Medea

In Iolcus, King Aeson is violently removed from power by his half-brother Pelias. Aeson’s betrayal leaves his son Giasone hidden away to keep him safe. The crisis sets the stage for a future challenge that will hinge on the retrieval of a legendary relic.

Giasone is hidden with the centaur Chirone to keep him safe from Pelias. Chirone becomes his mentor, teaching him about life, the world beyond Iolcus, and the prophecy of a voyage to Colchis. He prepares the boy for a destiny tied to the Golden Fleece.

As an adult, Giasone travels to Iolcus and openly challenges Pelias for the throne. He asserts that a rightful claim requires action, not words. His rebellion rekindles the conflict between the old king and the heir.

Pelias sets a deadly bargain: Giasone can have the throne if he retrieves the Golden Fleece from Colchis, a distant land across the world. Giasone accepts the dangerous quest, drawn by duty and destiny. The journey becomes a turning point for many lives.

Medea, priestess of Colchis, envisions Giasone and is consumed by desire for him. She seeks help from her brother Apsirto to assist in stealing the fleece before his arrival. Her plan marks the collision of magical ritual with mortal longing.

Giasone and Medea join the Argonauts as they march toward Colchis, a perilous journey through wilderness and seas. The group travels with shared purpose, but danger continues to mount as Colchians pursue them. The pursuit intensifies the urgency of their escape.

The Colchians realize the fleece has vanished. Medea realizes their pursuers are closing in, and she kills her brother Apsirto, dismembers him, and uses the body parts to halt the chase. The gruesome act buys time for the fugitives to escape.

Having escaped Colchis, Medea reaches Greece and undergoes a spiritual crisis, feeling alien to Greek earth and its magic. She struggles to connect with the land and its rituals, torn between her old powers and new surroundings. The clash foreshadows her later choices.

Giasone and Medea return to Iolcus and deliver the fleece to Pelias, who refuses to honor the bargain or grant the throne. This betrayal solidifies Giasone’s disillusionment with the fleece’s power. Medea’s status as a ritual outsider continues to strain their relationship.

Medea assumes the role of a traditional Greek wife, yet Giasone grows bored and distant. He seeks a new alliance and travels toward a political future rather than the old quest. The couple’s personal dissonance grows as cultural tensions mount.

In Corinth, Giasone encounters a vision of two Chirones: a mute centaur and a speaking human. The human Chirone explains Medea’s split between ritual past and Greek present. The encounter deepens his existential doubts about their way of life.

Giasone pursues a political marriage with Corinthian princess Glauce, while Creonte fears Medea’s power and banishes her. He grants her a day’s delay before departure, hoping to keep the peace. Medea uses the delay to execute her revenge plan.

Medea disguises her fury as acceptance and sends Glauce a poisoned robe and crown. Glauce dies from the garments; Creonte dies in her poisonous wake. The royal household is consumed by a deadly ruse and fear.

That same night, Medea kills her two sons in front of no one, bathing and then stabbing them. She arranges their bodies on separate beds and then sets the house ablaze with the corpses inside. The city is left reeling as Giasone pleads for mercy but she remains unreachable.

Giasone begs to bury their children, but Medea refuses, declaring that nothing is possible anymore. The couple’s saga ends in flames and tragedy, with future consequences for all involved. The fleece’s power is revealed to be hollow against such a ruinous vengeance.