85
Medea prepares to murder Absyrtus
and throw his remains overboard, as
she and Jason flee Colchis together on
board the Argo in this painting by
Herbert James Draper (1904).See also: The labors of Herakles 70–73 ■ Theseus and the Minotaur 74–75 ■
Perseus and Medusa 80–81 ■ Cupid and Psyche 110–11ANCIENT GREECE
with Jason and help him in any
way she could. She prepared a
potion that would send the dragon
into a long, deep sleep, so that
Jason could step over its resting
body and take the fleece.
Having cheated her father of
the fleece, Medea then resorted
to a gruesome murder in order
to escape with Jason and the
Argonauts. As she fled Colchis on
board the Argo, she butchered her
younger brother and threw his
body parts into the sea, so that
her pursuing father would have to
stop to gather them up for burial.A woman scorned
When Jason reached Iolcos with the
Golden Fleece, Pelias refused to
keep his side of the contract.
Medea tricked him into taking a
deadly potion she claimed would
give him eternal youth. After this
second murder, Jason, Medea, andtheir children had to flee to Corinth.
There, in pursuit of political
advantage, Jason betrayed Medea
and left her for Glauce, a princess
of the city’s ruling house.
Medea soon took her revenge.
She gave the new bride a wedding
gown steeped in poison that burst
into flames when she put it on,
killing her and her father. Medea
then slew two of her three children,
leaving only Thessalus alive. Before
Jason could punish her for this
terrible crime, she fled to Athens,
flying in the golden chariot of her
grandfather, Helios. ■Euripides
The three greatest
playwrights of ancient Greece
turned myths into tragedies
that are still performed to this
day and eloquently articulate
the helplessness of humanity
in the face of an unforgiving
fate. Aeschylus (ca. 525–455
bce) and Sophocles (ca. 496–
405 bce) wrote about the
existential anguish of
mankind, but Euripides
(ca. 480–406 bce)
went further, revealing the
harrowing inner lives of
compelling men and women.
More of his works survive
than of Aeschylus and
Sophocles combined—his
popularity grew in the
Hellenistic Period that
followed the death of
Alexander in 323 bce, and he
is regarded as a cornerstone
of Western literature.
Euripides’s Medea is
particularly striking for its
psychological sophistication
and compassion. Her fury is
evoked in all its horror, as is
the torment she feels at her
abandonment, and the pain
she faces as a mother: “I
would sooner stand in the
front line of the battle phalanx
three times,” she says, “than
go through the sufferings of
childbirth even once.”Stronger than lover’s love
is lover’s hate. Incurable, in
each, the wounds they make.
MedeaUS_084-085_Jason_and_Medea.indd 85 30/11/17 4:55 pm