Witches of the Past

[Ceridwyn]

I think it would be nice to start a thread every week or so in dedication/remembrance of a Witch of the past (we could probably include mythological witches as well). Who should we start with? I'd like to keep this particular thread for deciding whom we will focus on when.

[Luna]

I would start with Cassandra from Greek Myth.

[stevie]

Hester Jonas

[Belladonnarose]

Does it have to be a famous witch? If not, I'd like to dedicate one to my mother......

Otherwise, my first vote is for a tag-team from Greek myth: Circe and her niece (in some sources her sister) MEDEA. Sorry, I'm very very drawn to Medea lol.

[Emi]

But Medea was so evil lol

[Luna]

Medea had her moments, but mostly she was a woman who had been very much hurt and abused, so While her vengence was a wee bit over the top, I sorta see why she became that way

[Emi]

She murdered in order to get her husband on top. I can't see that as an abused woman getting vengeance.

[Belladonnarose]

One thing you must keep in mind with Medea is the culture she came from, where it is perfectly okay for a hero to kill someone if they insulted them. As for Medea killing her chiildren (the main crime that the Greeks considered heinous), what we must keep in mind is that she is faced with the situation of her children being killed by Kreon. Her thought was, if they are going to die anyways, at least let me do it.
Her killing to aid Jason and her revenge are two different events. The first, she killed her brother only because she was aiding in Jason's escape with the fleece. They were being hunted down by the royalty of Colchis because Medea's daddy didn't want to uphold his end of the deal with the Golden Fleece. Was it bad, especially by today's standards? Yep. BUT, would it be considered wrong for the heroes of the Bronze Age to kill one another, say, in the Trojan War? They were being pursued from Colchis, all the way to Circe's, which is in Italy, and back around to Greece.
On to Peleus (Jason's uncle who denied him the throne). TECHNICALLY, it was his daughters who killed him. Granted, it was through Medea's inspiration of rejuvenating magic. Again, we are looking at the fact that Peleus had already sent Jason on a quest to do an impossible task, one which he was not thoguht to survive. And Peleus refused to honor his end of the bargain, and was plotting to kill them.
On to Medea at Corinth. SHe killed Kreon (who had already told her she was exiled, likely to die, along with her kids) and threatened to kill both her and her children. Tonly true victim in this episode is Creusa, the new wife. She had no say as to who she was marrying; in Greek culture, the father arranged the marriage with out the bride or the mother's input. Here we have a true revenge killing. Kreon is somewhat justified, particularly by Greek standards, the only thing unusual was that it was done by a woman.
Medea is very multi-faceted. THere is a separate reason for every action she made. Also, we do need to keep in mind a few things:
1. The reason she fell for such a lazy ass as Jason is that Hera told Eros to shoot her with his arrows. Hera used Medea as a vehicle for her own vengeance on Peleus. Thus, Medea was a means to and end for Hera.
2. She is the granddaughter of Helios, the sun god. As with the case for most other offspring of the gods, differnt rules apply for them.
I don't necessarily condone what she did. HOWEVER, she is an interesting vehicle for studying magic in Greece, as well as the dark side of magic in antiquity. Her use of herbs was renowned. Modern people often condemn her (or exhalt her) but to the Greeks she was the heroine of the story, with Jason and Kreon playing antagonists.
Just my own thoughts, based on a crapload of research done over the past 13 years or so. I have directed Euripides' version of Medea, so I did quite a bit of character work on her too lol.

[Ceridwyn]

Well let's start with Cassandra since she was mentioned first, then move on to Stevie's choice, who I am unfamiliar with so I'll need him to start that thread up.

To Belladonna: well your mother is a witch of the past so I think we can include her.