The Death of Apsyrtus
As the Argonauts flee Colchis, Medea and Jason arrange the death of her brother Apsyrtus, bringing divine pollution upon their escape.
The Story
Jason and Medea fled Colchis with the Golden Fleece.
Aeetes did not allow them to escape unchallenged.
Colchian forces pursued the Argo, and among their leaders was Medea's brother Apsyrtus.
Ancient traditions preserve dramatically different versions of what happened next.
In Apollonius' Argonautica, Apsyrtus is an adult commander who catches up with the fugitives.
Medea helps lure her brother into a trap.
Jason waits in ambush.
When Apsyrtus arrives for what he believes will be negotiations with Medea, Jason attacks and kills him.
The murder is committed near sacred ground.
The act stains Jason and Medea with blood guilt.
Other traditions tell an even darker version in which Apsyrtus is a younger child who leaves Colchis with Medea and is killed and dismembered during the escape so that Aeetes must stop to recover his son's remains.
Whichever version is followed, the death transforms the return journey.
Jason and Medea have obtained the Golden Fleece, but victory has now become inseparable from murder.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
Apsyrtus' death marks the moral turning point of the escape from Colchis and leads directly to Jason and Medea's purification by Circe.
Traditions & Variations
The traditions differ profoundly. Apollonius makes Apsyrtus an adult pursuer killed by Jason after Medea's deception, while other accounts make him a younger brother murdered and dismembered during the flight.