did was a result either of loving or of losing him. Medea was ob-
sessed, possessed, and driven mad by her need to be Jason’s mate.
Her pathology stemmed from the intensity of the Hera instinct and
from being thwarted.
Although literal reenactments of the Medea myth fortunately are
rare, on a metaphoric level they are fairly common. When a woman
becomes bonded to a man through the double intervention of Hera
and Aphrodite, as happened to Medea, then her instinct to mate and
her passion for him force her to put that relationship above
everything. She will leave her family, betray its values, and “kill off”
family ties if necessary. Many women, like Medea, believe in marital
promises of eternal devotion and make tremendous sacrifices for
their man, only to be used and left by unscrupulous, ambitious
Jasons.
When a couple lives out the drama of Medea and Jason, she may
not literally burn and rend the other woman for whom he leaves
her, but she often fantasizes or attempts the emotional equivalent.
For example, “Medea” may try to destroy the reputation of the other
woman with lies or even literally try to harm her.
And if—again paralleling the myth of Medea and Jason—her
vindictiveness is greater than is her love for her children and what
is best for them, she may try to destroy their relationship to him.
She may take the children away, so that he can’t see them. Or she
may turn his visits with the children into such traumatic events that
he gives up his efforts to stay related to them.
Note that, true to Hera at her most destructive, Medea did not
murder Jason. Likewise, the hostile, spurned Hera often harms others
far more than she harms the man who left her. She especially harms
their children.
WAYS TO GROW
Recognizing Hera’s influence and understanding her susceptibil-
ities is the first step to growth beyond her. Many women can look
back to previous relationships and realize in retrospect that they
were too willing to get married. Had “Hera” prevailed and had she
had the opportunity, such a woman would have married her high
school steady, or a summer ro-
Hera: Goddess of Marriage, Commitment Maker and Wife