Humanitext Reader

Euripides · Medea §279-356

Medea's Plea and Creon's Grant of a One-Day Delay

Passage 4 of 16 · Greek

Summary

Medea pleads with Creon against the injustice of her exile and the prejudice toward her wisdom, begging for a single day's respite for her children. Despite his suspicions, Creon yields out of pity and grants her a one-day delay.

§279κοὐκ ἔστιν ἄτης εὐπρόσοιστος ἔκβασις.
And there is no easily accessible exit from ruin.
§280ἐρήσομαι δὲ καὶ κακῶς πάσχουσ’ ὅμως· §281τίνος μ’ ἕκατι γῆς ἀποστέλλεις, Κρέον;
Yet, though suffering badly, I will nevertheless ask: For what reason do you send me out of the land, Creon?
§282δέδοικά σ’—οὐδὲν δεῖ παραμπίσχειν λόγους— §283μή μοί τι δράσῃς παῖδ’ ἀνήκεστον κακόν.
I fear you—there is no need to cloak my words— lest you do some incurable evil to me.
§284συμβάλλεται δὲ πολλὰ τοῦδε δείματος· §285σοφὴ πέφυκας καὶ κακῶν πολλῶν ἴδρις, §286λυπῇ δὲ λέκτρων ἀνδρὸς ἐστερημένη.
And many things contribute to this fear of mine: you are wise by nature and skilled in many evils, and you are grieved, being deprived of your husband's bed.
§287κλύω δ’ ἀπειλεῖν σ’, ὡς ἀπαγγέλλουσί μοι, §288τὸν δόντα καὶ γήμαντα καὶ γαμουμένην §289δράσειν τι.
And I hear that you threaten, as they report to me, to do something to the one who gave, the one who wedded, and the one who was wedded.
ταῦτ’ οὖν πρὶν παθεῖν φυλάξομαι.
Therefore, before I suffer, I will guard against this.
§290κρεῖσσον δέ μοι νῦν πρός σ’ ἀπεχθέσθαι, γύναι, §291ἢ μαλθακισθένθ’ ὕστερον μέγα στένειν.
It is better for me to be hated by you now, woman, than to be softened and groan greatly later.
§292φεῦ φεῦ.
Alas, alas!
§292aοὐ νῦν με πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις, Κρέον, §293ἔβλαψε δόξα μεγάλα τ’ εἴργασται κακά.
Not now for the first time, but many times, Creon, has my reputation harmed me and wrought great evils.
§294χρὴ δ’ οὔποθ’ ὅστις ἀρτίφρων πέφυκ’ ἀνὴρ §295παῖδας περισσῶς ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι σοφούς· §296χωρὶς γὰρ ἄλλης ἧς ἔχουσιν ἀργίας §297φθόνον πρὸς ἀστῶν ἀλφάνουσι δυσμενῆ.
Never should any man who is of sound mind by nature have his children educated to be excessively wise; for apart from the other idleness they possess, they win hostile envy from their fellow citizens.
§298σκαιοῖσι μὲν γὰρ καινὰ προσφέρων σοφὰ §299δόξεις ἀχρεῖος κοὐ σοφὸς πεφυκέναι· §300τῶν δ’ αὖ δοκούντων εἰδέναι τι ποικίλον §301κρείσσων νομισθεὶς ἐν πόλει λυπρὸς φανῇ.
For if you bring new wisdom to fools, you will seem useless and not wise; while if you are thought superior to those who seem to know something complex, you will appear troublesome in the city.
§302ἐγὼ δὲ καὐτὴ τῆσδε κοινωνῶ τύχης.
And I myself share in this fortune.
§303σοφὴ γὰρ οὖσα, τοῖς μέν εἰμ’ ἐπίφθονος, §304τοῖς δ’ ἡσυχαία, τοῖς δὲ θατέρου τρόπου, §305τοῖς δ’ αὖ προσάντης· εἰμὶ δ’ οὐκ ἄγαν σοφή.
For being wise, I am enviable to some, to others quiet, to others of a different sort, and to others again offensive; yet I am not excessively wise.
§306σὺ δ’ οὖν φοβῇ με· μὴ τί πλημμελὲς πάθῃς;
And so you fear me; lest you suffer some harm?
§307οὐχ ὧδ’ ἔχει μοι—μὴ τρέσῃς ἡμᾶς, Κρέον— §308ὥστ’ ἐς τυράννους ἄνδρας ἐξαμαρτάνειν.
My situation is not such—do not tremble at me, Creon— that I should offend against sovereign men.
§309σὺ γὰρ τί μ’ ἠδίκηκας;
For how have you wronged me?
ἐξέδου κόρην §310ὅτῳ σε θυμὸς ἦγεν.
You gave your daughter in marriage to whomsoever your heart led you.
ἀλλ’ ἐμὸν πόσιν §311μισῶ· σὺ δ’, οἶμαι, σωφρονῶν ἔδρας τάδε.
But my husband I hate; you, I think, did this in a sober mind.
§312καὶ νῦν τὸ μὲν σὸν οὐ φθονῶ καλῶς ἔχειν· §313νυμφεύετ’, εὖ πράσσοιτε· τήνδε δὲ χθόνα §314ἐᾶτέ μ’ οἰκεῖν.
And now I do not envy your affairs turning out well; marry, and fare well; but in this land let me dwell.
καὶ γὰρ ἠδικημένοι §315σιγησόμεσθα, κρεισσόνων νικώμενοι.
For even though wronged, we shall keep silent, being conquered by our superiors.
§316λέγεις ἀκοῦσαι μαλθάκ’, ἀλλ’ ἔσω φρενῶν §317ὀρρωδία μοι μή τι βουλεύσῃς κακόν, §318τόσῳ δέ γ’ ἧσσον ἢ πάρος πέποιθά σοι· §319γυνὴ γὰρ ὀξύθυμος, ὡς δ’ αὔτως ἀνήρ, §320ῥᾴων φυλάσσειν ἢ σιωπηλὸς σοφός.
You speak words gentle to hear, but inside my mind I have a dread lest you are plotting some evil, and by so much less do I trust you than before; for a hot-tempered woman, and likewise a man, is easier to guard against than a silent, wise one.
§321ἀλλ’ ἔξιθ’ ὡς τάχιστα, μὴ λόγους λέγε· §322ὡς ταῦτ’ ἄραρε, κοὐκ ἔχεις τέχνην ὅπως §323μενεῖς παρ’ ἡμῖν οὖσα δυσμενὴς ἐμοί.
But go out as quickly as possible, do not make speeches; since this is fixed, and you have no device whereby you will remain among us, being hostile to me.
§324μή, πρός σε γονάτων τῆς τε νεογάμου κόρης.
No, I beg you by your knees and by the newly-wed maiden.
§325λόγους ἀναλοῖς· οὐ γὰρ ἂν πείσαις ποτέ.
You waste words; for you would never persuade me.
§326ἀλλ’ ἐξελᾷς με κοὐδὲν αἰδέσῃ λιτάς;
But will you drive me out and respect my prayers not at all?
§327φιλῶ γὰρ οὐ σὲ μᾶλλον ἢ δόμους ἐμούς.
Yes, for I do not love you more than my own house.
§328ὦ πατρίς, ὥς σου κάρτα νῦν μνείαν ἔχω.
O fatherland, how deeply I remember you now!
§329πλὴν γὰρ τέκνων ἔμοιγε φίλτατον πολύ.
For except for children, it is by far the dearest thing to me.
§330φεῦ φεῦ, βροτοῖς ἔρωτες ὡς κακὸν μέγα.
Alas, alas! How great an evil love is to mortals.
§331ὅπως ἄν, οἶμαι, καὶ παραστῶσιν τύχαι.
In accordance, I think, with how fortunes also turn out.
§332Ζεῦ, μὴ λάθοι σε τῶνδ’ ὃς αἴτιος κακῶν.
Zeus, let it not escape you who is the cause of these evils.
§333ἕρπ’, ὦ ματαία, καί μ’ ἀπάλλαξον πόνων.
Go, foolish woman, and rid me of troubles.
§334πονοῦμεν ἡμεῖς κοὐ πόνων κεχρήμεθα.
I am in trouble, and I have no need of more troubles.
§335τάχ’ ἐξ ὀπαδῶν χειρὸς ὠσθήσῃ βίᾳ.
Soon you will be pushed by force by the hand of my attendants.
§336μὴ δῆτα τοῦτό γ’, ἀλλά σ’ αἰτοῦμαι, Κρέον. . .
No, indeed, not that, but I entreat you, Creon...
§337ὄχλον παρέξεις, ὡς ἔοικας, ὦ γύναι.
You will cause trouble, as it seems, woman.
§338φευξούμεθ’· οὐ τοῦθ’ ἱκέτευσα σοῦ τυχεῖν.
We shall go into exile; I did not supplicate to obtain this from you.
§339τί δαὶ βιάζῃ κοὐκ ἀπαλλάσσῃ χερός;
Why then do you use force and not let go of my hand?
§340μίαν με μεῖναι τήνδ’ ἔασον ἡμέραν §341καὶ ξυμπερᾶναι φροντίδ’ ᾗ φευξούμεθα, §342παισίν τ’ ἀφορμὴν τοῖς ἐμοῖς, ἐπεὶ πατὴρ §343οὐδὲν προτιμᾷ μηχανήσασθαι τέκνοις.
Allow me to remain this one day and to complete my thought on how we shall flee, and a resource for my children, since their father cares not at all to devise anything for his children.
§344οἴκτιρε δ’ αὐτούς· καὶ σύ τοι παίδων πατὴρ §345πέφυκας· εἰκὸς δ’ ἐστὶν εὔνοιάν σ’ ἔχειν.
But pity them; you too are born a father of children; it is reasonable for you to have goodwill.
§346τοὐμοῦ γὰρ οὔ μοι φροντίς, εἰ φευξούμεθα, §347κείνους δὲ κλαίω συμφορᾷ κεχρημένους.
For I have no concern for myself if we must flee, but I weep for them, beset by disaster.
§348ἥκιστα τοὐμὸν λῆμ’ ἔφυ τυραννικόν, §349αἰδούμενος δὲ πολλὰ δὴ διέφθορα· §350καὶ νῦν ὁρῶ μὲν ἐξαμαρτάνων, γύναι, §351ὅμως δὲ τεύξῃ τοῦδε·
My temper is least of all tyrannical, and through showing mercy I have indeed ruined many things; and now I see that I am making a mistake, woman, but nevertheless you shall obtain this.
προυννέπω δέ σοι, §352εἴ σ’ ἡ’πιοῦσα λαμπὰς ὄψεται θεοῦ §353καὶ παῖδας ἐντὸς τῆσδε τερμόνων χθονός, §354θανῇ· λέλεκται μῦθος ἀψευδὴς ὅδε.
Yet I forewarn you, if the coming light of the god shall see you and your children within the boundaries of this land, you shall die; this word is spoken without falsehood.
§355νῦν δ’, εἰ μένειν δεῖ, μίμν’ ἐφ’ ἡμέραν μίαν· §356οὐ γάρ τι δράσεις δεινὸν ὧν φόβος μ’ ἔχει.
But now, if you must remain, remain for one day; for you will not do any of the terrible things of which fear holds me.

Notes

  1. §282δέδοικά σ’ — The verb of fearing δέδοικα is followed by the μή clause in §283 with the subjunctive (δράσῃς), meaning 'lest you do...'. The accusative pronoun σέ ('you') is a proleptic object in the main clause, which grammatically functions as the subject of the dependent clause.
  2. §283δράσῃς παῖδ’ ἀνήκεστον κακόν — A double accusative construction where the verb δράω ('do') takes both the recipient (με, 'to me') and the action/object (ἀνήκεστον κακόν, 'an incurable evil') in the accusative case. Although some manuscripts read μοί (dative), the syntax operates with the double accusative.
  3. §295ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι — The middle voice of the verb ἐκδιδάσκω ('teach thoroughly'). It functions as an indirect middle, expressing the causative or personal interest of 'having one's own children educated' by others.
  4. §324πρός σε γονάτων — A formulaic word order in supplications, where the accusative personal pronoun of the person entreated (σε, 'you') is inserted between the preposition πρός ('by') and the genitive noun it governs (γονάτων, 'knees').
  5. §331ὅπως ἄν... — An elliptical clause introduced by ὅπως ἄν, where a verb in the subjunctive or optative is omitted. In context, it functions as a conditional or relative clause meaning 'in whatever way the fortunes may turn out [so does love turn out for mortals].'

Cite this passage

Euripides, Medea §279-356. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg003.humanitext-grc2:279-356

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