I recently finished Natalie Hayes newest novel, No Friend to this House, based on the myth of Medea. I have previously read the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, but have not read Euripides’ play Medea, so only had a loose understanding of what happens to Medea after the events of the Quest for the Golden Fleece conclude.
Hayes’s novel is a feminist myth retelling, which is a genre I enjoy immensely. It’s interesting to see foundational myths retold to criticize the misogyny that is inherent to them. The character of Medea has appeared in a number of these retellings, most notably in Circe by Madeline Miller, but also Atalanta by Jennifer Saint. I had the sense from both versions that Medea was a tragic figure, but Hayes’s book also infuses her with vulnerability. Her Medea is powerful due to her sorcery skills and is favored by the goddess Hecate. However, she diminishes her power willing because of her love for Jason, something Hayes explores in her retelling.
Jason, as traditional male heroes are often depicted in feminist retellings, is self-serving and egotistical. His success is due to favor of the goddesses Hera and Athena (referred to as “Athene” in this novel), who persuade Aphrodite to cause Medea to fall in love with Jason. Medea then helps Jason overcome the impossible tasks her father, King Aeetes of Colchis, sets for him to win the Golden Fleece. As a result, she must flee her home with Jason, and inevitably causes the death of her brother who pursues her to bring her home for punishment.
There are many elements of Hayes’s retelling that are brought to the surface to examination. The first half of the novel centers of Jason’s journey to Colchis, and tells the stories of minor characters. Hayes’ novel depicts the the complexity and interwovenness of Greek Mythology, where background characters who appear in one myth resurface in another.
Medea enters midway through the book. She is depicted as young, clever and sincere; a woman who is trying to carve a life out for herself that is not dictated to her by her overbearing father. Unfortunately, she falls into another toxic relationship, this time not due to a familial bond, but because she is struck by Eros’s arrow as part of a manipulation by Aphrodite, Hera and Athene who don’t see her as a heroine with her own journey, but a pawn in Jason’s story.
The most interesting parts of the book to me were Medea’s travels in Greece where she struggles to fit into the new culture she finds herself in. This is not necessarily due to her inability to fit in but because the rules are different for her than they are for the people who grew up in the culture. Jason kills Medea’s brother in Colchis and it is seen as heroic, but Medea kills Jason’s uncle, the usurper who has taken Jason’s birthright, and is seen as barbaric in her actions. When Medea and Jason flee Argos for Corinth, Medea builds a community around her, aware of the fact that as an outsider, she needs acceptance and friendship to be seen as someone who belongs. Jason, on the other hand, doesn’t see the need to do this, and instead angles for more power by attempting to leave his wife and marry the princess Glauke. He declares his marriage to Medea invalid because she is not Greek by birth, proving that he has always seen her as an outsider, even though she has remained loyal to him and beared his children.
I enjoyed this part of the retelling of the myth as it felt relevant in today’s culture where discussions of who belongs and who is an outsider is an ongoing conversation. The conclusion of the story is heartbreaking, but there is also happiness after tragedy for Medea and her surviving child. It reminded me of Andromache surviving the death of her husband and child, as well as her own slavery, and still managing to live out her life with a measure of peace and joy.
Ex Libris Tulsi 