Abstract
Cultural theories are an analytical instrument of great value in the context of postmodern societies. Nonetheless, because the actual cultural conditions are the result of a complex historical process that, at least for the West, goes back to the Classical Antiquity, this same view represents an option such as useful for the study of ancient literature. This essay pretends to be a first approach towards this direction: from Foucault’s concept of discourse formation, it analyses, on the basis of Euripides’ Medea, the Greek identity as an affirmation of people and gender.