Medea 1969

In the city of Iolcus, King Aeson is overthrown by his half-brother Pelias, who becomes a cruel tyrant who hoards power and fear. Giasone, Aeson’s son, is hidden away by the wise Chirone to keep him safe from Pelias’ reach, and under Chirone’s guidance he learns about the wider world while hearing of a legendary voyage to Colchis, where the Golden Fleece of Ares is kept. As time passes, Giasone grows, returns to Iolcus, and challenges Pelias for the throne, though Pelias makes a dangerous bargain: the throne in exchange for retrieving the fleece from the faraway land.

Medea, a priestess of Colchis, becomes central to the unfolding plan. Enraptured by Giasone’s fate, she enlists her brother, Apsirto, to help steal the fleece in preparation for his arrival. The pair joins the Argonauts as they press onward toward Colchis, and the chase that follows sees the Colchians rallying to reclaim what has been taken. Medea, driven by a mix of love and zeal, makes a brutal choice: she kills her brother and dismembers his body so that the pursuers must stop and collect his remains. This grim delay buys precious time for Giasone and Medea to press on and escape.

Back in Greece, Medea undergoes a deep spiritual crisis, finding herself alien to the earth and its magic in this new land where Greek customs clash with her ancient rites. When they finally return to Iolcus, they deliver the fleece to Pelias, who promptly reneges on his promise. Giasone accepts this turn of events, while Medea tries to adapt to a conventional Greek wife’s role, though he soon grows distant from her. He travels to Corinth and encounters two versions of Chirone: one is in the form of a centaur, the other utterly human. The silent centaur and the human Chirone together reveal that Medea is torn between two selves—the ritual, earth-driven self of Colchis and a newer, more secular Greek self.

Despite bearing him two sons, Giasone’s interest shifts toward a political alliance with the Corinthian princess Glauce, whose father Creonte fears Medea’s lingering influence and the power of her magic. He banishes Medea, yet grants her a day to prepare for her departure, hoping to avert catastrophe.

Glauce becomes the target of Medea’s perilous plan. Disguised in feigned happiness, Medea signals that her only wish is to protect their children, even as she plots a deadly revenge. She sends Glauce a poisoned robe and crown with a quiet gesture of peace, and envisions Glauce trying them on and bursting into flames. Glauce, overwhelmed by the deadly gift, dies on the ramparts, and Creonte falls after her. That night, Medea bathes her two sons and cradles them as they sleep, then kills them by knife in a stark, offscreen moment that devastates the family.

Medea completes her vengeance by setting the house ablaze with the bodies of her children inside. As the flames rage, Giasone pleads to bury their children, but Medea refuses, her grief erupting in a final, haunting decree: “It is useless! Nothing is possible anymore!”