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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

Beyond ancient drama, the Medea figure has inspired numerous works in literature, opera, and film, and has

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.
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.