Medea, Lover and Sorceress
Medea was a ruthless sorceress of great character but was hopelessly in love with Jason. When she thought he was conspiring with her brother Absyrtus to leave her behind, she blazed with rage, wanting to set the Argo on fire and throw herself into the flames.
Although Medea used her magical powers to help Jason, he feared her. Her help was essential (not only did she perform the enchantment on the serpent that guarded the Fleece, but she also restored Jason’s father Aeson to his lost youth, replacing the blood in his veins with a magic potion). She also expelled the usurper Pelias by persuading him that she would rejuvenate him as well. But as soon as his daughters had cut him to pieces as she had instructed, she boiled him right there in her cauldron, refusing to restore him to life. After being rejected by Jason and taking her terrible revenge… Medea married King Aegeus of Athens, where she would play a part in the myths of another hero: Theseus.
The Golden Fleece
Jason, son of King Aeson, who had been deposed by his half-brother Pelias, was raised by the centaur Chiron. When he came of age, he went to his uncle’s court to press his claim to the throne. Pelias, having been warned to beware of a man wearing only one sandal (as Jason was), agreed to name him heir if he brought back the Golden Fleece, which belonged to Aeëtes, the cruel king of Colchis. With the help of Athena, Jason built a ship, the Argo, and assembled a crew of some fifty men: the Argonauts, many of whom had been educated by Chiron. He then set sail for Colchis, where Aeëtes’ daughter Medea, the sorceress, fell in love with him and helped him steal the Fleece and then escape. On returning to his homeland, Medea kills Pelias, but strangely Jason does not claim the throne. Instead, the couple lived in Corinth for ten years until Jason rejected Medea in order to marry Glauce, daughter of King Creon. Medea killed Glauce in revenge, and also Creon and her own children by Jason. Then she fled. Jason died in old age, crushed by the prow of the Argo.
Adventures of the Argonauts
On their way to Colchis, the Argonauts had to face many dangers from which they always escaped thanks to the strength of some stratagem. At the outset they made use of the superhuman strength of Heracles, who with great ease managed to repel an attack by a group of six armed giants. However, Heracles abandoned the ship before reaching Colchis (though he would return later), grieving over the loss of his friend Hylas, who had been drawn into a spring by water nymphs enchanted by his beauty. Also during the voyage a challenge arose to fight King Amycus (who was accustomed to defeating all his opponents), whom Pollux, the inventor of boxing, managed to overcome; they then passed through the Clashing Rocks, which crashed together and crushed everything that came between them; they also had to contend with the allure of the Sirens, whom Orpheus countered by drowning out their songs with the beauty of his music.