Jason Character Analysis in Circe

Jason is the rightful king of Iolcos. When his uncle seized the throne, he told Jason that he could become king only if he brought back Aeëtes’s golden fleece. When Jason goes to Colchis, Aeëtes’s kingdom, he meets Medea, who falls in love with him. When Jason and Medea escape with the fleece, they stop at Aiaia so that Circe may perform the cleansing rite of katharsis. After the rite is completed, she asks them for their story, which Jason and Medea tell together. While they speak, Circe notices that Jason takes the credit for getting the fleece, even though it was all thanks to Medea’s magic. His dismissal of Medea’s aid indicates that he sees women as not just inferior to men, but also as duty-bound to help men. As Circe puts it, he acts as though “a demigoddess saving him at every turn was only his due.” Circe also notes that Jason is afraid of Medea’s powers, and she predicts that Jason will leave Medea for a wife who is not as threatening to his sense of control. Circe finds out many years later that this is exactly what happens.

Jason Character Timeline in Circe

The timeline below shows where the character Jason appears in Circe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Two people disembark from the ship: a young man and, to Circe’s astonishment, a woman. The woman speaks first, asking Circe for help and... (full context)

...her house, noticing that the woman, who keeps her face hidden, walks more steadily than the young man , even as he holds her as if to balance her. When they arrive in... (full context)

Power, Fear, and Self-Preservation Theme Icon

...Medea lovingly serve the young man before she serves herself. The man introduces himself as Jason, a prince of Iolcos, and launches into his tale of how he went to Aeëtes... (full context)

When Circe assumes that they somehow cheated, Jason looks irritated, and Medea quickly assures Circe that Jason hadn’t wanted help, but that she,... (full context)

Jason leaps back into his story, which culminates in him escaping with the fleece and Medea,... (full context)

Jason looks sickened as Medea finishes the tale. She then fills his goblet of wine, and... (full context)

...up—she murdered him. Medea tells Circe that the alternative would be to watch Aeëtes torture Jason and his crew to death, after which it would be her turn. Seeing Circe’s disbelief,... (full context)

...learn that they are now friends, plotting war against the Olympians. When Circe asks whether Jason knows, Medea is emphatic that he cannot know, for “A man wants a wife like... (full context)

Medea stands up and tells Circe that she and Jason must leave for Iolcos, where she anticipates being his queen. Circe senses Medea’s desperation and... (full context)

...Aiaia, where Circe will teach her. Medea is quiet for a moment, then asks about Jason. Circe urges her to leave him and embrace her identity as “A witch […] Who... (full context)

Wounded, Circe retaliates, telling Medea that Jason already despises and fears her. To Jason, Medea is only the means to an end.... (full context)

Mortality, Fragility, and Fulfillment Theme Icon

...men might have balked at Odysseus’s ruthlessness, but she knows that all heroes, such as Jason, commit horrible deeds. (full context)

...that Penelope tell what she knows of Medea, and Penelope obliges. She tells Circe how Jason, scared of his wife’s magic, abandoned Medea and their two children for another woman. Medea... (full context)