Editing Medea (section)

=== Medea as Divine Agent ===
[[File:Medeia in Corinth by the underworld painter red figure apulian volute krater detail medea kills child on altar.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Medea preparing to kill her child on an altar, while [[Helios]], hauled by two snakes and bearing two flaming torches, witnesses the scene. Jason appears rushing from the side (detail), [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] krater, {{Circa|320 BC}}.]]
A mortal with divine ancestry—Medea is the granddaughter of Helios—she seems to kill without consequence, suggesting that she acts as an agent of divine force (similar to [[Nemesis]]) and, as-such, is immune from vengeance that typically comes to mortals who commit injustice:  
* When her own father, Aeëtes, reneges on his promise to relinquish ownership of the Golden Fleece to Jason if he completes the tasks he set Jason, he loses his son, Absyrtus.  
* When King Pelias, Jason's half-uncle, reneges on his promise to relinquish his stolen throne--the throne of Iolcus to the rightful heir, Jason--if Jason went on a quest to bring him the Golden Fleece, his own daughters are tricked into butchering him in a sabotaged attempt to restore his youth.  
* Later, when the Corinthian King, King Creon, allows Jason to woo his daughter, Glauce, despite the fact that they both know that Jason was already married to Medea--a marriage arranged by the Queen of the Gods ''and'' the goddess of marriage, Hera--both he and his daughter are both killed by an heirloom dress and crown (gifts of Helios's to Medea), which had been poisoned by Medea.  

After Medea kills her brother, Absyrtus, she, Jason, and the others stop at her aunt Circe's island, [[Aeaea]], to be absolved of the crime. When they return to Iolcus, in Thessaly, Medea convinces Pelias's daughters to kill their father with trickery. After this, they are, technically, an accessory to a murder—and Pelias corrupt supporters amongst Iolcus's [[nobility|noble class]] in his own usurpation of his half-brother's throne unite to block Jason's claim to his father's throne to protect their own status—so they're forced to leave. 

They go to Corinth, where Jason proceeds to court and marry Glauce, a princess of Corinth, where Jason loses Hera's favor and gains Medea's wrath. King Creon tells Medea that she has twenty-four hours to leave, and if she doesn't she'll be killed. Jason comes to scold Medea and she in turn accuses him of denying his oath to the gods. Despite her previous crimes, Medea seems to have the approval of the gods. Next, Medea resolves her time to kill Glauce with a potion that causes her to catch fire. Her father Creon dies also when he in grief hugs his daughter and dies from the same poison. Medea proceeds to kill her and Jason's children as well, and before Jason can stop her, she is escorted away on a flying chariot sent by her grandfather, Helios. 

Later, Medea marries King Aegeus and the two produce a son named Medus. When Theseus returns in an attempt to prove he is Aegeus's son, Medea recognizes that he will be the heir to the throne rather than Medus, and convinces Aegeus to poison Theseus's drink. Aegeus realizes Theseus is his son and throws the drink away. Medea is forced to leave with Medus, where they return to Colchis where Medus eventually claims the title of king. Medea sits in an odd position where though she kills many people, she never seems to face any divine consequence from it. Perhaps her actions are in keeping with the favor of the gods. True or not, Medea is framed as a curiously nuanced figure, something rare for women in Greek Mythology.<ref name="Four more" />