Editing Medea

{{Short description|Daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis in Greek mythology}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{about|the Greek mythological figure|the play by Euripides|Medea (play){{!}}''Medea'' (play)|other uses|Medea (disambiguation)}}
{{For|the 21st-century comedy film character created by Tyler Perry|Madea}}{{Refimprove|date=May 2025}}{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Medea
| image = Medea, con los hijos muertos, huye de Corinto en un carro tirado por dragones (Museo del Prado).jpg
| alt = 
| caption = [[Germán Hernández Amores]]' painting of Medea in [[Helios]]' golden chariot, fleeing with the corpses of her children to the sacred forest of [[Hera]] in Athens.
| god_of = Princess and sorceress of [[Colchis]]
| abode = 
| symbol = 
| consort = [[Jason]], [[Aegeus]], [[Achilles]] (in the [[Elysium|Elysian Fields]])
| parents = [[Aeëtes]] and [[Idyia]]
| siblings = [[Absyrtus]], [[Chalciope]]
| children = Vary according to tradition (names include [[Alcimenes]], [[Thessalus]], [[Tisander]], [[Mermeros and Pheres|Mermeros]], [[Mermeros and Pheres|Pheres]], [[Eriopis]], [[Medus]])
| mount = 
| Roman_equivalent = 
}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Medea''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ᵻ|ˈ|d|iː|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Μήδεια|translit=Mḗdeia}}; {{lit|planner, schemer}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hl1fkMszwZgC&q=Medea |title=Who's who in Classical Mythology |date=2003 |publisher=Gramercy Books |isbn=978-0-517-22256-0 |language=en}}</ref> is the daughter of [[Aeëtes|King Aeëtes]] of [[Colchis]]. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "[[wiktionary:φαρμακεία|pharmakeía]]" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high-priestess of the goddess, [[Hecate]]. She is a mythical granddaughter of the sun god [[Helios]] and a niece of [[Circe]], an enchantress goddess. Her mother may have been [[Idyia]].<ref>[[Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/210/mode/2up 3.241–244], [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/212/mode/2up 269]</ref>

She first appears in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' around 700 BC,<ref>[[Hesiod]] ''Theogony'' 993–1002</ref> but is best known from [[Euripides]]'s 5th-century BC tragedy ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'' and [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]'s 3rd-century BC epic ''[[Argonautica]]''. In the myth of the [[Argonauts]], she aids [[Jason]] in his search for the [[Golden Fleece]]. Medea later marries him, but eventually kills their children and his other bride according to some versions of her story. 

In the ''Argonautica'', Medea plays the archetypal role of helper-maiden, aiding Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece, using her magic to save his life and kills her brother to allow Jason to escape. Once he finishes his quest, she abandons her native home of Colchis and flees westwards with Jason, where they eventually settle in [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and marry. 

''Medea'' depicts the ending of her union with Jason, when after ten years of marriage, Jason intends to abandon her to wed King [[Creon of Corinth|Creon]]'s daughter [[Creusa of Corinth|Creusa]]. Medea is exiled from Corinth by Creon, and is offered refuge in [[Classical Athens|Athens]] by King [[Aegeus]] after she offers to help him get an heir with her magic. In revenge against Jason, Medea murders her own sons and Jason's new bride with a poisoned crown and robes, so that Jason will be without heir and legacy for the rest of his life. 

What happens afterwards varies according to several accounts. [[Herodotus]] in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' mentions that she ended up leaving Athens and settling in the [[Iranian plateau]] among the [[Aryans]], who subsequently changed their name to the [[Medes]].<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Herodotus]] ''Histories'' VII.62i</ref>

== Genealogy and divinity ==
[[File:Herkulaneischer Meister 001.jpg|thumb|126px|Medea in a fresco from [[Herculaneum]]]]
Medea is a direct descendant of the sun god [[Helios]] (son of the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] [[Hyperion (mythology)|Hyperion]] and [[Titan (mythology)|Titaness]] [[Theia]]) through her father King [[Aeëtes]] of [[Colchis]]. According to [[Hesiod]] (''[[Theogony]]'' 956–962), Helios and the Oceanid [[Perse (mythology)|Perseis]] produced two children, [[Circe]] and Aeëtes.<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'' 956–962</ref> Aeëtes then married the Oceanid [[Idyia]] and Medea was their child. 

From here, Medea's family tree becomes more complicated and disputed. By some accounts,{{clarify|date=July 2024}} Aeëtes and Idyia only had two daughters, Medea and [[Chalciope of Colchis|Chalciope]] (or Chalkiope). There was one son, [[Absyrtus]] (or Apsyrtus), who was the son of Aeëtes through Asterodea, which would make him a half-brother to Medea herself. According to others,{{clarify|date=May 2025}} Idyia gave birth to Medea and Apsyrtus while Asterodea gave birth to Chalciope. Even with the two differing accounts, it is known that Medea has a sister and a brother. 

As she becomes older, Medea marries Jason and together they have children. The number and names of their children are questioned by scholars. Depending on the account, it is two to fourteen children. In his play, ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'', [[Euripides]] mentions two unnamed sons.<ref>Euripides, ''Medea''</ref> According to other accounts, her children were "[[Mermerus and Pheres|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 [[Polyxenus]]) and [[Eriopis]], or one son [[Argus (Greek myth)|Argos]]."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=William|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/acl3129.0001.001|title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.|date=2005}}</ref> Medea eventually leaves Jason in Corinth, and marries the King of Athens ([[Aegeus]]) and bears him a son. While with him, it is questioned{{clarify|date=May 2025}} if that was when she had her son Medeius, who goes on to become the ancestor of the [[Medes]] after winning their lands.

Understanding Medea's genealogy helps define her divinity. By some accounts, like the ''[[Argonautica]]'', she is depicted as a young, mortal woman who is directly influenced by the Greek goddesses [[Hera]] and [[Aphrodite]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Apollonius|first=Rhodius|title=The Argonautica|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/830/830-h/830-h.htm|access-date=2021-11-12|website=Project Gutenberg|language=en}}</ref> While she possesses magical abilities, she is still a mortal with divine ancestry. Other accounts, like Euripides's ''Medea'', focus on her mortality. Hesiod's ''Theogony'' places her marriage to Jason on the list of marriages between mortals and divine, suggesting that she is predominantly divine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hesiod, Theogony|url=https://chs.harvard.edu/primary-source/hesiod-theogony-sb/|access-date=2021-11-12|website=The Center for Hellenic Studies|language=en-US}}</ref> She also has connections with [[Hecate]],<ref name=":022">{{Cite book|last=Griffiths|first=Emma|title=Medea|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|location=London: New York}}</ref> the goddess of magic, which could be one of the main sources from which she draws her magical ties. Although distinct from the [[Titans|Titan]] known as [[Perses (Titan)|Perses]], who is known for fathering Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, [[Diodorus Siculus]] in his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' made Perses of Colchis the father of Hecate by an unknown mother; Perses' brother Aeëtes then married Hecate and had Medea and Circe by her.<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica|Historic Library]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/133#4.45.1 4.45.2]</ref>

== 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" />

==''Personae'' of Medea<!--'Medea (Seneca)' redirects here-->==
[[File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 031.jpg|thumb|''Medea About to Murder Her Children'' by [[Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix]] (1862)|left|272x272px]]

In Euripides's play ''Medea,'' she is a woman scorned, rejected by her husband Jason and revenge seeking. Deborah Boedeker writes about different images and symbolism Euripides used in his play to evoke responses from his original Athenian audience.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boedeker|first=Deborah|title=Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1997|location=Princeton, NJ.|pages=127–148}}</ref> The Nurse, one of the characters, gives descriptions of Medea in the prologue, highlighting comparisons to great forces of nature and different animals. There are also many nautical references throughout the play either used by other characters when describing Medea or by Medea herself. By including these references, Boedeker argues that these comparisons were used to create connections to the type of woman Medea was. She holds great power (referred to by the comparisons to forces of nature), she relies on her basic animal-like instincts and emotions (connections to different animals like bulls and lions), and it draws the audience back to her original myth of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and the sea voyage taken by Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts.

Emma Griffiths adds to the analysis of Medea's character in Euripides's play by discussing the male/female dichotomy created by Euripides.<ref name=":022"/> Medea does not fit into the mold of a "normal woman" according to Athenian philosophy. She is depicted as having great intelligence and skill, traits typically viewed as masculine by Euripides's original audience. On the other hand, she uses her intelligence to manipulate the men around her. This manipulation would have been a negative female trait to the Athenian audience. Griffiths also acknowledges the paradox of the methods Medea uses to kill. She poisons the princess, which would have been seen as a feminine way of murder, yet kills her children in cold blood, which is seen as more masculine. Medea is also shown as a 'normal' Athenian mother by having a dialogue about her children and showing a strong maternal love and connection to them. Yet at the end of the play, she is able to kill her children as part of her revenge. It is through these opposites that Euripides creates a complicated character for his protagonist.

[[Marianne McDonald]] argues that "Medea's anger turns to violent action, which can make her into a symbol of freedom, and emblem for the colonized turning the tables on the colonizer. Euripides, more than all other tragedians, has predicted many of the horrors that occur in the modern world, showing both the glory and the monstrosity of the oppressed turned oppressor."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clauss|first=James J.|title=Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1997|location=Princeton, NJ.|pages=304}}</ref>

Although not the first depiction of Medea, the ''Argonautica'' by Apollonius of Rhodes gives a fuller description of events that lead up to Euripides's play, mainly surrounding Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece. In this literary work, Medea is presented not as a powerful woman seeking justice, but as a young woman who is desperately in love with Jason. So much in love that she decides to defy her father and kill her brother in order to help him. [[James J. Clauss]] writes about this Medea, attempting to unearth another version of this character for scholarship and discussion.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clauss|first=James J.|title=Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy, and Art.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1997|location=Princeton, NJ.|pages=149–177}}</ref> He looks into different passages in the original text to define the meaning and draw connection to the different feelings Medea was going through. He argues the feelings of Medea's initial love for Jason, the shame she feels for loving him and for going against her family, and final agreement to help Jason in his quest.

Multiple scholars{{Who|date=May 2025}} have discussed Medea's use as a "helper maiden" to Jason's quest. A helper maid is typically a young woman who helps on a hero's quest, usually out of love. Instead of being the center of the story, like she is in Euripides's ''Medea'', this version of Medea is reduced to a supporting role. Her main purpose is to help the hero with his quest. Jason would never have been successful on his quest without Medea's help, something that is pointed out and referenced many times in ancient texts and contemporary scholarly work.

Other, non-literary traditions guided the vase-painters,<ref>As on the bell krater at the Cleveland Museum of Art (91.1) discussed in detail by [[Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood]], "Medea at a Shifting Distance: Images and Euripidean tragedy", in Clauss and Johnston 1997, pp 253–96.</ref> and a localized, [[chthonic]] presence of Medea was propitiated with unrecorded emotional overtones at Corinth, at the sanctuary devoted to her slain children,<ref>Edouard Will, ''Corinth'' 1955. "By identifying Medea, Ino and Melikertes, Bellerophon, and Hellotis as pre-Olympian precursors of Hera, Poseidon, and Athena, he could give to Corinth a religious antiquity it did not otherwise possess", wrote Nancy Bookidis, "The Sanctuaries of Corinth", ''Corinth'' '''20''' (2003)</ref> or locally venerated elsewhere as a foundress of cities.<ref>"Pindar shows her prophesying the foundation of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]; [[Herodotus]] makes her the legendary [[eponym]]ous founder of the Medes; [[Callimachus]] and [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius]] describe colonies founded by Colchians originally sent out in pursuit of her" observes Nita Krevans, "Medea as foundation heroine", in Clauss and Johnston 1997 pp 71–82 (p. 71).</ref>

=== Medea as Divine Agent ===
[[File:Medeia in Corinth by the underworld painter red figure apulian volute krater detail medea kills child on altar.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Medea preparing to kill her child on an altar, while [[Helios]], hauled by two snakes and bearing two flaming torches, witnesses the scene. Jason appears rushing from the side (detail), [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] krater, {{Circa|320 BC}}.]]
A mortal with divine ancestry—Medea is the granddaughter of Helios—she seems to kill without consequence, suggesting that she acts as an agent of divine force similar to [[Nemesis]] and, as-such, is immune from vengeance that typically comes to mortals who commit injustice:  
* When her own father, Aeëtes, reneges on his promise to relinquish ownership of the Golden Fleece to Jason if he completes the tasks he set Jason, he loses his son, Absyrtus.  
* When King Pelias, Jason's half-uncle, reneges on his promise to relinquish his stolen throne--the throne of Iolcus to the rightful heir, Jason--if Jason went on a quest to bring him the Golden Fleece, his own daughters are tricked into butchering him in a sabotaged attempt to restore his youth.  
* Later, when the Corinthian King, King Creon, allows Jason to woo his daughter, Glauce, despite the fact that they both know that Jason was already married to Medea--a marriage arranged by the Queen of the Gods ''and'' the goddess of marriage, Hera--both he and his daughter are both killed by an heirloom dress and crown (gifts of Helios to Medea), which had been poisoned by Medea.

After Medea kills her brother, Absyrtus, she, Jason, and the others stop at her aunt Circe's island, Aeaea, to be absolved of the crime. When they return to Iolcus, in Thessaly, Medea convinces Pelias's daughters to kill their father with trickery. After this, they are, technically, an accessory to a murder—and Pelias corrupt supporters amongst Iolcus's [[nobility|noble class]] in his own usurpation of his half-brother's throne unite to block Jason's claim to his father's throne to protect their own status—so they're forced to leave. 

They go to Corinth, where Jason proceeds to court and marry Glauce, a princess of Corinth, where Jason loses Hera's favor and gains Medea's wrath. King Creon tells Medea that she has twenty-four hours to leave, and if she doesn't she'll be killed. Jason comes to scold Medea and she in turn accuses him of denying his oath to the gods. Despite her previous crimes, Medea seems to have the approval of the gods. Next, Medea resolves her time to kill Glauce with a potion that causes her to catch fire. Her father Creon dies also when he in grief hugs his daughter and dies from the same poison. Medea proceeds to kill her and Jason's children as well, and before Jason can stop her, she is escorted away on a flying chariot sent by her grandfather, Helios. 

Later, Medea marries King Aegeus and the two produce a son named Medus. When Theseus returns in an attempt to prove he is Aegeus's son, Medea recognizes that he will be the heir to the throne rather than Medus, and convinces Aegeus to poison Theseus's drink. Aegeus realizes Theseus is his son and throws the drink away. Medea is forced to leave with Medus, where they return to Colchis where Medus eventually claims the title of king. Medea sits in an odd position where though she kills many people, she never seems to face any divine consequence from it. Perhaps her actions are in keeping with the favor of the gods. True or not, Medea is framed as a curiously nuanced figure, something rare for women in Greek mythology.<ref name="Four more" />

=== Modern references ===
In his book ''[[The Happiness Hypothesis]]'', social psychologist [[Jonathan Haidt]] quotes Medea talking about her struggle between her love to Jason and obligation to her father, as an example for the "divided Self" and the conflict between [[Id (psychology)|id]] and [[superego]]:

"I am dragged along by a strange new force. Desire and reason are pulling in different directions. I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haidt |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61211244 |title=The happiness hypothesis : finding modern truth in ancient wisdom |date=2006 |isbn=0-465-02802-0 |location=New York |oclc=61211244}}</ref>

==Cultural depictions==
{{main|Cultural depictions of Medea}}

== Written sources==
In chronological order:
*[[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' 1000-2
*[[Herodotus]], ''Histories'' I.2 and VII.62i
*[[Pindar]], Pythian [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0162:book=P.:poem=4&highlight=medea Odes, IV]
*[[Neophron]], ''Medea'' (fragments from the play)
*[[Euripides]], ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]] ''
*[[Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]''
*[[Plautus]], ''Pseudolus'' 869–871
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica|Bibliotheca Historica]]'' 
*[[Ovid]]<ref>Ovid also wrote a full play called ''Medea'', from which only a few lines are preserved.</ref>
::''[[Heroides]] XII''
::''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]] VII, 1–450''
::''[[Tristia]]'' iii.9
*[[Seneca the Younger]]: ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'' (tragedy)
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 21–26
*[[Gaius Valerius Flaccus]] ''Argonautica'' (epic)
*Pseudo-Apollodorus ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' I, 23–28

== See also ==
{{portal|Greece|mythology}}

* [[Medusa]]
* [[Medea gene]]
* [[Gudrun]]
* [[Morgan le Fay]]
* [[Peliades]]
* [[Pisidice of Methymna]], who betrayed her father for the enemy

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Four more">Kapach, A. (November 29, 2022). [https://mythopedia.com/topics/medea Medea]. ''Mythopedia''.<br> 
[https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/medea "Medea"]. ''Drama for Students, Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved March 20, 2023.<br>
[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Medea-Greek-mythology Medea]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved March 22, 2023.<br>
[https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/medea.html Medea in Greek mythology]. ''Greek Legends and Myths''. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2023.</ref>
}}

==Bibliography==
{{commons category|Medea (mythology)|Medea}}
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir [[James George Frazer]], F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
* Clauss, J. J. and S. I. Johnston (eds), ''Medea: Essays on Medea in Myth, Literature, Philosophy and Art''. (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1997). {{ISBN|9780691043760}}.
* Grant, Michael, and John Hazel.''Who's Who in Classical Mythology''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973.
* Griffiths, Emma. ''Medea''. London; New York: Routledge, 2006.
* Johnston, S. I. (1997). Desire and Deception in Medea. Helios, 24(1), 31-49.
* [[Bernard Knox|Knox, B.M.W.]] ''Word and Action: Essays on the Ancient Theatre.'' Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979.
* McDermott, Emily, ''Euripides' Medea: The Incarnation of Disorder''. (University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1985). {{ISBN|9780271006475}}.
* [[Judith Mossman (classicist)|Mossman, Judith]], ''Medea: Introduction, Translation and Commentary.''  Aris & Phillips, Warminster 2011) {{ISBN|9780856687884}}
* <!-- Samuel Moyn (2021) Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War -->{{cite Q|Q108896140}}
* {{cite book | title = Some Organic Readings in Narrative, Ancient and Modern: Gathered and Originally Presented as a Book for John| first1 = Ian | last1 = Repath | first2 = Fritz-Gregor | last2 = Hermann | date = 2019 | publisher = Groningen University Library | isbn = 9789492444943}}
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]''. London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D14%3Aentry%3Dmedeia-bio-1 "Medeia or Medea"]
* Wygant, Amy. ''Medea, Magic, and Modernity in France: Stages and Histories, 1553–1797''. (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2007). {{ISBN|9780754659242}}

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[[Category:Medea| ]]
[[Category:Mythological Greek seers]]
[[Category:Greek mythological witches]]
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Helios in mythology]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Characters in the Argonautica]]
[[Category:Mythological Colchians]]
[[Category:Women and death]]
[[Category:Filicide in mythology]]
[[Category:Medes]]
[[Category:Greek mythological priestesses]]
[[Category:Flying chariots]]
[[Category:Deeds of Eros]]
[[Category:Mythological fratricides]]