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Named for the daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis {see planet  (1135)} and niece of Circe {see planet  (34)}. Medea was a powerful enchantress, she aided Jason {see planet  (6063)} in obtaining the Golden Fleece, she restored Aeson, Jason’s aged father, to the vigor of youth, and she caused the death of Glauce {see planet  (288)}. When Jason abandoned her, she killed their two children and fled to Athens. There she married Aegeus, king of Athens, became jealous of his son Theseus, and finally left him and returned to Colchis. (Z 161)

Named (BAC Circ., No. 176 (1882)) by the Vienna astronomers.

The naming history is handed down in the (Wiener) Astronomischer Kalender für 1883, p. 108: “Nun waren von den in Pola entdeckten Planeten noch die folgenden vier 212, 216, 218 und 219 zu benennen, deren Taufe der Entdecker den Wiener Astronomen überliess. Zu diesem Zwecke wurde eine kleine Conferenz veranstaltet, an welcher auch Dr. H. Kreutz {editor...