Aeson in Greek tradition
Aeson was expected to inherit the throne of Iolcus from his father, Cretheus, but his half-brother Pelias took the position instead. He was a king of Iolcus and the father of Jason. Unlike Aeson, who held the hereditary claim, Pelias was described as a usurper, while Jason was reared in the country by the centaur Cheiron.
The quick answers
Who is Aeson?
Aeson is a Greek being.Source
Source
- The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
What family links are recorded for Aeson?
Father: Cretheus, Mother: Tyro, Spouse: Alcimede, 2 children, 2 siblings.
Aeson’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Aeson answers to
Aison
Greek form of the name Aeson
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
Aeson
Latinized form of the Greek name Aison
SourceThe Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
The myths of Aeson
4 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
Medea Restores Aeson’s Youth
Medea cut Aeson’s throat and drained the aged blood from his body. Jason had asked her to take years from his life and give them to his father, who had grown old and stood near death. She placed fresh blood in a cauldron with magical ingredients and performed rites linked with summoning the dead. She prayed to Hades, Persephone, Hecate, Earth, and Night. She claimed that she could split open the earth and bring the dead from their tombs.
Black sheep were killed, and their blood was poured into trenches. Medea added honey and warm milk. She cooked the new blood with the mixture, then forced the hot liquid into Aeson’s corpse through the wounds in his throat. The blood and the potion restored his youth.
The cauldron held substances gathered to lengthen an old man’s life. Medea added the fine scales of water snails from Libya, the liver of a long-lived animal, and the head and bill of a crow that had lived for nine hundred years. She also placed a withered olive branch in the cauldron. As she stirred it, the branch became green, grew leaves, and produced berries. Flowers and soft vegetation sprang up wherever the scum and boiling drops fell.
Medea later used this display to deceive the daughters of Pelias. She cut up a ram and boiled it, then changed it into a lamb. The daughters believed that she could remove old age, so she persuaded them to cut their father into pieces and boil him. She used water and herbs that had no power to restore him, and Pelias died. In one telling, Medea made Jason young again by boiling him. In another, she possessed the power to restore Pelias but failed to put the necessary potions into the cauldron.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Medea cut Aeson’s throat, drained his old blood, and poured a prepared mixture into his body, restoring his youth.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
Pelias Usurps Iolcus
Pelias seized the throne of Iolcus after Cretheus died and placed Aeson under guard. Aeson was Cretheus’s son and had ruled Iolcus beside the sea over the Minuan heroes. Pelias was Aeson’s half-brother, the son of Tyro and Poseidon, so his claim to the throne was uncertain. He displaced Aeson, who had been expected to succeed Cretheus.
Jason was Aeson’s son and the heir of Iolcus. In one telling, the Centaur Cheiron reared him in the country. When Jason grew old enough to challenge Pelias, he came to the palace and demanded justice. Pelias promised that Jason could become his heir and rule after him, but he first ordered him to recover the Golden Fleece from Colchis. Pelias expected Jason to die during the attempt. Jason gathered an expedition of heroes, sailed to Colchis, and returned with the fleece.
Pelias had abandoned hope that the Argonauts would return, so he wanted Aeson put to death. Aeson asked to take his own life instead. While he offered a sacrifice, he drank bull’s blood without fear and died. Jason then sought revenge against Pelias for the wrongs done to his father and his family.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Pelias seized Iolcus from Aeson, kept him under guard, and sent Jason after the Golden Fleece, expecting the quest to destroy him.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3Greek MythologyT1
Aeson Under Pelias’ Rule
While Jason was away with the Argonauts, the aged Aeson remained under Pelias’ rule at Iolcos. Aeson was the son of Cretheus and might have been expected to inherit the throne. Pelias, his half brother and the son of Tyro by Poseidon, had succeeded Cretheus. His claim to the throne was therefore disputed, and some traditions describe him as a usurper.
Pelias abandoned hope that the Argonauts would return and decided to put Aeson to death. Aeson asked to take his own life instead. While offering a sacrifice, he drank the blood of a bull and died without fear. Another tradition says that Pelias himself killed him. The accounts therefore differ over whether Aeson died by his own hand or at Pelias’ command.
After Aeson’s death, his mother cursed Pelias and hanged herself. She left behind an infant son named Promachos, but Pelias killed the child as well. Jason later returned with the golden fleece and delivered it to Pelias. He wanted revenge for the wrongs suffered by his family, but waited for a suitable opportunity. He first sailed with the other heroes to the Isthmus and dedicated the Argo to Poseidon. Later, he asked Medea to devise a punishment for Pelias. Medea persuaded Pelias’ daughters to cut their father into pieces and boil him, promising that her drugs would restore his youth. To win their trust, she cut up a ram and boiled it until it became a lamb. The daughters believed her, but Pelias was not restored.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Aeson died after drinking bull’s blood at a sacrifice, while another account says that Pelias killed him, and Medea later brought about Pelias’s death through his daughters.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3Greek MythologyT1
The Birth and Inheritance of Aeson
Cretheus founded Iolcos and married Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus. Tyro bore him three sons, Aeson, Amythaon, and Pheres. Aeson was therefore Cretheus’s son and heir. When Cretheus died, Aeson succeeded him as king of Iolcos, ruling the Minuan heroes in the city by the sea.
Tyro also had a son named Pelias, whose position beside Aeson was uncertain. In one account, Pelias was the son of Poseidon and Tyro, and was Aeson’s half-brother. Poseidon came to Tyro beside the Enipeus in the form of the river-god, and she later bore twin sons, Pelias and Neleus. Fearing Sidero’s anger, Tyro exposed the infants on a mountain. A horse-herd found them. A mare kicked the elder across the face, and the horse-herd’s wife gave him to the mare to suckle. She named him Pelias because of the bruise. She reared Neleus separately. Another account says that the twins were found floating down the Enipeus in a wooden ark.
Pelias and Neleus later learned their mother’s name and how she had been treated. They set out to avenge her. Pelias then settled in Thessaly and married Anaxibia, or, in another account, Phylomache. They had a son, Acastos, and four daughters, Peisidice, Pelopeia, Hippothoe, and Alcestis.
Some accounts instead say that Pelias succeeded Cretheus on the throne of Iolcos. Since Aeson, as Cretheus’s son, might have been expected to inherit, Pelias’s position was doubtful. In Pindar’s account, Pelias was a usurper. Other accounts do not explain how he came to hold the throne. Aeson’s succession remains the account in which Cretheus’s son inherits Iolcos after his father’s death.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“Cretheus’s son Aeson inherited Iolcus after his father’s death, while Pelias, Tyro’s son by Poseidon in one account, later held the throne in disputed circumstances.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3The Greek MythsT1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Aeson features, each on that figure’s page.
- Cretheus, Tyro, and the Royal Line · on Cretheus
- Jason and Medea Punish Pelias · on Jason
- Jason Builds the Argo and Gathers the Argonauts · on Jason
- Jason Loses a Sandal at the Anauros · on Jason
- Jason's Training by Chiron · on Jason
- Medea Rejuvenates Aeson for Jason · on Jason
- Pelias Sends Jason for the Golden Fleece · on Jason
- The Birth and Hiding of Jason · on Jason
- Medea Destroys Pelias · on Medea
- Medea Rejuvenates Aeson · on Medea
- Tyro’s Marriage to Cretheus · on Tyro
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
4 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Aeson. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/aeson
"Aeson." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/aeson.
"Aeson." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/aeson.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Aeson embeds here once it publishes.