Having as a model Euripides' "Medea", as well as other earlier tragedies, Seneca interprets the well-known myth, sometimes following and sometimes reshaping the patterns. Exiled, barbaric, manic, woman, wife, goddess, witch, child killer, Medea is a complex existence, who abandons family and homeland for the sake of Jason, committing horrific crimes. After several years of married life, Jason leaves her to marry the princess Creusa, daughter of Creon. Medea, bitter and enraged, plans revenge for the murder of her rival, her own family, and her own children, before she herself escapes on a flying chariot.