Once on board the Argo Jason set sail. But before long they were pursued and cornered by the Colchian fleet, which was commanded by Medea's brother, Apsyrtus. To save Jason, Medea wrote her brother, saying that she had been abducted and that if he would meet her in a clandestine spot she would return the fleece and go home with him. When Apsyrtus met Medea that night Jason stepped out from hiding and slew him. Without Apsyrtus' leadership the Colchian fleet was dispersed, leaving Jason free to return home with Medea, who had become his mistress.
In another version of this story, Medea abducted her brother Apsyrtus aboard the Argo and there she murdered him. When King Aeetes pursued the ship and drew dangerously close, Medea would cut part of her brother's corpse off and fling it into the sea. Aeetes then had to retrieve the member to prevent his son's ghost from haunting him. In this way the Argo escaped the Colchian navy.
Jason and Medea had to purify themselves for the murder of Apsyrtus, so they journeyed to the sorceress Circe, who purged them. To get back to Greece the Argo had to pass between the cliff of Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis, but Hera saw that nymphs guided the ship. At Crete the Argonauts came upon Talus, a gigantic bronze warrior who threatened to sink the vessel with boulders. Again Medea came to the rescue, using sorcery to defeat Talus by calling upon the hounds of Hades. At length the Argonauts reached Greece and disbanded, returning to their separate homes.
When Jason arrived at Iolcos, his own birthplace, he learned that King Pelias had put his parents to death during his quest for the Golden Fleece. Medea offered to obtain revenge upon Pelias. Gaining an audience with the king and his daughters, Medea proclaimed her ability to rejuvenate men. Pelias, who was now old, grew interested. To prove her power she cut up an old ram, threw it into a boiling caldron, put in some magic herbs, and produced a frisky lamb. Medea then persuaded the daughters of Pelias to cut him up and put him in the pot. After they had done so, of course, Pelias was dead once and for all. Because of this mischief Jason and Medea were forced to leave Iolcos shortly. From there they went to Orchomenus, where they hung the Golden Fleece in the temple of Zeus.
