EP 19: Medea - She Did It All For Love

 ... Welcome to Episode 19. This episode focuses on a woman who was, perhaps, the most powerful in all of Greece.

The daughter of the sun god, Helios, Medea was a sorceress and the infamous wife of Jason, the hero and leader of the Argonauts …

Medea was really the mastermind of all of Jason’s heroic acts. Without her he would have been nothing. With her he became one of Greece’s most famous warriors. But he made a terrible mistake. He betrayed her for another woman and the cunning Medea sought revenge ...

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

 (Thanks to Sohana Manzoor, professor at the  University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, for insights into Medea's character. Musical score includes selections from Free Sounds Library. )

Transcript

MEDEA ... WE'VE MENTIONED HER BEFORE. REMEMBER THE SORCERESS, CIRCE? MEDEA & JASON VISITED HER BRIEFLY ON THE ISLAND OF AEAEA. BUT IT WASN'T A SOCIAL CALL.

IT WAS ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED AFTER THEY HAD STOLEN THE GOLDEN FLEECE SO THAT JASON COULD BE KING. 

HER BROTHER HAD CAUGHT THEM RED-HANDED ... WHEN HE GRABBED FOR THE FLEECE, MEDEA WRESTLED HIS SWORD FROM HIM & SWUNG IT, SHATTERING HIS RIBS. 

AS OUTRAGEOUS, SHE THEN CUT HIM INTO PIECES, SCATTERING THEM OVER THE SEA ... SHE KNEW THEY WOULD GAIN TIME AS THEIR PURSUERS STOPPED TO COLLECT THE PARTS.

THE ACT WAS HORRIFIC. AND NOW THAT IT WAS DONE, SHE HAD TO CLEANSE HERSELF OF THE MURDER. BUT HOW? 

CIRCE SEEMED TO BE HER TICKET OUT. SHE WAS MEDEA'S AUNT & BOTH WERE FOLLOWERS OF THE GODDESS HEKATE, WHO WAS CIRCE'S MOTHER. HEKATE COULD CAST SPELLS & MAKE MAGIC.

MEDEA KNEW THAT CIRCE HAD MASTERED HEKATE'S POWERS. AFTER ALL, CIRCE USED THEM REGULARLY TO TURN MEN INTO SWINE. PERHAPS SHE COULD PURIFY MEDEA ...

Ω

WELCOME TO EPISODE 19 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MY NOVELS and ABOUT THIS PODCAST AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM. ALL OF MY BOOKS IMAGINE THE ANCIENT GODS LIVING IN MODERN TIMES.

THERE'S A NEW PAGE ABOUT GREEK GODS ON THE WEBSITE. IT'S A GREAT OVERVIEW OF ALL THINGS DIVINE IN ANCIENT GREECE. 

AS ALWAYS, THIS PODCAST SERIES WILL FOCUS ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE.

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

Ω

MEDEA ... BECAUSE OF HER LINEAGE, SHE COULD CLAIM DIVINE BLOOD. HER GRANDFATHER WAS HELIOS, THE SUN-GOD.

SHE HAD IMMENSE PRIDE, WHICH FOR WOMEN IN ANCIENT GREECE, WAS CONSIDERED UNBECOMING. SHE HAD IMMENSE INTELLIGENCE AS WELL, WHICH WAS regarded as ... UNLADYLIKE.

WOMEN IN ANCIENT GREECE WERE EXPECTED TO BE SELF-EFFACING. HER CLEVERNESS & CUNNING, INTELLECT & SELF-ESTEEM WERE DEEMED ... MALE CHARACTERISTICS.

BUT MEDEA DIDN'T CARE. SHE KNEW EXACTLY WHO SHE WAS & WHAT SHE WANTED ... MODESTY WAS NOT A CONSIDERATION. 

IF BLUNT FORCE WAS NECESSARY, SHE WOULD WIELD A SWORD. IF CUNNING WAS MORE ADVANTAGEOUS, THEN SHE WOULD TURN TO SPELLS & POISON.

SHE WAS ALWAYS STEPS AHEAD OF THOSE WHO TRIED TO THWART HER. IN TIME SHE BECAME A TRAGIC FIGURE, BUT WAS ALSO, ULTIMATELY, TRIUMPHANT. 

LET'S LOOK AT HER LIFE. IT WAS ONE FILLED WITH LOVE, PASSION & MALEVOLENCE ...

Ω

WE START IN KOLCHIS, A CITY ON THE BLACK SEA MORE THAN A THOUSAND MILES EAST OF ATHENS. THE GREEKS CONSIDERED IT BARBARIC. MEDEA GREW UP THERE, THE DAUGHTER OF THE KING.

SHE FIRST ROSE TO FAME WHEN SHE ENCOUNTERED JASON & THE ARGONAUTS. THE ARGONAUTS WERE THE 50 HEROES WHO SAILED WITH JASON ON THE SHIP ARGO. 

BY THE WAY, OUR WORD 'ASTRONAUTS' IS A PLAY ON THE GREEK 'ARGONAUTS'; THEY PLIED THE SEAS & WE PLY THE STARS.

THESE GREEK WARRIORS ARRIVED IN KOLCHIS, INTENT ON STEALING A RAM'S PELT CALLED THE GOLDEN FLEECE. JASON NEEDED IT TO CLAIM THE KINGSHIP OF THESSALY.

WHEN MEDEA SAW JASON, IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. THE ANCIENT WRITER HESIOD SAID IT WAS APHRODITE'S DOING, THAT EROS HAD SHOT MEDEA WITH HIS ARROWS.

WHATEVER THE CASE, SHE BECAME OBSESSED ... WHEN JASON SOUGHT HER HELP IN OBTAINING THE FLEECE, SHE EAGERLY AGREED, ASSURING HIM THAT, WITH HER 'ASSISTANCE,' HE'D PREVAIL.

SHE DEMANDED ONLY ONE THING: HE MUST MARRY HER & TAKE HER AWAY FROM HER FATHER'S DISMAL KINGDOM. HE QUICKLY AGREED.

RELYING ON MEDEA'S INSIGHT, SPELLS & POTIONS, JASON SUCCEEDED IN STEALING THE FLEECE. 

BUT MEDEA'S BROTHER LEARNED OF THE THEFT & TRIED TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING AWAY. HIS BRAVERY LED TO HIS DEATH. 

MEDEA KILLED HIM, & HIS BLOODY MURDER LEFT HER DEFILED. IT WAS AN ACT SHE KNEW SHE NEEDED TO PURGE. AS A SORCERESS, SHE KNEW SHE MUST BE PURIFIED.

OTHERWISE HER OWN POWERS WOULD SLOWLY DISSIPATE. SHE & JASON FLED TO AEAEA, CIRCE'S ISLAND. 

CIRCE WANTED TO TURN THEM AWAY, BUT KNEW SHE MUST FOLLOW ZEUS' DICTATE TO WELCOME ALL TRAVELERS. 

RELUCTANTLY, CIRCE SACRIFICED A PIGLET & CONDUCTED SECRETS RITES.  AFTERWARD, IN DISGUST, SHE BANISHED THEM FROM HER ISLAND.

MEDEA & JASON THEN TRAVELED TO THESSALY TO CLAIM THE THRONE. BUT THE KING HAD TAKEN MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS.

HEARING A RUMOR THAT JASON & THE ARGONAUTS HAD DIED, THE KING USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO KILL ALL OF JASON'S KINSMEN.

WHEN JASON LANDED & LEARNED OF THE TREACHERY, HE DESPAIRED. HIS 50 MEN WERE NO MATCH FOR THE KING'S ARMY. MEDEA, THOUGH, HAD A SOLUTION.

USING HER CUNNING SHE TRICKED THE KING'S DAUGHTERS INTO KILLING THEIR FATHER. SHE DID SO BY PROMISING THAT SHE COULD MAKE THE OLD KING YOUNG AGAIN.

SHE DEMONSTRATED BY TAKING AN OLD RAM, CUTTING IT UP & THROWING THE PIECES INTO BOILING WATER INFUSED WITH HERBS. 

AFTER STIRRING THE POT & CHANTING SOME PHRASES, MEDEA STEPPED BACK. OUT JUMPED A YOUNG LAMB. THE GIRLS WERE ECSTATIC & TOLD THEIR FATHER THEY COULD MAKE HIM YOUNG AGAIN. 

OVERWHELMED AT HIS GOOD LUCK, HE TOLD THEM TO DO WHATEVER THEY HAD TO DO. SO THE DAUGHTERS KILLED HIM & — IMITATING MEDEA — CHOPPED HIM UP, THROWING THE PIECES INTO THE SAME POT.

THAT WAS IT FOR THE KING. MEDEA HAD TRICKED THEM ALL. BUT IN THE END, JASON WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLACE.

THUS BEGAN FOR MEDEA WHAT BECAME A LIFETIME OF FLEEING FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER. HER LONGEST STAY WOULD BE IN CORINTH.

THERE SHE LIVED A DECADE AS JASON'S WIFE. THEN, AFTER HAVING HIS CHILDREN, SHE WAS ESSENTIALLY GIVEN THE BOOT. 

YET SHE ROSE TO AN UNEXPECTED & INFAMOUS CELEBRITY THAT SHOCKED THE ANCIENT WORLD. 

THROUGHOUT TIME, THOSE WHO HEARD THE STORY WRESTLED WITH WHAT MEDEA DID SOME TIME LATER ... AS PAYBACK FOR JASON'S BETRAYAL, SHE KILLED THEIR SONS.

Ω

I FIRST HEARD OF MEDEA WHEN I WAS 17. I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE CLASS. OUR TEACHER WAS A CHARISMATIC MAN ABOUT 10 YEARS OLDER THAN US.

EARLY IN THE SESSION HE ANNOUNCED THAT OUR GRAND, END-OF-CLASS PLAY WOULD BE SOMETHING CALLED MEDEA.

MEDEA? NONE OF US HAD EVER HEARD OF MEDEA, EITHER THE PLAY OR THE WOMAN. THERE WERE TRYOUTS & I WAS MORTIFIED TO BE CHOSEN TO PLAY THE PART OF JASON.

OKAY, SO JASON WAS A GREEK HERO. COOL. AND MEDEA WAS HIS CRAZY WIFE ... I REMEMBER REHEARSING IN RIDICULOUS ARMOR. IT WAS ALL SO EMBARRASSING.

NEAR THE END OF THE PLAY, I WAS TO ENTER THE STAGE, ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT MEDEA HAD MURDERED OUR CHILDREN. 

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED MEDEA STOOD BESIDE THEM WITH A BLOODY SWORD. I WAS INSTRUCTED TO FALL TO ONE KNEE & CRY OUT IN ANGUISH, "MEDEA-A-A!" 

THE TEACHER SMIRKED AS I WEAKLY MOUTHED, "MEDEA ...?" WE KEPT REHEARSING. MY VOICE GREW LOUDER & LOUDER, UNTIL HE WAS SATISFIED ... 

WE WERE ALL AWARE THAT, FOR THE AUDIENCE, THIS WAS A TRAUMATIC MOMENT ... THE MURDER FASCINATED THE ANCIENT GREEKS AS WELL.

Ω

HERE'S HOW IT WENT DOWN. ONE MORNING JASON TOLD MEDEA THAT HE HAD TAKEN A NEW WIFE, THE KING'S DAUGHTER, A MERE GIRL ...

HOW DID MEDEA REACT? ON THE SIMPLEST LEVEL WE SEE THE FURY OF A WOMAN SCORNED. IT'S CLASSIC — AN OLDER WIFE BEING SHUNTED ASIDE FOR THE NEW BRIDE.

BUT WE KNOW TOO THAT MEDEA HAD IMMENSE PRIDE. AND INTELLIGENCE ... ON TOP OF ALL THAT, SHE WAS A SORCERESS. HOW COULD JASON HAVE FORGOTTEN?

IN EURIPES' 5th CENTURY BC PLAY, MEDEA, SHE REMINDS JASON THAT HE WOULD NOT BE A GREEK HERO WITHOUT HER ... SHE MADE HIM ... EVERY CONQUEST WAS REALLY HERS.

SHE USED MAGIC & WHISPERED IN HIS EAR AT EVERY STEP ... WITHOUT HER JASON WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHING. AND WITH HER HE BECAME 'JASON OF THE ARGONAUTS.'

SHE DID IT ALL FOR LOVE ... IN RETURN, JASON MADE MEDEA BINDING PROMISES, OR AS THE GREEKS TERMED IT, HE BECAME AN OATH-GIVER.

IN ANCIENT GREECE, AN OATH WAS ALL-IMPORTANT. IT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT PUNISHMENT FOR A MURDER, FOR EXAMPLE, WOULD BE OVERLOOKED BY THE FURIES IF IT WAS THE RESULT OF A BROKEN OATH.

AND NOW JASON  — THIS OATH-BREAKER— WOULD DARE TO DRIVE MEDEA & THEIR CHILDREN AWAY? SHE WOULD BE A SINGLE WOMAN, BANISHED FROM CORINTH & LEFT ADRIFT?

NO, SHE CONCLUDED ... NO, SHE WOULD NOT GO QUIETLY ...

Ω

THE KING OF CORINTH WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE MANY THINGS TO BRING JASON ON AS HIS SON-IN-LAW. FEW MEN WERE AS FAMOUS AS THIS ARGONAUT.

JASON HAD POLITICAL AMBITIONS. AND BETTER YET, THE KING'S DAUGHTER WAS, UNLIKE MEDEA, YOUNGER, MALLEABLE & NAÏVE.

MEDEA SAW THROUGH IT ALL. WHEN SHE CONFRONTED JASON SHE CALLED HIM IMPIOUS, A LIAR & A COWARD. HE DISMISSED HER ACCUSATIONS, CALLING HER A BARBARIAN.

SHE WARNED HIM, "YOUR NEW MARRIAGE WILL END WITH MARRIAGE LOST, WITH NOTHING BUT LOATHING & HORROR IN ITS PLACE."

HE LAUGHED & LEFT. SHE TURNED AWAY, SAYING, "LET NO ONE THINK OF ME AS HUMBLE OR WEAK. I AM ALWAYS HIGHLY DANGEROUS TO MY ENEMIES."

WITHOUT HESITATION, MEDEA CRAFTED A DEADLY POISON. SHE SATURATED A LOVELY DRESS & A GOLDEN CORONET WITH THE TOXIN.

SHE ANNOUNCED THAT THE DRESS & CROWN WERE PRESENTS FOR THE BRIDE, & THAT SHE WISHED HER WELL. MEDEA SENT THEM IN A LOVELY BOX.

SHE SAID THAT THEY WERE DIVINE GIFTS FROM HELIOS ... & WITH DOUBLE MEANING, SHE SAID, "THE PRINCESS WILL FIND THEM ALL THAT SUCH A GIFT SHOULD BE."

AS MEDEA HAD GUESSED, THE BRIDE SLIPPED INTO THE DRESS, BUTTONING IT TIGHTLY TO HER NECK. 

THEN SHE SNUGGED ON THE GOLDEN CROWN & STOOD BEFORE HER MIRROR, TURNING THIS WAY & THAT TO SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL SHE LOOKED.

SUDDENLY SHE STAGGERED SIDEWAYS, HER LIMBS JERKING. SHE COLLAPSED ONTO A CHAIR, FOAM OOZING FROM HER LIPS.

SHE HALF SCREAMED BUT CHOKED AS THE GOLDEN CROWN BURST INTO TALL FLAMES ... THE DRESS IN TURN WAS INSTANTLY ENGULFED IN FIRE.

SHE TRIED DESPERATELY TO REMOVE THE CROWN, BUT IT WOULDN'T BUDGE. THE MORE SHE SHOOK HER HEAD THE FIERCER THE FLAMES BECAME.

WHEN HER FATHER, THE KING, STORMED INTO THE ROOM, HE CRIED OUT, "WHAT GOD HAS DONE THIS THING?"

NOT KNOWING THAT HE TOO WAS DOOMED, HE LIFTED HER INTO HIS ARMS. BUT HE STUCK FAST TO HER DRESS & WAS HIMSELF ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

AS THE TWO WERE JOINED IN DEATH, MEDEA SAW IT ALL IN HER MIND'S EYE ... WHEN THEY HAD BREATHED THEIR LAST, SHE SAID QUIETLY, "ALL IS COME TO FRUITION."

Ω

BUT HER WORK WAS HARDLY DONE. THERE WAS MORE. THERE WERE JASON'S CHILDREN. WHILE SHE HAD WAITED FOR THE BRIDE TO TRY ON HER DRESS, MEDEA HAD STEADILY SHARPENED HER SWORD. AND HARDENED HER RESOLVE.

SHE WHISPERED, "LIFE HAS BEEN CRUEL TO ME ... WHAT MUST BE DONE IS FEARFUL, YET INEVITABLE."

AFTER THE PRINCESS'S DEATH, MEDEA WENT INTO HER HOUSE, DRAGGING HER CHILDREN ALONG... JASON ARRIVED A MOMENT TOO LATE. 

STANDING OUTSIDE HE HEARD ONE OF HIS SONS CRY, "MOTHER, NOOO--!"

HE BROKE OPEN THE DOORS. AS HE SEARCHED FRANTICALLY, MEDEA APPEARED ABOVE THE ROOF.

SHE STOOD IN A GOLDEN CHARIOT DRAWN BY IMMENSE SNAKES. THE BODIES OF THE CHILDREN LAY AT HER FEET.

SHE SAID LOUDLY, "JASON! MY GRANDFATHER HELIOS HAS SENT ME THIS FLYING CHARIOT TO SAVE ME FROM MY ... ENEMIES. WASTE NO TIME LOOKING FOR YOUR CHILDREN!"

JASON SHOUTED, "YOU MONSTER, YOU MOST DETESTED OF ALL WOMEN! YOU ARE DESPISED BY EVEN THE GODS!"

SHE RESPONDED IN TRIUMPH, "OH REALLY? LORD ZEUS KNOWS WELL WHAT SERVICE I ONCE RENDERED YOU, & HOW YOU HAVE REPAID ME ...

"YOU WERE MISTAKEN IF YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD DISHONOR MY BED, LIVE A PLEASANT LIFE & MOCK ME AS YOU HAVE ...

"YOUR CHILDREN ARE DEAD, YOUR NEW WIFE & FATHER-IN-LAW ARE LOST AS WELL ... & ALL OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS RIGHT." HER CHARIOT BEGAN TO RISE INTO THE SKY. 

THE SNAKES HISSED & THE CHARIOT WITH ITS OCCUPANTS DISAPPEARED.

WOULD SHE EVER BE PUNISHED? HARDLY. THE FURIES GAVE MEDEA A PASS BECAUSE SHE WAS DIVINE. THEY WOULD HAVE DONE SO ANYWAY BECAUSE JASON HAD ... BROKEN HIS OATH.

Ω

THE ANCIENT GREEKS WERE EQUALLY APPALLED & ADMIRING, NEVER SURE WHAT TO MAKE OF MEDEA ...

THE MURDER FASCINATED THEM. WHY WOULD A WOMAN, CELEBRATED THROUGHOUT GREECE FOR HELPING TO RECOVER THE GOLDEN FLEECE, COMMIT SUCH A HEINOUS ACT?

MEDEA WAS WILLING TO PLAY THE GAME. IT WAS ONE DOMINATED BY MEN — ONE IN WHICH WOMEN WERE TO BE UNASSUMING ... YES, SHE'D PLAY UP TO A POINT. 

WHEN JASON BETRAYED HER, SHE DIDN'T HESITATE, PRAYING TO ZEUS & HEKATE, REMEMBERING THE SPELLS & POISONS THAT HAD ALWAYS PROTECTED HER.

JASON IN THE END WAS WEAK. MEDEA WAS NOT. HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HER BETTER.

AND MEDEA'S ACTIONS BECAME THE STUFF OF LEGENDS, TRAGIC PLAYS, CONDEMNATION, ADMONISHMENT ... ENDLESS POEMS & EVEN, DEPENDING ON THE AUDIENCE, APPLAUSE.

Ω

HER CHARIOT CARRIED HER AWAY, FIRST to Thebes, where she healed Heracles from A curse BY Hera.

She then fled to Athens, where she married THE KING. They had one son, Medus. BUT Her bliss was once again shattered.

THE KING'S long-lost son SUDDENLY REAPPEARED. HIS FATHER DIDN'T RECOGNIZE HIM. HE'D BEEN PRESUMED DEAD FOR YEARS. BUT MEDEA KNEW BETTER.

Determined to preserve her own son's inheritance, Medea convinced THE KING that THIS NEW ARRIVAL was a threat & should be ELIMINATED. 

As Medea handed THE STRANGER a cup of poison, THE KING recognized the young man's sword as his own. IT WAS ONE he had GIVEN HIM years BEFORE. 

THE KING KnockED the cup from Medea's hand ... REALIZING THAT THE KING WOULD NOW ALWAYS FAVOR HIS FIRST BORN, Medea FLED ONCE AGAIN, returnING to Kolchis.

THERE SHE FOUND that HER FATHER had been deposed by his brother. SHE promptly killed her uncle, restorING the kingdom to her father. 

BUT OF COURSE, THIS BEING ABOUT ANCIENT GREEK DIVINITIES, THERE'S ANOTHER VERSION OF WHAT OCCURRED.

THE ANCIENT HISTORIAN, Herodotus, reports THAT Medea and her son Medus fled from Athens, on her flying chariot, to the PERSIAN plateau.

THERE THEY lived among the NATIVES, who, IN HER SON'S HONOR, changed their name to the Medes. IN TIME THEIR DESCENDANTS BECAME THE GREEKS' ARCHENEMIES.

AND WHAT BECAME OF JASON? As a result of HIS BETRAYAL, Jason lost favor with THE OLYMPIC GODS ... EVEN HIS OLD FRIENDS, THE ARGONAUTS, SHUNNED HIM.

AND HIS DEATH? He was asleep under the stern of HIS OLD SHIP, the ROTTING ARGO, when it fell on him, killing him instantly ...

IT'S POSSIBLE THAT ONE OF THE GODS, PERHAPS EVEN ZEUS, GAVE IT A NUDGE ...

Ω

SOON WE RETURN, THANKFULLY, TO THE LIGHT & MEET MEDEA'S GRANDFATHER, THE SUN-GOD HELIOS, ALONG WITH HIS CONSORTS, THE MOON-GODDESS SELENE & THE GODDESS OF DAWN, EOS ....