Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Aeson.
The gallery
Medea Rejuvenates Aeson
Bartolomeo Guidobono, c. 1700
Guidobono paints Ovid's miracle: Medea restores Jason's aged father Aeson with her cauldron-brew — the Iolcan king made young again while Pelias still waits for the same gift.
Medea Rejuvenating Aeson
Corrado Giaquinto, c. 1750s
Giaquinto's Metropolitan Museum canvas stages the Metamorphoses scene: Aeson on the couch as Medea's herbs reverse years — the rightful king of Iolcus briefly returned to youth.
Medea Rejuvenating Eson
Domenicus van Wijnen, 17th century
Dutch cabinet painting of Medea's laboratory: Aeson (Eson) as the patient of Colchian magic — the father for whose throne Jason sailed, restored before the Pelias daughters ask for the same rite.
Medea Draining the Blood of Aeson
Unknown, 17th–18th century
Wellcome Collection engraving of the grisly first step: Medea drains Aeson's blood to refill him with her brew — Ovid's surgery made into a print of medical wonder and mythic horror.
Medea Cooking Magical Herbs for Aeson
René Boyvin (after Léonard Thiry), 1563
Mannerist engraving from the Histoire de Jason: Medea tends the cauldron that will renew Aeson — the print series that taught Europe Jason's father as the first beneficiary of Colchian arts.
In play
Metamorphoses
Ovid
Ovid gives Aeson the full rejuvenation episode (Book 7): Medea's herbs, the drained veins, and the king of Iolcus made young — the scene painters never tired of.
Aeson
Son of Cretheus, father of Jason, rightful king of Iolcus until Pelias usurped the throne — restored to youth by Medea in Ovid's telling.