Medeia

Medeia

In Greek mythology, Medea (; Ancient Greek: Μήδεια, Mēdeia, perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, appearing in Hesiod's Theogony around 700 BCE, but is best known from Euripides's tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes's epic Argonautica. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, but also as a witch, and is often depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate. Medea plays the archetypal role of helper-maiden, aiding Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece by using her magic to save his life, and killing her brother to allow him to escape. Once he has finished his quest, she abandons her native home of Colchis, and flees westwards with Jason, where they eventually settle in Corinth and marry. Euripides's 5th-century BCE tragedy Medea depicts the ending of her union with Jason, when after ten years of marriage, Jason abandons her to wed King Creon's daughter Creusa, and Medea and her sons from Jason are to be banished from Corinth. In revenge, Medea murders Creusa with poisoned gifts. She later murders her own sons before fleeing to Athens, where she eventually marries king Aegeus. What happens afterwards varies according to several accounts. Herodotus in his 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.

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