The myth of Medea speaks of the archetype of the witch, an independent woman, invaded by great passions and endowed with a great capacity for decision. At the time this character was created, she represented the opposite of what is a “model woman”. should be. Perhaps that is why it has generated great interest and had a great impact among the tragic perpetrators.
According to the myth of Medea, this witch was granddaughter of Helios, the sun god, and daughter of Eates, king of Colcha, the same place where the mythical golden fleece lived, a woolly ram, whose wool was made of gold threads. Medeia’s mother was the nympha Idca, daughter of the ocean, whose name means “see”.
- It tells the story that this witch learned the arts of witchcraft from her aunt Circe.
- And she had great powers and knew the magic potions that allowed her to turn her enemies into animals and cure diseases thanks to her knowledge of herbs and medicines.
“I understand the seriousness of the crime I’m about to commit, but in my decisions passion wins, the greatest culprit for human evils. “? Medeia, from Euripides de Salamina?
The moment the myth of Medea comes to life is when Jason and the Argonauts arrive in Colchicda, the kingdom of the witch’s father, in search of the golden fleece. The goddesses Hera and Athena protected these expeditionaries and asked the goddess Aphrodite to help them. Specifically, they asked medeia, the king’s daughter, to fall in love with Jason and support him in his goals.
Aphrodite had to convince her son Eros to do this task. He was reluctant, but his mother promised him a gift and so he agreed to shoot one of his arrows directly into the witch’s heart. She, of course, fell completely in love with Jason, and had no qualms about helping him accomplish his mission.
The king of The Wrath has promised to give Jason the golden fleece, provided he completes certain tests: the first was to plow a field with oxen exhaling flames through his nose. Soon after, with the help of the protective goddesses, Jason and Medea met at the sanctuary of Hecate, at the bottom of the forest. There, the hero asked for his help and promised to marry him and take him to Greece, his homeland.
Medea’s myth tells that the witch gave Jason a potion that made him invulnerable to the flames of the oxen, also helped him defeat the soldiers out of nowhere and sleep the dragon that was dealing with the golden fleece. perform all the tasks imposed on you.
Subsequently, the couple fled on the famous ship Argo, where, to prevent their father from chasing them, he killed his younger brother, Apsirto, who was aboard the ship, pushed him aside and threw the pieces of his body into the sea. , so his father wasted his time searching for his son’s body and abandoned persecution.
In this way they managed to reach Jaso’s homeland, Yolco, and were greeted with great celebrations. The myth of Medeia says the couple married and the witch decided to rejuvenate Jason’s father, as a thank you for keeping his promises. of Pelias, brother of Jason’s father, who had been removed from the throne by him, wanted the witch to also rejuvenate her father.
Medea deceived the young women and instead of giving them the rejuvenation of Pelias, he killed him, so the couple went into exile to Corinth, where they were warmly received by King Creon, where Medea and Jason lived happily for many years and had Nevertheless, Jason fell in love with the king’s daughter, Glauce, and began to think of ways to get rid of his wife.
Pretending to accept Jason and Glauce’s engagement, the witch gave the princess a dress, according to medea’s myth, when the young woman put it on, burned and the fire spread to the king and the entire palace, later the witch killed her. children and fled to Athens, where she was greeted by the King of the Aegean, whom she married and had a son named Fear.
Years later, he arranged for Theseus, son of the Aegean, not to ascend to the throne and instead crowned his son Medo, however, the king accomplished everything and she had to flee into a magic cloud, so she returned to Colchis. , where She was forgiven. The myth of Medea says that the witch is immortal and lives forever on the Champs Elysees.