Jason and the Golden Fleece-- Haley Longworth

In Greece, a king named Pelias has stolen the crown from his brother. An oracle tells him that he will die at the hands of a kinsman and that he should be wary of a man wearing only one sandal. One day, a man wearing one sandal comes to town. This is Jason, the king's nephew, come to claim his rightful place as king. Pelias tells Jason that he would give up the throne if Jason would go out and retrieve the golden fleece. Jason sets off with a team of Greek heroes, the Argonauts, and overcomes many obstacles and adventures on the way to Colchis. Finally, with the help of Hera, he reaches King Etes. Hera and Aphrodite arrange for Cupid to make King Etes's daughter, Medea, fall in love with Jason. Jason asks Etes for the fleece, but Etes says Jason must plow a field of dragon's teeth, which will spring up into a crop of armed men who must be cut down as they advance and attack. Jason agrees, though he believes the task will result in his death. Thanks to Cupid's bow, however, Medea gives Jason a magical potion that gives give him invincibility for one day. She also tells him to throw a rock into the middle of the army because it will lead the armed men to kill each other. The next day, Jason proves victorious.The treacherous king will not give him the fleece, however. He plans to kill Jason. Medea helps him again. She leads him to the fleece, charms the serpent guarding it, and flees with Jason back home. On the journey home, Medea kills her brother in the idea that she is protecting Jason. This is the first sign of her madness. When they return to Greece, she arranges for King Pelias to be killed by his own daughters, which fulfills the oracle. Later, Jason marries another woman, and Medea becomes so angry that she kills both the bride and her own two sons fathered by Jason. Love and revenge is less common nowadays that it was many, many years ago. In modern times, if someone doesn't love you the way you love them you cry, complain to your friends, and hopefully move on. With Medea is was different, because she went as far as to kill the woman Jason was going to marry and the two children she had with Jason. It seems over the top and really crazy because most of us wouldn't actually do anything to hurt the person that left us other than burn their clothes that you have (?) or something like that. For most of us heartbreak is more about the sadness and less about the revenge you may be plotting on that person. Sometimes you will hear about a crazy stalker ex in the news that someone put a restraining order on, but I don't think that's very common compared to the number of relationships in the world.