No Friend to This House, Natalie Haynes (Review by Abigail Blake)
Rating: 4.75/5 Stars
Natalie Haynes is back with another expertly retold myth with the tale of Jason and Medea, based on the classic tragedy by Euripides.
Gods, goddesses, and mortals alike wish to see Jason and his Argonauts succeed in their famed quest for the Golden Fleece. As they arrive on shores far distant from their native Greece, it soon becomes clear that even their most dazzling and disarming captain cannot win the fleece without certain death. Here, the gods intervene in the form of a literally love-struck Medea, daughter to brutal King Aeites of Colchis and skilled priestess of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft.
Where Jason’s charisma fails, Medea’s methodical meddling prevails. Medea conspires against the whims of her father to help Jason complete in his impossible tasks in exchange for his commitment to marrying her. Aietes never had any intention of letting the Argonauts abscond with the rightly-won fleece to their homeland, nor is the king above killing his daughter for her assumed betrayal. Medea flees with her new betrothed and “abandons” her family members, some to die in the Argo’s wake.
As Jason and Medea’s relationship progresses into a marriage chosen for and by the gods, witnessed by men and immortal alike, Medea uses her powers to further the standing of her beloved through sorcery, suggestive murder, and healing. As she becomes famous in her own right, Jason chafes at his lack of notability beyond his infamous quest. This tension culminates in a betrayal of the one thing Medea asked for in return for her assistance to Jason: his commitment to being her husband. Both are driven to devastating acts of cruelty from entirely different perspectives; the tragic conclusion of their story together.
Haynes weaves a rich and colorful interpretation of this myth that challenges the male-dominated hero’s journey of Jason and the Argonauts. Less time is spent on Jason than the wreckage he leaves in his wake. The tale is told by those around him, primarily women (mortal and goddess alike) and questions his unbound sense of superiority. Medea is one of many in the story who forges a name for herself in the spaces men, to their ultimate detriment, neglect.