Medea Lines 460-530

ου νυν κατεῖδον πρωτον αλλα πολλακις τραχειαν οργην ως αμηχανον κακον.

Not now for the first time, but often before, I have seen what an impossible evil a fierce anger is.

σοι γαρ παρον γην τηνδε και δομους εχειν κουφως φερουση κρεισσονων βουλευματα, λογων ματαιων ουνεκ εκπεση χθονος

For although you could have kept this land and this home by patiently bearing with your superiors’ plans, because of your foolish words you will be exiled from this country.

καμοι μεν ουδεν πραγμα. μη παυση ποτε λεγους Ιασον ως κακιστος εστ ανηρ

Not that it bothers me; never cease calling Jason the worst man alive.

α δ ες τυραννους εστι σοι λελεγμενα, παν κερδος ηγου ζημιουμενη φυγη

Yet as for your words against the rulers, count yourself lucky that your punishment is only exile.

καγω μεν αιει βασιλεων θυμουμενων οργας αφηρουν και σ εβοηλομην μενειν.

For my part, I have always tried to endure the kings' angry angers, and I wanted you to stay.

συ δ ουκ ανιεις μωριας, λεγους αει κακως τυραννους

But you would not cease from your folly, always speaking ill of the rulers.

τοιγαρ εκπεση χθονος

For that, you will be exiled from this country

ομως δε κακ τωνδ ουκ απειρηκως φιλοις ηκω, το σον δε πρασκοπουμενος, γυναι, ως μητ αχρημων συν τεκνοισιν εκπεσης μητ ενδεης του

Still, even after this, I have not failed my friends, but have come here in your interest, woman, so that you might not go into exile with your children, penniless or in need of anything.

πολλ εφελκεται φυγη κακα ξυν αυτή

Exile brings with it many troubles

και γαρ ει συ με στυγεις, ουκ αν δυναιμην σοι κακως φρονειν ποτε

Even if you hate me, I could never bring myself to think badly of you.

ὦ παγκάκιστε, τοῦτο γάρ σ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἔχω, γλῶσση μέγιστον εἰς ἀνανδρίαν κακόν, ἦλθες πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἦλθες ἔχθιστος γεγὼς [θεοῖς τε κἀμοὶ παντί τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων γένει;

O utterly vile man—for that is the only name I can give you, the greatest evil against cowardice that the tongue can frame—have you truly come to see us, after making yourself most hateful to the gods, to me, and to the whole race of mankind?

οὗτοι θράσος τόδ᾽ ἐστὶν οὐδ᾽ εὐτολμία, φίλους κακῶς δράσαντ᾽ ἐναντίον βλέπειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μεγίστη τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις νόσων πασῶν, ἀναίδεια·

This is not boldness or courage: to wrong your friends and then look them in the face, but is the worst of all vices among mankind—shamelessness.

εὖ δ᾽ ἐποίησας μολών· ἐγὼ τε γὰρ λέξασα κουφισθήσομαι ψυχὴν κακῶς σέ· καὶ σὺ λυπήσῃ κλύων.

Yet you did well to come, for it will relieve my soul to tell you how wicked you are—and you will grieve by what I have to say hearing it

ἐκ τῶν δὲ πρώτων πρῶτον ἄρξομαι λέγειν

I shall begin my speech from the beginning

ἔσωσά σ᾽, ὡς ἴσασιν Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι ταὐτὸν συνεισέβησαν Ἀργῴον σκάφος, πεμφθέντα ταύρων πυρπνόων ἐπιστάτην ζεύγλαισι καὶ σπεροῦντα θανάσιμον γύην·

I saved your life, as witness all the Greeks who sailed with you on the ship Argo—when you were sent to master the fire-breathing bulls with a yoke and to sow the deadly field

δράκοντά θ᾽, ὃς πάγχρυσον ἀμπέχων δέρος σπείραις ἔσῳζε πολυπλόκοις ἄυπνος ὤν, κτείνασ᾽ ἀνέσχον σοι φάος σωτήριον.

The dragon that guarded the Golden fleece, sleeplessly guarding it with his sinuous coils—I killed, and I raised for you the light of salvation.

αὐτὴ δὲ πατέρα καὶ δόμους προδοῦσ᾽ ἐμοὺς τὴν Πηλιῶτιν εἰς Ἰωλκὸν ἱκόμην σὺν σοί, πρόθυμος μᾶλλον ἢ σοφωτέρα·

Of my own accord, betraying my father and my house/home, I came with you to Iolcus under Pelion, showing more love than prudence.

Πελίαν τ᾽ ἀπέκτειν᾽, ὥσπερ ἄλγιστον θανεῖν, παιδῶν ὕπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, πάντα τ᾽ ἐξεῖλον δόμονΠελίαν τ᾽ ἀπέκτειν᾽, ὥσπερ ἄλγιστον θανεῖν, παιδῶν ὕπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, πάντα τ᾽ ἐξεῖλον δόμον

I killed Pelias by the most horrible way to die, at the hands of his own children, and I destroyed his whole house

καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν, ὦ κάκιστ᾽ ἀνδρῶν, παθὼν προὔδωκας ἡμᾶς, καινὰ δ᾽ ἐκτήσω λέχη, παίδων γεγώτων·

And after such benefits from me, you—O worst of men—you betrayed us and you have taken a new wife, though children have been born to us.

εἰ γὰρ ἦσθ᾽ ἄπαις ἔτι, συγγνωστ᾽ ἂν ἦν σοι τοῦδ᾽ ἐρασθῆναι λέχους.

For if you were still childless, your desire for this wife would be forgivable.

ὅρκων δὲ φροῦδη πίστις, οὐδ᾽ ἔχω μαθεῖν εἰ θεοὺς νομίζεις τοὺς τότ᾽ οὐκ ἄρχειν ἔτι ἢ καινὰ κεῖσθαι θέσμι᾽ ἀνθρώποις τὰ νῦν, ἐπεὶ σύνοισθά γ᾽ εἰς ἔμ᾽ οὐκ εὔορκος ὤν.

The trust of your oaths is gone, and I cannot tell whether you think the gods of old no longer rule, or whether new laws have been set up for mankind now—since you are surely aware that you are not oath-keeping toward me

φεῦ δεξιὰ χείρ, ἧς σὺ πολλὰ ἐλαμβάνου καὶ τῶνδε γουνάτων, ὡς μάτην κεχρώσμεθα κακοῦ πρὸς ἀνδρός

O right hand of mine, which you once grasped, and these knees—how in vain were you were grasped by an evil man!

ἐλπίδων δ᾽ ἡμάρτομεν.

How I have been cheated of my hopes!

ἄγ᾽, ὡς φίλῳ γάρ ὄντι σοι κοινώσομαι

But come now—for I shall share my thoughts with you as a friend

δοκοῦσα μὲν τί πρὸς γε σοῦ πράξειν καλῶς;

What benefit can I expect from you?

ὅμως δ᾽, ἐρωτηθεὶς γὰρ αἰσχίων φανῇ

Still I will do it, for you will be shown in a more shameful light by my questions

νῦν ποῖ τράπωμαι;

Where can I turn?

πότερα πρὸς πατρὸς δόμους, οὓς σοὶ προδοῦσα καὶ πάτραν ἀφικόμην;

To my father’s home, which like my homeland I left after betraying them for your sake when I came here?

ἢ πρὸς ταλαίνας Πελιάδας;

Or to the wretched daughters of Pelias?

καλῶς γ᾽ ἂν οὖν δέξαιντό μ᾽ οἴκοις ὧν πατέρα κατέκτανον.

A fine reception they would give me in their homes since I killed their father!

ἔχει γὰρ οὕτω

This is how things stand.

τοῖς μὲν οἴκοθεν φίλοις ἐχθρὰ καθέστηχ᾽, οὓς δέ μ᾽ οὐκ ἐχρῆν κακῶς δρᾶν, σοὶ χάριν φέρουσα πολεμίους ἔχω

I have become an enemy to my own friends at home, and by serving you I hold those as enemies whom I need not have harmed.

τοιγὰρ με πολλαῖς μακαρίαν Ἑλληνίδων ἔθηκας ἀντὶ τῶνδε·

That, doubtless, is why you have made me so fortunate in the eyes of many Greek women!

θαυμαστὸν δέ σε ἔχω πόσιν καὶ πιστόν, ἡ τάλαιν᾽ ἐγώ, εἰ φεύξομαι γῆν ἐκβεβλημένη, φίλων ἔρημος, σὺν τέκνοις μόνη μόνοις·

I, wretched as I am, have in you a wonderful and faithful husband if I shall flee from this land, deprived of friends, alone with my alone children.

καλὸν γ᾽ ὄνειδος τῷ νεωστὶ νυμφίῳ, πτωχοὺς ἀλᾶσθαι παῖδας οὕς τ᾽ ἔσωσά σε.

What a fine disgrace for a bridegroom—that his children are wandering as poor/beggars, and she who saved you likewise!

ὦ Ζεῦ, τί δὴ χρυσοῦ μὲν ὃς κίβδηλος ᾖ τεκμήρ᾽ ἀνθρώποισιν ὤπασας σαφῆ, ἀνδρῶν δ᾽ ὅτῳ χρὴ τὸν κακὸν διειδέναι οὐδεὶς χαρακτὴρ ἐμφέφυκε σώματι;

O Zeus, why, when you gave to mankind clear signs of gold that is counterfeit, is there no sign implanted on the body of men by which one could identify the evil one?

Terrible and hard to cure is the anger that comes when kin join in strife against kin

δεινὴ τις ὀργὴ καὶ δυσίατος πέλει, ὅταν φίλοι φίλοισι συμβάλωσ᾽ ἔριν.

δεῖ μ᾽, ὡς ἔοικε, μὴ κακὸν φῦναι λέγειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὥστε ναὸς κεδνὸν οἰακοστρόφον ἄκροισι λαίφους κρασπέδοις ὑπεκδραμεῖν τὴν σὴν στόμαργον, ὦ γύναι, γλωσσαλγίαν.

It seems, woman, that I must not be an evil speaker, but like a skillful helmsman of a ship must run before the storm of your sharp-tongued talkativeness by checking the edges of my sails with a reef.

ἐγὼ δ᾽, ἐπειδὴ καὶ λίαν πυργοῖς χάριν, Κύπριν νομίζω τῆς ἐμῆς ναυκληρίας σώτειραν εἶναι θεῶν τε κἀνθρώπων μόνην

Since you so greatly exaggerate your favor/kindness to me, I say that it was Aphrodite alone among gods and humans/mankind who was the savior of my expedition.

σοὶ δ᾽ ἔστι μὲν νοῦς λεπτός—ἀλλ᾽ ἐπίφθονος λόγος διελθεῖν ὡς Ἔρως σ᾽ ἠνάγκασε τόξοις ἀφύκτοις τοὐμὸν ἐκσῶσαι δέμας

As for you—you have a clever mind—but it is an invidious word/argument to recount how Eros compelled you with his inescapable arrows to save me.

ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀκριβῶς αὐτὸ θήσομαι λίαν·

No—I will not make too strict a reckoning on this point.

ὅπῃ γὰρ οὖν ὤνησας οὐ κακῶς ἔχει.

So far as you helped me, it is not bad.

μείζω γε μέντοι τῆς ἐμῆς σωτηρίας εἴληφας ἢ δέδωκας, ὡς ἐγὼ φράσω

But in saving me, you gained more than you gave towards my salvation, as I shall show.

πρῶτον μὲν Ἑλλάδ᾽ ἀντὶ βαρβάρου χθονὸς γαῖαν κατοικεῖς καὶ δίκην ἐπίστασαι νόμοις τε χρῆσθαι μὴ πρὸς ἰσχύος χάριν·

First, you now inhabit this land instead of a barbarian land, and you understand justice and how to live by laws, with no concession to power.

πάντες δέ σ᾽ ᾔσθοντ᾽ οὖσαν Ἕλληνες σοφὴν καὶ δόξαν ἔσχες

All the Greeks know that you are clever, and you have won fame.

εἰ δὲ γῆς ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτοις ὅροισιν ᾤκεις, οὐκ ἂν ἦν λόγος σέθεν

Had you lived at the ends of the land, there would be no word of you.