“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
Eric Ortega Rodriguez
Wow, this was a very fascinating article, it is so different from the numerous love stories we hear today. This story takes lots of twists and turns which keeps the audience at the edge to find out what will occur next. The story of Jason and Medea was beautiful at first because it demonstrated the risk they were willing to take for love. However, after that, it just took a crazy turn involving murder in order to avoid punishment. Overall, very well- written and fascinating article.
Pamela Callahan
This was a very well-written article. I’ve always found ancient mythology to be very interesting, even though I haven’t had the chance to learn much about it. The story of Medea and Jason was a fascinating story and I really enjoyed reading it. There were so many unexpected twists throughout this story that I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next, and that is what kept me reading the article.
Sienna Guerra
The topic of love and romance is one of my favorite genres to read, watch, and learn more about. This story dragged my feelings along as I rustled through rooting for Jason, then Medea. After Medea was abandoned, it made me feel for her until she killed her children to prevent punishment. These twists and turns really did keep me on my feet and made me enjoy this article!
Daniela Duran
This was a very fun story to read! I totally didn’t expect such an ending, because I would have never thought that Jason would betray Medea! I was impressed by the plot twist of the story, and the way it all shifted in the end. I was also impressed by how the idea of being king is always a predominant theme in these types of stories, and how that leads the characters to commit very dangerous and risky actions, in order to obtain the crown. I really enjoyed this article, as it helped me learn a little bit about mythology, simultaneously giving me something fun to read!
Richard Morales
Medea is a terrible woman. It is no wonder she is a true witch. Although I do feel sorry for her since Jason betrayed her for a chance to become royalty, she is the epitome of evil. She killed her own brother and some how convinced sisters to kill their own father. The story of Medea would be better in my opinion if it ended in her demise rather than having no conclusion or closure.
Ysenia Rodriguez
Medea is truly a witch in all meaning of the word. She was cruel and ready to kill anyone who posed a threat to her. She helped Jason despite her father, killed her brother when he tried to separate her from Jason, and killed Jason’s new wife, Glauce, in one of the worst ways I have read so far–all in the name of love.
Steven Hale
I started the story cheering for Jason and being a little scared of Medea; after all, she is a witch and chopped her own brother into pieces. Then, after Jason became so power hungry that he abandoned Medea, I felt sorry for her, until she killed her own children to prevent them from being punished, which caused me to dislike her for the second time. With all the twists, I kept expecting someone’s fortunes to improve for more than a few minutes, but that never happened.
Sofia Andrade
The title was really catchy, having the title be a question made me want to read the article to find out what Medea did for love. I had not heard of this story before and it was interesting to read a love tragedy. After reading the first paragraphs I was wondering what the next tragedy would be and what events would lead up to the tragedy. I expected for Jason and Medea not to end up together.
Kathyleen Lauriano
Anything that has Greek mythology In it always catches my eye. In the beginning Medea seemed so innocent and caring towards Jason. Until he chose someone else all for power. which I think shows he didn’t really love her, but that’s my opinion. The fact that she poisoned the dress was actually pretty interesting. Sad part was that she killed her two sons, I don’t know how anyone could do that. Great article!
Esperanza Rojas
The comparison to other love stories is a great way to start the article because it compares how others romance stories all play out the same, but in this story, it was kinds of chaotic. It had me astonished of how there were so many twists and turns. The only thing I wished to be different was for the author to explain more of how Jason defeated the army in the three tasks he needed to complete. Other than that, the story was told amazing, and I believe that the way the paragraphs were set up had to do to do with how the audience reacted.