In
Greek mythology,
Medus was the son of
Medea. His father is generally agreed to be
Aegeas, although
Hesiod states that
Jason fathered him and
Chiron raised him. Medus was driven from
Athens to
Colchis with his mother. Medea's father
Aeetes was the former king of Colchis, and Aeetes's brother
Perses ruled after his death; by some accounts Aeetes was murdered by Perses. Perses imprisoned Medus to protect his throne from any potential claimants. To free him, Medea impersonated a priestess and demanded he be given to her for sacrifice to appease the gods, as a plague was at the time being visited upon Colchis. Perses agreed, and was subsequently killed by the sacrificial blade in the hands of either Medus or his mother. Medus thus came to rule, and when he conquered a neighboring land it was named Media in honor of either Medus or Medea.