“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
Seth Castillo
This was the weirdest story I’ve ever read. I knew Greek Mythology was odd but this story takes the cake so far. Medea basically murdered people and then jumped from town to town just because of love and eventually fear. I would have to assume that the moral of the story is you can love another person but it doesn’t always end well.
Cheyanne Redman
I don’t have much knowledge on Greek Mythology but after reading this i gained some knowledge, I find it extremely interesting what people will do for love, and how they will sacrifice their everyday lives just to have the person they love. She killed the surrounding people just so she could have Jason all to her lonesome, what is ironic is that she ended up alone despite all of her “hardwork”. It’s sad to see that Medea was willing to go that far.
Carlos Sandoval
Another Greek Mythology article that caught my attention right away. It seems people are still like this today, they will still go to extreme lengths for people they are in love with. I do not know how someone can go out and go on a killing spree especially for another person. I really enjoyed reading this article, I liked all the details included.
Monica Avila
This story had many twists and turns, I wanted more as I continued reading. I am a great fan of Greek mythology so reading this article really excited me. I had read of Theseus before, but never the reason his mother wished him to be dead. That aspect of the story surprised me the most. The Greek gods and the way they always manipulate humans throughout Greek mythology always stunned me the most. Why did they take pleasure in helping or hurting them? This interaction always captures my attention the most when reading articles relating to this one.
Thomas Fraire
I love greek methodology I’ve read so many books on it. It’s just always been something I’ve been very interested. I really liked this article; it was a story I had never heard before. It is crazy how many people she killed, and it is really cool to see the origins of Medea, it is a good thing she got exiled.
Arianna Kennet
Greek Mythology sometimes have very similar storylines, something I have noticed after reading a few of these kind of articles. Medea seemed to have been on a killing spree with all the crimes she committed especially the ones that did not seem to have very valid reasons at all.
Anais Del Rio
I’m not one to dive into Greek Mythology often but this was a very interesting article to read. It shows just the lengths people will go to for love. Medea was blinded by her love for Jason and sadly people around them had to pay the price. It was an unforgivable act of crime and to kill so many people just to end up exiled and with no one is sad but it can be some form of punishment for what she did.
Alexandra Lopez
I’m an absolute sucker for love stories and knowing that Greek Mythology always has it’s fair share, I read this article. I had heard of the two briefly but reading more in depth was quite interesting. Knowing that Madea was the reason behind Jason’s success only angers me that she gave so much up to have his love, only for him to go and engage another woman. Its unfortunate that she risked everything for love but it’s an entertaining read.
Regina De La Parra
I remember hearing a story during my World History class in high school, but it was only to introduce the city of Corinth and the Greek. But I did not know the whole story. To think this as a love story is crazy because of all that she did out of love for Jason and for her children. I was really impressed. Great article Auroara!
Natalie Childs
Wow, this was quite the read. While I had known some about the trials that Jason went through for the fleece, I didn’t know much more about Medea. She really went above and beyond to achieve what she wanted, and refused to let anyone or anything stand in her way. Not only did she do all of that, she really gives the meaning to “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” after Jason’s engagement to Glauce.