Artwork Information

Circe, both goddess and sorceress, used herbal potions to control both men and wild beasts. Instead of the earlier focus on Medea's magical powers, here attention is drawn to the guilt she and Jason feel at the slaughter for which they are responsible. While this seems to reinforce the eighteenth-century belief that one must be responsible for one's actions, the effects of madness and irrationality were constant in Fuseli's art. Medea's pose is derived from Ripa's illustration of Melancholy in Iconologia, which had its final publication in 1764-66. (Monsters and Maidens, 2004)

[second image on reverse]