Medea Nationality – Not Greek
An important concept to keep in mind throughout the story is that Medea is not Greek. She is an immigrant, more specifically, a refugee from Colchis, located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
Medea Genealogy
Helios (God of the Sun) & Perseis (Oceanid/Water-nymph) had two children, Circe (Sorceress) & Aeetes (King of Colchis). Medea’s parents are King Aeetes & Idya (Oceanid/Water-nymph).
Medea is a mortal woman, but of divine ancestry, oft depicted as a priestess of the goddess, Hecate; a sorceress who presides over magic, spells & possesses power over heaven, earth, & sea.
Jason (Greek) & the Golden Fleece
Jason is the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos; his mother is Alcimede.
Aeson’s brother, Pelias, took the throne of Iolcos by force. He jailed Aeson & killed all his descendants to ensure his rule but…
Jason’s mother, Alcimede, saved him by having his nurses cluster around him & cry as if he were still-born. Fearing that Pelias would soon notice & kill Jason, she sent him away to be reared by the centaur, Chiron.
Pelias, fearing that one day his throne would be challenged, consulted an oracle who warned him to beware of the man with one sandal.
When Jason was grown, he set off to reclaim his throne. On the way, he stopped to help an old woman across the Anauros river. As he did, he lost one of his sandals.
The woman was the Goddess Hera in disguise. She blessed him, knowing what Pelias had planned.
When Jason entered Iolcos, he was announced to Pelias as the man with one sandal. Jason informed Pelias he was taking back his throne, to which Pelias replied, “To take my throne, which you shall, you must go on a quest to find the Golden Fleece.” Jason accepted.
The fleece belonged the golden-wooled, flying ram, Chrysomallos, who was sent by the cloud-nymph, Nephele, to recuse her children from being sacrificed to the gods by Athamas (her ex-husband) & Ino (his new wife).
The children escaped out of Greece & flew across the Black Sea. Helle fell off & drowned but Phrixus arrived safely in Colchis (Medea’s home).
Chrysomallos was then sacrificed & now sits in the stars (constellation Aries); his golden fleece gifted to King Aeetes (Medea’s father), hung in the sacred grove of Ares, guarded by a dragon.
King Aeetes chased them as they fled, but Medea distracted her father by killing her brother Apsyrtus, throwing pieces of his body into the Black Sea; as King Aeetes stopped to gather them, Jason & Medea escaped.
The Return to Iolcos, Jason’s Home
Jason, with Medea, returns home to Iolcus. The Golden Fleece in hand, with full intention of being restored to his rightful seat as King. First they visited his father, Aeson, but found him bed-ridden & close to death. Jason, knowing of Medea’s sorcery, asked if she could do anything to save him. Medea withdrew blood from Aeson’s body & infused it with herbs, when she put it back into his body, his youth was restored.
King Pelias refused to give up his throne to Jason, but he too was old & sick. King Pelias’ daughters had heard what Medea did for Aeson & asked if she could do the same for their father.
Medea explained, if they chopped him up into pieces & boiled them in a pot of water & herbs his youth would be restored. Medea demonstrated this with an old ram, which leapt out of the cauldron as a young lamb.
The daughters immediately took to the task of chopping up their father, but when they put them in the pot, Medea did not add the herbs. Pelias was dead. Pelias’ son, Acastus, drove Jason & Medea into exile for the murder & the couple fled to Corinth.
©, 2020, Flora Kirk, Flaroh Illustration. All Rights Reserved.
The Arrival & Betrayal in Corinth
Jason, exiled from his home, Iolcos, & Medea, exiled from her home, Colchis, arrive in Corinth. They are welcomed by King Creon. They marry. Depending on the story source, they have between one & fourteen children. For our purposes, Euripides’ Medea involves two children; H.M. Koutoukas’ Medea involves one child. In both stories, the action centers on Jason’s betrayal of Medea, his intention to marry King Creon’s daughter, Creusa.
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And so begins, Euripides’ Medea
The play begins with Medea in a blind rage over Jason’s betrayal. Medea’s nurse, overhearing her grief, fears what she might do to herself or her children. When Medea confronts Jason about the engagement, she reminds him that without her help he would never have secured the Golden Fleece. He replies that it was not Medea he should thank, but rather Aphrodite, who made her fall in love with him. King Creon, fearful of Medea’s wrath, announces his plans to exile her & the nurse. Medea pleads for one day’s delay. Creon agrees.
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And so begins, H.M. Koutoukas’ Medea of the Laundromat
King Creon was right to fear Medea. That night, Medea sent a wedding gift to Crayola (H.M. renames Creusa), a wedding dress. The dress was laced with herbs. When Crayola tried on the dress it went up in flames, killing her & King Creon in his attempt to save his daughter. The play begins mere hours later, just before daybreak. We find the nurse with the child, the son of Medea & Jason, in the laundromat…
