Medea killed a monster for Jason: it was a giant serpent. What was the name of the serpent?
Medea Study Guide
Medea study guide contains a biography of Euripides, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
Greek audiences would have known the story of the ill-fated marriage between Jason, hero of the Golden Fleece, and Medea, barbarian witch and princess of Colchis. The modern reader, to fully understand the events of Medea, needs to be familiar with the legends and myths on which the play is based.
Medea was of a people at the far edge of the Black Sea; for the Greeks of Euripides' time, this was the edge of the known world. She was a powerful sorceress, princess of Colchis, and a granddaughter of the sun god Helias. Jason, a great Greek hero and captain of the Argonauts, led his crew to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. King Aeetes, lord of Colchis and Medea's father, kept the Fleece under guard. A sorcerer himself, he was a formidable…
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- Medea Summary
- About Medea
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- Major Themes
- Summary and Analysis of Lines 1-356
- Summary and Analysis of Lines 357-662
- Summary and Analysis of Lines 663-975
- Summary and Analysis of Lines 976-1250
- Summary and Analysis of Lines 1251-1419
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