ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the step away from Medea and analyse the link between contemporary and ancient family ideology, extant gender roles and the state. The ancient and contemporary protection of legitimate procreation necessitates control of women's procreative ability. Although contemporary gender roles have developed it is still possible to draw parallels between modern and ancient ideologies. Modern masculine gender-role identities still have heroic roots. Examination of the relationship between the family and society reveals further fear of the insubordinate female. Both the modern nation state and the Athenian city-state, with an identifiable investment in exclusive procreation, demonstrate a strong interest in maintaining female subordination. Like the insubordinate female in Euripides' Medea, contemporary defiant women who force men to act with excessive, overt masculinity are doubly dangerous. The fear of insubordinate women which serves as a fictional warning in Medea is perceived as a very real threat in contemporary society.
