Chapter 20 Tales of the Argonauts - 20

Jason was still unable to claim the throne of Iolcas, despite the perilous voyage he had made for it, taking Medea from her father and brutally murdering her brother Absyrtus.He had to give up the kingdom to Acastus, son of Pelias, and fled to Corinth with his young wife.Here they lived for ten years, and Medea bore him three sons, the first two were twins, named Tessalus and Archimenas, the third son was called Tesantros, aged Still small.During this time, Medea won the love and respect of her husband because of her youth, beauty, noble character and proper manners.But then she grew older and less attractive, and Jason fell in love with Glauc, the beautiful daughter of King Creon of Corinth.Jason proposes to Medea without telling her.The king agreed to the marriage and chose a date for the wedding. Only then did he make up his mind to persuade his wife Medea to break off the engagement.He swore that it wasn't that he already hated her, but that he thought of the children.He had to marry the royal family.When Medea heard this, she was furious and called out to the gods to testify to the oath he had made to her before, but Jason ignored these and planned to marry the king's daughter.

Desperate, Medea ran around in her husband's palace. "My God, how can I live? Let death have mercy on me! Oh, my father, my hometown, I despicably left you! O brother, I killed you, your blood now I come! But it is not Jason, my husband, who should punish me, for whom I have sinned, O Goddess of Justice, destroy him, destroy his young mistress!" When she was wandering angrily in the palace, Jason's new father-in-law, King Creon, came to her. "You hate your husband!" Creon said, "take your son and leave my country immediately. I will never go back until you are driven out of my country." Medea suppressed her anger and remained calm Said: "Why are you afraid of me doing evil, Creon? You have done nothing wrong to me, and you are not in debt to me. Why should I blame you for marrying your daughter to the man you fell in love with?" I just hate my husband. But it's done. May they live as husband and wife. Just let me still live in your kingdom. Even if I suffer great humiliation, I will keep silent and submit to the strong. The fate arranged by the weak!"

Seeing the hatred in her eyes, Creon did not believe her words.When Medea embraced his knees and swore by the name of his daughter Glauc, the king could not believe her. "Go away!" he said, "don't leave me in danger!" Medea, helpless, begged him to delay for a day, so that she could find a place for her children.The king thought for a moment and said: "I am not a heartless man. There have been many times when I have foolishly conceded out of pity and forbearance. Now, too, I feel that it is not wise to let you delay for a day. But, I I'd rather let you do it."

Medea, getting the day she had hoped for a day's reprieve from exile, became mad again.There was a plan in her head, but she had not dared to adopt it, and now she decided to carry it out.First, she wanted to make a last effort to point out the fault to her husband so that he would change his mind.She walked up to him and said, "You betrayed me, and now you have found a bride, and you have abandoned your children. If you had no children, I could forgive you, but now I cannot forgive you. Do you think Does the god who listened to you swear to be loyal to love no longer exist? Do you think you can break your oath now that there is a new law? Now, I ask you as a friend, where do you want me to go? You want to send me back to my father? That's where I betrayed him and killed his son for you. Don't you forget? Where else can you put me? If your ex-wife leads Your son is wandering around like a beggar, what glory do you have?"

Jason was indifferent.He only promised to give her and the children a sum of money, and wrote letters to friends all over the place to take her in.Medea scorned the salvage. "Fuck you, you're spoiling yourself," she said, "Go get married, your wedding will be miserable!" After she left, she regretted what she had just said, not because she had changed her mind, but because she was worried Her words would arouse Jason's suspicion.So, she asked Jason to come to talk again, and said to him gently: "Jason, please forgive me for what I said just now. I was angry and said something that hurt my feelings. Now I understand that what you did was for the sake of our interests.

We came here in exile with nothing, and you want a new marriage for you, for your children, and ultimately for me.Well, in the future you can take the children back and let them live with the stepmother's children.I think you will have children.Come here, children, kiss your father, and forgive him, as I forgave him! ” Jason really thought she had forgiven him, was overjoyed, and made all kinds of promises to Medea and the children.Medea convinced him by sweeter words that she no longer held a grudge against him.She begged her husband to leave the child in the palace and let her go alone.In order to obtain the consent of the king and Gluck, she took out many precious gold robes from her storeroom and gave them to Jason as gifts for the bride.Jason hesitated for a while, and finally agreed.He sent a servant to bring gifts to the bride.But these precious robes were sewn from materials soaked in potions.After Medea pretended to bid farewell to her husband, she waited moment by moment for the news that the bride had accepted these gifts.A trusty servant will bring her the news.At last the servant came running out of breath, and shouted from a distance: "Medea, get on board, run away! Your enemy and her father are dead. Your son and Jason went into the bride In the room, we servants were very happy, and the resentment was finally eliminated. The king's daughter was very happy to see your husband, but when she saw the child, she covered her eyes with a veil and turned her face away, not wanting to talk to the child. Yi Asong tried his best to comfort her, and said a lot of good things for you, and showed her the gift. When the king's daughter saw the beautiful golden robe, she was full of joy, and immediately agreed to all the demands made by the groom. When your husband and Immediately after her son left, she looked greedily at these wonderful robes, and she put the cloak on her body, put the golden garland on her head, and looked up and down in the mirror with joy. Later, she was also happy in the room She was walking up and down, proud of her new dress like a little girl. But her joy suddenly disappeared, her face was pale, her limbs spasmed, and she staggered backwards, before she could reach the chair. She fell to the ground with a thud, rolled her eyes, and foamed from her mouth. Everyone was shocked. The servants hurried to find the king, and the other servants hurried to call her fiancé. Suddenly, the garland she wore on her head spurted out The flames made her flesh creak. When the king arrived sadly, he only saw his daughter's body was burned and deformed. In desperation, the king threw himself on his daughter to hug her, but he was hit. The poison on the beautiful dress on my daughter is also dead. I don’t know what’s going on with Jason.” After the servant finished talking about the situation in one breath, Medea couldn’t let go of her hatred when she heard it, she was full of vengeful anger fanned more vigorously.Like a Nemesis, she rushed out, ready to deal a fatal blow to her husband and herself.She was the first to go to her son's bedroom, when it was late. "My heart, don't be soft."

She said to herself, "Why hesitate in doing this terrible but necessary thing? Forget that they are your children, that you are the mother who bore them, just forget them for a moment, and later you will You can cry for them forever! If you don't kill them, they will die at the hands of their enemies. " When Jason hurried home to avenge Medea for the young bride, he heard the screams of children from inside.He ran to their house and saw his son lying in a pool of blood, killed like a sacrificial offering.He looked for Medea in the house, but could not find her.Jason left his home in despair, hearing noises in the air.He looked up and saw the terrible murderer.She sat on a dragon chariot summoned by magic, ascended to the sky, and left the world where she used all means to revenge.Jason was unable to punish her, fell into despair, and the scene of the murder of Absyrtus resurfaced before his eyes.Having no other choice, he drew his sword and killed himself on the threshold of his house.