Classical Literature: Medea - Background

To understand Medea’s story, we must first look at another person, a hero named Jason. Jason was born as a Prince, the son of King Aeson of Iolcos, but his life was forever changed by a fight for power. Jason’s uncle, Pelias, was hungry for power and certain that he had a legitimate right to the throne. He besieged Iolcos and, accepting the inevitability of defeat, Aeson and his wife managed to smuggle the young Jason out of the city so that he, at least, would be safe. Soon after, Pelias finally managed to break into the city and killed anyone associated with the old regime except the King and Queen themselves, whom he kept as his prisoners.

Jason, meanwhile, was sent to live with a centaur (half man, half horse) known as Chiron. He grew up learning the arts of war, and soon became a strong, healthy young man. However, Jason had never forgotten his parents or his home and, as soon as he felt able, he returned to Iolcos to seek the throne.

When Jason arrived in Iolcos, he was nothing if not upfront. He went directly to Pelias and demanded that Pelias return the throne and release Jason’s parents. Pelias was, naturally, stunned: he had thought his young nephew was likely dead, and certainly never expected that he would return to Iolcos in such a fashion. However, Jason was a guest, and had already gained some popularity in the city: it would go against the laws of the gods to treat this man poorly. Therefore, Pelias came up with a plan.

“Of course, this kingdom is your birth right,” he said. “I would gladly return it to you. Only…”

“Yes?” Jason asked.

“Only, I’m afraid this land is cursed – it’s absolutely dreadful. Of course, I consulted the Delphic Oracle – I was desperate to do all I could – but the solution is simply outside my capabilities.”

“Well, what is it?” Jason said, becoming impatient. “Many years ago, the Golden bull carried Prince Phrixus of Boeotia away from certain death, landing in the city of Colchis. The King of Colchis granted the prince refuge and, to thanks him, Prince Phrixus killed and skinned the Golden Bull, giving the King the bull’s fleece as thanks. This Golden Fleece must be returned to Iolcos for the curse to be lifted.”

This was Jason’s chance: after all, what could be better as the start of a heroic career than such an epic task. Not that Jason assumed he could make the journey alone; he soon began to spread the word and ask for volunteers. He wasn’t disappointed: everyone who was anyone in the Greek heroic world was desperate to take part. Jason chose the best of them and immediately set sail on a boat called the Argo. Because of this, he and his crew soon became known as the Argonauts.

Of course, there never was a curse, nor was there a need to retrieve the Golden Fleece. As Jason and his Argonauts sailed away from Iolcos, King Pelias smiled, certain that his nephew would never return from the suicide mission he had been given.

After defeating a number of other enemies on the way, Jason and the Argonauts finally reached Colchis. Like he did with his uncle Pelias, Jason chose the direct option; he requested an audience with the King of Colchis, Aeetes, and asked for the Golden Fleece. As it happened, Jason was related to Prince Phrixus, the man who originally gave the Fleece to the King of Colchis, so he was entitled to request for its return. King Aeetes knew this – plus, the uproar that would be caused by killing Jason and some of the world’s most famous heroes would be impossible to manage. Even so, it would insult his pride to give back the Golden Fleece, and he rather liked it. He needed an excuse – an impossible task for Jason to carry out. Suddenly, he was hit with inspiration.

“I would like to do as you ask,” Aeetes said, “but just last year I was visited by the gods in a dream. In order for you to prove yourself worthy of the fleece, you must complete three tasks for me, alone and unaided. Long ago, I was gifted two fire-breathing bulls by Hephaestus, God of fire. First, you must tame these bulls and use them to plough a field. You will sow this field with dragon’s teeth, and from the ground will spring an army of armed men. Your second task will be to defeat these men. Once you have done this, you may try to retrieve the Golden Fleece. However, it is currently being guarded by a sleepless dragon; you must defeat it to take the fleece.”

Jason agreed without a second thought: what hero would he be, after all, if he cowered from such a challenge. Aeetes was delighted; like Pelias before him, he was certain that these were three impossible tasks, and that Jason would surely die.

Unfortunately for Aeetes, there was someone else aware of Jason’s misfortune: Hera, Queen of the Gods. She had been supporting Jason for a long time, less because she loved him and more because she hated his enemy, Pelias. Furthermore, the Golden Fleece was sacred to Hera and she wanted it to be returned– Jason was retrieving it on her behalf. She, too, knew that Jason would never survive the three impossible tasks he had been given – would never survive them alone, that is. Hera was cunning, and she knew the importance of powerful friends. She asked Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, to make Medea, Princess of Colchis and daughter of Aeetes, fall for Jason. This would have had little impact if Medea was only a naïve princess, but she was a wise and powerful witch, capable in the arts of both cunning and magic. Hera had picked well – no other woman would be such a powerful ally.

And so, Medea fell madly in love. With Aphrodite’s spell blurring her mind, she no longer felt any loyalty to her city or her family: her only concern was Jason. It was true that his tasks were difficult, but Medea was more than able to help him complete them. She approached Jason later that night, who was of course delighted to have the help. For the first task, she gave him lotion to rub on his skin, protecting him from the flames of the fire-breathing bulls. With her help, Jason was able to tame the bulls and plough the field without too much difficulty. Next, Medea told him that the army he had to fight had one weakness: their lack of intelligence. Doing as she asked, Jason threw a rock into the army as soon as they had sprung from the ground. Disorientated, they each assumed it was the other that had attacked them, and fought among themselves until not one was left. Finally, Medea concocted a potion that put the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece to sleep and allowed Jason to collect it unharmed.

Jason had completed each of the tasks, and Aeetes was duty-bound to give the fleece to him. However, full of pride and unwilling to be made a fool of, Aeetes tried to stop Jason from taking the fleece and chased after him when Jason, Medea and the Argonauts tried to sail away. Aeetes launched a fleet in order to catch up to the fleeing ship – he had many ships of excellent quality, and if the Argonauts were caught their chances of survival weren’t good. Again, it was up to Medea to find a solution to their problem.

One of Medea’s younger brothers had followed her onto the Argo – a young boy known as Apsyrtus. Wasting no time, Medea quickly killed the child and chopped up his body parts, scattering the pieces throughout the waves and staining the sea with his blood. You may remember from Antigone’s story how important burial of the deceased was to the Ancient Greeks, and it was no different for Aeetes. He immediately stopped his fleet from pursuing the Argonauts, and instead began retrieving the pieces of his son from the ocean. The Argonauts escaped, but Medea had committed a blood crime by killing her own brother. For acts of sacrilege such as this, the gods would always have their revenge.

When Jason returned home with the Golden Fleece, his parents were released from prison and regained the crown. Of course, Pelias still held a deep grudge, and was waiting for the opportunity to get revenge.

Jason saw how much his father had aged and felt distressed. Fortunately, he had a witch for a wife, and she agreed to use a secret method to give the old king back his youth. The ritual was completed successfully, but Pelias’s three daughters heard about what was going on and wished the same for their old father. They approached Medea to ask if she could do as they asked, and she agreed. She told them that in order to return Pelias’s youth, they must chop him up into parts, then throw him in a cauldron of boiling water. Medea would then add the necessary herbs, and the old man would be reborn. The three sisters, naive as they were, never once doubted Medea’s words. One night, as Pelias slept, they killed him and chopped him up, before throwing him in the cauldron. Medea refused to add the herbs, and Pelias remained dead. An old rival had been defeated, but his son, Acastus, refused to allow Medea to go unpunished. He banished her and her husband, and the two fled to the city of Corinth.

Medea and Jason lived a number of happy years in Corinth, and gave birth to two boys. However, Medea’s usefulness was over, and it was only a matter of time until Jason would see a better opportunity. This opportunity came when the King of Corinth, Creon (not the same Creon as the one in Oedipus Rex and Antigone), offered Jason the hand in marriage of his daughter. It was clearly better to marry a princess still favoured by her father rather than one who had been banished from her home after brutally killing her own brother, and so Jason gladly accepted. He would divorce Medea, and marry Creon’s daughter. However, after all she had done for Jason, there was no way Medea would let the matter go so easily…