Medea Fleeing with Jason, and Aeetes Discovering the Body of Absyrtus

From the Getty Museum record

The legendary sorceress and lover of Jason, Medea, betrayed her father Aeetes to ensure that her lover Jason would succeed in his quest to steal the Golden Fleece. Worried about Aeetes’s possible pursuit, Medea dismembered her young brother Absyrtus and left his body parts to be discovered by their father. As she expected, Aeetes could not leave his son’s bloodied body without proper burial and mourning rituals. He collected the scattered limbs of the boy to perform these rites as Medea escaped with Jason on his ship, the Argo. In *Concerning Famous and Noble Women*, Medea’s story serves as a warning against the sin of lust.