Medea curses your enemies before you even reach them, offering run-long Nightly Curses that punish foes the moment they appear.
Medea fights your battles before they start, salting the ground with curses that hurt enemies the instant they spawn.
The Witch of Shadows offers Nightly Curses, a pool of run-long effects that range from random spawn damage to free resources from slain foes. Pick one each night and it shapes every encounter that follows, without you spending a boon slot.
She is the niece of Circe and a dark mirror of her: where her aunt is playful, Medea is sadistic and mercenary. Her keepsake even rewards taking damage, fitting a witch who thrives on suffering.
This guide covers who Medea is, her Nightly Curses, the Blackened Fleece keepsake, and her ties to the rest of the cast. Expect light story spoilers.
the Witch of Shadows, a dark witch and niece of Circe found in Ephyra.Medea is the Witch of Shadows, a dark sorceress from Colchis famous in myth for her ruthless revenge against the hero Jason.
The wiki recounts her story: she helped Jason through his Argonaut trials and married him, then took terrible vengeance when he betrayed her. In Hades 2 she stands guard in the City of Ephyra, offering Melinoe her Nightly Curses while she continues her grim research on the region enemies.
She is the niece of Circe 
, who taught her some of her magic, though the two could not be more different in temperament. Medea is eccentric, cunning, and sadistic, delighting in poison and bones where Circe is playful.
Despite her mercenary streak, she sides with Hecate 
and even helped raise Melinoe 
, though her long-standing deal with Polyphemus sometimes puts her at odds with the princess. As of patch v1.0 she is voiced by Tara Langella.
Medea offers Nightly Curses, run-long effects you choose from when you visit her, separate from the Olympian boon pool.
The wiki lists her curses below. Some punish enemies directly, others hand you resources from the dead, and a few quietly defang whole encounters.
| Curse | What it does |
|---|---|
| Suffering on Sight | A foe randomly takes 1 to 999 damage when it joins an encounter. |
| Corrosion on Sight | A foe loses 50% of any Armor when it joins an encounter. |
| Enfeeblement of Cowards | Enemy ranged shots travel 40% slower. |
| Harm for the Afflicted | Inflicting a curse deals 50 damage if the foe was not already afflicted. |
| Malice in Kind | Any foe that makes you use Death Defiance loses 15% of its health. |
| Life from the Dead | Slain foes have a 5% chance to drop healing, once per encounter. |
| Wealth from the Dead | Slain foes have a 10% chance to drop Gold, twice per encounter. |
| Traces of Spirit | Gain bonus Magick after each encounter. |
Suffering on Sight is the flashiest pick, since its random spawn damage can outright delete a fresh enemy, while Corrosion on Sight is a clean answer to armored foes. In practice the resource curses suit a longer game plan, padding your healing, Gold, or Magick across a whole run.
Match the curse to your run goal. Take Suffering on Sight or Corrosion on Sight when you want raw power, but the resource curses like Wealth from the Dead pay off more if you are farming for between-run upgrades.
The Blackened Fleece is Medea keepsake, and it rewards a witch-like willingness to suffer for power.
You earn it by gifting Nectar to Medea. Once equipped, the wiki states that after you take 250 damage, your Omega Moves deal +20%, +30%, +40%, or +60% more damage by rank. The damage requirement builds up across the whole night, and healing does not reduce the running total. It sits in the wider keepsake pool with the other ally keepsakes.
That makes it a payoff keepsake for aggressive, Omega-focused builds. Once you cross the 250 damage threshold, every Omega Move hits significantly harder for the rest of the night, which suits a player who plans to take hits anyway.
The Blackened Fleece counts damage taken all night, so it comes online faster than it looks on a risky build. Equip it when your run leans on Omega Moves and you are not playing for a flawless, no-hit clear.
Medea is woven into several other Hades 2 stories, from her aunt Circe to the help she lends Melinoe.
The wiki notes she occasionally assists Melinoe beyond her curses, including helping rouse the sleeping Hypnos through the Dream Vapors Incantation. Her deal with Polyphemus, however, means she sometimes works against Melinoe, a reminder that her loyalty is conditional.
Her name also appears on a weapon. The Aspect of Medea is an Argent Skull aspect, separate from Medea the character, so do not confuse the two. As a curse specialist, the character is about her Nightly Curses and keepsake, while the aspect reshapes how the skull plays.
Medea is the Witch of Shadows, a dark sorceress from myth known for her revenge against Jason. In Hades 2 she guards the City of Ephyra, offers Melinoe her Nightly Curses, and is the niece of Circe, though far more sadistic in temperament.
Medea offers Nightly Curses, run-long effects you choose at her in Ephyra. They punish enemies, such as random spawn damage or stripping Armor, or grant you resources from slain foes like healing, Gold, and Magick.
They are her version of blessings, applied for the whole night. Highlights include Suffering on Sight, which deals 1 to 999 damage to spawning foes, Corrosion on Sight, which strips Armor, and resource curses that drop healing, Gold, or Magick.
The Blackened Fleece, earned by gifting her Nectar. After you take 250 damage across the night, your Omega Moves deal 20% to 60% more damage by rank. The damage requirement builds up all night and is not reduced by healing.
Medea is found in the City of Ephyra on the Surface route, where she stands guard and continues her research. You can meet her there to choose a Nightly Curse and, after gifting Nectar, to build her bond.
Yes. Medea is Circe niece, and Circe taught her some of her magic. Despite their opposite temperaments, the playful Circe and the sadistic Medea care for each other, and both are witches aligned with Hecate against Chronos.
No. The Aspect of Medea is a weapon aspect for the Argent Skull, while Medea the character is the Witch of Shadows who offers Nightly Curses. They share a name but are different things in the game.
Mostly yes. She sides with Hecate, helped raise Melinoe, and even assists in rousing Hypnos. However, her long-standing deal with Polyphemus means she occasionally works against Melinoe, so her loyalty is conditional.
Keep building out your Hades 2 knowledge with these next stops.
Game data and character art adapted from hades.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Supergiant Games.