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THE
MEDEA OF EURIPIDES
LITERALLY TRANSLATED,
WITH CEITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES,
BY
THEODORE ALOIS BUCKLEY, B.A.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
EDWAKD BKOOKS, JB.
PHILADELPHIA:
DAVLD McKAY, PUBLISHER,
1022 MARKET STREET.
Copyright, 1897, by DAVID McKAY.
INTRODUCTION.
AMONG the writers of Greek tragedy there are three
names which stand pre-eminent. These are ^Eschylus,
Sophocles and Euripides. Of these, Euripides, while
probably inferior to the other two, was, nevertheless,
greatly admired by his countrymen, and gained several
prizes in the tragic contests,
He was born on the island of Salamis, 480 B.C., forty-
five years later than ^Sschylus and fifteen years after
Sophocles. The day of his birth was noted as being that
upon which the celebrated battle of Salamis was fought
and won.
Little is known of his parentage. His father was
called Mnesarchus, and was probably a man of good fam-
ily. That he was possessed of considerable wealth is evi-
dent from the care and expense that were bestowed upon
.the education of his son. His mother, Clito, was an
Athenian herbseller, who had been sent away to Salamis,
in company with others of her countrywomen, when Attica
was given up, and the population sought refuge in the
ships.
As a young man Euripides had the advanVage of study-
ing under such instructors as Prodicus, Anaxagoras and
(v)
2056198
vi INTRODUCTION.
Protagoras. Though a brilliant scholar and a hard stu-
dent, he also excelled as an athlete, and was twice victo-
rious in the gymnastic contests of his time.
At a very early date he gave indication of those attain-
ments which subsequently made him famous, for at the
age of twenty-five he succeeded in gaining third prize in
the tragic contests with one of his compositions.
His life seems not to have been a very happy one, do-
mestic infelicity and the sarcastic allusions of his political
enemy, Aristophanes, probably driving him from Athens
to seek retirement in Macedonia with King Archelaus.
His death, which took place in 406 B.C., has been asso-
ciated with the tragic, it being alleged that he, like a char-
acter of one of his own plays, was torn to pieces by dogs.
It is probable, however, that his death occurred in the
ordinary course of nature.
Euripides can hardly be said to be a true tragedian.
His plays contain much that savors of the melodrama.
They might end either happily or otherwise without
marring or changing that which has gone before, and the
tragic element is usually contributed by the introduction
of some unexpected wholesale slaughter, which suggests
that the poet's disposition contained more than a grain of
morbid cruelty.
A translation of The Medea, one of Euripides' compo-
sitions, is contained in the following pages. The scene
of the tragedy is laid in Corinth, and the plot is based
upon the events which are said to have followed the
mythological expedition of the Argonauts in search of the
golden fleece. The dramatis personce include Jason,
leader of the Argonauts ; Creon, King of Corinth ; JEgeus,
the son of Pandion ; Medea, wife of Jason.
INTRODUCTION. vii
Jason, having reached the land of Colchis, where the
golden fleece was carefully guarded by a terrible dragon,
makes love to the king's daughter, Medea, who is an en-
chantress, and persuades her to assist him in his attempt
to steal the coveted fleece. She administers a potion to
the dragon, which enables Jason to kill it and get posses-
sion of the object of his quest
The two lovers make their escape from Colchis by
stealth, and, being subsequently married, take up their
abode in Corinth.
The tragedy commences at a time when Jason, having
tired of his wife, who has borne him two children, and
being impelled by considerations of policy as well as by a
desire to indulge a new affection, espouses a royal bride
in the person of Glauce, daughter of King Creon.
The play opens with along soliloquy by Medea's nurse,
who stands at the gates of the palace and relates the
wrongs and misfortunes of her mistress. In the mean-
time lamentations are heard issuing from within, and soon
Medea appears and asks the chorus of Corinthian women
to assist her, at least by their silence, if she should con-
trive a way to be revenged upon her husband.
King Creon then comes upon the scene, and, enraged
at the attitude which Medea has taken toward the mar-
riage of Jason with his daughter,ordersher to depart forth-
with from the country with her two sons. Medea pleads
to be allowed to remain, saying that, though injured, she
will keep silent. Creon is obdurate, but finally consents
to her remaining until the next day.
Medea is then left alone with the Corinthian women,
with whom she counsels as to how she may best be re-
venged upon those who have wronged her.
viii INTRODUCTION.
Jason next appears and reproaches his wife for her un-
governable temper. Medea answers her husband by a
recital of the many sacrifices she has undergone for him,
and reviles him on account of his faithless conduct towards
her. Jason attempts to justify himself by showing that
his marriage with Glauce was an act of policy intended
to bring about the welfare of Medea and her children.
Medea, however, is not persuaded, and refusing his
proffer of money to assist her in her flight, she bids him
begone.
-y^ in the nominative case, " a flight indeed
pleasing," etc.
I 4 MEDEA. [16-52.
and my mistress, Jason reposes in royal wedlock, having
married the daughter of Creon, who is prince of this land.
But Medea the unhappy, dishonored, calls on his oaths, and
recalls the hands they plighted, the greatest pledge of fidelity,
and invokes the gods to witness what return she meets with
from Jason. And she lies without tasting food, having sunk
her body in grief, dissolving all her tedious time in tears,
after she had once known that she had been injured by her
husband, neither raising her eye, nor lifting her countenance
from the ground ; but as the rock, or the wave of the sea,
does she listen to her friends when advised. Save that
sometimes having turned her snow-white neck she to herself
bewails her dear father, and her country, and her house,
having betrayed which she hath come hither with a man
who has now dishonored her. And she wretched hath dis-
covered from affliction what it is not to forsake one's pater-
nal country. But she hates her children, nor is she delighted
at beholding them : but I fear her, lest she form some new
design : for violent is her mind, nor will it endure to suffer
ills. I know her, and I fear her, lest she should force the
sharpened sword through her heart, or even should murder
the princess and him who married her, and after that receive
some greater ill. For she is violent ; he who engages with
her in enmity will not with ease at least sing the song of
victory. But these her children are coming hither having
ceased from their exercises, nothing mindful of their
mother's ills, for the mind of youth is not wont to grieve.
TUTOR, WITH THE SONS OF MEDEA, NUKSE.
TUT. Othou ancient possession of my mistress's house,
why dost thou stand at the gates preserving thus thy soli-
tude, bewailing to thyself our misfortunes? How doth Me-
dea wish to be left alone without thee ?
53-79-3 MEDEA. 15
NUB. O aged man, attendant on the children of Jason, to
faithful servants the affairs of their masters turning out ill
are a calamity, and lay hold upon their feelings. For I have
arrived at such a height of grief that desire.hath stolen on
me to come forth hence and tell the misfortunes of Medea to
the earth and heaven.
TUT. Does not she wretched yet receive any respite from
her grief?
NUR. I envy thy ignorance ; her woe is at its rise, and
not even yet at its height.
TUT. O unwise woman, if it is allowable to say this of
one' s lords, since she knows nothing of later ills.
NUR. But what is this, O aged man ? grudge not to tell me.
TUT. Nothing : I have repented even of what was said
before.
NUR, Do not, I beeeech you by your beard, conceal it from
your fellow-servant ; for I will preserve silence, if it be
necessary, on these subjects.
TUT. I heard from some one who was saying, not appear-
ing to listen, having approached the places where dice is
played, where the elders sit, around the hallowed font of
Pirene, that the king of this land, Creon, intends to banish
from the Corinthian country these children, together with
their mother ; whether this report be true, however, I know
not ', but I wish this may not be the case.
NUR. And will Jason endure to see his children suffer
this, even although he is at enmity with their mother ?
TUT. Ancient alliances are deserted for new, and he is
no friend to this family.
NUR. We perish then, if to the old we shall add a new
ill, before the former be exhausted. 1
1 Literally, Before we have drained this to the very dregs. So
Virgil, JEn, iv. 14. Qnse bella exhausta canebat !
1 6 MEDEA. [8o-no.
TTJT. But do thou, for it is not seasonable that my mis-
tress should know this, restrain your tongue, and be silent
on this report.
NUB. O my children, do you hear what your father is
toward you ? Yet may he not perish, for he is my master,
yet he is found to be treacherous toward his friends.
TUT. And what man is not ? dost thou only now know
this, that every one loves himself dearer than his neigh-
bor, 1 some indeed with justice, but others even for the sake
of gain, unless it be that 2 their father loves not these at least
on account of new nuptials.
NUB. Go within the house, my children, for all will be
well. But do thou keep these as much as possible out of the
way, and let them not approach their mother, deranged
through grief. For but now I saw her looking with wild-
ness in her eyes on these, as about to execute some design,
nor will she cease from her fury, I well know, before she
overwhelm some one with it ; upon her enemies, however,
and not her friends, may she do some [ill].
MEDEA, (within) Wretch that I am, and miserable on
account of my misfortunes, alas me ! would I might perish !
NUB. Thus it is, my children ; your mother excites her
heart, excites her fury. Hasten as quick as possible within
the house, and come not near her sight, nor approach her,
but guard against the fierce temper and violent nature of
her self-willed mind. Go now, go as quick as possible within.
But it is evident that the cloud of grief raised up from the
beginning will quickly burst forth with greater fury ; what
I pray will her soul, great in rage, implacable, irritated by
ills, perform !
1 Ter. And. Act. ii. Sc. 5. Omnes stbi matte melius esse quam
alteri. Ac. iv. Sc. 1. Proximus sum egomet mihi,
2 Elmsley reads < for el, " And their father," etc.
ni-140.] MEDEA. 17
MED. Alas ! alas ! I wretched have suffered, have suffered
treatment worthy of great lamentation. O ye accursed
children of a hated mother, may ye perish with your father,
and may the whole house fall.
NUR. Alas ! alas ! me miserable ! but why should your
children share their father's error? Why dost thou hate
these ? Alas me, my children, how beyond measure do I
grieve lest ye suffer any evil ! Dreadful are the dispositions
of tyrants, and somehow in few things controlled, in most
absolute, they with difficulty lay aside their passion. The
being accustomed then 1 to live in mediocrity of life is the
better ; may it be my lot then to grow old if not in splendor,
at least in security. For, in the first place, even to mention
the name of moderation carries with it superiority, but to
use it is by far the best conduct for men ; but excess of for-
tune brings more power to men than is convenient ; 2 and
has brought greater woes upon families, when the Deity be
enraged.
NURSE, CHORUS.
CHOR. I heard the voice, I heard the cry of the unhappy
Colchian ; is not she yet appeased ? but, O aged matron, tell
me ; for within the apartment with double doors, I heard
her cry ; nor am I delighted, O woman, with the griefs of
the family, since it is friendly to me.
NUR. The family is not ; these things are gone already :
for he possesses the bed of royalty ; but she, my mistress, is
1 In Elms. Dind. rd yap eiOlaOai, "for the being accustomed,"
etc.
2 fvvarat here signifies ivxvsi aOivei and in this sense it is re-
peatedly used ; ovdiva Kaipdv, in this place, is not to be interpre-
ted " intempestive," but "immoderate, supra modum." For
this signification consult Siephens's Thesaurus, word xaipdr.
ELMSLEY.
!8 MEDEA. [141-185.
melting away her life in her chamber, in no way soothing
her mind by the advice of any one of her friends.
MED. Alas ! alas ! may the flame of heaven rush through
my head, what profit for me to live any longer. Alas ! alas !
may I rest myself in death, having left a hated life.
CHOR. Dost thou hear, O Jove, and earth, and light, the
cry which the wretched bride utters? why I pray should
this insatiable love of the marriage-bed hasten thee, O vain
woman, to death ? Pray not for this. But if thy husband
courts a new bed, be not thus 1 enraged with him. Jove will
avenge these wrongs for thee : waste not thyself so, bewail-
ing thy husband.
MED. O great Themis and revered Diana, do ye behold
what I suffer, having bound my accursed husband by power-
ful oaths ? Whom may I at some time see and his bride torn
piecemeal with their very houses, who dare to injure me first.
O my father, O my city, whom I basely abandoned, having
slain my brother.
NUB. Do ye hear what she says, and how she invokes
Themis hearing the vow, and Jove who is considered the
dispenser of oaths to mortals ? It is not possible that my
mistress will lull her rage to rest under any trivial circum-
stance.
CHOR. By what means could she come into our sight, and
hear the voice of our discourse, if she would by any means
remit her fierce anger and her fury of mind. Let not my
zeal however be wanting ever to my friends. But go and con-
duct her hither from without the house, my friend, and tell
her this : hasten, before she injure in any way those within,
for this grief of hers is increased to a great height.
NUR. I will do it, but I fear that I shall not persuade my
1 Sle is used in this sense v. 49, 687, 901, of this Play.
186-219.] MEDEA. 19
mistress ; nevertheless I will give you this favor of my labor.
And yet with the aspect of a lioness that has just brought
forth does she look sternly on her attendants when any one
approaches near attempting to address her. But thou
wouldest not err in calling men of old foolish and nothing
wise, who invented songs, for festivals, for banquets, and for
suppers, the delights of life that charm the ear ; but no mor-
tal has discovered how to soothe with music and with varied
strains those bitter pangs, from which death and dreadful
misfortunes overthrow families. And yet for men to assuage
these griefs with music were gain ; but where the plenteous
banquet is furnished, why raise they the song in vain ? for
the present bounty of the feast brings pleasure of itself to
men.
CHOR. I heard the dismal sound of groans, and in a shrill
voice she vents her bitter 1 anguish on the traitor to her bed,
her faithless husband and suffering wrongs she calls upon
the Goddess Themis, arbitress of oaths, daughter of Jove,
who conducted her to the opposite coast of Greece, across
the sea by night, over the salt straits of the boundless ocean.
MEDEA, CHORUS.
MED. Ye Corinthian dames, I have come from out my
palace ; do not in any wise blame me ; for I have known
many men who have been 2 renowned, some who have lived
far from public notice, and others in the world ; but those
of a retired turn have gained for themselves a character of
infamy and indolence. For justice dwells not in the eyes of
1 ftoyepd is best taken with Eeiske as the accusative plural,
though the Scholiast considers it the nominative singular.
ELMSLEY.
9 -ycytorcts need not be translated as vo^onevov^, the sense is
ocraj ; so avSddrn ysywj, Hue 225.
20 MEDEA. [220-249.
man, 1 whoever, before he can well discover the disposition
of a man, hates him at sight, in no way wronged by him.
But it is necessary for a stranger exactly to conform himself
to the state, nor would I praise the native, whoever becom-
ing self-willed is insolent to his fellow-citizens through igno-
rance. But this unexpected event that hath fallen upon me
hath destroyed my spirit : I am going, and having given up
the pleasure of life I am desirous to meet death, my friends.
For he on whom my all rested, as you well know, my husband,
has turned out the basest of men. But of all thinga as many
as have life and intellect, we women are the most wretched
race. Who indeed first must purchase a husband with excess
of money, and receive him a lord of our persons ; for this is a
still greater ill than the former. And in this is the greatest
risk, whether we receive a bad one or a good one ; for di-
vorces bring not good fame to women, nor is it possible to
repudiate one's husband. But on passing to new tempers
and new laws, one need be a prophetess, as one can not learn
of one's self, what sort of consort one shall most likely expe-
rience. And if with us carefully performing these things a
husband shall dwell not imposing on us a yoke with severity,
enviable is our life ; if not, to die is better. But a man,
when he is displeased living with those at home, having gone
abroad is wont to relieve his heart of uneasiness, having re-
course either to some friend or compeer. But we must look
but to one person. But they say of us that we live a life of
ease at home, but they are fighting with the spear ; judging
1 That is, the character of man can not be discovered by
the countenance: so Juvenal,
Fronti nulla fides.
Sons, though in the singular number, refers to ppoit&v in the
plural : a similar construction is met with in Homer, II. L. 279.
ovOpuwrovr rivvvaOv o r(j K' eiriopKov 7.
250-276.] MEDEA. 21
ill, since I would rather thrice stand in arms, than once suffer
the pangs of child-birth. But, for the same argument comes
not home to you and me, this is thy city, and thy father's
house, thine are both the luxuries of life, and the society of
friends ; but I being destitute, cityless, am wronged by my
husband, brought as a prize from a foreign land, having
neither mother, nor brother, nor relation to afford me shelter
from this calamity. So much then I wish to obtain from
you, if any plan or contrivance be devised by me to repay
with justice these injuries on my husband, and on him who
gave his daughter, and on her to whom he was married, 1
that you would be silent ; for a woman in other respects is
full of fear, and timid to look upon deeds of courage and the
sword ; but when she is injured in her bed, no other disposi-
tion is more blood-thirsty.
CHOR. I will do this ; for with justice, Medea, wilt thou
avenge thyself on thy husband, and I do not wonder that
you lament your misfortunes. But I see Creon monarch of
this laud advancing, the messenger of new counsels.
CREON, MEDEA, CHORUS.
CRE. Thee of gloomy countenance, and enraged with thy
husband, Medea, I command to depart in exile from out of
this land, taking with thee thy two children, and not to
delay in any way, since I am the arbiter of this edict, and I
will not return back to my palace, until I shall drive thee
beyond the boundaries of this realm.
1 Grammarians teach us that yajitTv is applied to the hus-
band, yanetaOat to the wife; and this rule will generally be
found to hold good. We must either then read /? r' tyfyaro,
which Person does not object to, and Elmsley adopts ; or un-
derstand tyrijiaro in an ironical sense, in the spirit of Martial's
Uxori nubere nolo mex : in the latter case 3 r* tyij/xaro should be
read (riot fiv r), as being the proper syntax.
22 MEDEA. [277-308.
MED. Alas ! alas ! I wretched am utterly destroyed, for
my enemies stretch out every cable against me ; nor is there
any easy escape from this evil, but I will speak, although
suffering injurious treatment ; for what, Creon, dost thou
drive me from this land ?
CRE. I fear thee (there is no need for me to wrap my words
in obscurity), lest thou do my child some irremediable mis-
chief. And many circumstances are in unison with this
dread. Thou art wise, -and skilled in many evil sciences,
and thou art exasperated, deprived of thy husband's bed.
And I hear that thou threatenest, as they tell me, to wreak
some deed of vengeance on the betrother, and the espouser
and the espoused ; against this then, before I suffer, will I
guard. Better is it for me now to incur enmity from you,
than softened by your words afterward greatly to lament it.
MED. Alas ! alas I not now for the first time, but often,
Creon, hath this opinion injured me, and worked me much
woe. But whatever man is prudent, let him never educate
his children too deep in wisdom. ^ For, independent of the
other charges of idleness which they meet with, they find
hostile envy from their fellow-citizens. For holding out to
fools some new-discovered wisdom, thou wilt seem to be use-
less and not wise. And being judged superior to others who
seem to have some varied knowledge, thou wilt appear of-
fensive in the city. But even I myself share this fortune ;
for being wise, to some I am an object of envy, but to others
unsuited ; but I am not very wise. Thou then fearest me,
lest thou suffer some grievous mischief. 1 My affairs are not
in a state, fear me not, Creon, so as to offend against princes.
1 The primary signification of irA^eXiir is dbsonus, out of
tune: hence is easily deduced the signification in which it is
often found in Euripides. The word 7rA?/i/teA?jerar occurs in the
Phcenissse, 1. 1669.
309-334-] MEDEA. 23
For in what hast thou injured me? Thou hast given thy
daughter to whom thy mind led thee ; but I hate my hus-
band : but thou, I think, didst these things in prudence.
And now I envy not that thy affairs are prospering ; make
your alliances, be successful ; but suffer me to dwell in this
land, for although injured will I keep silence, overcome by
my superiors.
CRE. Thou speakest soft words to the ear, but within my
mind I have my fears, lest thou meditate some evil intent.
And so much the less do I trust thee than before. For a
woman that is quick to anger, and a man likewise, is easier
to guard against, than one that is crafty and keeps silence.
But begone as quick as possible, make no more words ; since
this is decreed, and thou hast no art, by which thou wilt
stay with us, being hostile to me.
MED. No I beseech you by your knees, and your newly-
married daughter.
CRE. Thou wastest words ; for thou wilt never persuade
me.
MED. "VVilt thou then banish me, nor reverence my
prayers ?
CRE. For I do not love thee better than my own family.
MED. O my country, how I remember thee now !
CRE. For next to my children it is much the dearest thing
to me.
MED. Alas ! alas ! how great an ill is love to man I
CRE. That is, I think, as fortune also shall attend it.
MED. Jove, let it not escape thine eye, who is the cause
of these misfortunes.
CRE. Begone, fond woman, and free me from these cares.
MEd. Care indeed ; l and do not I experience cares ?
1 Elmsley approves of the reading adopted by Porson, though
he has given iu his text
24 MEDEA. [335-359-
CRE. Quickly shalt thou be driven hence by force by the
hands of my domestics.
MED. No, I pray not this at least ; but I implore thee,
Creon.
CRE. Thou wilt give trouble, woman, it seems. 1
MED. I will go ; I dare not ask to obtain this of you.
CRE. Why then dost thou resist, and wilt not depart from
these realms ?
MED. Permit me to remain here this one day, and to
bring my purpose to a conclusion, in what way we shall fly,
and to make provision for my sons, since their father in no
way regards providing for his children ; but pity them, for
thou also art the father of children ; and it is probable that
thou hast tenderness ; for of myself I have no care whether
I may suffer banishment, but I weep for them experiencing
this calamity.
CRE. My disposition is least of all imperious, and through
feeling pity in many cases have I injured myself. And now
I see that I am doing wrong, O lady, but nevertheless thou
shalt obtain thy request ; but this I warn thee, if to-morrow's
light of the God of day shall behold thee and thy children
within the confines of these realms, thou shalt die : this word
is spoken in truth. But now if thou must stay, remain here
yet one day, for thou wilt not do any horrid deed of which
I have dread.
MEDEA, CHORUS.
CHOR. Unhappy woman ! alas wretched on account of thy
irovovfiEv fifteiSj K'OV Tr6vo)v Kt
" We are oppressed with cares, and want not other cares," as
being more likelv to have come from Euripides. So also
Dindorf.
1 c5j eoiKa; is here used for the more common expression toy
loiKtv. So Herodotus, Clio, civ. oil Travvovrai ol A<5oi, coj oiKdcrJ,
Trpdynara irapexovrcs, nat aiiroi sxovres. See also Hecuba, 801,
360-399 ] MEDEA. 25
griefs ! whither wilt thou turn ? what hospitality, or house,
or country wilt thou find a refuge for these ills ? how the
Deity hath led thee, Medea, into a pathless tide of woes !
MED. Ill hath it been done on every side. Who will gain-
say it? but these things are not in this way, do not yet think
it. Still is there a contest for those lately married, and to
those allied to them no small affliction. For dost thou think
I ever would have fawned upon this man, if I were not to
gain something, or form some plan ? I would not even have
addressed him. I would not even have touched him with my
hands. But he hath arrived at such a height of folly, as that,
when it was in his power to have crushed my plans, by banish-
ing me from this land, he hath granted me to stay this day in
which three of mine enemies will I put to death, the father,
the bride, and my husband. But having in my power many
resources of destruction against them, I know not, my friends,
which I shall first attempt. Whether shall I consume the
bridal house with fire, or force the sharpened sword through
her heart having entered the chamber by stealth where the
couch is spread. But one thing is against me; if I should;
be caught entering the house and prosecuting my plans, by
my death I shall afford laughter for my foes. Best then is it
to pursue the straight path, in which I am most skilled, to
take them off by poison. Let it be so. And suppose them
dead : what city will receive me ? What hospitable stranger
affording a land of safety and a faithful home will protect
my person ? There is none. Waiting then yet a little time,
if any tower of safety shall appear to us, I will proceed to
this murder in treachery and silence. But if ill fortune that
leaves me without resource force me, I myself having grasped
the sword, although I should die, will kill them, and will
rush to the extreme height of daring. For never, I swear
by my mistress whom I revere most of all, and have chosen
2
26 MEDEA. [400-438.
for my assistant, Hecate, who dwells in the inmost recesses
of my house, shall any one of them wring my heart with
grief with impunity. Bitter and mournful to them will I
make these nuptials, and bitter this alliance, and my flight
from this land. But come, spare none of these sciences in
which thou art skilled, Medea, deliberating and plotting.
Proceed to the deed of terror : now is the time of resolution :
seest thou what thou art suffering? Ill doth it become thee
to incur ridicule from the race of Sisyphus, and from the
nuptials of Jason, who art sprung from a noble father, and
from the sun. And thou art skilled. Besides also we wo-
men are, by nature, to good actions of the least capacity,
but the most cunning inventors of every ill.
CHOE. The waters of the hallowed streams flow upward
to their sources, and justice and everything is reversed. The
counsels of men are treacherous, and no longer is the faith of
heaven firm. But fame changes, so that my sex may have
the glory. 1 Honor cometh to the female race ; no longer
shall opprobrious fame oppress the women. But the Muses
shall cease from their ancient strains, from celebrating our
perfidy. For Phoebus, leader of the choir, gave not to our
minds the heavenly music of the lyre, since they would in
turn have raised a strain against the race of men. But time
of old hath much to say both of our life and the life of men.
But thou hast sailed from thy father's house with maddened
heart, having passed through the double rocks of the ocean,
and thou dwellest in a foreign land, having lost the shelter
of thy widowed bed, wretched woman, and art driven dis-
1 Beck interprets this passage, "Mea quidem vitaut non ha-
beat laudem, fama obstat." Heath translates it, " Jam in con-
trariam partem tendens fama efficit, ut mea quoque vita laudem
habeat. We are told by the Scholiast, that by jSiora? is to be
understood Qfoiv.
439-47-] MEDEA. 27
honored an exile from tliis land. The reverence of oaths is
gone, nor does shame any longer dwell in mighty Greece,
but hath fled away through the air. But thou helpless wo-
man hast neither father's house to afford you haven from
your woes, and another more powerful queen of the nuptial
bed rules over the house.
JASON, MEDEA, CHOKCS.
JAS. Not now for the first time, but often have I perceived
that fierce anger is an irremediable ill. For though it was
in your power to inhabit this land and this house, bearing
with gentleness the determination of thy superiors, by thy
rash words thou shalt be banished from this land. And to
me indeed it is of no importance ; never cease from saying
that Jason is the worst of men. But for what has been said
by thee against the royal family, think it the greatest good
fortune that thou art punished by banishment only. I in-
deed was always employed in diminishing the anger of the
enraged princes, and was willing that thou shouldest remain.
But thou remittest not of thy folly, always reviling the rul-
ing powers ; wherefore thou shalt be banished from the land.
But nevertheless even after this am I come, not wearied with
my friends, providing for thee, O woman, that thou mightest
not be banished with thy children, either without money, or
in want of any thing. Banishment draws many misfortunes
with it. For although thou hatest me, I never could wish
thee evil.
MED. O thou vilest of men (for this is the greatest re-
proach I have in my power with my tongue to tell thee, for
thy unmanly cowardice), hast thou come to us, hast thou
come, who art most hateful ? This is not fortitude, or con-
fidence, to look in the face of friends whom thou hast in-
jured, but the worst of all diseases among men, impudence.
28 MEDEA. [47i-5 3-
But thou hast done well in coming. For both I shall be
lightened in my heart while reviling thee, and thou wilt be
pained at hearing me. But I will first begin to speak from the
first circumstances. I preserved thee (as those Greeks well
know as many as embarked with thee on board the same ship
Argo) when sent to master the fire-breathing bulls with the
yoke, and to sow the fatal seed : and having slain the dragon
who watching around the golden fleece guarded it with spiry
folds, a sleepless guard, I raised up to thee a light of safety.
But I myself having betrayed my father, and my house,
came to the Peliotic lolcos 1 with thee, with more readiness
than prudence. And I slew Pelias by a death which it is
most miserable to die, by the hands of his own children,
and I freed thee from every fear. And having experienced
these services from me, thou vilest of men, thou hast be-
trayed me and hast procured for thyself a new bed, children
being born to thee, for if thou wert still childless it would
be pardonable in thee to be enamored of this alliance. But
the faith of oaths is vanished ; nor can I discover whether
thou thinkest that the former Gods are not still in power,
or whether new laws are now laid down for men, since thou
art at least conscious of being perjured toward me. Alas !
this right hand which thou hast often touched, and these
knees, since in vain have I been polluted by a wicked hus-
band, and have failed in my hopes. Come (for I will con-
verse with thee as with a friend, not expecting to receive
any benefit from thee at least, but nevertheless I will ; for
when questioned thou wilt appear more base), now whither
shall I turn? Whether to my father's house, which I be-
1 lolcos was a city of Thessaly, distant about seven stadii
from the sea, where the parents of Jason lived: Pelion was
both a mountain and city of Thessaly, close to lolcos ; whence
lolcos is called Peliotic.
504-54-] MEDEA. 29
trayed for thee, and my country, and came hither ? or to the
miserable daughters of Pelias ? friendly would they indeed
receive me in their house, whose father I slew. For thus it
is : I am in enmity with my friends at home ; but those
whom I ought not to injure, by obliging thee, I make my
enemies. On which account in return for this thou hast
made me to be called happy by many dames through Greece,
and in thee I, wretch that I am, have an admirable and
faithful husband, if cast out at least I shall fly this land,
deserted by my friends, lonely with thy lonely children.
Fair renown indeed to the new married bridegroom, that
his children are wandering in poverty, and I also who pre-
served thee. O Jove, why I pray hast thou given to men
certain proofs of the gold which is adulterate, but no mark
is set by nature on the person of men by which one may
distinguish the bad man.
CHOR. Dreadful is that anger and irremediable, when
friends with friends kindle strife.
JAS. It befits me, it seems, not to be weak in argument,
but as the prudent pilot of a vessel, with all the sail that can
be hoisted, to run from out of thy violent abuse, O woman.
But I, since thou thus much vauntest thy favors, think that
Venus alone both of Gods and men was the protectress of
my voyage. But thou hast a fickle mind, but it is an invid-
ious account to go through, how love compelled thee with
his inevitable arrows to preserve my life. But I will not
follow up arguments with too great accuracy, for where thou
hast assisted me it is well. Moreover thou hast received
more at least from my safety than thou gavest, as I will
explain to thee. First of all thou dwellest in Greece instead
of a foreign land, and thou learnest what justice is, and to
enjoy laws, not to be directed by mere force. And all the
Grecians have seen that thou art wise, and thou hast re-
3 o MEDEA. [541-574-
nown ; but if thou weft dwelling in the extreme confines of
that land, there would not have been fame of thee. But
may neither gold in my house be my lot, nor to attune the
strain more sweet than Orpheus, if my fortune be not con-
spicuous. So much then have I said of my toils ; for thou
first broughtest forward this contest of words. But with
regard to those reproaches which thou heapest on me for
my royal marriage, in this will I show first that I have been
wise, in the next place moderate, thirdly a great friend to
thee, and my children : but be silent. After I had come
hither from the lolcian land bringing with me many griev-
ous calamities, what measure more fortunate than this could
I have invented, than, an exile as I was, to marry the
daughter of the monarch ? Not, by which thou art grated,
loathing thy bed, nor smitten with desire of a new bride,
nor having emulation of a numerous offspring, for those born
to me are sufficient, nor do I find fault with that ; but that
(which is of the greatest consequence) we might live hon-
orably, and might not be in want, knowing well that every
friend flies out of the way of a poor man ; and that I might
bring up my children worthy of my house, and that having
begotten brothers to those children sprung from thee, I might
place them on the same footing, and having united the
family, I might flourish ; for both thou hast some need of
children, and to me it were advantageous to advance my
present progeny by means of the children which might
arise; have I determined ill? not even thou couldest say
so, if thy bed did not gall thee. But thus far have you
come, that your bed being safe, you women think that you
have every thing. But if any misfortune befall that, the
most excellent and fairest objects you make the most hate-
ful. It were well then that men should generate children
from some other source, and that the female race should not
575-599-] MEDEA. 31
exist, and thus there would not have been any evil among
men. 1
CHOR. Jason, thou hast well adorned these arguments of
thine, but nevertheless to me, although I speak reluctantly,
thou appearest, in betraying thy wife, to act unjustly.
MED. Surely I am in many things different from many
mortals, for in my judgment, whatever man being unjust, is
deeply skilled in argument, merits the severest punishment.
For vaunting that with his tongue he can well gloze over in-
justice, he dares to work deceit, but he is not over-wise.
Thus do not thou also be now plausible to me, nor skilled in
speaking, for one word will overthrow thee : it behooved thee,
if thou wert not a bad man, to have contracted this marriage
having persuaded me, and not without the knowledge of thy
friends.
JAS. Well wouldest thou have lent assistance to this re-
port, if I had mentioned the marriage to thee, who not even
now endurest to lay aside this unabated rage of heart.
MED. This did not move thee, but a foreign bed would
lead in its result to an old age without honor.
JAS. Be well assured of this, that I did not form this alli-
ance with the princess, which I now hold, for the sake of the
woman, but, as I said before also, wishing to preserve thee,
and to beget royal children brothers to my sons, a support
to our house.
MED. Let not a splendid life of bitterness be my lot, nor
wealth, which rends my heart.
1 For the same sentiment more fully expressed, see Hippo-
lytus, 616-625. See also Paradise Lost, x. 890.
O, why did God,
Creator wise, that peopled highest heaven
With spirits masculine, create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of nature, and not fill the world at once
With men, as augels, without feminine?
32 MEDEA. [600-632.
JAS. Dost thou know how to alter thy prayers, and appear
wiser? Let not good things ever seem to you bitter, nor
when in prosperity seem to be in adversity.
MED. Insult me, since thou hast refuge, but I destitute
shall fly this land.
JAS. Thou chosest this thyself, blame no one else.
MED. By doing what? by marrying and betraying thee?
JAS. By imprecating unhallowed curses on the royal
family.
MED. From thy house at least am I laden with curses.
JAS. I will not dispute more of this with thee. But if
thou wishest to receive either for thyself or children any part
of my wealth as an assistant on thy flight, speak, since I am
ready to give with an unsparing hand, and to send tokens of
hospitality to my friends, who will treat you well ; and re-
fusing these thou wilt be foolish, woman, but ceasing from
thine anger, thou wilt gain better treatment.
MED. I will neither use thy friends, nor will I receive
aught ; do not give to me, for the gifts of a bad man bring
no assistance.
JAS. Then I call the Gods to witness, that I wish to assist
thee and thy children in every thing ; but good things please
thee not, but thou rejectest thy friends with audacity, where-
fore shalt thou grieve the more.
MED. Begone, for thou art captured by desire of thy new
bride, tarrying so long without the palace ; wed her, for
perhaps, but with the assistance of the God shall it be said,
thou wilt make such a marriage alliance, as thou wilt here-
after wish to renounce.
CHOR. The loves, when they come too impetuously, have
given neither good report nor virtue among men, but if
Venus come with moderation, no other Goddess is so benign.
Never, O my mistress, mayest thou send forth against me
633-672.] MEDEA. 33
from thy golden bow thy inevitable shaft, having steeped it
in desire. But may temperance preserve me, the noblest
gift of heaven ; never may dreaded Venus, having smitten
my mind for another's bed, heap upon me jealous passions
and unabated quarrels, but approving the peaceful union,
may she quick of perception sit in judgment on the bed of
women. O my country, and my house, never may I be an
outcast of my city, having a life scarce to be endured through
poverty, the most lamentable of all woes. By death, by
death, may I before that be subdued, having lived to accom-
plish that day ; but no greater misfortune is there than to be
deprived of one's paternal country. We have seen it, nor
have we to speak from others' accounts ; for thee, neither
city nor friend hath pitied, though suffering the most dread-
ful anguish. Thankless may he perish who desires not to
assist his friends, having unlocked the pure treasures of his
mind ; never shall he be friend to me.
s, MEDEA, CHORUS.
SjQ. Medea, hail ! for no one hath known a more honor-
able salutation to address to friends than this.
MED. Hail thou also, son of the wise Pandion, JEgeus,
coming from what quarter dost thou tread the plain of this
land?
jEa. Having left the ancient oracle of Phoebus.
MED. But wherefore wert thou sent to the prophetic cen-
tre of the earth ?
jEo. Inquiring of the God how offspring may arise to me ?
MED. By the Gods, tell me, dost thou live this life hith-
erto childless ?
JEiQ. Childless I am, by the disposal of some deity.
MED. Hast thon a wife, or knowest thou not the marriage-
bed?
2*
34 MEDEA. [675-695.
JE.G. I am not destitute of the connubial bed.
MED. What then did Apollo tell thee respecting thy off-
spring ?
1E>Q. Words deeper than a man can form opinion of.
MED. Is it allowable for me to know the oracle of the
God?
^Eo. Certainly, inasmuch as it needs also a deep-skilled
mind.
MED. What then did he say ? Speak, if I may hear.
JE&. That I was not to loose the projecting foot of the
vessel
MED. Before thou didst what, or came to what land ?
^Eo. Before I revisit my paternal hearth.
MED. Then as desiring what dost thou direct thy voyage
to this land ?
JSG. There is one Pittheus, king of the country of Tra-
zene.
MED. The most pious son, as report says, of Pelops.
J2G. To him I wish to communicate the oracle of the
God.
MED. For he is a wise man, and versed in such matters.
uEo. And to me at least the dearest of all my friends in
war.
MED. Mayest thou prosper, and obtain what thou desirest.
./EG. But why is thine eye and thy color thus faded ?
MED. JEgeus, my husband is the worst of all men.
MG. What sayest thou ? tell me all thy troubles.
MED. Jason wrongs me, having never suffered wrong from
nie.
^Eo. Having done what? tell me more clearly.
MED. He hath here a wife besides me, mistress of the
house.
JSjQ, Hath he dared to commit this disgraceful action?
696-721.] MEDEA. 35
MED. Be assured he lias ; but we his former friends are
dishonored.
jEa. Enamored of her, or hating thy bed ?
MED. [Smitten with] violent love indeed, he was faith-
less to his friends.
./EG. Let him perish then, since, as you say, he is a bad
man.
MED. He was charmed to receive an alliance with
princes.
.f xal loicct pot ravra, xal *aX; txtiv
yd/jouj Tvpavixav, ov; wpoSov; fi/irjf f\ei, ,
Kal ^Vfttpop' etpai, KOI (ca.Xcoj iyvwafteva."
" that these things appear good to me, and that the alliance with the
38 MEDEA. [780-810.
him that my sons may stay ; not that I would leave my chil-
dren in a hostile country for my'enemies to insult, but that by
deceit I may slay the king's daughter. For I will send them
bearing presents in their hands, both a fine-wrought robe, and
a golden-twined wreath. 1 And if she take the ornaments and
place them round her person, she shall perish miserably,
and every one who shall touch the damsel ; with such charms
will I anoint the presents. Here however I finish this ac-
count ; but I bewail the deed such as must next be done by
me ; for I shall slay my children ; there is no one who shall
rescue them from me ; and having heaped in ruins the whole
house of Jason, I will go from out this land, flying the murder
of my dearest children, and having dared a deed most unhal-
lowed. For it is not to be borne, my friends, to be derided
by one's enemies. Let things take their course ; what gain is
it to me to live longer ? I have neither country, nor house,
nor refuge from my ills. Then erred I, when I left my
father's house, persuaded by the words of a Grecian man,
who with the will of the Gods shall suffer punishment from
me. For neither shall he ever hereafter behold the chil-
dren he had by me alive, nor shall he raise a child by his
new wedded wife, since it is fated that the wretch should
wretchedly perish by my spells. Let no one think me mean-
spirited and weak, nor of a gentle temper, but of a contrary
disposition, to my foes relentless, and to my friends kind :
for the lives of such sort are most glorious.
princess, which he, having forsaken me, has contracted, are both advan-
tageous and well determined on." So also Diad. but K-aAuy exsi.
Parson omits the line.
1 In Elmsley this line is omitted, and instead of it is inserted
" fv^i/ n-ora^ajv. A like expression
occurs in 2 Sam. xii. 27. I have fought against Kabbah, and
have taken the city of waters, v6\ii> TWV tcJdnof in the Septuagint
version.
40 MEDEA. [848-882.
ceive the murderer of her children, the unholy one ! Con-
sider in conjunction with others of the slaughter of thy chil-
dren, consider what a murder thou wilt undertake. Do not
by thy knees, by every plea, 1 by every prayer, we entreat
you, do not murder your children ; but how wilt thou ac-
quire confidence either of mind or hand or in heart against
thy children, attempting a dreadful deed of boldness? But
how, having darted thine eyes upon thy children, wilt thou
endure the perpetration of the murder without tears ? Thou
wilt not 2 be able, when thy children fall suppliant at thy feet,
to imbrue thy savage hand in their wretched life-blood.
JASON, MEDEA, CHORUS.
JAS. I am come, by thee requested ; for although thou art
enraged, thou shall not be deprived of this at least ; but I
will hear what new service thou dost desire of me, lady.
MED. Jason, I entreat you to be forgiving of what has
been said, but right is it that you should bear with my
anger, since many friendly acts have been done by us two.
But I reasoned with myself and rebuked myself ; wayward
woman, why am I maddened and am enraged with those who
consult well for me ? and why am I in enmity with the
princes of the land and with my husband, who is acting in
the most advantageous manner for us, having married a
princess, and begetting brothers to my children? Shall I
not cease from my rage ? What injury do I suffer, the Gods
providing well for me ? Have I not children ? And I know
that I am flying the country, and am in want of friends.
Eevolving this in my mind I perceive that I had much im-
prudence, and was enraged without reason. Now then I
1 Elmsley reads Ttavrer, "we all entreat thee." So Dindorf.
2 Elmsley reads n iwaaet with the note of interrogation after
Ovpw; " or how wilt thou be able,'' etc.
883-9 i 7-] MEDEA. 41
approve of this, and thou appearest to me to be prudent,
having added this alliance to us ; but I was foolish, who
ought to share in these plans, and to join in adorning and
to stand by the bed, and to delight with thee that thy
bride was enamored of thee ; but we women are as we are,
I will not speak evil of the sex ; wherefore it is not right
that you should put yourself on an equality with the evil,
nor repay folly for folly. I give up, and say that then
I erred in judgment, but now I have determined on these
things better. O my children, my children, come forth,
leave the house, come forth, salute, and address your father
with me, and be reconciled to your friends from your former
hatred together with your mother. For there is amity be-
tween us, and my rage hath ceased. Take his right hand.
Alas ! my misfortunes ; how I feel some hidden ill in my
mind ! Will ye, my children, in this manner, and for a long
time enjoying life, stretch out your dear hands ? Wretch
that I am ! how near am I to weeping and full of fear !
But at last canceling this dispute with your father, I have
filled thus my tender sight with tears.
CHOR. In my eyes also the moist tear is arisen ; and may
not the evil advance to a greater height than it is at
present.
JAS. I approve of this, lady, nor do I blame the past ; for
it is reasonable that the female sex be enraged with a hus-
band who barters them for another union. But thy heart
has changed to the more proper side, and thou hast discov-
ered, but after some time, the better counsel : these are the
actions of a wise woman. But for you, my sons, your father
not without thought hath formed many provident plans,
with the assistance of the Gods. For I think that you will
be yet the first in this Corinthian country, together with
your brothers. But advance and prosper : and the rest
42 MEDEA. [918-947.
your father, and whatever God is propitious, will effect. And
may I behold you blooming arrive at the prime of youth,
superior to my enemies. And thou, why dost thou bedew
thine eyes with the moist tear, having turned aside thy
white cheek, and why dost thou not receive these words
from me with pleasure ?
MED. It is nothing. I was thinking of my sons.
JAS. Be of good conrage ; for I will arrange well for
them.
MED. I will be so, I will not mistrust thy words ; but a
woman is of soft mould, and was born to tears.
JAS. Why, I pray, dost thou so grieve for thy children ?
MED. I brought them into the world, and when thou
wert praying that thy children might live, a feeling of pity
came upon me if that would be. But for what cause thou
hast come to a conference with me, partly hath been ex-
plained, but the other reasons I will mention. Since it ap-
peareth fit to the royal family to send me from this country,
for me also this appears best, I know it well, that I might
not dwell here, a check either to thee or to the princes of
the land ; for I seem to be an object of enmity to the house ;
I indeed will set out from this land in flight ; but to the end
that the children may be brought up by thy hand, entreat
Creon that they may not leave this land.
JAS. I know not whether I shall persuade him ; but it is
right to try.
MED. But do thou then exhort thy bride to ask her father,
that my children may not leave this country.
JAS. Certainly I will, and I think at least that she will
persuade him, if indeed she be one of the female sex.
MED. I also will assist you in this task, for I will send to
her presents which (I well know) far surpass in beauty any
now among men, both a fine-wrought robe, and a golden-
948-977-] MEDEA. 43
twined chaplet, my sons carrying them. But as quick as
possible let one of my attendants bring hither these orna-
ments. Thy bride shall be blessed not in one instance, but
in many, having met with you at least the best of husbands,
and possessing ornaments which the sun my father's father
once gave to his descendants. Take these nuptial presents,
my sons, in your hands, and bear and present them to the
blessed royal bride ; she shall receive gifts not indeed to be
despised.
JAS. Why, O fond woman, dost thou rob thy hands of
these ; thinkest thou that the royal palace is in want of
vests ? in want of gold ? keep these presents, give them not
away ; for if the lady esteems me of any value, she will pre-
fer pleasing me to riches, I know full well.
MED. But do not oppose me ; gifts, they say, persuade
even the Gods, 1 and gold is more powerful than a thousand
arguments to men. Hers is fortune, her substance the God
now increases, she in youth governs all. But the sentence
of banishment on my children I would buy off with my life,
not with gold alone. But my children, enter you the
wealthy palace, to the new bride of your father, and my
mistress, entreat her, beseech her, that you may not leave
the land, presenting these ornaments ; but this is of the
greatest consequence, that she receive these gifts in her own
hand. Go as quick as possible, and may you be bearers of
good tidings to your mother, in what she desires to obtain,
having succeeded favorably.
CHOK. Now no longer have I any hope of life for the chil-
dren, no longer [is there hope] : for already are they going
1 An allusion to that well-known saying in Plato, de Eepub. 1.
3. A<5pa 0tovr Trcidti, dup' ai'Joiour /Sao-iXrjar. Ovid de Arte Am. iiL
635.
Munera, crede mihi, capiunt homiiiesque deosque.
44 MEDEA. [978-1010.
to death. The bride shall receive the destructive present of
the golden chaplet, she wretched shall receive them, and
around her golden tresses shall she place the attire of death,
having received the presents in her hands. The beauty and
the divine glitter of the robe will persuade her to place
around her head the golden-wrought chaplet. Already with
the dead shall the bride be adorned ; into such a net will
she fall, and such a destiny will she, hapless woman, meet
with ; nor will she escape her fate. But thou, oh unhappy
man ! oh wretched bridegroom ! son-in-law of princes, un-
knowingly thou bringest on thy children destruction, and on
thy wife a bitter death ; hapless man, how much art thou
fallen from thy state I 1 But I lament for thy grief, O wretch,
mother of these children, who wilt murder thy sons on ac-
count of a bridal-bed ; deserting which, in defiance of thee,
thy husband dwells with another wife.
TUTOR, MEDEA, CHORUS.
TUT. Thy sons, my mistress, are reprieved from banish-
ment, and the royal bride received thy presents in her hands
with pleasure, and hence is peace to thy children.
MED. Ah !
TOT. Why dost thou stand in confusion, when thou art for-
tunate ?
MED. Alas ! alas !
TUT. This behavior is not consonant with the message I
have brought thee.
MED. Alas ! again.
TUT. Have I reported any ill fortune unknowingly, and
have I failed in my hope of being the messenger of good ?
1 Vertit Portus, infelix quantam calamitatem ignoras. M ihi
sensus videtur esse, quantum a pristina fortuna excidisti. ELMS-
LEY.
IOII-I034-] MEDEA. 45
MED. Thou hast said what thou hast said, I blame not
thee.
TUT. Why tli en dost thou bend down thine eye, and shed
tears?
MED. Strong necessity compels me, O aged man, for this
the Gods and I deliberating ill have contrived.
TUT. Be of good courage ; thou also wilt return home yet
through thy children.
MED. Others first will I send to their home, 1 O wretched
me !
TUT. Thou art not the only one who art separated from
thy children ; it behooves a mortal to bear calamities with
meekness.
MED. I will do so ; but go within the house, and prepare
for the children Avhat is needful for the day. O my sons,
my sons, you have indeed a city, and a house, in which hav-
ing forsaken me miserable, you shall dwell, ever deprived of
a mother. But I am now going an exile into a foreign land,
before I could have delight in you, and see you flourishing,
before I could adorn your marriage, and wife, and nuptial-
bed, and hold up the torch. 2 O unfortunate woman that I
am, on account of my wayward temper. In vain then, my
children, have I brought you up, in vain have I toiled, and
been consumed with cares, suffering the strong agonies of
child-bearing. Surely once there was a time when I hapless
woman had many hopes in you, that you would both tend me
in my age, and when dead would with your hands decently
1 Medea here makes use of the ambiguous word , which
may be understood by the Tutor in the sense of "bringing
back to their country," but implies also the horrid purpose of
destroying her children : r6de Voracj' 6vii>, ical
roiavTaS" OixriaS", otiror airAni). rco it aiircl peXfiaei avvavTeo
naptivai. SCHOL.
1069-1098.] MEDEA. 47
these will I send by one still more dismal, I desire to address
my children : give, my sons, give thy right hand for thy
mother to kiss. O most dear hand, and those lips dearest to
me, and that form and noble countenance of my children, be
ye blessed, but there ; l for every thing here your father hath
taken away. O the sweet embrace, and that soft skin, and
that most fragrant breath of my children. Go, go ; no
longer am I able to look upon you, but am overcome by my
ills. I know indeed the ills that I am about to dare, but my
rage is master of my counsels; 2 which is indeed the cause of
the greatest calamities to men.
CHOK. Already have I often gone through more refined
reasonings, and have come to greater arguments than suits
the female mind to investigate ; for we also have a muse,
which dwelleth with us, for the sake of teaching wisdom ;
but not with all, for haply thou wilt find but a small num-
ber of the race of women out of many not ungifted with the
muse. s And I say that those men who are entirely free
from wedlock, and have not begotten children, surpass in
happiness those who have families ; those indeed who are
childless, through inexperience whether children are born
a joy or anguish to men, not having them themselves, are
exempt from much misery. But those who have a sweet
blooming offspring of children in their house, I behold worn
J But there ; that is, in the regions below.
2 Ovid. Metamorpk. vii. 20.
Video meliora proboque,
Deteriora sequor.
s Elmsley reads
Ttavpov 6i ytvor (ptav iv woXXaTr
ti'poij Zv r leaving neither the ocean, chariot, 1
nor the car whirling o'er the plain.
MED. But what is done that requires this flight ?
MESS. The princess is just dead, and Creon her father
destroyed by thy charms.
MED. Thou hast spoken most glad tidings : and hereaf-
ter from this time shalt thou be among my benefactors and
friends.
MESS. What sayest thou? Art thou in thy senses, and
not mad, lady? who having destroyed the king and family,
rejoicest at hearing it, and fearest not such things ?
1 A similar expression is found in Iphig. Taur. v. 410, vuiov
oxnua. A ship is frequently called 3p/*a 6a\aaari$ : so Virgil, JSn.
vi. Classique immittit habenas.
1132-1165.] MEDEA. 49
MED. I also have something to say to these words of thine
at least ; but be not hasty, my friend ; but tell me how they
perished, for twice as much delight wilt thou give me if they
died miserably.
MESS. As soon as thy two sons were come with their father,
and had entered the bridal house, we servants, who were
grieved at thy misfortunes, were delighted ; and immediately
there was much conversation in our ears, that thy husband and
thou had brought the former quarrel to a friendly termination.
One kissed the hand, another the auburn head of thy sons, and
I also myself followed with them to the women's apartments
through joy. But my mistress, whom we now reverence in-
stead of thee, before she saw thy two sons enter, held her
cheerful eyes fixed on Jason ; afterward however she covered
her eyes, and turned aside her white cheek, disgusted at the
entrance of thy sons ; but thy husband quelled the anger and
rage of the young bride, saying this : Be not angry with thy
friends, but cease from thy rage, and turn again thy face, es-
teeming those as friends, whom thy husband does. But receive
the gifts, and ask thy father to give up the sentence of banish-
ment against these children for my sake. But when she saw
the ornaments, she refused not, but promised her husband
every thing ; and before thy sons and their father were gone
far from the house, she took and put on the variegated robes,
and having placed the golden chaplet around her tresses she
arranges her hair in the radiant mirror, smiling at the life-
less image of her person. And after, having risen from her
seat, she goes across the chamber, elegantly tripping with
snow-white foot ; rejoicing greatly in the presents, looking
much and oftentimes with her eyes on her outstretched neck. 1
After that however there was a sight of horror to behold.
1 Elmsley is of opinion that the instep and not the neck is
meant by rlvtav.
3
50 MEDEA. [1166-1189.
For having changed color, she goes staggering back trem-
bling in her limbs, and is scarce in time to prevent herself
from falling on the ground, by sinking into a chair. And
some aged female attendant, when she thought that the wrath
either of Pan or some other Deity 1 had visited her, offered
up the invocation, before at least she sees the white foam
bursting from her mouth, and her mistress rolling her eye-
balls from their sockets and the blood no longer in the flesh ;
then she sent forth a loud shriek of far different sound from
the strain of supplication ; and straightway one rushed to the
apartments of her father, but another to her newly-married
husband, to tell the calamity befallen the bride, and all the
house was filled with frequent hurryings to and fro. And
by this time a swift runner, exerting his limbs, might have
reached 2 the goal of the course of six plethra ; 3 but she,
wretched woman, from being speechless, and from a closed
eye having groaned deeply writhed in agony , for a double
pest was warring against her. The golden chaplet indeed
placed on her head was sending forth a stream of all-devour-
ing fire wonderful to behold, but the fine-wrought robes, the
presents of thy sons, were devouring the white flesh of the
1 The ancients attributed all sudden terrors, and sudden
sicknesses, such as epilepsies, for which no cause appeared, to
Pan, or to some other Deity. The anger of the God they en-
deavored to avert by a hymn, which had the nature of a
charm.
2 Elmsley has hvefitrrtTo, which is the old reading : this makes
no difference in the construing or the construction, as, in the
line before, he reads av eXxtof, where Porson has avi\K^v.
3 The space of time elapsed is meant to be marked by this
circumstance. MUSGEA.VE. PORSON. Thus we find in M of
the Odyssey, 1. 439, the time of day expressed by the rising
of the judges; in A of the Iliad, 1. 86, by the dining of the
woodman. When we recollect that the ancients had not the
inventions that we have whereby to measure their time, we
shall cease to consider the circumlocution as absurd or out
of place.
1190-1223.] MEDEA. 51
hapless woman. But she having started from her seat flies,
all on fire, tossing her hair and head on this side and that
side, desirous of shaking off the chaplet ; hut the golden wreath
firmly kept its hold ; but the fire, when she shook her hair,
blazed out with double fury, and she sinks upon the ground
overcome by her sufferings, difficult for any one except her
father to recognize. For neither was the expression of her
eyes clear, nor her noble countenance ; but the blood was
dropping from the top of her head mixed with fire. But her
flesh was dropping off her bones, as the tear from the pine-
tree, by the hidden fangs of the poison ; a sight of horror.
But all feared to touch the body, for we had her fate to warn
us. But the hapless father, through ignorance of her suffer-
ing, having come with haste into the apartment, falls on the
corpse, and groans immediately ; and having folded his arms
round her, kisses her, saying these words : O miserable child,
what Deity hath thus cruelly destroyed thee ? who makes an
aged father bowing to the tomb 1 bereaved of thee ? Alas !
me ! let me die with thee, my child. But after he had
ceased from his lamentations and cries, desiring to raise his
aged body, he was held, as the ivy by the boughs of the lau-
rel, by the fine-wrought robes ; and dreadful was the strug-
gle, for he wished to raise his knee, but she held him back;
but if he drew himself away by force he tore the aged flesh
from his bones. But at length the wretched man swooned
away, and gave up his life ; for no longer was he able to en-
dure the agony. But they lie corses, the daughter and aged
father near one another; a calamity that demands tears.
Aud let thy affairs indeed be not matter for my words ; for
1 The same expression occurs in the Heraclidse, 1. 168. The
Scholiast explains it thus : rv/nffoyepovTa, rov ir\rjoiov Oavdrov Svra'
rvfiftovS' fi /taAofio-i roOr ytpovraS", Ttap6.
1321-1350.] < MEDEA. 55
hands; such a chariot the sun my father's father gives me, a
defense from the hostile hand. 1
JAS. O thou abomination ! thou most detested woman,,
both by the Gods and by me, and by all the race of man ;
who hast dared to plunge the sword in thine own children,
thou who bore them, and hast destroyed me childless. And
having done this thou beholdest both the sun and the earth,
having dared a most impious deed. Mayest thou perish !
but I am now wise, not being so then when I brought thee
from thy house and from a foreign land to a Grecian habi-
tation, a great pest, traitress to thy father and the land that
nurtured thee. But the Gods have sent thy evil genius on
me. For having slain thy brother at the altar, thou em-
barkedst on board the gallant vessel Argo. Thou begannest
indeed with such deeds as these ; and being wedded to me,
and bearing me children, thou hast destroyed them on ac-
count of another bed and marriage. There is not one Gre-
cian woman who would have dared a deed like this, in pref-
erence to whom at least, I thought worthy to wed thee, an
alliance hateful and destructive to me, a lioness, no woman,
having a nature more savage than the Tuscan Scylla. But
I can not gall thy heart with ten thousand reproaches, such
shameless confidence .is implanted in thee. Go, thou worker
of ill, and stained with the blood of thy children. But for
me it remains to bewail my fate, who shall neither enjoy my
new nuptials, nor shall I have it in my power to address
while alive my sons whom I begot and educated, but I have
lost them.
t
1 Here Medea appears above in a chariot drawn by dragons,
bearing with her the bodies of her slaughtered sons. SCHOL.
See Horace, Epod. 3.
Hoc delibutis ulta donis pellicem,
Serpente fugit alite.
56 MEDEA. [I35I-I375-
MED. Surely I could make long reply to these words, if
the Sire Jupiter did not know what treatment thou receivedst
from me, and what thou didst in return ; but you were mis-
taken, when you expected, having dishonored my bed, to
lead a life of pleasure, mocking me, and so was the princess,
and so was Creon, who proposed the match to thee, when he
expected to drive me from this land with impunity. Where-
fore, if thou wilt, call me lioness, and Scylla who dwelt in
the Tuscan plain. For thy heart, as is right, 1 have
wounded.
JAS. And thou thyself grievest at least, and art a sharer
in these ills.
MED. Be assured of that ; but this lessens 1 the grief, that
thou canst not mock me.
JAS. My children, what a wicked mother have ye found !
MED. My sons, how did ye perish by your father's fault I
JAS. Nevertheless my hand slew them not.
MED. But injury, and thy new nuptials.
JAS. And on account of thy bed didst thou think fit to
slay them ?
MED. Dost thou deem this a slight evil to a woman ?
JAS. Whoever at least is modest ; but in thee is every ill.
MED. These are no longer living, fqr this will gall thee.
JAS. These are living, alas me ! avenging furies on thy head.
MED. The Gods know who began the injury.
JAS. They know indeed thy execrable mind.
MED. Thou art hateful to me, and I detest thy bitter
speech.
JAS. And I in soo*th thine ; the separation at least is with-
out pain.
1 \vet may also be interpreted, with the Scholiast, in the sense
of \wriTs\ti, " the grief delights me." The translation given in
the text is proposed by Porson, and approved of by Elmsley.
1376-1400.] MEDEA. 57
MED. How then ? what shall I do ? for I also am very
desirous.
JAS. Suffer me, I beg, to bury and mourn over these dead
bodies.
MED. Never indeed ; since I will bury them with this
hand bearing them to the shrine of Juno, the Goddess
guardian of the citadel, that no one of my enemies may in-
sult them, tearing up their graves. But in this land of
Sisyphus will I institute in addition to this a solemn fes-
tival and sacrifices hereafter to expiate this unhallowed
murder. But I myself will go to the land of Erectheus, to
dwell with jEgeus son of Pandion. But thou, wretch, as is
fit, shalt die wretchedly, struck on thy head with a relic of
thy ship Argo, having seen the bitter end of my marriage.
JAS. But may the Fury of the children, and Justice the
avenger of murder, destroy thee.
MED. But what God or Deity hears thee, thou perjured
man, and traitor to the rights of hospitality?
JAS. Ah ! thou abominable woman, and murderer of thy
children.
MED. Go to thy home, and bury thy wife.
JAS. I go, even deprived of both my children.
MED. Thou dost not yet mourn enough: stay and grow
old. 1
JAS. Oh my dearest sons !
MED. To their mother at least, but not to thee.
JAS. And yet thou slewest them.
MED. To grieve thee.
JAS. Alas, Alas ! I hapless man long to kiss the dear
mouths of my children.
1 Elmsley has
fiive KOI yrfpof.
" Stay yet for old age" So also Dindorf.
58 MEDEA. [1401-1419.
MED. Now thou addressest, now salutest them, formerly
rejecting them with scorn.
JAS. Grant me, by the Gods, to touch the soft skin of my
sons.
MED. It is not possible. Thy words are thrown away
in vain.
JAS. Dost thou hear this, O Jove, how I am rejected, and
what I suffer from this accursed and child-destroying
lioness? But as much indeed as is in my power and I am
able, I lament and mourn over these ; calling the Gods to
witness, that having slain my children, thou preventest me
from touching them with my hands, and from burying the
bodies, whom, oh that I had never begotten, and seen them
thus destroyed by thee.
CHOE. Jove is the dispenser of various fates in heaven,
and the Gods perform many things contrary to our expecta-
tions, and those things which we looked for are not accom-
plished ; but the God hath brought to pass things unthought
of. In such manner hath this affair ended.
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