Her name is linked to the heinous act of killing her children.
Let's start with the myth: Medea, Princess of Colchis, meets Jason and falls in love with him when he goes there to find the Golden Fleece. Despite of her father, Aetius, wanting to send Jason back to his land, Medea helps him steal the precious trophy, then helps him escape, kill and dismember her brother Apsyrtos, whose pieces are scattered in the sea to stop Aetius and buy time to escape with Jason. When they arrive in Greece, Jason asks her to help him avenge Pelia, the king of Iolcos, who killed his brother and father during his absence.
Medea deceives the king's daughters and manages to kill their father, convincing them that in this way he would become immortal. The two lovers arrive in Corinth during the chase, settle down there and have two children. Then Jason leaves her, and she kills her children in revenge.
A vase by Ixion Painter showing Medea killing one of her sons, approx. 330 BC (Louvre, Paris).
However, if you read Evripidis' tragedy, you will see that things happen an a different way. Medea had been mocked ever since she set foot in Greece because she is a foreigner. Nobody cares that she is an educated princess who knows the secrets of nature, can heal wounds and that she helped Jason to fulfill his mission. She does not know the customs and habits, and she is different in appearance and behavior. Jason celebrates with the Corinthians, leaving Medea alone with the children and he gets bored of her soon.
He becomes engaged to Glafki, the daughter of Creon, the king of Corinth. Jason and Creon decide that Medea and her children shall be sent into exile. So Medea poisons a bridal gown and sends it to Glafki, who wears it and dies. Afterwards, in view of the fact that her children have been completely dishonored by their father, Medea kills her children, so that they do not live in disgrace and so that Jason has no descendants. In the end, according to Evripides, Ilios, Medea's uncle, sends his chariot and takes her away.
Mixing Vessel with Medea Departing in a Chariot (detail), about 400 B.C., attributed to the Policoro Painter. Terracotta, 19 7/8 x 19 5/8 in. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1991.1. Photo: Tim Evanson on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
The rest of the legend says that Medea found refuge in Athens, where she had a son, tried unsuccessfully to kill Theseus, and finally fled to Asia, where her son was. And when she was old, she descended to Hlysia Pedia, married Achilles and became immortal.
Myths are contradictory. Usually in Greek mythology, the one who commits such heinous crimes is punished forever in the underworld, but Medea is not. Perhaps the explanation for this is the Parmeniscus report that the children were killed by the Corinthians in the temple of Hera. There is another report by Evmilos that Medea killed them, but the reason was that she wanted to make them immortal.
But there are even more versions of the legend. Pindarus mentions that Medea only helped Jason with Golden Fleece and nothing else. Apollonius of Rhodes says the same and that she lived in Aegina.
We will never know the precise historical truth, but the name Medea will always be associated with heinous deeds.
