The famous sorceress, daughter of Heli's son Ejet and Okeanida Idija. The goddess Hecate is later mentioned as her mother, and the sorceress Kirk as her sister. Medea's homeland is the mythical land of Eya, identified with Colchis, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea.
Medea lived happily and peacefully in her father's beautiful palace until the Argonauts came to Colchis. When their leader Jason asked for a golden fleece, King Eyet decided to destroy the stranger. He promised him a golden fleece, but demanded that he first harness Hephaestus 'bulls and sow the teeth of Ares' dragon. Hera and Athena wanted to help their protégé Jason. They called on Aphrodite to ignite love for the beautiful stranger in Medea's heart, because they knew that only Ajet's daughter could help him with her spells. Medea hesitated for a long time whether to stay with her father or to obey her heart; it was only when Eros wounded her with an arrow, and when Frix's widow, her sister Halkiopa, supported the Argonauts, that she decided to help Jason.
At Hera's will, Medea first saw Jason's character in a dream; she later met him outside the city, near Hekate's sanctuary, where she promised to help him on the condition that he marry her. When Jason swore to her that he would take her as his wife and take her to Greece, Medea gave him a magical ointment that would protect him from the flames of Hephaestus' bulls, and then helped him defeat the dragon that guarded the golden fleece.
Several other legends about Jason's and Medea's meeting are known. Some say that Medea, unlike the cruel and inhospitable Eyet, mercifully treated strangers and because of that she clashed with her father. She had to leave the city and take refuge in the Helium grove by the sea; there she met Jason and the Argonauts and warned them that King Eyet was ruthlessly killing all the strangers. When Jason promised her marriage, Medea took him to the sanctuary of Ares, where the golden fleece was kept by the Tauride soldiers (bulls) and their leader the Dragon (dragon). After defeating the guardians of the sanctuary, the Argonauts acquired the golden fleece, which some say is in fact the skin of Frix's companion Kri (ram), who was sacrificed to the gods. On the news that foreigners had entered the sanctuary of Ares, King Eyet and the Colchians rushed to the seashore; when one of the Argonauts killed Eyet, the Colchians fled, and the Greek heroes sailed home with Medea.
Others say that Medea was the priestess of Artemis, who sacrificed all the strangers to her goddess. When the Argonauts arrived at Colchis, the cunning Jason disembarked on his own and approached Medea, and the gods immediately ignited in her heart a love for the beautiful stranger. Instead of a cruel and bloody sacrifice, that meeting ended with Medea and Jason's wedding. Through Dionysus, Eyet blessed their marriage. So Jason stayed in Colchis. Only after four years did he remember his task, and Medea then helped him get the golden fleece.
As soon as the Argonauts and Medea boarded the ship, Eyet sent a chase after them. To stop the pursuers, Medea, for Jason's love, killed even Apsirt's half-brother. Medea and Jason's wedding took place before the return of the ship Argo to Jolk, either on the island of Peuki or on Corcyra. On the way to Greece, Medea helped the Argonauts in several moves, with advice and spells. She ordered the Greek heroes to carry the ship Argo from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean for twelve days, and in Crete she enchanted and conquered the giant Tala.
After the return of the Argonauts to Jolk, Medea decided to take revenge on King Pelia, who sent Jason to Colchis and in the meantime killed his entire family. And on that occasion, she used cunning and deeds: in front of Pelija's daughters, she dismembered a ram and put it in a large cauldron with boiling water, and then she revived it completely rejuvenated, like a lamb. Wanting to rejuvenate the aged father, the king's daughters did the same with Pelia, but Medea did not revive him. After that crime, Akast, the son of King Pelia, expelled Jason and Medea from the country. The exiles found refuge in Corinth.
Medea and Jason lived happily in Corinth for ten years. When the Corinthian king Creon offered the newcomer his daughter's hand, Jason, wanting to consolidate his position, accepted the marriage. The humiliated Medea took cruel revenge on both Creon and Jason. She sent the bride a dress and a wreath, but these "gifts" quickly turned into flames, which destroyed the court, the king and his daughter. Meanwhile, to make her revenge even more cruel, Medea killed the sons she gave birth to Jason (picture below), and then went to Athens in Helium's carriage.
Medea was warmly welcomed in Athens, because she promised the Athenian king Aegeus that she would enable him to get an heir with her spells. She stayed there for years and gave birth to Aegean's son Med. Only when she tried to poison Theseus, Aegeus expelled her from Athens and she went to Asia with Med. She later returned to Colchis, where she killed her uncle Pers, who in the meantime had taken power from Eyet.
Others say that Medea and Jason, after Pelia's death, first went to Corkir and that a lioness tore their son Marble there. After the death of their king, the Corinthians called on Medea, as Helius' granddaughter, to rule over them. Thus, thanks to his wife, Jason became the ruler of Corinth. Medea wanted her children - Ferret, Tetal, Alcimen, Tissander and Eriopida - to become immortal, so she left them in Hera's sanctuary. As the children died there one after the other, Jason left his wife and returned to Jolk. Medea then handed over the Corinthian throne to Sisyphus, and went to Colchis herself.
According to a lesser-known legend, after the murder of her children, Medea fled to Thebes, where she cured Hercules of insanity. Then she came to Athens, and after trying to poison Theseus, she fled to Phenicia. From there, she headed north and arrived in Asia, where she married a king to whom she gave birth to a son, Med. After her death, she was transferred to the Blessed Islands, where she became Achilles' wife.
Medea's destiny is a frequent theme in ancient art. Euripides' tragedy Medea, from the year 431 AD, was a model for later poets and tragedians (Enia, Pakuvia, Ovid, Seneca). On black-figure and red-figure vases, Medea was depicted as a sorceress. Only from the middle of the 5th century AD was she presented as a jealous wife who was preparing to kill her children. That moment is the subject of a famous painting by Timomach (1st century AD), which is often copied.
Literature:
• Dragoslav Srejović - Aleksandrina Cermanović-Kuzmanović, Recnik grčke i rimske mitologije, drugo izdanje, Beograd: Srpska književna zadruga, 1987
Medea was a famous sorceress, one of the most famous heroines created by Greek mythology, known for infanticide.