Metamorphoses · Chapter
Old Aeson Restored to Youth explained
Medea, at Jason's request, uses her magic to restore his aged father Aeson to youth.
What happens
Medea, at Jason's request, uses her magic to restore his aged father Aeson to youth. She performs a complex ritual involving nocturnal rites, gathering potent herbs and ingredients, and boiling a magical potion. After cutting Aeson's throat and infusing him with the enchanted liquid, he is rejuvenated, gaining a youthful appearance and vigor. Bacchus, witnessing the wonder, similarly renews his nurse's youth.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Metamorphosis
Aeson's transformation from an old man to a youth exemplifies physical metamorphosis through magic.
Love and Desire
Jason's love for his father drives his request, and Medea's love for Jason motivates her to perform the risky magic.
Divine Power and Human Folly
Medea's invocation of Hecate and other deities shows the interplay of divine power and human ambition, with the potential for folly in tampering with natural order.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Old Aeson Restored to Youth Medea, at the request of her husband, restores his aged father, Aeson, to the vigour and sprightliness of youth.”
Medea rejuvenates Jason's elderly father Aeson, making him young and energetic again.
Opening summary of the chapter's main event.
“Thus spake the generous youth, and wept the rest Moved with the piety of his request, To his aged sire such filial duty shown, So different from her treatment of her own, But still endeav'ring her remorse to hide, She check'd her rising sighs, and thus replied:”
Jason tearfully asks Medea to help his father, and she is moved by his devotion, though it contrasts with her own family history; she hides her sorrow and responds.
Jason's plea and Medea's emotional reaction.
“She turn'd her thrice about, as oft she threw On her pale tresses the nocturnal dew, Then yelling thrice a most enormous sound, Her bare knee bended on the flinty ground”
Medea performs a ritual: turning three times, sprinkling dew on her hair, shouting loudly, and kneeling on the ground.
Description of Medea's magical rites.
“His feeble frame resumes a youthful air, A glossy brown his hoary beard and hair. The meager paleness from his aspect fled, And in its room sprang up a florid red; Through all his limbs a youthful vigour flies, His emptied arteries swell with fresh supplies; Gazing spectators scarce believe their eyes.”
Aeson's weak body becomes young again: his gray beard turns glossy brown, his pale skin flushes red, and he gains youthful strength, astonishing onlookers.
The miraculous rejuvenation of Aeson.