The story of the sorceress Medea and the rejuvenation of the ram is one of magic, manipulation and murder. When the hero Jason was sent by his uncle Pelias on the impossible mission to retrieve the Golden Fleece, he only accomplished the task with the help of Medea. On his return home, he found that Pelias had murdered his father and that his mother had committed suicide.
To overthrow Pelias, Medea told his daughters that she could make their father young again, and demonstrated by cutting up an old ram and boiling it with a mixture of magical herbs. The ram was rejuvenated and became a young lamb again. Inspired, Pelias’ daughters cut up their father while he slept and gave the pieces to Medea. She repeated the ritual but omitted the magical herbs, killing Pelias.
The illustration on this krater emphasises Medea’s magical powers. She stands to the right of her cauldron, sprinkling magic herbs over the old ram. Pelias at the left holds his head in gesture of sorrow. To a contemporary viewer, Medea may seem like a resourceful heroine who saved the day; to the ancient Greeks, she was an outsider, a foreigner who committed murder, and a powerful woman in a society in which the ideal female was submissive and obedient.
