Medea of Colchis is one of the most discussed ladies of mythical
history. Euripides, Ovid, and other poets represented her for the
purposes of their poems as a fiend of inhuman ferocity. Some more
trustworthy historians believe that she was a princess who devoted
a great deal of study to the medicinal virtues of the plants which
grew in her country, and that she exercised her skill on the poor
and sick of her country. Certainly the marvellous murders attributed
to her must have been planned by a tragic poet to whom no conditions
were impossible. Diodorus declares that the Corinthians stoned her
and her sons, and afterwards paid Euripides five talents to justify
their crime. Medea’s claim to a place in this section is the adopted
theory that she discovered the poisonous properties of colchicum,
which derived its name from her country. Colchis had the reputation of
producing many poisonous plants; hence the Latin expression “venena
Colchica.”