had faith in god and was a good man to begin with but he said so himself “I knew you, but only by rumor; my eye has beheld you today’ (42). Though he experienced pain and suffering he was restored his riches but not his family. For his relationship with god grew much stronger as well as his faith.
I fully agree that as far as heroic deeds go, killing one’s children in a revenge plot against their father does not make the top of the list or the bottom for that matter. But I would say that in an overall summary of moral teachings we learn from this story are not only to honor marriage and one’s wife and family but also to not anger women who have shown in the past to be relatively unstable. I am of course referring to Medea murdering her own brother to be with Jason.
That a very nice point that you raise at the end with how Jobs and Gods relationship has changed especially compared to the relationship that they had before Job went through his trials. Especially when you consider how he lost his old family but then had more sons and daughters later in life. Thats a hard loss to deal with and Job seemed to deal with it to the extent that he was able to go on with life.