Medea
heroA powerful sorceress and princess of Colchis who betrayed her family to help Jason win the Golden Fleece, only to be abandoned by him and take catastrophic revenge.
The Myth
Medea was a princess of Colchis and granddaughter of the sun god Helios. When Jason arrived seeking the Golden Fleece, Aphrodite caused Medea to fall madly in love with him. She used her formidable sorcery to help him: drugging the sleepless dragon, protecting him from the fire-breathing bulls, and defeating the warriors born from dragon's teeth.
Medea fled with Jason, betraying and murdering her own brother to delay her father's pursuit. She used her magic repeatedly to aid Jason: rejuvenating his elderly father Aeson, arranging the death of the usurper Pelias, and protecting him from enemies.
But when Jason abandoned Medea to marry the young princess of Corinth, her love turned to devastating fury. She sent the princess a poisoned robe that burned her alive, killed the king who tried to save his daughter, and — in the most horrifying act in Greek tragedy — murdered her own children by Jason. She escaped to Athens on a chariot drawn by winged serpents, leaving Jason broken and alone.
Parents
Aeetes and Idyia
Children
Medus (by Aegeus)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Euripides' play Medea (431 BCE) was controversial even in its time — audiences were shocked that a mother would be portrayed killing her own children.