“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. ↵
110 comments
Maria Callejas
What a great title! It grabbed my attention the second I laid eyes on it. Also, you are able to maintain that excitement throughout you introduction, kudos to you for that! What an interesting story, it was a total learning experience for me. However, this is far from the love story I expected it to be, it is indeed very peculiar. There is no happy ending, nor any of the romantic aspects you described in your intro. However, through that parallelism, the readers are able to grasp Madea and Jason’s odd tale.
Eduardo Foster
I have never before heard of the story between Jason and Medea. It is actually a very interesting story by way it all ended. The article is excellent and very detailed . Actually I’m very shock by the way it ended because both after being together they ended up doing damage to each other. Great article and keep it up with the good work!
Anthony Robledo
The title was corny, but fits the article perfectly! The overall structure from behinning to end blended so smoothly! Great article! Talk about parnoid though, to kill your own sons put of fear. Medea was a crazy witch! Im excited to read more articles like this. Greek mythology overall really catches my interest. Mostly because like this story, there is hardly ever a happy ending.
Dayna Valdez
The article began with such a great introduction! It also gave a full image of who Medea was. What she did for love is beyond of what I could have ever imagined. Many times you hear of women killing their husband or their husband’s new partner, however, she also killed her sons, and her brother way before that, which I think is crazy.
Carlos Aparicio
I have never really been a fan of mythology but the title, right away, grabbed my attention from the beginning. It’s not quite a surprise that Jason wanted to become king, but for Medea to kill Gluace, along with King Creon, was fatal. The part of the story that really shocked me was when Medea killed her own sons just so they would not be killed by anyone else for her punishment. This story was really interesting from different aspects!
Alejandra Mendez
I had never before heard of Medea’s story. I had previous knowledge about Jason and the Golden Fleece he needed to defeat Pelias. It seems to me however, that Medea is a crazy witch. I also did not know that she was a witch. I only knew her as Jason’s temporary wife. It is interesting to read what measures she took after she thought she was either in trouble or when she thought something was going to happen if she didn’t take action, which she would then try to correct with another action that also goes wrong.
Briana Myers
I had never heard about this story before reading this article. It is a very interesting story and it is incredible how they were so in love with each other that they were willing to do anything to stay with each other. Medea was even willing to kill her brother in order to stay with Jason. It is really insane how she killed so many people and that she even killed her sons. It is really terrible that Jason’s love for her was not as immense as his desire to be king and this is what led her to do all the other horrible things that she had done. This is a very interesting story and I really enjoyed reading it.
Rafael Azuaje
In the words of the English poet and playwright William Congreve “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned”. The Ancient Greeks really knew how to tell an interesting story. From this article I get the idea that what Jason really wanted was fame and power. I don’t think he was too concerned with matters of love. Is there an underlying narrative here? This story might be teaching that trying to win at all costs does not always pay off. Be nice to people on the way up, or it will be rough for you on the way down.
Aaiyanna Johnson
I love Greek Mythology. This was a very well written article. I could visualize everything. I am used to many of their stories being centered around victory, or success whether it be portrayed through love or war. I was not, however, expecting a love story starring a manipulating serial killer. She was fine, until she became overthrown by her jealousy and need for power.
Lisa Varela
I had an era in middle school in which I fell in love with mythology. Time has passed but my curiosity has not diminished. I had heard a bit of Jason, the Golden Fleece, his ship the Argo and his crew members the Argonauts. However, I had not heard of his “love story” with Medea. This article had my interest peaked and reading it until the end, great job!