§464clausamque saxo noctis aeternae obruat: §465minora meritis patiar— ingratum caput, §466revolvat animus igneos tauri halitus §469hostisque subiti tela, cum iussu meo §470terrigena miles mutua caede occidit; §471adice expetita spolia Phrixei arietis §472somnoque iussum lumina ignoto dare §473insomne monstrum, traditum fratrem neci §474et scelere in uno non semel factum scelus, §475ausasqne natas fraude deceptas mea §476secare membra non revicturi senis: §478per spes tuorum liberum et certum larem, §479per victa monstra, per manus, pro te quibus §480numquam peperci, perque prseteritos metus, §481per caelum et undas, coniugi testes mei, §482miserere, redde supplici felix vicem.
and let it overwhelm me, enclosed in the stone of eternal night: I shall suffer less than my deserts. — O ungrateful head, let your mind recall the fiery breaths of the bull, and the weapons of the sudden enemy, when by my command the earth-born soldier fell in mutual slaughter; add the sought-after spoils of Phrixus' ram, and the sleepless monster commanded to yield its eyes to an unknown sleep, and the brother delivered to death, and the crime committed not once in a single crime, and the daughters who, deceived by my trickery, dared to cut the limbs of the old man who would not live again: by the hopes of your children and your secure hearth, by the conquered monsters, by these hands which for you I never spared, and by past fears, by heaven and the waves, the witnesses of my marriage, have mercy, and in your prosperity return a favor to your suppliant.
§477aliena quaerens regna deserni mea: §483ex opibus illis, quas procul raptas Scythae §484usque a perustis Indiae populis agunt, §485quas quia referta vix domus gaza capit, §486ornamus auro nemora, nil exul tuli §487nisi fratris artus: hos quoque impendi tibi; §488tibi patria cessit, tibi pater, frater, pudor— §489hac dote nupsi.
Seeking foreign kingdoms, I abandoned my own: from those riches, which the Scythians, snatched from afar, drive all the way from the sun-scorched peoples of India, which, because our treasure-stuffed house can scarcely contain them, we adorn groves with gold—I, an exile, brought nothing except my brother's limbs: these too I spent on you; for you my fatherland yielded, for you my father, my brother, my modesty— with this dowry I married.
redde fugienti sua.
Return to the fleeing woman her own.
Jason: When the hostile Creon wished to destroy you, overcome by my tears, he granted exile.
§492Poenam putabam: munus ut video est fuga.
Medea: I thought it was a punishment: as I see, flight is a gift.
Jason: While you may depart, flee and rescue yourself from here: the wrath of kings is always heavy.
Medea: You urge this on me, you perform this service for Creusa: you remove the hated mistress.
§496Medea amores obicit?
Jason: Does Medea reproach me with love?
§496bEt caedem et dolos.
Medea: And murder and deceit.
§497Obicere tandem quod potes crimen mihi?
Jason: What crime, pray, can you reproach me with?
§498Quodcumque feci.
Medea: Whatever I did.
Jason: This one thing remains besides, that I should even become guilty of your crimes.
Medea: Those are yours, those are yours: he who benefits from a crime, he committed it.
Let everyone accuse your infamous wife; you alone defend me, you alone call me innocent: let whoever is guilty for your sake be innocent to you.
§504Ingrata vita est cuius acceptae pudet.
Jason: Unwelcome is a life of which one is ashamed to have received.
§505Retineuda non est cuius acceptae pudet.
Medea: It is not to be retained, if one is ashamed to have received it.
Jason: Nay rather, tame your breast stirred by anger, be reconciled for the sake of your children.
Medea: I disown, I abjure, I refuse— shall Creusa give brothers to my children?
§509Regina natis exulum, afflictis potens.
Jason: A queen to the children of exiles, a powerful woman to the afflicted.
Medea: May so evil a day never come to the wretched, which mixes famous offspring with a base breed.
§513Quid, misera, meque teque in exitium trahis?
Jason: Why, wretched woman, do you drag both me and yourself to destruction?
§514abscede quaeso,
Depart, I beg.
§514bSupplicem audivit Creo.
Medea: Creon heard a suppliant.
§515Quid facere possim, loquere,
Jason: Tell me, what can I do?
§515bPro me? vel scelus.
Medea: For me? Even a crime.
§516Hinc rex et illinc— §516bEst (et hic maior metus) §517Medea, nos † confligere, certemus sine, §518sit pretium Iason.
Jason: On this side the king, and on that— Medea: There is—and this is the greater fear— Medea. Let us clash; let us contend, let Jason be the prize.
§518bCedo defessus malis.
Jason: I yield, exhausted by evils.
§519et ipsa casus saepe iam expertos time.
And you yourself, fear the misfortunes already often experienced.
§520Fortuna semper omnis infra me stetit.
Medea: All fortune has always stood beneath me.
§521Acastus instat,
Jason: Acastus threatens.
non ut in socerum manus §523armes nec ut te caede cognata inquines §524Medea cogit: innocens mecum fuge.
Medea does not compel you to arm your hands against your father-in-law, nor to stain yourself with kindred blood: Medea compels: flee with me, innocent.
Jason: And who will resist if double wars assail, if Creon and Acastus join their arms?
Medea: Add to these the Colchians, add also leader Aeetes, join Scythians to Pelasgians: I will give them overwhelmed.
§529Alta extimesco sceptra,
Jason: I dread lofty sceptres.
§529bNe cupias vide.
Medea: See that you do not desire them.
§530Suspecta ne sint, longa colloquia amputa.
Jason: Lest they be suspected, cut short this long talk.
§531Nunc summe toto Iuppiter caelo tona, §532intende dextram, vindices flammas para §533omnemque ruptis nubibus mundum quate.
Medea: Now, supreme Jupiter, thunder in all heaven, stretch out your right hand, prepare your avenging flames and shake the whole world with burst clouds.
§534nec deligenti tela librentur manu §535rei me vel istum: quisquis e nobis cadet §536nocens peribit, non potest in nos tuum §537errare fulmen,
Nor let your weapons be poised with a careful hand to find me or that man guilty: whichever of us falls will perish guilty; your thunderbolt cannot err against us.
§537bSana meditari incipe
Jason: Begin to think sane thoughts and speak calmly.
If any solace from my father-in-law's house can alleviate your flight, ask for it.
§540Contemnere animus regias, ut scis, opes §541potest soletque; liberos tantum fugae §542habere comites liceat in quorum' sinu §543lacrimas profundam.
Medea: My mind, as you know, can and is accustomed to despise royal wealth; only allow my children to be companions of my flight, in whose bosom I may pour out my tears.
te novi nati manent. §544.
New children await you.
Parere precibus cupere me fateor tuis; §545pietas vetat: namque istud ut possim pati, §546non ipse memet cogat et rex et socer.
Jason: I confess that I desire to obey your prayers; but fatherly devotion forbids: for, that I should be able to bear that, neither the king himself nor my father-in-law could compel me.