§358φεῦ φεῦ, μελέα τῶν σῶν ἀχέων.
Alas, alas, wretched one, for your sufferings!
§359ποῖ ποτε τρέψῃ;
Whither indeed will you turn?
τίνα πρὸς ξενίαν;
To what hospitality?
What home or land as a savior from evils will you find?
Into how helpless a wave of evils has the god, Medea, guided you!
§364κακῶς πέπρακται πανταχῇ· τίς ἀντερεῖ;
Things have gone badly on all sides; who will deny it?
§365ἀλλ’ οὔτι ταύτῃ ταῦτα, μὴ δοκεῖτέ πω.
But things are not yet this way, do not think it so.
There are still contests for the newlyweds, and for those who made the match no small troubles.
For do you think I would ever have fawned upon this man, unless I were to gain something or were plotting?
§370οὐδ’ ἂν προσεῖπον οὐδ’ ἂν ἡψάμην χεροῖν.
I would not even have spoken to him, nor touched him with my hands.
§371ὃ δ’ ἐς τοσοῦτον μωρίας ἀφίκετο, §372ὥστ’ ἐξὸν αὐτῷ τἄμ’ ἑλεῖν βουλεύματα §373γῆς ἐκβαλόντι, τήνδ’ ἀφῆκεν ἡμέραν §374μεῖναί μ’, ἐν ᾗ τρεῖς τῶν ἐμῶν ἐχθρῶν νεκροὺς §375θήσω, πατέρα τε καὶ κόρην πόσιν τ’ ἐμόν.
But he has reached such a pitch of folly, that when it was possible for him to ruin my plans by casting me out of the land, he allowed me to remain this day, on which I shall make three of my enemies corpses: the father, the girl, and my husband.
§376πολλὰς δ’ ἔχουσα θανασίμους αὐτοῖς ὁδούς, §377οὐκ οἶδ’ ὁποίᾳ πρῶτον ἐγχειρῶ, φίλαι· §378πότερον ὑφάψω δῶμα νυμφικὸν πυρί, §379ἢ θηκτὸν ὤσω φάσγανον δι’ ἥπάτος, §380σιγῇ δόμους ἐσβᾶσ’, ἵν’ ἔστρωται λέχος.
And having many deadly ways against them, I do not know which I should attempt first, my friends; whether I should set fire to the bridal chamber, or thrust a sharp sword through their liver, entering the house in silence, where the bed is spread.
§381ἀλλ’ ἕν τί μοι πρόσαντες· εἰ ληφθήσομαι §382δόμους ὑπεσβαίνουσα καὶ τεχνωμένη, §383θανοῦσα θήσω τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐχθροῖς γέλων.
But there is one thing against me: if I am caught entering the house and plotting, I shall die and cause laughter to my enemies.
Best is the straight path, in which we are by nature most skilled, to destroy them with poisons.
§386εἶἑν·
Very well.
§386aκαὶ δὴ τεθνᾶσι· τίς με δέξεται πόλις;
And suppose they are dead; what city will receive me?
What host, providing a land of refuge and a secure house, will rescue my person?
§389οὐκ ἔστι.
There is none.
μείνασ’ οὖν ἔτι σμικρὸν χρόνον, §390ἢν μέν τις ἡμῖν πύργος ἀσφαλὴς φανῇ, §391δόλῳ μέτειμι τόνδε καὶ σιγῇ φόνον· §392ἢν δ’ ἐξελαύνῃ ξυμφορά μ’ ἀμήχανος, §393αὐτὴ ξίφος λαβοῦσα, κεἰ μέλλω θανεῖν, §394κτενῶ σφε, τόλμης δ’ εἶμι πρὸς τὸ καρτερόν.
Having waited then a little longer, if some secure tower appears to us, I will pursue this murder with deceit and silence; but if helpless disaster drives me out, I myself, taking the sword, even if I am to die, will kill them, and go to the strength of daring.
§395οὐ γὰρ μὰ τὴν δέσποιναν ἣν ἐγὼ σέβω §396μάλιστα πάντων καὶ ξυνεργὸν εἱλόμην, §397Ἑκάτην, μυχοῖς ναίουσαν ἑστίας ἐμῆς, §398χαίρων τις αὐτῶν τοὐμὸν ἀλγυνεῖ κέαρ.
For by the mistress whom I revere most of all and chose as my helper, Hecate, who dwells in the inner recesses of my hearth, no one of them shall pain my heart with impunity.
Bitter and dismal will I make their wedding, and bitter the match, and my banishment from the land.
§401ἀλλ’ εἶα·
But come!
φείδου μηδὲν ὧν ἐπίστασαι, §402Μήδεια, βουλεύουσα καὶ τεχνωμένη· §403ἕρπ’ ἐς τὸ δεινόν· νῦν ἀγὼν εὐψυχίας.
Spare nothing of what you know, Medea, plotting and scheming; go into the terrible thing; now is the contest of courage.
§404ὁρᾷς ἃ πάσχεις· οὐ γέλωτα δεῖ σ’ ὀφλεῖν §405τοῖς Σισυφείοις τοῖς τ’ Ἰάσονος γάμοις, §406γεγῶσαν ἐσθλοῦ πατρὸς Ἡλίου τ’ ἄπο.
You see what you suffer; you must not incur laughter from the Sisypheans and Jason's wedding, being born of a noble father and from Helios.
§407ἐπίστασαι δέ· πρὸς δὲ καὶ πεφύκαμεν §408γυναῖκες, ἐς μὲν ἔσθλ’ ἀμηχανώταται, §409κακῶν δὲ πάντων τέκτονες σοφώταται.
And you know how; and besides, we are by nature women, most helpless indeed towards good things, but of all evils the wisest creators.
Upward flow the streams of holy rivers, and justice and all things are turned backward.
§412ἀνδράσι μὲν δόλιαι βουλαί, θεῶν δ’ §414οὐκέτι πίστις ἄραρε· §415τὰν δ’ ἐμὰν εὔκλειαν ἔχειν βιοτὰν στρέψουσι φᾶμαι· §419ἔρχεται τιμὰ γυναικείῳ γένει· §420οὐκέτι δυσκέλαδος φάμα γυναῖκας ἕξει.
Men's counsels are deceitful, and of the gods pledges are no longer secure; but rumors will turn my life to having good repute; honor is coming to the female race; no longer shall ill-sounding rumor possess women.
And the Muses of ancient poets shall cease to hymn my unfaithfulness.
§423οὐ γὰρ ἐν ἁμετέρᾳ γνώμᾳ λύρας §425ὤπασε θέσπιν ἀοιδὰν §426Φοῖβος, ἀγήτωρ μελέων· ἐπεὶ ἀντάχησ’ ἂν ὕμνον §427ἀρσένων γέννᾳ.
For not in our mind did Phoebus, leader of songs, grant the divine song of the lyre; since otherwise I would have sung a song in answer to the race of males.
μακρὸς δ’ αἰὼν ἔχει §430πολλὰ μὲν ἁμετέραν ἀνδρῶν τε μοῖραν εἰπεῖν.
But long time has much to say of both our lot and that of men.
§431σὺ δ’ ἐκ μὲν οἴκων πατρίων ἔπλευσας §432μαινομένᾳ κραδίᾳ, διδύμους ὁρίσασα πόντου §433πέτρας· ἐπὶ δὲ ξένᾳ §435ναίεις χθονί, τᾶς ἀνάνδρου §436κοίτας ὀλέσασα λέκτρον, §437τάλαινα, φυγὰς δὲ χώρας §438ἄτιμος ἐλαύνῃ.
But you sailed from your father's home with a mad heart, having passed the double rocks of the sea; and on a foreign land you dwell, having lost the bed of a husbandless couch, wretched one, and from the land as an exile dishonored you are driven.
Gone is the grace of oaths, nor does shame (aidos) any longer remain in great Greece, but has flown to the sky.
§441σοὶ δ’ οὔτε πατρὸς δόμοι, §442δύστανε, μεθορμίσασθαι §443μόχθων πάρα, τῶν τε λέκτρων §444ἄλλα βασίλεια κρείσσων §445δόμοισιν ἐπέστα.
And for you there is no father's house, wretched one, to anchor in from troubles, and over your bed another princess more powerful has stood over the house.
Not now for the first time but often have I seen how harsh anger is a helpless evil.
§448σοὶ γὰρ παρὸν γῆν τήνδε καὶ δόμους ἔχειν §449κούφως φερούσῃ κρεισσόνων βουλεύματα, §450λόγων ματαίων οὕνεκ’ ἐκπεσῇ χθονός.
For though it was possible for you to hold this land and house by bearing lightly the counsels of your superiors, because of foolish words you will be cast out of the land.
§451κἀμοὶ μὲν οὐδὲν πρᾶγμα· μὴ παύσῃ ποτὲ §452λέγουσ’ Ἰάσον’ ὡς κάκιστός ἐστ’ ἀνήρ· §453ἃ δ’ ἐς τυράννους ἐστί σοι λελεγμένα, §454πᾶν κέρδος ἡγοῦ ζημιουμένη φυγῇ.
And to me indeed it is of no concern; never cease saying that Jason is the worst of men; but as for what has been spoken by you against the rulers, consider it all gain that you are punished only by exile.