“Once upon a time…” is how many of our favorite love stories start. The couple meets, and complications arise, but in the end they have a happy ending. There’s also the classic “love triangle” love stories, and the decision of who to choose. And then there are love stories where there is no happy ending, where one or both lovers end in tragic death. We love these stories. We relate to them, seek advice from them, cry over them, and find comfort in them when we ourselves are sad. Here’s the mythical love story of Jason and Medea.
Jason is from the Greek city Iolcus. He sails on his ship, the Argo, with his crew the Argonauts, in search of the Golden Fleece, a fleece that was cut from a rare golden ram. Jason believed that if he got the fleece, his cousin Pelias, who took the throne from Jason’s father, would give the throne to Jason. The Argonauts sail to Cochlis to meet king Aeetes who had a beautiful daughter named Medea. Medea was captivated by Jason, but too afraid of her father to seek him out. King Aeetes told Jason that he could have the Golden Fleece if he completed three tasks that were nearly impossible. Jason fell into a deep depression because he knew that if he were to attempt these tasks, he would surely die. Jason, however, had the favor of Hera, goddess of women and marriage. Before he set out on his quest, he carried Hera, disguised as an old woman, across a river so that she would not drown.1
Hera asked Aphrodite, goddess of love, to encourage Medea to act on the feelings she had for Jason, and help him with his tasks, for Medea was a witch. Medea came to Jason and promised to help him with the tasks her father gave him if he would marry her. That night they were married in front of a temple of Hecate, the goddess of magic, who favored Medea and gave her the gifts she possessed.2
The first task required Jason to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen.3 Medea provided an ointment that allowed Jason to pass through the flames of the oxen unscathed. For the second task, Jason had to defeat the army of warriors that sprouted from the teeth of the dragon on the field. Medea gave him special instructions to follow to ensure he was victorious. His last task was to overcome the sleepless dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece. Medea knew that if the dragon found Jason creeping towards the Golden Fleece, he would kill him. She gave Jason a potion to keep the dragon asleep.4
King Aeetes was angered by Jason’s success and by Medea’s help. As Jason and Medea fled with the fleece, Aeetes sent Medea’s half-brother, Apsyrtus, after them to bring Medea back home. Desperate to stay together, the two killed her brother and scattered his body in the sea to distract her father and sail away.5
They returned to Iolcus so Jason could overthrow his cousin, Pelias, who had overthrown Jason’s father before. Medea convinced Pelias’ daughters that if they chopped him up into little pieces and threw him in a pot set out by Medea, he would reemerge young again. They believed her because she did an earlier reincarnation with a sheep that emerged as a lamb. However, Medea left out a key ingredient in the potion, and so Pelias never reemerged. His daughters, angered by their deceit, exiled Jason and Medea, and they fled to Corinth, a kingdom that was allied with Cochils.6
Once in Corinth, Jason and Medea lived peacefully for a little while and had two sons. But soon Jason’s desire to be king started to surface, and he got engaged to Glauce, daughter of King Creon of Corinth, thinking that by marrying the daughter of a king, he would become the next king. Medea confronted Jason, but he refused to break-off the engagement to Glauce. Heartbroken by Jason’s betrayal, Medea gave Glauce a poisoned wedding gown that caused her to burn alive while she wore it. Creon burned alive with his daughter as he held her while she was dying. Terrified that her children would be punished for her crimes, Medea killed her two children and fled to Aegeus, King of Athens.7
Medea later married Aegeus. She bore Aegeus a son, but she feared for his position due to Theseus, the lost son, who returned to Athens. Medea convinced Aegeus to send Theseus on a quest to kill a deadly beast, but Theseus defeated the beast and returned a victor. Panicked by the possibility that her son might not be king, she plotted to poison him during the feast. Aegeus realized her plan and saved his son. Medea fled back to Cochlis, her homeland, in exile once again. The rest of her history is not quite known.8
- UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology, vol. 3, UXL, 2009, “Jason.” ↵
- Charles Rowan Beye, “Jason as Love-hero in Apollonios’ Argonautika,” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies vol. 10 (1969), 40. ↵
- Apollonius, Jason and the Golden Fleece (Oxford Press, 1988), 102. ↵
- Jan N. Bremmer, “The Myth of the Golden Fleece,” Journal Of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 6, no. 1 (September 2006): 27-28. ↵
- Pamela Loy, Medea (Classical Literature and Its Times, 2006), 220. ↵
- Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Medea.” ↵
- The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology, 2002, s.v. “Medea,” by Don Nardo. ↵
- Ancient Greece and Rome: An Encyclopedia for Students, 1998, s.v. “Medea,” by Carroll Moulton. ↵
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Greek mythology
Jason and Medea
Recent Comments
Tara Sellers
I have heard of the legend of Jason and Medea, but I did not know the full story. Since Jason had the favor of Hera you have to wonder if she did not have a hand in his death. He broke his wedding vows and Hera is the goddess of marriage. Also, why couldn’t Medea take her children with her when she ran? Why did she have to kill them to keep them safe?
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Michael Mandujano
This article was well put together, I gained a greater understanding of the mysterious love story of Jason and Medea. After reading this article, one can truly say that love makes one do unusual things. Medea was completely fond of Jason, but felt betrayed once Jason had intentions on becoming King of Corinth and arranged to marry Glauce. Overall, I am in curious if Jason became King, after Medea burned Glauce along with her father, and I am also curious on what happened to Medea as she fled back to her homeland.
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Sebastian Castro Ramos
This was an interesting story, I had never heard it before. It is not nearly similar to any conventional love story out there, because on the first place there is no love from Jason to Medea. The story has no happy ending for either of them, nor for most of the other characters. Jason seems to be someone driven my his need for power, and Medea after her heartbreak she seeks vengeance and power for his new son. Interesting article, and interesting story.
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Joel Gracia
This article really told a full story. I have always loved mythology, so I was naturally interested in the topic, and I was not disappointed with what I got. The way you told the story makes it seem like more than a historic fable, and made me want to read more on the subject so that I could understand the motives behind may of the actions of Medea and the other characters, and for Greek culture in general.
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Cherice Leach
Wow! This woman was really a witch! Like the sorcerer kind of witch and the nasty attitude kind of witch. This is one crazy love story and isn’t so romantic. The author does a great job of making this love story seem normal in the beginning of the article and then things quickly turn to the worse. I have learned one thing though and this story seems to support my theory, when Greek Gods and Goddesses are involved in a story, there is always a consequence when seeking help from the Gods.
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Cristian Medina-Lopez
This article is very interesting while also giving the reader a lot of interesting facts. What I liked about this article was how it began with a good hook to get the audience interested about the article, which is the main reason I started to read this article. It also contained insightful photographs that went very well with the article itself.
13/10/2017
8:03 am
Mark Martinez
A well written and put together article. I have heard this story before because I love Greek Mythology but never with this detail. It really brings the story to life and generally interesting to read. The part when Medea killed her own sons out of fear for what others might do to them was completely new to me. It sounds like Medea was more guilty then afraid, and took that guilt out on her children to justify her actions.
13/10/2017
8:03 am