Jason, as shown in The Golden Fleece, has been imprinted in the canon of Western literature as the invincible hero, the mortal who rebels against adversity. Jason is depicted as the unstoppable warrior capable of overcoming any adversity, the pinnacle of Greek heroes, and the supreme champion. However, towards the end of the epic, Jason commits a final act of horrible betrayal by becoming engaged to the daughter of the king of Corinth, while he was married to Medea. This act raises the question of what drove Jason to commit such a crime, psychologically speaking. There are several plausible answers that present themselves immediately given the circumstances in the book, however, after several close readings of the original text, it becomes apparent that Jason had been driven to this end by the feeling that he had sacrificed more for Medea than for her. had for him an inherent feeling of superiority towards Medea based on the patriarchal principles that defined ancient Greek society, and his knowledge that Medea was the only thing holding him back from her kingdom. Clearly, Jason sees his relationship with Medea as largely one-sided, as he was forced to give up his kingdom for her and faced many of the risks in recovering the Golden Fleece. He sees himself as the reason that Medea no longer “lives in your barbarous land” (6), and thus entitles himself to some form of moral justification in everything he does. In essence, Jason believes that Medea owes him something, because without him she would not have had the same kind of life. Jason makes this very clear in his casual denial of Medea: “If you [Medea] lived at the ends of the world, your name would not be known” (17). Jason believes he has given Medea the gift of fame, but...... middle of paper ......the king's daughter arrives. Jason says it very clearly in one of his discussions with Medea: Be assured of this: it was not for love of women that I married the king's daughter, my present wife; but, as I told you before, I wanted to ensure your safety and be the father of royal children related by blood to my own children, a bulwark for our home. (6) Jason had to make a judgment and chose his desire for power over his love for Medea. After considering this evidence, Jason's motives in leaving Medea become clear. He felt justified in doing so due to his many sacrifices for Medea and his role as the patriarchal male head of the family, and felt the need to do so to aid her rise to power. This theme recurs throughout the literature of the Western canon and repeatedly poses the age-old dilemma between power and love.