Medeas

Medeas refer to the mythic figure Medea in Greek mythology and to the use of the name for related characters and adaptations. The principal Medea is the sorceress daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, a granddaughter of Helios, famed for magical powers. She assists Jason and the Argonauts in obtaining the Golden Fleece, and, according to the myth, betrays her father to help him. After Jason abandons her for another marriage, Medea takes vengeance: in most tellings she murders her own children; in some versions she also kills Jason’s bride Glauce and Creon, the king of Corinth. She typically escapes in a dragon-drawn chariot sent by her grandfather Helios, though details vary, and in some accounts she helps Jason before fleeing.

Medea’s story is most famously dramatized in Euripides’ tragedy Medea (c. 431 BCE), which emphasizes psychological complexity alongside the acts of vengeance. Earlier and later writers, including Apollonius of Rhodes in the Argonautica and Seneca, offer alternative interpretations of her motives and morality.

Beyond ancient drama, the Medea figure has inspired numerous works in literature, opera, and film, and has become a potent emblem of female cunning, rage, and the moral ambiguities of motherhood and justice. The name Medeas can also be used to refer to various characters named Medea in myth or to modern adaptations that reimagine the figure for new audiences.