Medea

This chapter focuses on Medea’s first encounter with Jason and the aid she gives him on his quest for the golden fleece, specifically as recounted in Apollonius Rhodius’s Argonautica wherein Medea helps Jason overcome king Aeëtes’ trials of yoking the fire-breathing bulls, sowing the dragon’s teeth, and defeating the earthborn army. However, in this adaptation, rather than portray Medea as a lovestruck maiden ready to betray her family and homeland for a hero she has only just met, here her passion has been de-emphasized and Medea is shown to be genuinely concerned for the life of Jason and his crew – her cousin among them – who she knows will be killed by her cruel father if she does not intervene. The Latin text enables readers to review the jussive subjunctive.