Medea

Medea was a princess and sorceress of Colchis, a land at the eastern end of the Black Sea. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. She was also a priestess of the goddess Hecate and had the gift of prophecy and magic. She fell in love with Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, who came to Colchis to obtain the Golden Fleece from her father. She helped Jason to complete the tasks that her father set for him, and even killed her own brother Absyrtus to allow Jason to escape with the Fleece. She then fled with Jason and became his wife. They had several children together, but their marriage did not last. Jason abandoned her to marry Creusa, the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. Medea took revenge by sending Creusa a poisoned dress that burned her alive, along with her father. She also killed her own children by Jason, either to spite him or to protect them from his enemies. She then fled to Athens, where she married King Aegeus, the father of Theseus. However, she tried to poison Theseus when she recognized him as Aegeus' son, and was driven away by Aegeus. Her later fate is uncertain. Some say she returned to Colchis and restored her father to his throne. Others say she went to Persia and became the ancestor of the Medes. Some even say she ascended to Olympus and married Achilles in the Elysian Fields. Medea is one of the most famous and controversial figures in Greek mythology. She is portrayed as a powerful and passionate woman, but also as a vengeful and violent one. She is admired for her loyalty and cunning, but also feared for her wrath and cruelty. She is a heroine and a villainess, a victim and a perpetrator, a human and a divine being. She has inspired many works of art and literature throughout history, such as Euripides' tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes' epic Argonautica.