Suspecting her father would do something evil, Medea informed Jason and agreed to help him steal the Golden Fleece, only if he took her away with him and married her. With little choice; Jason consented to take her away from her father and also to marry her. Jason, Medea, and Orpheus went to the location of the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece was nailed to a tree in a small garden and guarded by the Sleepless Dragon. This dragon was actually more of a giant serpent in the tradition of the "dragons" found in the most ancient dragon-centered texts. Like most dragons in epics, it met an unlucky fate. Orpheus and Medea, in a joint effort of music and sorcery, put the beast to sleep while Jason quietly took the Golden Fleece. Jason killed him. They rushed back to the Argo and immediately set sail, for they knew King Aeetes would chase them once he found out Medea’s treachery.
Apsyrtus was only a child and was in the Argo with his sister. As Aeëtes and the pursuing Colchians gained closer to the Argo, Medea murdered her brother. Medea cut up her brother's body, and threw them in the river. Because of the death of his son King Aeëtes gave up the chase and returned to Colchis, but he sent many others to search for the Argonauts, threatening that, if they did not bring the Golden Fleece and his daughter back to him, they should suffer the punishment due to her...and he planned on punishing her plenty!
In the meanwhile, because of the horrendous acts which they had committed, the Argonauts were driven off course by fierce storms that Zeus sent. The Argo's oracular branch then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe, an immortal witch living on the island called Aeaea. Circe purified the Argonauts for the murder of Apsyrtus. Circe was the one who later would trap Odysseus and his men, turning them into swine. But that's another story.
On their arrival to Iolcus, Jason discovered that Pelias had made his father, Aeson, commit suicide, which had made his mother die of a broken heart. Pelias died was that Medea tricked Pelias' daughters (except Alcestis), claiming that she had the power to restore Pelias' youth. Medea demonstrated on a ram, where she killed the old ram, cut up the body and put the pieces into a cauldron of boiling water. Weaving her spell, she not only restored the ram back to life, but also made it young again. Hoping to restore their father's youth, the daughters killed Pelias in his sleep and cut up his body. But Medea already left the palace, leaving the daughters horrified that they had been tricked into murdering their own father. Jason took pity on the daughters, prevented them from committing suicide, promising them to find them husbands. This upset the people of Iolcus, and frightened by Medea's powerful magic they chased the couple away.
They settled in Corinth, had two sons and lived happily for ten years. But Jason eventually grew restless, divorced Medea, the "foreign witch" as everybody called her, and took on a younger wife called Glauce, who was the daughter of the King of Corinth.
Bad move. Medea, who had done so much out of her love for Jason, including betraying her father, murdering her brother and causing the death of King Pelias, grew most bitter and sought revenge. So with the help of poisonous drugs she made a golden crown and bade her sons give it as a gift to their stepmother Glauce. Once worn, the crown burned its wearer. When this was done the evil woman killed her own sons. She then escaped Jason's wrath in a dragon-drawn chariot and went to Athens. Jason, unable the pain of his bride’s and young sons’ deaths, killed him.
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