Medea | Medea - Page 4

Chorus
Str. 1 The streams run up the holy rivers(440)
and justice and everything else is reversed:
Men have tricky counsels, and
their faith does not stand firm in oaths,
whereas my reputation will turn and
have good fame.(445)
Honor is coming to the race of women.
No more will ill-sounding fame hold women.
Ant. 1 The Muses will stop hymning my
faithlessness in their old songs,
for Phoebus, leader of songs, did not give(450)
to my comprehension the inspired song
of the lyre; since I would have sung a hymn
against the male race.
There is a great song with
much to say of my fate and that of men.(455)
Str. 2 You sailed from the home of your fathers
with a raging heart,
traveling through the twin rocks of Pontus, and now
you live in a foreign land, having lost(460)
the bed of your husbandless marriage,
poor woman, and dishonored you must
flee this land.
Ant. 2 The grace of oaths has gone; nor does shame
remain still in great Greece,(465)
but has flown up to heaven. You have no father's
house, unhappy woman, to shift your
anchorage towards, and another woman,
a princess, superior to your bed,
took over your house.(470)

[Enter Jason from offstage.]

Jason
This is not the first time that I've said it,
but harsh anger is an unbearable evil.
You could have remained in this land and house,
if you had meekly obeyed the ruler's will;
but, because of rash words, you are thrown out(475)
of the country. I have no problem with this;
keep on saying that Jason is the worst of men.
As for what you have said against the king,
think it a blessing that you are punished
only with exile. For my part, I always(480)
tried to calm the king when he was angry;
I wanted you to stay; but you did not
let up your foolishness, always cursing
the king. Therefore, you are thrown out of this
country.(485)
Still, after all this, I do not come here to fail
my friends, but to look after your lot, lady,
so that you and the children are not exiled
penniless or lacking anything.
Exile brings many evils with itself.(490)
After all, even if you hate me,
I could never think badly of you.
Medea
You entirely vile man—that's the greatest insult
my tongue can wield against your cowardice—
you come to us? You, the most hateful man alive?(495)
This is neither boldness nor courage,
your looking friends in the face while hurting them,
but rather the greatest of all human
diseases: shamelessness. Still, you did well to come,
for I will speak and unburden my soul(500)
in abusing you, and you will grieve to hear it.
I will start with the very beginning:
I saved you, as all the Greeks know who sailed
with you on your ship, the Argo. You were
sent to master the fire-breathing bulls with yokes(505)
and sow the deadly field. And the dragon
who was guarding the Golden Fleece, wrapped around it
with all those coils in eternal vigilance—
I killed it and gave you the light of salvation.
After betraying my father and my home,(510)
I came to Iolcus with you, more eager than wise.
I killed Pelias in the worst way
for a man to die—by his own children's hands,
and I destroyed his whole house. You got
all this from me, you worst of men, and then(515)
you betrayed me and got yourself a new bed,
even though you already had children.
If you were still childless, it would at least
be understandable for you to leave my bed.
The faith of oaths is over and gone—I wonder,(520)
do you think that the gods of that time are
no longer in power, or that now men
have some new rules for what is just? Because
you know that you are not being faithful to me.
Oh, this right hand, which you touched often,(525)
and these knees—how uselessly I was touched
by this bad man, and how I was mistaken!
Come, I'll share with you as if you were my friend.
(Thinking to get something good from you?
No, but being questioned, you'll be proven base.)(530)
Now where do I turn? To my homeland and
my father's house, which I betrayed for you?
Or to those poor daughters of Pelias?
Wouldn't they receive me nicely in the house
where I killed their father? Because that's how it(535)
stands!
I've made myself hateful to my friends at home,
whom I would never hurt for my own sake;
but for you I hold them as enemies.
Accordingly, in return for these things,(540)
you've made me blessed among Greek women:
I have you as my wonderful, faithful husband—
poor me! I will go into exile from this,
bereft of friends, alone with only my children.
A pretty disgrace for a new bridegroom:(545)
beggar children banished with me who saved you!
O Zeus, why did you grant men clear signs to tell
the purity of gold, when no stamp appears
on the body of men by which one can
know the good man from the evil-doer?(550)
Chorus
Anger is terrible and hard to heal,
when friends engage in strife against friends.
Jason
It seems I must argue that I'm not a bad man,
and, like the wise pilot of a ship, run out
from under the storm of your tongue-lashing(555)
with only the tips of the sails, my lady.
Although you exalt yourself exceedingly,
I know that alone of gods and men
Aphrodite was the savior of my sailing.
It's true you have a subtle mind, but it(560)
would be in poor taste to tell how Love with his
unavoidable arrows made you save my skin.
I'll not put matters so precisely.
Of course, you didn't do badly when you(565)
helped me. In fact, you took greater than you gave
from my salvation, as I shall explain.
First of all, you live in Greece instead of
a barbarian land, and you know justice
and how to use laws instead of force.(570)
All the Greeks know that you are clever,
and you are famous; but if you lived at
the ends of the earth, there'd be no account of you.
For me I'd rather not have gold at home,
nor would I sing sweeter than Orpheus,(575)
if no one would know about me. I've said
so much to you about my adventures,
since you started this competition of words.
As for your reproaches against my royal
marriage, first I'll show you that I was wise(580)
in this matter, and, second, restrained; and
third, a great friend to you and my children.
Keep quiet!
When I arrived here from Iolcus, besieged
by many impossible disasters,(585)
what luckier windfall could I find than this:
though an exile, to marry the king's daughter?
It's not what worries you so much—that I hate
your bed and am struck by desire of a new bride,
or am making an effort to outdo the number(590)
of your children. Those who are born are enough;
I don't hate them. But how—and this is the
biggest thing—could we live happily and not
in poverty, knowing that every friend
he meets flees a poor man, when I could raise(595)
children in a way worthy of my house,
beget brothers to those children from you
and join the houses together and be happy?
What need of children do you have? As for me,
there's profit in helping the living children(600)
with those to come. Surely I've not reasoned badly?
You wouldn't say so, if your empty bed
didn't annoy you. It's gotten so you
women think you have everything when
it's good in your bedroom, but if some misfortune(605)
strikes your chamber, you think even the best
and fairest things are the most adverse.
It would be better if men could get children
some other way, and there were no female race.
That way there would be no trouble for men.(610)
Chorus
Jason, you arranged your words well, but, still,
to me, if I may speak frankly, I think
that you've unjustly betrayed your wife.
Medea
Well, I'm different from many people
in that I think whoever is unjust,(615)
but clever at speaking deserves the greatest
punishment of all. When someone is overbold
in sugar-coating injustice with his tongue,
there's nothing he won't dare. Still, he's not so smart.
The same with you: to me now you don't seem suave(620)
or clever at speaking—one word will catch you.
If you really weren't ashamed, you should have
persuaded me and then gotten married,
but you kept quiet about this to your friends.
  • In a stasimon, the Chorus reacts to all the events of the previous episode, usually in chronological order. Here, the Chorus first notes the unequal status of men and women, then deal with Medea's plan to murder the children.
  • another name for Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and prophecy
  • i.e. through the Black Sea
  • The Greek audience would not need to be told who Jason was; they knew the story already, and his costume and mask indicated a hero in the prime of life.
  • Characters often make general statements like this at the beginning of a speech.
  • Greek tragedians, especially Euripides, often include an agon, or contest of speeches.
  • Note how Euripides plays down Medea's supernatural powers as a witch.
  • Here Medea clearly indicates that she views herself as Jason's equal, not a typically submissive woman. In fact, she claims power over Jason by mentioning his supplication of her.
  • a common lament in Euripidean plays
  • the goddess of love and sexual attraction
  • In Greek mythology, Eros (Love), son of Aphrodite, is portrayed as a boy with a golden bow who shoots arrows of desire at unlucky victims. Not even Zeus can resist these arrows.
  • Most of the Greek audience of the play would agree with these sentiments, even though Jason is an unsympathetic character.
  • the most famous singer of mythology, who could charm animals and even Death with his songs
  • The idea that a life of suffering, yet one that leads to fame, is better than a long happy life without glory is a theme of many Greek heroes.
  • An even more extreme version of this wish is voiced by the title character in Euripides’ Hippolytus.
Showing Page 4 of 10
« Previous Page 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Next Page »