Medea: August�s Notable Magical Being By Ariene Callahan Medea, the ancient sorceress was the daughter of King Aeetes, and the granddaughter of the sun god, Helios. When Medea fell in love with Jason, leader of the Argonauts, she used her magic to help Jason steal her father�s most prized possession, the Golden Fleece. In exchange, Jason agreed to marry Medea. Argo, the ship that brought Jason and his Argonauts to Colchis, sailed away with the Golden Fleece, Medea and her younger brother on board. King Aeetes, angered by the betrayal of his daughter, pursued the couple. Medea, in an effort to delay her father�s pursuit, murdered her brother. King Aeetes and his men stopped to gather the dismembered pieces of his son, Absyrtis. Once the ship docked in Iolcus, Medea put to use her magic. One of her first spells was an anti-aging spell. The spell was performed on Jason�s aging father, whose youth was restored. When she offered to do the same to the King of Iolcus, she tricked his daughters into killing him, and she left without supplying the youth restoring potion. Soon this caused the couple to flee from Iolcus. Relocating in Corinth, there Medea bore Jason two children. However, despair lurked in Medea�s future. Jason left his wife and children to marry the Princess of Corinth. To seek her revenge, Medea placed a spell on a robe and crown, which was worn by the new bride. These items had been poisoned and caused the flesh to be burned from the Princesses body. In an attempt to save his daughter, the King of Corinth perished as well, when he also came in contact with the poisoned robes. Once again Medea found herself fleeing from her city. Medea was a powerful, but dark witch. She used whatever means it took to achieve the desired outcome. In order to cause Jason more pain, she murdered her own children, and took the bodies with her in a winged dragon drawn chariot. Medea then became the wife of Athens king Aegeus. Promising to use her magic to enable the old king to have more children, she bore him a son, Medus. When she found out that Aegeus had another son, Theseus, she tried to trick the king into poisoning Theseus. Unsuccessful, once again Medea had to flee, taking her young son with her. Medus eventually became king of a country, which was later renamed after him. Medea was never heard of again. It is believed that she remained away from public eye, and raised her son. However, she was a pioneer in the dark arts. Many powerful sorcerers� have used her spells, and researched her power. This is why; Medea is a notable magical being. She did many things, terrible, terrible things, but magic worthy of being recorded in the history books. |
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