Medea

Medea was born in Colchis, a distant and enchanted land near the edge of the known world, where the Golden Fleece hung under guard of a sleepless dragon in the sacred grove of Ares. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes, son of the sun god Helios, and a powerful Oceanid, often named Idyia, meaning "seeress" or "the knowing one." This made Medea the granddaughter of the Sun and niece of the enchantress Circe, placing her within a bloodline of powerful sorcerers and divine beings.

From her earliest years, Medea was trained in the ways of herbal magic, incantation, and necromancy. As a devotee of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and crossroads, she became a priestess with the ability to command the elements, manipulate fate, and resurrect or destroy at will.

Medea’s destiny changed forever with the arrival of Jason, leader of the Argonauts, who came to Colchis seeking the Golden Fleece. Her father, King Aeëtes, promised to give it only if Jason completed a deadly series of tasks: yoking fire-breathing bulls, plowing a field with them, and defeating a crop of warriors grown from dragon’s teeth.

But the gods intervened—Aphrodite and Eros caused Medea to fall madly in love with Jason. Caught between loyalty to her family and a divine, uncontrollable passion, Medea chose love—and betrayal.

She gave Jason a magical ointment to protect him from flame and iron, taught him how to defeat the warriors, and ultimately helped him steal the Golden Fleece. To ensure their escape, she lured her brother Absyrtus to his death, sometimes said to have dismembered him and cast his body parts into the sea to delay her father's pursuit.

Medea fled with Jason to Iolcus, but instead of celebration, they were met with scorn and suspicion. Jason's uncle, Pelias, refused to relinquish the throne he had stolen. Medea devised a plan—she tricked Pelias's daughters into killing him by promising she could make him young again. She demonstrated on an old ram, transforming it into a lamb—but when the daughters tried the same with their father, Medea abandoned them, leaving Pelias dead.

For this act of sorcery and vengeance, Jason and Medea were banished. They eventually settled in Corinth, where they lived as husband and wife and had children.

Years later, Jason sought political advantage by abandoning Medea and planning to marry Glauce, the daughter of the Corinthian king Creon. Medea, once again discarded after sacrificing everything—her homeland, her family, and her honor—unleashed a terrible revenge.

She sent Glauce a gifted robe and crown, imbued with poison and fire. When Glauce donned the garments, she burst into flames, dying horribly—along with her father Creon, who tried to save her.

Medea's most chilling act followed: in some versions, to fully destroy Jason, she killed their own children, denying him a legacy and ensuring he would live in sorrow.

In other versions, the people of Corinth killed the children in retaliation, and Medea only claimed the act as her own in grief and madness.

After her vengeance, Medea escaped in a chariot drawn by dragons, a gift from her grandfather Helios, and fled to Athens, where she married King Aegeus (father of Theseus). But her manipulations continued: she tried to poison Theseus when he arrived to claim his birthright, and when her plot was exposed, she fled once more.

Eventually, Medea returned to Colchis or disappeared into myth. In some stories, she became immortal, dwelling in the Elysian Fields or among the gods, a figure too powerful, too dangerous, and too eternal to remain in the mortal realm.

“I understand what evil is. But the fury in my heart is stronger than my will.”