Whither is the bloody maenad, headlong with fierce love, being driven?
§852facilius parat furore?— §853vultus citatus ira §854riget et caput feroci §855quatiens superba motu §856regi minatur ultro.
What is she preparing more easily in her uncontrollable rage? —— Her face, incited by anger, grows rigid, and shaking her head with ferocious motion, she proudly threatens even the king.
§857quis credat exulem?
Who would believe her an exile?
§858flagrant genae rubentes.
Her cheeks burn red.
§859pallor fugat ruborem, §860nullum vagante forma §861servat diu colorem. — §862huc fert pedes et illuc, §863ut tigris orba natis §864cursu furente lustrat §865Grangeticum nemus.
Pallor banishes the redness, and with her appearance shifting, she keeps no color for long. —— She directs her steps hither and thither, like a tigress bereft of her cubs traverses with frantic course the Ganges grove.
§866frenare nescit iras §867Medea, non amores; §868nunc ira amorque causam §869iunxere: quid sequetur?
Medea knows not how to curb her anger, nor her love; now anger and love have joined their cause: what will follow?
§870quando efferet Pelasgis §871nefanda Colchis arvis §872gressum metuque solvet §873regnum simulque reges?— §874nunc, Phoebe, mitte currus §875nullo morante loro, §876nox condat alma lucem, §877mergat diem timendum §878dux noctis Hesperus.
When will the abominable Colchian bear her steps from the Pelasgian fields and release from fear the kingdom and, at the same time, the kings? —— Now, Phoebus, send your chariot with no rein delaying it; let kindly night hide the light, and let Hesperus, leader of the night, submerge this dreadful day.
All has perished, the state of the kingdom has fallen; daughter and father lie mingled in ash.
§881Qua fraude capti?
Caught by what snare?
§882bIn illis esse quis potuit dolus?
What guile could there be in them?
Even I myself wonder, and though the evil is now done, I can scarcely believe it could have happened.
§884bQuis cladis modus?
What was the manner of the disaster?
§885Avidus per omnem regiae partem furit. §886ut iussus ignis: iam domus tota occidit, §887urbi timetur.
A greedy fire rages through every part of the palace as if commanded; now the whole house falls, and there is fear for the city.
§887bVnda flammas opprimat.
Let water extinguish the flames.
§888Et hoc in ista clade mirandum accidit: §889alit unda flammas, quoque prohibetur magis, §890magis ardet ignis: ipsa praesidia occupat.
And this wondrous thing happened in that disaster: water feeds the flames, and the more it is prevented, the more fiercely the fire burns; it seizes the very defenses.
Bear your swift step from the Pelopean seat, Medea; headlong seek any lands whatsoever.
§893Egone ut recedam? si profugissem prius,
I to withdraw? If I had fled beforehand, I would return for this.
§894ad hoc redirem, nuptias specto novas,
I behold the new nuptials.
§895quid, anime, cessas? sequere felicem impetum.
Why, my soul, do you delay? Follow your happy impulse.
§896pars ultionis ista, qua gaudes, quota est?
What a tiny fraction of the vengeance is that in which you rejoice!
You still love, mad woman, if it is enough for you that Jason is unmarried.
§899haut usitatum iamque sic temet para: §900fas omne cedat, abeat expulsus pudor; §901vindicta levis est quam ferunt purae manus,
Seek a kind of punishment unusual, and now thus prepare yourself: let all right yield, let banished shame depart; light is the vengeance which pure hands carry.
§902incumbe in iras teque languentem excita §903penitusque veteres pectore ex imo impetus §904violenter hauri.
Throw yourself into anger and rouse your languid self, and deep from the bottom of your breast violently draw up your ancient impulses.
quicquid admissum est adhuc, §905pietas vocetur, hoc agam et faxo sciant §906quam levia fuerint quamque vulgaris notae
Whatever has been committed hitherto let it be called piety; I shall do this and make them know how light and of how common a stamp were the crimes I previously lent them.
My pain made a prelude through those: what could untrained hands dare that was great?
§909audere magnum? quid puellaris furor?
What could a girlish fury do?
§910Medea nunc sum; crevit ingenium malis.
Now I am Medea; my talent has grown with evils.
§911Iuvat, iuvat rapuisse fraternum caput; §912artus iuvat secuisse et arcano patrem §913spoliasse sacro, iuvat in exitium senis
It pleases, it pleases to have snatched away my brother's head; it pleases to have cut up his limbs and to have despoiled my father of his sacred secret; it pleases to the destruction of the old man to have armed his daughters.
Seek material, my pain: to every crime you will bring a hand not unpracticed.
Whither then, anger, do you send yourself, or what weapons do you aim at the treacherous foe?
§918decrevit animus intus et nondum sibi §919audet fateri, stulta properavi nimis: §920ex paelice utinam liberos hostis meus §921aliquos haberet— quicquid ex illo tuum est,
A certain fierce resolve has been decided within my soul, and it does not yet dare confess it to itself. Foolish, I have hastened too much: would that my enemy had some children from his mistress! —— Whatever you have from him, Creusa has borne.
§922Creusa peperit, placuit hoc poenae genus, §923meritoque placuit: ultimum, agnosco, scelus §924animo parandum est— liberi quondam mei, §925vos pro paternis sceleribus poenas date.
This kind of punishment has pleased, and justly has it pleased: the ultimate crime, I acknowledge, must be prepared by my soul. —— My children once, pay the penalty for your father's crimes.
Horror has struck my heart, my limbs grow numb with cold, and my breast trembles.
ira discessit loco §928materque tota coniuge expulsa redit,
Anger has departed from its place, and the mother completely returns, the wife being expelled.
Shall I pour out the blood of my own children and my offspring? Far better, ah, mad fury!
Let that unheard-of deed and dreadful wickedness be far from me as well; what crime will the wretched ones pay for?
§933scelus est Iason genitor et maius scelus §934Medea mater— occidant, non sunt mei; §935pereant, mei sunt.
Jason their father is the crime, and a greater crime is Medea their mother. —— Let them die, they are not mine; let them perish, they are mine.
crimine et culpa carent, §936sunt innocentes: fateor, et frater fuit.
They are free from crime and fault, they are innocent: I confess it, and my brother was too.
Why, my soul, do you falter? Why do tears wet my face, and anger now hither, love now thither distract me?
§939diducit? anceps aestus incertam rapit; §940ut saeva rapidi bella cum venti gerunt §941utrimque fluctus maria discordes agunt §942dubiumque fervet pelagus, haut aliter meum §943cor fluctuatur.
A double tide sweeps me, uncertain; as when swift winds wage fierce wars, and discordant waves drive the seas from both sides, and the doubtful deep boils, not otherwise does my heart fluctuate.
ira pietatem fugat §944iramque pietas— cede pietati, dolor.
Anger puts piety to flight, and piety anger. —— Yield to piety, my pain.
§945Huc, cara proles, unicum afflictae domus
Hither, dear offspring, sole comfort of my afflicted house