Medea in the context of "Creon (king of Corinth)"

A sarcophagus (pl.: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek σάρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγεῖν phagein meaning "to eat"; hence sarcophagus means "flesh-eating", from the phrase lithos sarkophagos (λίθος σαρκοφάγος), "flesh-eating stone". The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to rapidly facilitate the decomposition of the flesh of corpses contained within it due to the chemical properties of the limestone itself.

Theseus (UK: /ˈθiːsjuːs/, US: /ˈθiːsiəs/ ; Ancient Greek: Θησεύς [tʰɛːsěu̯s]) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages.

Theseus is sometimes described as the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, and sometimes as the son of the god Poseidon. He is raised by his mother, Aethra, and upon discovering his connection to Aegeus, travels overland to Athens, having many adventures on the way. When he reaches Athens, he finds that Aegeus is married to Medea (formerly wife of Jason), who plots against him.

In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece (Ancient Greek: Χρυσόμαλλον δέρας, romanized: Khrysómallon déras, lit. 'Golden-haired pelt') is the fleece of the golden-woolled, winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where Phrixus then sacrificed it to Zeus. Phrixus gave the fleece to King Aeëtes who kept it in a sacred grove, whence Jason and the Argonauts stole it with the help of Medea, Aeëtes' daughter. The fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship.

In the historical account, the hero Jason and his crew of Argonauts set out on a quest for the fleece by order of King Pelias in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus in Thessaly. Through the help of Medea, they acquire the Golden Fleece. The story is of great antiquity and was current in the time of Homer (eighth century BC). It survives in various forms, among which the details vary.

Jason (/ˈdʒeɪ.sən/ JAY-sən; Ancient Greek: Ἰάσων, romanized: Iásōn [i.ǎːsɔːn]) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea, the granddaughter of the sungod Helios.

Jason appeared in various literary works in the classical world of Greece and Rome, including the epic poem Argonautica and the tragedy Medea. In the modern world, Jason has emerged as a character in various adaptations of his myths, such as the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts and the 2000 TV miniseries of the same name.

The Argonautica (Greek: Ἀργοναυτικά, romanized: Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic epic (though Callimachus' Aetia is substantially extant through fragments), the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from remote Colchis. Their heroic adventures and Jason's relationship with the Colchian princess/sorceress Medea were already well known to Hellenistic audiences, which enabled Apollonius to go beyond a simple narrative, giving it a scholarly emphasis suitable to the times. It was the age of the great Library of Alexandria, and his epic incorporates his research in geography, ethnography, comparative religion, and Homeric literature. However, his main contribution to the epic tradition lies in his development of the love between hero and heroine – he seems to have been the first narrative poet to study "the pathology of love". His Argonautica had a profound impact on Latin poetry: it was translated by Varro Atacinus and imitated by Valerius Flaccus, it influenced Catullus and Ovid, and it provided Virgil with a model for his Roman epic, the Aeneid.

Hippotes (Ancient Greek: Ἱππότης) may refer to a number of people from Greek mythology:

• Hippotes, son of Mimas and father of Aeolus, the keeper of the Winds in the Odyssey. He was a mortal king.
• Hippotes, a Corinthian prince as the son of King Creon, who accused Medea of the murder she had committed on his sister and his father. His persona was assumed by Medeus, son of Jason or Aegeus and Medea, when he came to the court of King Perses of Colchis.
• Hippotes, a son of Phylas by Leipephilene, daughter of Iolaus, and great-grandnephew and great-grandson of Heracles. When the Heracleidae, on their invading the Peloponnesus, were encamped near Naupactus, Hippotes killed the seer Carnus, in consequence of which the army of the Heracleidae began to suffer very severely, and Hippotes by the command of an oracle was banished for a period of ten years. He was likely the same Hippotes who was the father of Aletes. He seems to be the same as the Hippotes who was regarded as the founder of Cnidus in Caria.

In Greek mythology, Aeson (/ˈiːsɒn/; Ancient Greek: Αἴσων Aísōn) was a king of Iolcus in Thessaly. He was the father of the hero Jason. According to one version of the story, he was imprisoned by his half-brother Pelias, and when Pelias intended to kill him he committed suicide. In another story, he was killed by Jason's wife Medea, who brought him back to life as a young man.

Medea (Ancient Greek: Μήδεια, Mēdeia) is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides based on a myth. It was first performed in 431 BC as part of a trilogy, the other plays of which have not survived. Its plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the kingdom of Colchis and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the world threatened as Jason leaves her for a princess of Corinth and takes vengeance on him by murdering his new wife, father-in-law and her own two sons, before escaping to Athens to start a new life.

Euripides's play has been explored and interpreted by playwrights across the centuries and the world in a variety of ways, offering political, psychoanalytical, feminist, and many other original readings of Medea, Jason, and the core themes of the play.

In Greek mythology, Polyxenus or Polyxeinus /pəˈlɪksɪnəs/ (Ancient Greek: Πολύξενος, Poluxenos, or Πολύξεινος, Poluxeinos) is a name that may refer to:

• Polyxenus, one of the first priests of Demeter and one of the first to learn the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
• Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes and Peloris, king of Elis. He was counted among the suitors of Helen, and accordingly participated in the Trojan War, having brought 40 ships with him. He returned home safely after the war, and had a son Amphimachus, whom he possibly named after his friend Amphimachus (son of Cteatus), who had died at Troy.
• Polyxenus, king of Elis, was said to have been entrusted with the stolen cattle by the Taphians under Pterelaus; the cattle was ransomed from him by Amphitryon. This Polyxenus, however, appears to be a figure distinct from Polyxenus, son of Agasthenes, since he lived two generations before the Trojan War.
• Polyxenus, also called Medus, son of the hero Jason and the Colchian sorceress Medea, the daughter of King Aeëtes. He was the brother of Eriopis.