Editing Medea (section)

== Mythology ==

===Jason and Medea===
{{redirect|Jason and Medea}}
[[Image:Jason and Medea - John William Waterhouse.jpg|thumb|''[[Jason and Medea (painting)|Jason and Medea]]'' by [[John William Waterhouse]] (1907)|alt=|275x275px]]

Medea is introduced in Greek mythology after [[Jason]] came from [[Iolcus]] to [[Colchis]] in an attempt to claim his inheritance and throne by retrieving the [[Golden Fleece]]. In the most complete surviving account, the ''[[Argonautica]]'' of [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], [[Hera]] convinced [[Aphrodite]] or [[Eros (mythology)|Eros]] to cast a spell on Medea so that she would fall in love with Jason and promise her skills to help him. She does promise her skills, but only if he agreed to marry her. Jason agreed, knowing Medea and her powers would help him in the long run. In a familiar mythic motif, Jason is promised the Golden Fleece through [[Aeëtes]], but only if Jason could complete a list of tasks. The first harrowing task was ploughing a field with fire-breathing oxen that Jason had to yoke himself. To aid him in this, Medea gave him an [[unguent]], called the "Charm of [[Prometheus]]", to anoint himself and his weapons, to protect them from the bulls' fiery breath. After ploughing the field, Jason had to sow the [[Dragon's teeth (mythology)|teeth of a dragon]]. This task seemed to be fairly simple, but Medea forewarned him that the teeth would spring into soldiers. To combat this, she told him to throw a rock into the crowd to cause confusion among the soldiers. The soldiers, now confused, would then begin to attack and kill each other instead of Jason. For the last task, Aeëtes assigned Jason to fight and kill the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece. Medea aided Jason in this task by putting the beast to sleep with her narcotic herbs. Once the dragon was asleep, Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea as promised. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother [[Absyrtus]].<ref>Schmitz, Leonhard (1849). "Absyrtus". ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]''. '''1'''. Boston. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on 2005-12-31</ref> Knowing that the Argonaut's journey back home would be just as perilous and deadly without divine intervention, Hera requested the help of [[Thetis]]. To convince the sea nymph, Hera told Thetis of her deep love and affection for her, as she never gave in to [[Zeus]]' advances, no matter how strongly he felt towards the nymph. Hera also calls unto Thetis' motherly love for her son [[Achilles]], to protect Medea, his future beloved, stating that the day will come when, in the [[Elysium|Elysian Fields]], "it is fated that he wed Medea, Aeëtes' daughter, there."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Apollonius of Rhodes |title=Jason and the Argonauts |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0143106869 |pages=179 |translator-last=Poochigian |trans-title=Aaron}}</ref> 

In some versions, Medea was said to have dismembered her brother's body and scattered his parts on an island, knowing her father would stop to retrieve them for proper burial; in other versions, it was Absyrtus himself who pursued them and was killed by Jason.<ref>Euripides, ''Medea'' 165–166</ref> However, in the ''Argonautica'', Medea and Jason stopped on her aunt [[Circe]]'s private isle of [[Aeaea]] so that she could be cleansed after murdering her brother, relieving her of blame for the deed. This is one of the times we see Medea use her powers. During the fight, [[Atalanta]], someone helping Jason in his quest, was seriously wounded. Medea was able to use her powers to heal the wound.
 
On the way back to [[Thessaly]], Medea prophesied that [[Euphemus]], the helmsman of Jason's ship, the ''[[Argo]]'', would one day rule over all of [[Ancient Libya|Libya]]. [[Pindar]] alleges that this came true through [[Battus I of Cyrene|Battus]], saying that he was a distant descendant of [[Euphemus]] (by 17 generations).<ref>{{Perseus|Pind.|P.|4}}</ref>

[[File:Ag. S 370(5).jpg|thumb|Bas relief of Medea, 2nd century BC, in the [[Stoa of Attalos|Ancient Agora Museum]], [[Athens]], [[Greece]].|left]]

After the prophecy, the ''[[Argo]]'' reached the island of [[Crete]], guarded by the bronze man, [[Talos]] (Talus). Talos had one vein which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by a single bronze nail. According to [[Apollodorus]], Talos was slain either when Medea drove him mad with drugs, deceived him that she would make him immortal by removing the nail, or was killed by [[Poeas]]'s arrow.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00006218|title=Apollodorus I|publisher=|series=Benezit Dictionary of Artists|year=2011 |pages=1.140|doi=10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00006218 }}</ref> In the ''Argonautica'', Medea hypnotized him from the ''Argo'', driving him mad so that he dislodged the nail, [[ichor]] flowed from the wound, and he bled to death.<ref>Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1638</ref> After Talos died, the ''Argo'' landed.

At some point while in [[Thessaly]], Medea and the [[Nereids|Nereid]], Thetis (the future mother of [[Achilles]]), argued over which one was the most beautiful. They appointed the Cretan [[Idomeneus]] as the judge, who declared Thetis to be the most beautiful. In her anger, Medea called all Cretans liars, and cursed them to never say the truth.<ref>[[Ptolemaeus Chennus]], ''New History'' Book 5, as epitomized by [[Photius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photius]] in ''[[Bibliotheca (Photius)|Myriobiblon]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/237#190.36 190.36]</ref>

Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father [[Aeson]] was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. Medea understood the impact this had on Jason and was able to invigorate him by withdrawing the blood from Aeson's body, infused it with certain herbs, and returning it to his veins.<ref>{{cite web|last=Godwin|first=William|year=1876|title=Lives of the Necromancers|url=https://archive.org/details/livesnecromance04godwgoog|page=41}}</ref> The daughters of King [[Pelias]] saw this and asked Medea to perform the same service on their father and she agreed.

However, the service was never performed. Hera, who was angry at Pelias, conspired to make Jason fall in love with Medea, who, Hera hoped, would kill Pelias. Hera's plan worked, and the pair fell in love with each other. When they returned to Iolcus, Pelias refused to give up his throne to Jason who had been promised the throne in turn for the Golden Fleece. Medea then conspired to have Pelias's own daughters kill him.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Euripidies|title=Medea|pages=1.1.483–485}}</ref> She demonstrated her powers to them by showing her cutting up an old ram and putting the pieces in stew. Once the pieces were in, Medea added some magic herbs and stirred the concoction, a young ram suddenly jumping out of the stew. Excited at the sight, the girls cut their father into pieces and threw him into a pot. Unfortunately, the King never came to life. Having killed Pelias, Jason and Medea fled to [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]].

While in Corinth, the couple were married and lived together for 10 years.{{sfn|Godwin|1876|p=42}} They had between one and fourteen children depending on the source. The known children are sons [[Alcimenes]], [[Thessalus]], [[Tisander]], [[Mermeros and Pheres]], [[Medus]], and Argos, and a daughter, [[Eriopis]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=William|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0002.001/1014?page=root;size=100;view=image|title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology: Vol 2|date=1870|page=1004|chapter=Medeia|quote=Her children are, according to some accounts, Mermerus, Pheres or Thessalus, Alcimenes and Tisander, and, according to others, she had seven sons and seven daughters, while others mention only two children, Medus (some call him Polyxemus) and Eriopis, or one son Argos.|author-link1=William Smith (lexicographer)|access-date=6 December 2016}}</ref> Medea ended a famine in Corinth by sacrificing to [[Demeter]] and the [[nymphs]]. Zeus then desired her, but she declined his advances in order not to incur Hera's wrath. As a reward, Hera offered to make her children immortal.<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Pindar]]'s ''Olympian Odes'' [https://scaife.perseus.org/reader/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg5034.tlg001a.perseus-grc1:13.74/ 13.74]</ref>{{sfn|Repath|Hermann|2019|page =[https://books.google.com/books?id=twq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29]}}

===Various myth endings===
[[Image:Medeia child Louvre K300.jpg|thumb|upright|Medea murdering one of her children, [[Amphora|neck amphora]], {{Circa|330 BC}}, [[Louvre]].]]In Corinth, Jason abandoned Medea for the king [[Creon (king of Thebes)|Creon']]<nowiki/>s daughter, [[Glauce]]. Before the fifth century BCE, there seem to have been two variants of the myth's conclusion. According to the poet [[Eumelus of Corinth|Eumelus]], to whom the fragmentary epic ''Korinthiaka'' is usually attributed, Medea killed her children by accident.<ref>As noted in a [[scholium]] to [[Pindar]]'s ''Olympian Ode'' 13.74; cf. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 2.3.10–11.</ref> She buried them alive in the Temple of Hera, believing this would make them immortal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=West|first=M. L.|date=2007|title=A New Musical Papyrus: Carcinus, ''Medea''|journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik|volume=161|pages=1–10|jstor=20191275}}</ref> The poet [[Creophylus]], however, blamed their murders on the citizens of Corinth.<ref>As noted in the scholium to ''Medea'' 264.</ref>

According to [[Euripides]]'s [[Medea (play)|''Medea'']], she took her revenge on Glauce by sending her a dress and golden coronet, covered in poison.<ref name=":0">[[Euripides]], ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]] line 788''</ref> This resulted in the deaths of both the princess and the king, Creon, when he went to save his daughter. Medea then continued her revenge, murdering two of her children herself and refusing to allow Jason to hold the bodies. Afterward, she left Corinth and flew to [[Classical Athens|Athens]] in a golden chariot driven by dragons sent by her grandfather, [[Helios]], god of the sun.

[[File:Medea and a nurse protecting a child, 2nd c. BC, Archaeological Museum, Dion (7080071423).jpg|thumb|Statuette of Medea and a nurse protecting the child, [[Dion, Archaeological Museum|Archaeological Museum of Dion]], [[Greece]].|left]]

Although Jason in Euripides calls Medea most hateful to gods and men, the fact that the chariot is given to her by Helios indicates that she has the Gods on her side. As [[Bernard Knox]] points out, ''Medea''<nowiki/>'s last scene parallels that of a number of indisputably divine beings in other plays by Euripides. Just like these gods, Medea "interrupts and puts a stop to the violent action of the human being on the lower level" and "justifies her savage revenge on the grounds that she has been treated with disrespect and mockery" so that she "takes measures and gives orders for the burial of the dead, prophesies the future," and "announces the foundation of a cult."<ref>B.M.W. Knox. ''Word and Action: Essays on the Ancient Theatre.'' Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, p. 303.</ref> This deliberate murder of her children by Medea appears to be Euripides's invention, although some scholars believe [[Neophron]] created this alternate tradition.<ref>See McDermott 1985, 10–15.</ref> Her [[filicide]] would go on to become the standard for later writers.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]] ''Fabulae'' 25; [[Ovid]] ''Met''. 7.391ff.; [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] ''Medea''; ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' 1.9.28 favors Euripides's version of events, but also records the variant that the Corinthians killed Medea's children in retaliation for her crimes.</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], writing in the late 2nd century CE, records five different versions of what happened to Medea's children after reporting that he has seen a monument for them while traveling in Corinth.<ref>Pausanias 2.3.6–11</ref> Fleeing from Jason, Medea made her way to [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], where she healed [[Heracles]] (a former Argonaut) from the curse of Hera that led him to slay his sons.<ref name=":12">Diodorus Siculus, 4.55–4.56</ref>

After the murder of her children, Medea fled to Athens, where she met and married [[Aegeus]]. They had one son, [[Medus]]. Another version from Hesiod makes Medus the son of Jason.<ref>[[Hesiod]] ''Theogony'' 1000-2</ref> Her domestic bliss was once again shattered by the arrival of Aegeus' long-lost son, [[Theseus]]. Determined to preserve her own son's inheritance, Medea convinced her husband that Theseus was an imposter, making him a threat and that he needed to be disposed of. To do this, Medea was planning on poisoning him as she previously had other victims. As Medea handed Theseus a cup of poison, Aegeus recognized the young man's sword as his own, which he had left behind many years previously for his newborn son as soon as he came of age. Knocking the cup from Medea's hand, Aegeus embraced Theseus as his own.[[File:Pittore di policoro (ambito), cratere a calice con scene della medea e del telephos di euripide, lucania 400 ac ca. 03.jpg|thumb|Medea flying on her chariot, (detail), [[krater]], {{Circa|480 BC}} [[Cleveland Museum of Art|Cleveland Museum]].|285x285px]]

Medea returned to Colchis and found that Aeëtes had been deposed by his brother [[Perses (brother of Aeetes)|Perses]], which prompted her to kill her uncle and restore the kingdom to her father. [[Herodotus]] reports another version, in which Medea and her son Medus fled from Athens, on her flying chariot. They landed in the Iranian plateau and lived among the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryans]], who then changed their name to the [[Medes]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Recounting the many variations of Medea's story, the 1st-century BCE historian [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote, "Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvelous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out."<ref name=":12" />