Medēa
（
Μήδεια). The daughter of Aeëtes, king of
Colchis, by the Oceanid Idyia, or, according to others, by Hecaté, the daughter of
Perses. She was celebrated for her skill in magic. The principal parts of her story are given
under
Absyrtus,
Argonautae, and
Iason. It is
sufficient to state here that, when Iason came to Colchis to seek the Golden Fleece, she fell
in love with the hero, assisted him in accomplishing the object for which he had visited
Colchis, and afterwards fled with him as his wife to Greece; that, having been deserted by
Iason for the youthful daughter of Creon ,
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Medea. Pompeian Painting. (Overbeck.)
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king of Corinth, she took fearful vengeance upon her faithless husband by murdering
the two children whom she had borne to him and by destroying his young wife by a poisoned
garment; and that she then fled to Athens in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. So far her
story has been related elsewhere. (See
Iason.) At
Athens she is said to have married King Aegeus, or to have been beloved by Sisyphus. Zeus
himself is said to have sued for her, but in vain, because Medea dreaded the anger of
Heré; and the latter rewarded her by promising immortality to her children. Her
children are, according to some accounts, Mermerus, Pheres, or Thessalus, Alcimenes, and
Tisander; according to others, she had seven sons and seven daughters, while others mention
only two children, Medus (some call him Polyxenus) and Eriopis, or one son Argus. Respecting
her flight from Corinth, there are different traditions. Some say, as stated above, that she
fled to Athens and married Aegeus; but when it was discovered that she had
laid snares for Theseus, she escaped and went to Asia, the inhabitants of which were called
after her Medes (
Μῆδοι). Others relate that she first fled
from Corinth to Heracles at Thebes, who had promised her his assistance while yet in Colchis,
in case of Iason being unfaithful to her. She cured Heracles, who was seized with madness; and
as he could not afford her the assistance he had promised, she went to Athens. She is said to
have given birth to her son Medus after her arrival in Asia, where she had married a king;
whereas others state that her son Medus accompanied her from Athens to Colchis, where her son
slew Perses, and restored her father Aeëtes to his kingdom. The restoration of
Aeëtes, however, is attributed by some to Iason, who accompanied Medea to Colchis. At
length Medea is said to have become immortal, to have been honoured with divine worship, and
to have married Achilles in Elysium. The story of Medea is the subject of plays by
Euripides (q.v.) and
Seneca (q.v.).
