While Euripides' Medea shares similarities with Seneca’s version, they are also different in significant ways. Seneca's Medea was written after Euripides', and arguably his heroine shows a dramatic awareness of having to grow into her (traditional) role.[7] Seneca opens his play with Medea herself expressing her hatred of Jason and Creon. Her first line is "O gods! Vengeance! Come to me now, I beg, and help me..."[6] while Euripides introduces Medea later on in scene one complaining to her nurse of the injustices she has faced. Where the chorus in Euripides' Medea shows sympathy towards her, the chorus in Seneca's Medea takes an objective position throughout the play, reflecting a Stoic morality.[8]
The final scenes are particularly different because Medea does not blame Jason for the death of her children in Seneca's version, even killing one of her sons in front of Jason and blaming herself for the death.[5] In Euripides' version, Medea does the opposite, because she blames Jason and does not feel any guilt or blame for her actions.
Jason is made a more appealing figure by Seneca - thus strengthening the justification for, and power of, Medea’s passion.[9] Nevertheless, the increased degree of stage violence in the Seneca version,[10] and its extra gruesomeness, has led it to be seen as a coarser and more sensational version of Euripides’ play.[11]
