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Jason
Thou, too, art grieved thyself, and sharest in my sorrow.
Thou, too, art grieved thyself, and sharest in my sorrow.
Medea
Be well assured I am; but it relieves my pain to know thou canst not mock at me.
Be well assured I am; but it relieves my pain to know thou canst not mock at me.
Jason
O my children, how vile a mother ye have found!
O my children, how vile a mother ye have found!
Medea
My sons, your father’s feeble lust has been your ruin!
My sons, your father’s feeble lust has been your ruin!
Jason
’Twas not my hand, at any rate, that slew them.
1365
’Twas not my hand, at any rate, that slew them.
1365
Medea
No, but thy foul treatment of me, and thy new marriage.
No, but thy foul treatment of me, and thy new marriage.
Jason
Didst think that marriage cause enough to murder them?
Didst think that marriage cause enough to murder them?
Medea
Dost think a woman counts this a trifling injury?
Dost think a woman counts this a trifling injury?
Jason
So she be self-restrained; but in thy eyes all is evil.
So she be self-restrained; but in thy eyes all is evil.
Medea
Thy sons are dead and gone. That will stab thy heart.
1370
Thy sons are dead and gone. That will stab thy heart.
1370
Jason
They live, methinks,
1
to bring a curse upon thy head.
They live, methinks,
1
to bring a curse upon thy head.
Medea
The gods know, whoso of them began this troublous coil.
The gods know, whoso of them began this troublous coil.
Jason
Indeed, they know that hateful heart of thine.
Indeed, they know that hateful heart of thine.
Medea
Thou art as hateful. I am aweary of thy bitter tongue.
Thou art as hateful. I am aweary of thy bitter tongue.
Jason
And I likewise of thine. But parting is easy.
1375
And I likewise of thine. But parting is easy.
1375
Medea
Say how; what am I to do? for I am fain as thou to go.
Say how; what am I to do? for I am fain as thou to go.
Jason
Give up to me those dead, to bury and lament
Give up to me those dead, to bury and lament
Medea
No, never! I will bury them myself, bearing them to Hera’s sacred field, who watches o’er the Cape,
that none of their foes may insult them by pulling down their tombs; and in this land of Sisyphus I will ordain hereafter a solemn feast and mystic rites to atone for this impious murder. Myself will now to the land of Erechtheus,
1380
to dwell with Aegeus, Pandion’s son. But thou, as well thou mayest, shalt die a caitiff’s death, thy head
2
crushed ’neath a shattered relic of Argo, when thou hast seen the bitter ending of my marriage.
1385
No, never! I will bury them myself, bearing them to Hera’s sacred field, who watches o’er the Cape,
that none of their foes may insult them by pulling down their tombs; and in this land of Sisyphus I will ordain hereafter a solemn feast and mystic rites to atone for this impious murder. Myself will now to the land of Erechtheus,
1380
to dwell with Aegeus, Pandion’s son. But thou, as well thou mayest, shalt die a caitiff’s death, thy head
2
crushed ’neath a shattered relic of Argo, when thou hast seen the bitter ending of my marriage.
1385
Medea. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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