Medea++and+her+story,+as+told+by+Choji

Medea was a beautiful young priestess of Hecate, the goddess of magic. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, who was a demigod son of Helios, the god of the sun. Medea was also the niece of Circe the sorceress, and a competent sorceress herself. When Jason and his Argonauts came to Colchis for the Golden Fleece, her father told Jason that “Tomorrow, before the sun sets, you must harness my fire-breathing bulls, plow up a field, and sow it with dragon’s teeth as Cadmus did at Thebes. If you succeed, the Golden fleece is yours. But if you fail, I shall cut out the tongues and lop off the hands of you and all your great heroes.” King Aeëtes knew that no man could withstand the flames from the bulls nostrils. What he //didn’t// know was that Hera was helping Jason. Hera knew that only Medea could save Jason, and must be made to fall in love with him. So, Hera asked Aphrodite to send her son Eros to shoot one of his arrows. Aphrodite promised Eros a beautiful enamel ball, and he shot into Medea’s heart just as she looked up and saw Jason. Her eyes flashed with gold. Medea thought she had never seen anyone so handsome. (Definitely not her father, who was horribly ugly.) She had to save Jason; she couldn’t help it. So she concocted a magical salve that protected the wearer from iron and fire. That night, Medea had Jason brought to her in the temple. Blushing, she told him that she was madly in love with him, enough to betray her father for him. Jason hugged her and swore by all the gods of Olympus to love her forever and to make her his queen. Hera heard him and was pleased. In the morning, Jason went straight to the fire-breathing bulls. They bellowed and breathed flames at him, but Medea’s salve made him invulnerable and so strong that he harnessed the bulls and drove them back and forth across a field until it was plowed. He then sowed dragon’s teeth into the field and a host of warriors sprang up. Like Cadmus, he threw a stone into their midst and watched from afar as they slaughtered themselves. Before the sun set, they were all dead. Jason had completed his task, but King Aeëtes had no intention of giving up the Golden Fleece. He ordered his men to seize the //Argo// and kill the men at daybreak. In secret, Medea went to Jason and warned him of her father’s treachery. Under the cloak of night, Jason and Medea went to the dark grove where the Golden Fleece hung from a tree branch, shining like the sun. Around the tree’s trunk lay a never-sleeping dragon. Medea chanted incantations and bewitched the dragon. She stared at it with her golden eyes, and the dragon fell into a magically induced slumber. Quickly, Jason took the Fleece and they ran back to the //Argo//, where Jason’s crew was waiting, and they quietly slipped out to sea. At daybreak, when the king’s men went to attack the ship, it was gone. So was the Fleece and the king’s daughter. King Aeëtes set off in pursuit with his armada of Colchian warships. The fastest of his ships, steered by Medea’s brother, soon overtook the //Argo//. The Argonauts thought it was all over, but Medea saved them again. She called out to her brother, and pretended to be sorry for what she had done. She told him that she would go home with him if he would meet her alone on a nearby island. At the same time, she whispered to Jason to wait for her brother and kill him on the island. She knew her father would have to give up pursuit to give his son a funeral. Hera and all the gods looked on with horror. Medea was stained with her brother’s blood. No mortal could commit a worse crime than to cause the death of his own kin. Zeus threw thunderbolts in anger. Posieden stirred the seas. Lightning flashed, the sea raged with storms. Then the sacred piece of oak in the bow of the //Argo// spoke: “Woe, woe to you all. Not a one among you will reach Greece unless the great sorceress Circe consents to purify Medea and Jason of their sin.” And so, the Argonauts searched on the storm seas for Circe’s island. At long last, they found it. Medea warned the Argonauts to stay on the ship, for Circe was a powerful sorceress and she turned visitors into the animal closest to their nature for fun. Some became lions, some rabbits, the possibilities were huge. But most became pigs and donkeys. Medea held Jason’s hand to protect him. Since Circe was Medea’s aunt, she was also a descendant of Helios. So, like all other descendants of the sun god, they both had a slight glints of gold in their eyes, so Circe immediately recognized Medea as kin. But she wasn’t happy to see her, because she had seen what she had done through her magic. But she still agreed to sacrifice to Zeus. The smoke that rose to Olympus was scented with sweetmeats and cakes, and it put him in a good mood. He smiled on the couple once again. The two thanked Circe and returned to their ship. The crew rejoiced. The set sail for Greece. But they were still not in the clear. They still had to pass through dangerous and enchanted waters. Soon they came upon the island of the Sirens. They were half-bird and half-human; but they were not ugly like the harpies, they were beautiful, and their song enchanting. They would sing so beautifully that sailors jumped overboard and swam towards them, but none ever made it. But as soon as he heard them, Orpheus grabbed his lyre and played so loudly that he drowned out the Siren’s song. Next they came upon the Thanatos Strait, a narrow strait guarded by two monsters. On one side there was Scylla, who, from the waist up, looked like a woman. But instead of legs she had six snarling dogs that ripped apart anything that came near. On the other side lived Charybdis, who was always hungry. She sucked everything that came near into her belly. The Argonauts and their ship drifted helplessly in the turbulent waters. Again they gave themselves up for dead. But from the sea rose the playful Nereids. Hera had summoned them and they lifted the //Argo// and tossed it across the dangerous waters. Poseidon called the West Wind, Zephyrus, and the //Argo// sped away safely. The Argonauts let out a cheer as the shore of Greece came into sight. They had been away for years and they were homesick. But as they neared the port of Iolcus, which was the city Jason was from, a fisherman called them over and told Jason that King Pelias had heard of their successful quest and had made plans to kill him. King Pelias was the one who had sent Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. If Jason was successful, he would claim his rightful throne. Medea’s eyes flashed and she asked to be set ashore alone. Once again she wanted to save his life. So, disguised as an old witch, she went into Iolcus, saying that she had magic herbs that would make old creatures young. King Pelias himself came out of his palace to see her, for he felt he was getting old. “Bring me your oldest ram and I will make him young again with my magic herbs,” Medea told the gathered crowd. They found and brought a sickly old ram, which she put in a cauldron of water. On to the water she sprinkled the magic herbs and voila! The water boiled and out of the steam and bubbles came an energetic young lamb. Seeing this, King Pelias asked Medea to make him young to. She told him only his daughters could do that, but that she would gladly sell him her herbs. But the herbs she gave the king had no magic in them, and so the king died in the boiling cauldron at his own daughters hands. Now the throne of Iolcus was Jason’s, but again Medea had committed a horrible crime. She had tricked innocent girls into killing their own father, and the gods turned their backs on her. She changed from a lovely young sorceress to an evil witch. The Iolcans would not accept her as their queen, and took another king instead of Jason. With the loss of his throne, Jason also lost his love for the now ugly Medea. He forgot that he had sworn to love her until his death and that she had committed heinous crimes for his sake. He asked her to leave so that he could marry the Princess of Corinth and inherit her father’s kingdom. Medea, scorned and angry, studied evil sorcery more and more. As her revenge on Jason, she sent a beautiful gown to his new bride. As soon as she put it on, it’s magic took effect and she went up in flames, as did the rest of the palace. Then Medea disappeared into a dark cloud, riding in a carriage pulled by two black dragons. No one saw her ever again. She secluded herself to an uninhabited island and practiced her dark arts. She became increasingly powerful. One day, she was sitting in a grove practicing her magic when she concentrated too much on one section of her spell, and one of the glowing rune stones floating around her flew into the back of her head, killing her. As she was dying, she saw the rock roll across the ground and uncover the dead body of her long dead brother, whom she had killed, preserved by some foul magic. At the same time, far away on Corinth, Jason was killed by the sacred piece of oak on the prow of the //Argo// falling on his head. The End

Morbid, Choji/Awesome beast! - Casey Very detailed- Ian Very well written Choji -Sage