Medea | Medea
Medea
[Enter Nurse from the house.]
- Nurse
-
If only the ship Argo had never flown
through the dark Symplegades into the land
of Colchis, and the felled pine had never
fallen in the glens of Pelion,
and the hands of heroes never manned its oars,(5)
never sought the Golden Fleece for Pelias!
Then my mistress Medea would not have sailed
to the towers of Iolcus, her heart smitten
by love for Jason. Then she would never
have persuaded the daughters of Pelias(10)
to kill their father, and been forced to live
in this land of Corinth with her husband
and children, an exile who pleased the citizens
of her new home, a help to Jason himself
in all matters. This is the greatest salvation,(15)
when a wife stands together with her husband.
But, now it's all hate, what was dearest is sick,
for Jason betrayed his children and my mistress
and goes to bed with a royal marriage:
he's married the child of Creon who rules this land.(20)
Poor, dishonored Medea shouts oaths
and recalls the great faith of their right hands
and calls the gods to witness the sort of return
she gets from Jason. She lies, fasting,
surrendering her body to pain,(25)
wasting away in tears ever since she perceived
herself mistreated by her husband,
neither lifting her eyes nor moving her face
from the ground; when she hears her friends rebuke her,
she listens like a rock or the sea's wave,(30)
except when she turns her white face away
and groans to herself for her dear father
and her land and the home she betrayed and left
with a husband who now dishonors her.
The poor thing has been taught by misfortune(35)
the importance of not losing your homeland.
She hates her children and hates the sight of them,
and I fear that she's plotting something new.
It'll only bring her greater suffering,
for she is terrible; no one takes her on(40)
as an enemy and emerges the victor.
The children are coming! They've stopped
exercising—
they don't understand their mother's trouble,
for a young mind doesn't like to worry.(45)
[Enter Tutor with Children from offstage.]
- Tutor
-
Long-time possession of my mistress,
why do you stand by the gates, in solitude,
bewailing your troubles to yourself?
Does Medea wish to be alone without you?
- Nurse
-
Old attendant of the children of Jason,(50)
for the best slaves, the affairs of their masters,
going badly, affect even their own wits.
I have gone so far into pain that desire
took me to come here and tell the sky
and the earth of my mistress’ affairs.(55)
- Tutor
-
So the poor woman has not stopped groaning?
- Nurse
-
I envy you: her suffering's only started.
- Tutor
-
Fool—if one may say this of one's master.
How little she knows of her new troubles.
- Nurse
-
What is it, old man? Don't keep it from me.(60)
- Tutor
-
No, I regret even what I've just said.
- Nurse
-
Please, don't conceal it from your fellow slave,
for I'll be silent around here, if I must.
- Tutor
-
I was near the dice games, where the old men
sit, around the holy spring of Pirene,(65)
and I heard someone say, when I didn't
seem to be listening, that Creon,
the ruler of this land, intends to drive
these children from Corinthian earth
with their mother. I don't know if the story(70)
is sound, although I hope it isn't.
- Nurse
-
And Jason will allow his children to suffer,
even if he quarrels with their mother?
- Tutor
-
Old things are abandoned for the new in-laws,
and that man is not a friend to this house.(75)
- Nurse
-
We're done for, if we add this new trouble
to the old one, before we've suffered it.
- Tutor
-
But, you, since it's not the right time for our mistress
to know this, keep quiet and tell no one.
- Nurse
-
Children, do you hear how your father acts towards(80)
you?
I won't wish him death, for he's still my master,
but he has proven bad to his friends.
- Tutor
-
What mortal isn't? Do you learn this now?
Every single person loves himself(85)
more than his fellow man, if a father
does not love his children because of his bed.
- Nurse
-
Go inside now, children, it will be all right—
but you, isolate them as much as you can,
keep them away from their mother while she's angry.(90)
I've already seen her looking at them
like a bull, like she was about to do
something; and she won't stop her anger,
I know for certain, before she has fallen
on someone. I just hope she does it to(95)
enemies, at least, and not to friends.
- Nurse
-
This is it, dear children; your mother
stirs her heart, stirs her anger.(100)
Hurry quickly inside the house,
and don't go within her sight.
Don't go near her, but watch out
for her fierce heart and the hateful nature
of her contumacious mind.(105)
Go now, get inside quickly!
It is clear she will soon light
with greater spirit the cloud
of lamentation now rising
in its beginning. Whatever will(110)
her heart, bitten by troubles,
high-spirited, hard to check, do?
- Medea
-
Alas!
I have suffered, oh, dreadfully
have I suffered things(115)
worthy of lamentation.
Oh, let them die, the accursed children
of a hateful mother, with their father,
and let the whole house disappear!
- Nurse
-
Oh my, the poor woman!(120)
Why do you give the boys a share
of their father's embraces? Why do you hate them?
Alas, children, how I fear you will suffer!
Royal tempers are terrible—it seems that
they rule much, but are themselves rarely ruled,(125)
and with difficulty do they control their anger.
It is better to live always among equals;
for myself, at any rate, I hope
to grow old securely in modest circumstances.
First of all, the very idea of moderation(130)
wins first prize in speaking, and in action,
is by far the best way for mortals, but excessive power
can produce no proper return for human beings,
instead giving back greater madness
whenever God is angry at the house.(135)
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also:
- - For teachers, the Medea Lesson Plan.
- - Medea summary and study guide in the eNotes.
Tell a friend about Medea at eNotes.
