Seneca: FABULAE

Medea Di coniugales tuque genialis tori,
Lucina, custos quaeque domituram freta
Tiphyn nouam frenare docuisti ratem,
et tu, profundi saeue dominator maris,
clarumque Titan diuidens orbi diem,                              5
tacitisque praebens conscium sacris iubar
Hecate triformis, quosque iurauit mihi
deos Iason, quosque Medeae magis
fas est precari: noctis aeternae chaos,
auersa superis regna manesque impios                              10
dominumque regni tristis et dominam fide
meliore raptam, uoce non fausta precor.
nunc, nunc adeste sceleris ultrices deae,
crinem solutis squalidae serpentibus,
atram cruentis manibus amplexae facem,                              15

Medea Conjugal gods, and you, Genial spirit of the nuptial couch,
Lucina, guardian, and you who taught Tiphys, destined to tame the seas,
to bridle the new ship; and you, savage lord of the profound sea;
and you, Titan, dividing the bright day to the world,
and you, Hecate three-formed, providing to the silent rites a knowing beam; 5
and the gods by whom Jason swore to me, and those whom it is more
right for Medea to entreat: the chaos of eternal night,
the realms averse to the gods above and the impious shades,
and the lord of the gloomy realm, and the lady snatched with better faith—
I pray with an inauspicious voice. Now, now be present, goddesses avenging crime,10
squalid, with hair loosened with serpents,
embracing a black torch with bloody hands. 15

adeste, thalamis horridae quondam meis
quales stetistis: coniugi letum nouae
letumque socero et regiae stirpi date.
Num peius aliquid? quod precer sponso malum?

be present, you who once in my nuptial chambers
just as you stood: grant death to the new bride
and death to the father-in-law and to the royal stock.
is there anything worse? what evil should I pray for upon the bridegroom?

uiuat; per urbes erret ignotas egens                              20
exul pauens inuisus incerti laris,
iam notus hospes limen alienum expetat;                              23a,22b
me coniugem opto, quoque non aliud queam                              22a,23b
peius precari, liberos similes patri                              24
similesque matri++parta iam, parta ultio est:
peperi. Querelas uerbaque in cassum sero?
non ibo in hostes?

let him live; let him wander through unknown cities, destitute                              20
an exile, trembling, hated, of an uncertain hearth,
now as a known guest let him seek an alien threshold;                              23a,22b
myself as spouse i choose, and, than which i could not                              22a,23b
pray anything worse, children like the father                              24
and like the mother++already obtained, obtained is vengeance:
i have borne. do i sow complaints and words in vain?
shall i not go against my enemies?

manibus excutiam faces
caeloque lucem++spectat hoc nostri sator
Sol generis, et spectatur, et curru insidens
per solita puri spatia decurrit poli? 30

shall I shake out torches with my hands,
and the light in the sky++—does the Sun, begetter of our lineage,
behold this, and is he beheld, and, seated in his chariot,
does he course through the accustomed spaces of the pure pole? 30

non redit in ortus et remetitur diem?
da, da per auras curribus patriis uehi,
committe habenas, genitor, et flagrantibus
ignifera loris tribue moderari iuga:
gemino Corinthos litori opponens moras 35
cremata flammis maria committat duo.
hoc restat unum, pronubam thalamo feram
ut ipsa pinum postque sacrificas preces
caedam dicatis uictimas altaribus.

does he not return to his rising and remeasure the day?
grant, grant to be borne through the airs by my father’s chariots,
entrust the reins, father, and with flaming
thongs grant me to govern the fire-bearing yokes:
let Corinth, interposing delays to the twin shore, 35
join the two seas, burned with flames.
this one thing remains: as pronuba I myself shall bear
the pine to the bridal chamber, and after sacrificial prayers
I will slaughter victims at the dedicated altars.

Per uiscera ipsa quaere supplicio uiam, 40
si uiuis, anime, si quid antiqui tibi
remanet uigoris; pelle femineos metus
et inhospitalem Caucasum mente indue.
quodcumque uidit Phasis aut Pontus nefas,
uidebit Isthmos. effera ignota horrida, 45

Through the very viscera seek by punishment a way, 40
if you live, my spirit, if anything of your ancient vigor
remains; drive out feminine fears
and put on in mind the inhospitable Caucasus.
Whatever wickedness the Phasis or the Pontus has seen,
the Isthmus will see. Wild, unknown, horrid, 45

tremenda caelo pariter ac terris mala
mens intus agitat: uulnera et caedem et uagum
funus per artus++leuia memoraui nimis:
haec uirgo feci; grauior exurgat dolor:
maiora iam me scelera post partus decent. 50
accingere ira teque in exitium para
furore toto. paria narrentur tua
repudia thalamis: quo uirum linques modo?
hoc quo secuta es. rumpe iam segnes moras:
quae scelere parta est, scelere linquenda est domus.

my mind within agitates evils dreadful alike to heaven and to earth:
wounds and slaughter and a vagrant death through the limbs—I have recounted
matters too light: these things I did as a maiden; let a graver dolor arise:
greater crimes now befit me after childbirth. 50
gird yourself with ire, and prepare yourself for destruction
with total furor. Let your repudiations be recounted on a par with your
marriage-beds: by what mode will you leave your husband?
By that same way by which you followed. Break now sluggish delays:
the house which was procured by crime must by crime be left.

                              55
     Chorvs Ad regum thalamos numine prospero
qui caelum superi quique regunt fretum
adsint cum populis rite fauentibus.
Primum sceptriferis colla Tonantibus
taurus celsa ferat tergore candido;                              60

                              55
     Chorus To the bridal chambers of kings, with a prosperous numen,
may those above who rule the heaven and those who rule the sea
be present together with the peoples duly favoring.
First, to the scepter-bearing Thunderers
let a bull bear its lofty neck, with a white back;                              60

Lucinam niuei femina corporis
intemptata iugo placet, et asperi
Martis sanguineas quae cohibet manus,
quae dat belligeris foedera gentibus
et cornu retinet diuite copiam,                              65
donetur tenera mitior hostia.
Et tu, qui facibus legitimis ades,
noctem discutiens auspice dextera
huc incede gradu marcidus ebrio,
praecingens roseo tempora uinculo.                              70
Et tu, quae, gemini praeuia temporis,
tarde, stella, redis semper amantibus:
te matres, auide te cupiunt nurus
quamprimum radios spargere lucidos.
     Vincit uirgineus decor                              75

Lucina is pleased by a woman of snowy body, untried by the yoke, and to her who restrains the sanguine hands of harsh Mars,
who grants treaties to belligerent peoples
and with her rich horn retains abundance,                              65
let a gentler, tender victim be given.
And you, who are present with lawful torches,
scattering the night with auspicious right hand,
come hither with a step languid with drunkenness,
girding your temples with a rosy band.                              70
And you, who, the forerunner of the twin time,
slowly, star, you return always for lovers:
mothers, daughters-in-law eagerly desire you
to scatter bright rays as soon as possible.
     Maidenly beauty conquers                              75

longe Cecropias nurus,
et quas Taygeti iugis
exercet iuuenum modo
muris quod caret oppidum,
et quas Aonius latex                              80
Alpheosque sacer lauat.
Si forma uelit aspici,
cedent Aesonio duci
proles fulminis improbi
aptat qui iuga tigribus,                              85
nec non, qui tripodas mouet,
frater uirginis asperae,
cedet Castore cum suo
Pollux caestibus aptior.
Sic, sic, caelicolae, precor,                              90

far beyond the Cecropian brides,
and those whom, on the ridges of Taygetus,
the town that lacks walls drills in the manner of youths,
and those whom the Aonian liquid                              80
and the sacred Alpheus bathe.
If one should wish beauty to be looked upon,
there will yield to the Aesonian leader
the offspring of the wanton thunderbolt,
who fits yokes to tigers,                              85
and likewise he who sets the tripods in motion,
the brother of the harsh maiden;
Pollux, more apt with the boxing-gloves,
will yield along with his Castor.
Thus, thus, heaven-dwellers, I pray,                              90

uincat femina coniuges,
uir longe superet uiros.
Haec cum femineo constitit in choro,
unius facies praenitet omnibus.
sic cum sole perit sidereus decor, 95
et densi latitant Pleiadum greges,
cum Phoebe solidum lumine non suo
orbem circuitis cornibus alligat.

let the woman conquer consorts,
let the man by far surpass men.
This one, when she stood in the feminine chorus,
the face of one shines forth before all.
thus, with the sun, the sidereal beauty perishes, 95
and the dense flocks of the Pleiades lie hidden,
when Phoebe, with a light not her own,
binds the solid orb with encircling horns.

ostro sic niueus puniceo color
perfusus rubuit, sic nitidum iubar 100
pastor luce noua roscidus aspicit.
Ereptus thalamis Phasidis horridi,
effrenae solitus pectora coniugis
inuita trepidus prendere dextera,
felix Aeoliam corripe uirginem 105

thus the snow-white color, suffused with Punic purple, blushed, so the shining radiance 100
the dewy shepherd looks upon with new light.
Erept, from the bedchambers of horrid Phasis,
accustomed, with a trembling right hand, to grasp the breasts of an unbridled, unwilling spouse,
happy one, seize the Aeolian maiden 105

nunc primum soceris sponse uolentibus.
Concesso, iuuenes, ludite iurgio,
hinc illinc, iuuenes, mittite carmina:
rara est in dominos iusta licentia.
Candida thyrsigeri proles generosa Lyaei, 110
multifidam iam tempus erat succendere pinum:
excute sollemnem digitis marcentibus ignem.

now for the first time, bridegroom, with the in-laws willing.
With leave granted, young men, sport at wrangling,
on this side and that, young men, send forth songs:
rare is rightful license against masters.
Radiant, noble offspring of thyrsus-bearing Lyaeus, 110
it was now time to kindle the many-cleft pine:
shake out the solemn fire with languishing fingers.

festa dicax fundat conuicia fescenninus,
soluat turba iocos++tacitis eat illa tenebris,
si qua peregrino nubit furtiua marito. 115
Medea Occidimus: aures pepulit hymenaeus meas.
uix ipsa tantum, uix adhuc credo malum.

let the sharp-tongued Fescennine pour forth railings at the festivals,
let the crowd unloose its jests++let her go into silent shadows,
if any woman secretly weds a foreign husband. 115
Medea We are undone: the Hymenaeus has smitten my ears.
I myself can hardly, hardly yet believe this evil.

hoc facere Iason potuit, erepto patre
patria atque regno sedibus solam exteris
deserere durus? merita contempsit mea 120

Could Jason do this, with father, fatherland and kingdom snatched away,
to desert me, alone in foreign seats, hard-hearted?
He has contemned my merits 120

qui scelere flammas uiderat uinci et mare?
adeone credit omne consumptum nefas?
incerta uecors mente non sana feror
partes in omnes; unde me ulcisci queam?

he who had seen the flames and the sea conquered by crime?
does he indeed believe that all impiety has been consumed?
uncertain, I am borne along with a mad, not-sane mind
into every direction; whence might I avenge myself?

utinam esset illi frater! est coniunx: in hanc 125
ferrum exigatur. hoc meis satis est malis?

Would that he had a brother! He has a consort: into her let the steel be driven. 125
Is this enough for my ills?

si quod Pelasgae, si quod urbes barbarae
nouere facinus quod tuae ignorent manus,
nunc est parandum. scelera te hortentur tua
et cuncta redeant: inclitum regni decus 130
raptum et nefandae uirginis paruus comes
diuisus ense, funus ingestum patri
sparsumque ponto corpus et Peliae senis
decocta aeno membra: funestum impie
quam saepe fudi sanguinem++et nullum scelus 135

if there is any crime which the Pelasgians, if any which barbarian cities,
have known, a deed which your hands might not know,
now it must be prepared. let your own crimes exhort you
and let all return: the illustrious ornament of the kingdom 130
snatched, and the nefarious maiden’s little companion
divided by the sword, a funeral thrust upon his father,
and a body scattered on the sea, and the limbs of old Pelias
boiled in a brazen cauldron: funereal, impiously,
how often I have poured out blood++and no crime 135

irata feci: saeuit infelix amor.
Quid tamen Iason potuit, alieni arbitri
iurisque factus? debuit ferro obuium
offerre pectus++melius, a melius, dolor
furiose, loquere.

angry, I did it: ill-fated Love rages.
What, however, could Jason do, having been made subject to another’s judgment
and right? He ought to have offered to the steel that met him
his breast++better, ah better, my grief,
speak madly.

si potest, uiuat meus, 140
ut fuit, Iason; si minus, uiuat tamen
memorque nostri muneri parcat meo.
Culpa est Creontis tota, qui sceptro impotens
coniugia soluit quique genetricem abstrahit
gnatis et arto pignore astrictam fidem 145
dirimit: petatur, solus hic poenas luat,
quas debet. alto cinere cumulabo domum;
uidebit atrum uerticem flammis agi
Malea longas nauibus flectens moras.

if it can be, let my Jason live, as he was; 140
if not, let him live nevertheless and, mindful of me, let him spare my gift.
The fault is all Creon’s, who, unrestrained in his scepter, loosens marriages and who drags away a mother from her children and severs the faith bound by a tight pledge; 145
let him be sought; let this man alone pay the penalties which he owes. I will heap the house with deep ash;
it will see a black summit driven by flames—Malea, bending long delays for ships.

Nutrix Sile, obsecro, questusque secreto abditos 150

Nurse Be silent, I beg, and keep your complaints hidden in secrecy 150

manda dolori. grauia quisquis uulnera
patiente et aequo mutus animo pertulit,
referre potuit: ira quae tegitur nocet;
professa perdunt odia uindictae locum.
Medea Leuis est dolor, qui capere consilium potest 155
et clepere sese: magna non latitant mala.

commit it to grief. Whoever in silence has borne grievous wounds
with a patient and equable mind has been able to recount them;
anger that is covered harms;
professed hatreds lose the place for vengeance.
Medea Light is the pain that can take counsel 155
and conceal itself: great evils do not lie hidden.

libet ire contra. Nutrix Siste furialem impetum,
alumna: uix te tacita defendit quies.
Medea Fortuna fortes metuit, ignauos premit.

I am inclined to go against. Nurse Stay the Fury-driven impetus,
foster-child: silent repose scarcely defends you.
Medea Fortune fears the brave, presses the cowardly.

Nutrix Tunc est probanda, si locum uirtus habet. 160
Medea Numquam potest non esse uirtuti locus.
Nutrix Spes nulla rebus monstrat adflictis uiam.
Medea Qui nil potest sperare, desperet nihil.

Nurse Then is it to be approved, if virtue has a place. 160
Medea There can never be no place for virtue.
Nurse No hope shows a way for afflicted affairs.
Medea Let him who can hope for nothing despair of nothing.

Nutrix Abiere Colchi, coniugis nulla est fides
nihilque superest opibus e tantis tibi. 165

Nurse The Colchians have gone; there is no fidelity in your husband, and nothing remains to you from such great resources. 165

Medea Medea superest: hic mare et terras uides
ferrumque et ignes et deos et fulmina.
Nutrix Rex est timendus. Medea Rex meus fuerat pater.

Medea Medea remains: here you see the sea and lands
and iron and fires and the gods and thunderbolts.
Nutrix The king is to be feared. Medea The king had been my father.

Nutrix Non metuis arma? Medea Sint licet terra edita.
Nutrix Moriere.

Nurse Do you not fear arms? Medea Let them be, even if born of the earth.
Nurse You will die.

Medea Cupio. Nutrix Profuge. Medea Paenituit fugae. 170
Nutrix Medea++Medea Fiam.

Medea I desire. Nurse Flee. Medea I have repented of flight. 170
Nurse Medea++Medea I will become.

Nutrix Mater es. Medea Cui sim uide.
Nutrix Profugere dubitas? Medea Fugiam, at ulciscar prius.

Nurse You are a mother. Medea See to whom I am.
Nurse Do you hesitate to flee? Medea I will flee, but I will avenge first.

Nutrix Vindex sequetur. Medea Forsan inueniam moras.
Nutrix Compesce uerba, parce iam, demens, minis
animosque minue: tempori aptari decet. 175
Medea Fortuna opes auferre, non animum potest.

Nurse An avenger will follow. Medea Perhaps I shall find delays.
Nurse Restrain your words, spare now, madwoman, from menaces,
and diminish your spirit: it is fitting to be adapted to the time. 175
Medea Fortune can carry off riches, not spirit.

     Sed cuius ictu regius cardo strepit?
ipse est Pelasgo tumidus imperio Creo.
     Creo Medea, Colchi noxium Aeetae genus,
nondum meis exportat e regnis pedem?                              180

     But at whose blow does the regal hinge creak?
it is Creon himself, swollen with Pelasgian imperium.
     Creon Medea, noxious stock of Aeetes of Colchis,
does she not yet carry her foot out of my realms?                              180

molitur aliquid: nota fraus, nota est manus.
cui parcet illa quemue securum sinet?
abolere propere pessimam ferro luem
equidem parabam: precibus euicit gener.

she is contriving something: the fraud is known, the hand is known.
whom will she spare, or whom will she allow to be secure?
to abolish promptly the worst plague with iron
indeed I was preparing: by entreaties my son-in-law has prevailed.

concessa uita est, liberet fines metu 185
abeatque tuta.++fert gradum contra ferox
minaxque nostros propius affatus petit.++
Arcete, famuli, tactu et accessu procul,
iubete sileat. regium imperium pati
aliquando discat. Vade ueloci uia 190
monstrumque saeuum horribile iamdudum auehe.

a conceded life has been granted, let her free the borders from fear 185
and let her depart safe.++Fierce, she advances against;
and, menacing, she seeks us nearer with her address.++
Ward off, servants, keep her far from touch and approach,
order that she be silent. let her at last learn to endure the royal imperium.
Go by a swift way 190
and carry away the savage, horrible monster long since.

Medea Quod crimen aut quae culpa multatur fuga?
Creo Quae causa pellat, innocens mulier rogat.
Medea Si iudicas, cognosce, si regnas, iube.

Medea What crime, or what fault, is punished with exile?
Creon An innocent woman asks what cause drives her out.
Medea If you judge, learn; if you reign, command.

Creo Aequum atque iniquum regis imperium feras. 195

Creo Bear the king’s command, both equitable and inequitable. 195

Medea Iniqua numquam regna perpetuo manent.
Creo I, querere Colchis. Medea Redeo: qui auexit, ferat.

Medea Unjust reigns never remain in perpetuity.
Creon Go, complain to Colchis. Medea I return: let him who carried me off bear me back.

Creo Vox constituto sera decreto uenit.
Medea Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera,
aequum licet statuerit, haud aequus fuit. 200
Creo Auditus a te Pelia supplicium tulit?
sed fare, causae detur egregiae locus.

Creo A voice comes late to an established decree.
Medea He who establishes anything with the other side unheard,
although he may have established what is equitable, was not equitable. 200
Creo Having been heard by you, did Pelias bear punishment?
but speak; let a hearing be granted to a distinguished cause.

Medea Difficile quam sit animum ab ira flectere
iam concitatum quamque regale hoc putet
sceptris superbas quisquis admouit manus, 205
qua coepit ire, regia didici mea.
quamuis enim sim clade miseranda obruta,
expulsa supplex sola deserta, undique
afflicta, quondam nobili fulsi patre
auoque clarum Sole deduxi genus. 210

Medea How difficult it is to bend a mind from wrath,
once already roused, and how regal he deems this—
whoever has laid proud hands upon scepters—
to go on by the path on which he has begun, I have learned from my own royal palace. 205
for although I am overwhelmed by a pitiable calamity,
driven out, a suppliant, alone, deserted, on every side
afflicted, once I shone with a noble father
and from my grandsire, the bright Sun, I traced my lineage. 210

quodcumque placidis flexibus Phasis rigat
Pontusque quidquid Scythicus a tergo uidet,
palustribus qua maria dulcescunt aquis,
armata peltis quidquid exterret cohors
inclusa ripis uidua Thermodontiis, 215
hoc omne noster genitor imperio regit.
generosa, felix, decore regali potens
fulsi: petebant tunc meos thalamos proci,
qui nunc petuntur. rapida fortuna ac leuis
praecepsque regno eripuit, exilio dedit.

whatever the Phasis waters with placid windings
and whatever the Scythian Pontus sees at its back,
where the seas grow sweet with marshy waters,
whatever the cohort armed with peltae terrifies,
enclosed by the Thermodontian banks, widowed of men, 215
all this my father rules by his imperial power.
noble-born, fortunate, powerful in royal decor,
I shone: then suitors sought my bridal-chamber,
who now are themselves sought. swift and light, headlong
Fortune snatched me from a kingdom, consigned me to exile.

220
confide regnis, cum leuis magnas opes
huc ferat et illuc casus++hoc reges habent
magnificum et ingens, nulla quod rapiat dies:
prodesse miseris, supplices fido lare
protegere. Solum hoc Colchico regno extuli, 225

220
trust in your realms, since fickle chance carries great opulence
here and there++this kings possess as magnificent and vast,
which no day can snatch away:
to profit the miserable, to protect suppliants with a faithful hearth.
This alone I carried forth from the Colchian kingdom, 225

decus illud ingens Graeciae et florem inclitum,
praesidia Achiuae gentis et prolem deum
seruasse memet. munus est Orpheus meum,
qui saxa cantu mulcet et siluas trahit,
geminumque munus Castor et Pollux meum est                              230
satique Borea quique trans Pontum quoque
summota Lynceus lumine immisso uidet,
omnesque Minyae: nam ducum taceo ducem,
pro quo nihil debetur: hunc nulli imputo;
uobis reuexi ceteros, unum mihi.                              235
     Incesse nunc et cuncta flagitia ingere:
fatebor; obici crimen hoc solum potest,
Argo reuersa. uirgini placeat pudor
paterque placeat: tota cum ducibus ruet
Pelasga tellus, hic tuus primum gener                              240

that vast ornament of Greece and famed flower,
the safeguards of the Achaean nation and the progeny of the gods—
it was I myself who preserved them. Orpheus is my gift,
who soothes rocks with song and draws forests;
and a twin gift—Castor and Pollux—is mine,                              230
and the sons begotten of Boreas, and he who even beyond the Pontus
Lynceus sees things removed, with light let in,
and all the Minyae: for I keep silence about the leader of leaders,
for whom nothing is owed: I impute him to no one;
I brought back the others to you, one to myself.                              235
     Now attack, and heap on every disgrace:
I will confess; only this charge can be cast in my teeth—
with the Argo returned. Let modesty please the maiden
and let her father please her: when the whole Pelasgian land will rush to ruin with its leaders,
here your son-in-law first—                              240

tauri ferocis ore flagranti occidet.
[fortuna causam quae uolet nostram premat,
non paenitet seruasse tot regum decus]
quodcumque culpa praemium ex omni tuli,
hoc est penes te. si placet, damna ream; 245
sed redde crimen. sum nocens, fateor, Creo:
talem sciebas esse, cum genua attigi
fidemque supplex praesidis dextra peti;
terra hac miseriis angulum et sedem rogo
latebrasque uiles: urbe si pelli placet, 250
detur remotus aliquis in regnis locus.

he will fall by the blazing mouth of a ferocious bull.
[let Fortune oppress our cause as she wills,
it does not repent me to have preserved the honor of so many kings]
whatever reward for my guilt I have taken from every side,
this lies with you. if it pleases, condemn the accused; 245
but state the charge. I am guilty, I confess, Creon:
you knew I was such, when I touched your knees
and, a suppliant, sought the faith of the ruler’s right hand;
in this land I ask a corner and a seat for my miseries
and mean hiding-places: if it pleases that I be driven from the city, 250
let some remote place be given within the realms.

Creo Non esse me qui sceptra uiolentus geram
nec qui superbo miserias calcem pede,
testatus equidem uideor haud clare parum
generum exulem legendo et adflictum et graui 255

Creon That I am not one to bear the scepters with violence,
nor one who with a haughty foot sets his heel upon the miserable,
I seem indeed to have testified not too unclearly,
by choosing as son-in-law an exile, both afflicted and in grave plight. 255

terrore pauidum, quippe quem poenae expetit
letoque Acastus regna Thessalica optinens.
senio trementem debili atque aeuo grauem
patrem peremptum queritur et caesi senis
discissa membra, cum dolo captae tuo                              260
piae sorores impium auderent nefas.
potest Iason, si tuam causam amoues,
suam tueri: nullus innocuum cruor
contaminauit, afuit ferro manus
proculque uestro purus a coetu stetit.                              265
     Tu, tu malorum machinatrix facinorum,
cui feminae nequitia, ad audendum omnia
robur uirile est, nulla famae memoria,
egredere, purga regna, letales simul
tecum aufer herbas, libera ciues metu,                              270

fearful with terror, since punishments and death are sought for him by Acastus, holding the Thessalian realms.
he complains that his father, trembling with debilitated senility and burdened with age,
was slain, and that the torn-asunder limbs of the cut-down old man,
when, by your deceit, the pious sisters dared an impious nefariousness,                              260
might be his complaint.
Jason can, if you remove your case, defend his own: no blood of the innocent
has contaminated him, his hand was absent from the steel,
and he stood pure far from your cohort.                              265
     You, you contriver of evil crimes,
for whom a woman’s wickedness is, for daring everything, a manly vigor, with no memory of reputation,
go forth, purge the realms, at the same time carry off with you the lethal
herbs; free the citizens from fear,                              270

alia sedens tellure sollicita deos.
Medea Profugere cogis? redde fugienti ratem
uel redde comitem++fugere cur solam iubes?

sitting on another soil, solicit the gods.
Medea Do you compel me to flee? render to the fugitive a ship
or render a companion++why do you order me to flee alone?

non sola ueni. bella si metuis pati,
utrumque regno pelle. cur sontes duos 275
distinguis?

I did not come alone. If you fear to endure wars,
drive both from the kingdom. Why do you distinguish between two guilty ones? 275

illi Pelia, non nobis iacet;
fugam, rapinas adice, desertum patrem
lacerumque fratrem, quidquid etiamnunc nouas
docet maritus coniuges, non est meum:
totiens nocens sum facta, sed numquam mihi. 280
Creo Iam exisse decuit. quid seris fando moras?
Medea Supplex recedens illud extremum precor,
ne culpa natos matris insontes trahat.

for him Pelias lies low, not for us;
add flight, plunderings, a father deserted
and a brother torn; whatever even now a husband
teaches to new consorts, is not my doing:
so often I have been made guilty, but never for myself. 280
Creon It was now fitting to have gone out. Why do you sow delays by speaking?
Medea As a suppliant withdrawing I beg this last thing,
lest the mother's guilt drag the sons, innocent, along.

Creo Vade: hos paterno ut genitor excipiam sinu.
Medea Per ego auspicatos regii thalami toros, 285

Creo Go: that I, as genitor, may receive these into a paternal bosom.
Medea By the auspicious couches of the royal bridal-chamber, 285

per spes futuras perque regnorum status,
Fortuna uaria dubia quos agitat uice,
precor, breuem largire fugienti moram,
dum extrema natis mater infigo oscula,
fortasse moriens. Creo Fraudibus tempus petis. 290
Medea Quae fraus timeri tempore exiguo potest?
Creo Nullum ad nocendum tempus angustum est malis.

by future hopes and by the status of kingdoms,
whom changeful Fortune agitates with a doubtful turn,
I pray, grant a brief delay to the fugitive,
while a mother fastens final kisses upon her children,
perhaps dying. Creo You seek time for frauds. 290
Medea What fraud can be feared in a scant time?
Creo No time is narrow for doing harm to the wicked.

Medea Parumne miserae temporis lacrimis negas?
Creo Etsi repugnat precibus infixus timor,
unus parando dabitur exilio dies. 295
Medea Nimis est, recidas aliquid ex isto licet;
et ipsa propero. Creo Capite supplicium lues,
clarum priusquam Phoebus attollat diem
nisi cedis Isthmo.++Sacra me thalami uocant,
uocat precari festus Hymenaeo dies. 300

Medea Do you deny too little time to the tears of a wretched woman?
Creo Although an implanted fear resists your prayers,
one day will be given for preparing for exile. 295
Medea It is too much; you may cut something off from that;
and I myself hasten. Creo You will pay the penalty with your head,
before Phoebus lifts up the bright day,
unless you withdraw from the Isthmus.++The sacred rites of the bridal chamber call me,
the festal day of Hymenaeus calls me to pray. 300

     Chorvs Audax nimium qui freta primus
rate tam fragili perfida rupit
terrasque suas posterga uidens
animam leuibus credidit auris,
dubioque secans aequora cursu                              305
potuit tenui fidere ligno
inter uitae mortisque uices
nimium gracili limite ducto.
Nondum quisquam sidera norat,
stellisque, quibus pingitur aether,                              310
non erat usus, nondum pluuias
Hyadas poterat uitare ratis,
non Oleniae lumina caprae,
nec quae sequitur flectitque senex
Attica tardus plaustra Bootes,                              315

     Chorvs Too audacious he who first broke
the treacherous straits with so fragile a raft
and, seeing his own lands behind his back,
entrusted his life to light breezes,
and, cutting the seas with a dubious course,                              305
could trust in slender wood
amid the vicissitudes of life and death,
a limit drawn too slender.
Not yet did anyone know the stars,
nor was there use of the stars with which the aether is painted,                              310
not yet could a ship avoid the rainy
Hyades, nor the lights of the Olenian she-goat,
nor the old man who follows and turns,
the slow Boötes, the Attic wagons,                              315

nondum Boreas, nondum Zephyrus
     nomen habebant.
Ausus Tiphys pandere uasto
     carbasa ponto
legesque nouas scribere uentis:                              320
nunc lina sinu tendere toto,
nunc prolato pede transuersos
captare notos, nunc antemnas
medio tutas ponere malo,
nunc in summo religare loco,                              325
cum iam totos auidus nimium
nauita flatus optat et alto
rubicunda tremunt sipara uelo.
     Candida nostri saecula patres
uidere procul fraude remota.                              330

not yet Boreas, not yet Zephyrus
     had a name.
Tiphys dared to spread wide
     his canvases on the vast sea
and to write new laws for the winds:                              320
now to stretch the lines with the sail’s whole belly,
now with the foot extended to catch the crosswise
South winds, now to set the yards
safe on the mid mast,
now to fasten them in the highest place,                              325
while already the sailor, too greedy,
longs for the full blasts, and on the deep
the ruddy awnings tremble with the sail.
     Our fathers beheld bright ages
with guile set far away.                              330

sua quisque piger litora tangens
patrioque senex factus in aruo,
paruo diues nisi quas tulerat
natale solum non norat opes.
Bene dissaepti foedera mundi                              335
traxit in unum Thessala pinus
iussitque pati uerbera pontum
partemque metus fieri nostri
     mare sepositum.
Dedit illa graues improba poenas                              340
per tam longos ducta timores,
cum duo montes, claustra profundi,
hinc atque illinc subito impulsu
uelut aetherio gemerent sonitu,
spargeret arces nubesque ipsas                              345

each man, sluggish, touching his own shores
and grown old in the ancestral field,
rich in little, he knew no riches
except those which his natal soil had borne.
The covenants of a well-dissevered world                              335
a Thessalian pine drew into one,
and bade the sea to suffer lashes
and to become a part of our fear
     the sea set apart.
She, shameless, paid heavy penalties                              340
having been led through such long terrors,
when two mountains, the bars of the deep,
on this side and that with sudden impulse
were groaning, as with an aetherial sound,
that would scatter the citadels and the clouds themselves.                              345

mare deprensum.
Palluit audax Tiphys et omnes
labente manu misit habenas,
Orpheus tacuit torpente lyra
ipsaque uocem perdidit Argo.
Quid cum Siculi uirgo Pelori, 350
rabidos utero succincta canes,
omnis pariter soluit hiatus?

the sea was caught.
The audacious Tiphys grew pale and, his hand slipping, let go all the reins,
Orpheus was silent, his lyre torpid,
and Argo itself lost its voice.
What of when the maiden of Sicilian Pelorus, 350
girt with rabid dogs at her belly,
opened all her yawning gulfs at once?

quis non totos horruit artus
totiens uno latrante malo?
Quid cum Ausonium dirae pestes                              355
uoce canora mare mulcerent,
cum Pieria resonans cithara
     Thracius Orpheus
solitam cantu retinere rates
paene coegit Sirena sequi?                              360

who did not shudder in all his limbs
so often at one barking evil?
What of when the dire pests with tuneful voice soothed the Ausonian sea,                              355
when, with the Pierian resounding cithara,
     Thracian Orpheus
accustomed to hold ships back by song
almost forced the Siren to follow?                              360

Quod fuit huius pretium cursus?
     aurea pellis
maiusque mari Medea malum,
merces prima digna carina.
     Nunc iam cessit pontus et omnes
     patitur leges:                              365
non Palladia compacta manu
regum referens inclita remos
     quaeritur Argo++
quaelibet altum cumba pererrat.
Terminus omnis motus et urbes
muros terra posuere noua,                              370
nil qua fuerat sede reliquit
     peruius orbis:
Indus gelidum potat Araxen,
Albin Persae Rhenumque bibunt++
uenient annis saecula seris,                              375

What was the price of this course?
     the golden fleece
and Medea, a bane greater than the sea,
a first wage worthy of the keel.
     Now at last the sea has yielded and suffers
     all laws:                              365
not the Argo, famed, fashioned by Palladian hand,
bearing the oars of kings, is sought++
     any skiff wanders over the deep.
Every boundary-marker has been moved, and cities
have set their walls on new earth,                              370
the passable world has left nothing
     in the seat where it had been:
the Indian drinks the icy Araxes,
the Persians drink the Elbe and the Rhine++
there will come in late years ages                              375

quibus Oceanus uincula rerum
laxet et ingens pateat tellus
Tethysque nouos detegat orbes
nec sit terris ultima Thule.
     Nutrix Alumna, celerem quo rapis tectis pedem?                              380
resiste et iras comprime ac retine impetum.
     Incerta qualis entheos gressus tulit
cum iam recepto maenas insanit deo
Pindi niualis uertice aut Nysae iugis,
talis recursat huc et huc motu effero,                              385
furoris ore signa lymphati gerens.

by which Ocean may loosen the bonds of things,
the vast earth may lie open,
and Tethys may uncover new orbs,
nor let Thule be the furthest for the lands.
     Nurse Foster-child, whither do you hurry your swift step from the house?                              380
stop, and restrain your wrath, and hold back your rush.
     Uncertain, as a Maenad bore god-possessed steps
when, the god now received, she raves on the snowy summit of Pindus
or on the ridges of Nysa,
so she runs back and forth here and there with wild motion,                              385
bearing in her face the signs of frenzy, of one distraught.

flammata facies, spiritum ex alto citat,
proclamat, oculos uberi fletu rigat,
renidet: omnis specimen affectus capit.
haeret: minatur aestuat queritur gemit. 390

her face inflamed, she summons spirit from the deep,
she cries out, she drenches her eyes with copious weeping,
she beams: she takes on every specimen of affect.
she clings; she threatens, seethes, laments, groans. 390

quo pondus animi uerget? ubi ponet minas?
ubi se iste fluctus franget?

Whither does the weight of her mind verge? where will she set her menaces?
where will that wave break itself?

exundat furor.
non facile secum uersat aut medium scelus;
se uincet: irae nouimus ueteris notas.
magnum aliquid instat, efferum immane impium: 395
uultum Furoris cerno.

fury overflows.
he does not readily turn over with himself a middle crime;
he will conquer himself: we know the tokens of his old ire.
some great thing is imminent, savage, monstrous, impious: 395
i discern the countenance of Fury.

di fallant metum!
Medea Si quaeris odio, misera, quem statuas modum,
imitare amorem. regias egone ut faces
inulta patiar?

May the gods make my fear prove false!
Medea If you, wretched woman, seek what limit you should set to hatred,
imitate love. I—am I to endure the royal wedding-torches
unavenged?

segnis hic ibit dies,
tanto petitus ambitu, tanto datus? 400
dum terra caelum media libratum feret
nitidusque certas mundus euoluet uices
numerusque harenis derit et solem dies,
noctem sequentur astra, dum siccas polus
uersabit Arctos, flumina in pontum cadent, 405

Will this day go sluggish,
so much sought with such ambition, so much granted? 400
so long as the earth will bear the heaven balanced in the midst
and the shining cosmos will evolve its fixed alternations,
and count will fail the sands and the day the sun,
the stars will follow night, while the pole
will wheel the dry Bears, rivers will fall into the sea, 405

numquam meus cessabit in poenas furor
crescetque semper++quae ferarum immanitas,
quae Scylla, quae Charybdis Ausonium mare
Siculumque sorbens quaeue anhelantem premens
Titana tantis Aetna feruebit minis?                              410
non rapidus amnis, non procellosum mare
pontusue coro saeuus aut uis ignium
adiuta flatu possit inhibere impetum
irasque nostras: sternam et euertam omnia.
     Timuit Creontem ac bella Thessalici ducis?                              415
amor timere neminem uerus potest.
sed cesserit coactus et dederit manus:
adire certe et coniugem extremo alloqui
sermone potuit++hoc quoque extimuit ferox;
laxare certe tempus immitis fugae                              420

never shall my fury cease in punishments
and it will ever grow++what savagery of wild beasts,
what Scylla, what Charybdis gulping the Ausonian sea
and the Sicilian, or what Aetna, pressing the panting
Titan, will seethe with such great menaces?                              410
not the rapid river, not the stormy sea,
nor the sea savage with the Caurus, or the force of fires
helped by a blast, can inhibit my onset
and my wraths: I will strew and overturn all things.
     Did he fear Creon and the wars of the Thessalian leader?                              415
true love can fear no one.
but suppose he yielded under compulsion and gave his hands:
surely he could at least approach and address his spouse
with a final word++this too the fierce one feared;
surely he could loosen the time of the ruthless flight                              420

genero licebat++liberis unus dies
datus est duobus. non queror tempus breue:
multum patebit. faciet hic faciet dies
quod nullus umquam taceat++inuadam deos
et cuncta quatiam.

it was permitted to the son-in-law++to the children one day
was given to the two. i do not complain of brief time:
much will be patent. this day will do, this day will do
what no one ever will be silent about++i will invade the gods
and i will shake all things.

Nutrix Recipe turbatum malis, 425
era, pectus, animum mitiga. Medea Sola est quies,
mecum ruina cuncta si uideo obruta:
mecum omnia abeant. trahere, cum pereas, libet.

Nurse Recover your heart, troubled by evils, 425
mistress, mitigate your heart and mind. Medea There is rest only,
if I see all things with me overwhelmed in ruin:
let everything depart with me. I take pleasure to drag you along, as you perish.

Nutrix Quam multa sint timenda, si perstas, uide:
nemo potentes aggredi tutus potest.                              430
     Iason O dura fata semper et sortem asperam,
cum saeuit et cum parcit ex aequo malam!
remedia quotiens inuenit nobis deus
periculis peiora: si uellem fidem
praestare meritis coniugis, leto fuit                              435

Nurse See how many things are to be feared, if you persist:
no one can safely assail potentates.                              430
     Jason O hard fates always and a harsh lot,
evil alike when it rages and when it spares!
how often the god finds for us remedies
worse than the perils: if I were to wish to keep faith
with the merits of my consort, it meant death                              435

caput offerendum; si mori nollem, fide
misero carendum. non timor uicit fidem,
sed trepida pietas: quippe sequeretur necem
proles parentum. sancta si caelum incolis
Iustitia, numen inuoco ac testor tuum: 440
nati patrem uicere.

the head to be offered; if I were unwilling to die, the wretch would have to be without faith.
not fear conquered faith, but trembling piety: for the offspring would follow their parents to death.
Holy Justice, if you inhabit heaven, I invoke and call your numen to witness: 440
the children have overcome the father.

quin ipsam quoque,
etsi ferox est corde nec patiens iugi,
consulere natis malle quam thalamis reor.
constituit animus precibus iratam aggredi++
atque ecce, uiso memet exiluit, furit, 445
fert odia prae se: totus in uultu est dolor.
Medea Fugimus, Iason, fugimus++hoc non est nouum,
mutare sedes; causa fugiendi noua est:
pro te solebam fugere++discedo, exeo,
penatibus profugere quam cogis tuis. 450

nay, even her herself too,
although she is fierce in heart and not patient of the yoke,
I reckon she prefers to look to the children rather than to the marriage-bed.
my mind resolved to approach the angry one with prayers++
and behold, on seeing me myself she leapt up, she rages, 445
she bears her hatreds before her: all the pain is in her face.
Medea we flee, Jason, we flee++this is not new,
to change abodes; the cause of fleeing is new:
for you I used to flee++I depart, I go out,
you compel me to be a fugitive from your Penates. 450

ad quos remittis? Phasin et Colchos petam
patriumque regnum quaeque fraternus cruor
perfudit arua? quas peti terras iubes?

to whom do you send me back? shall i seek the phasis and the colchians
and my ancestral kingdom and the fields which fraternal gore
has drenched? what lands do you bid be sought?

quae maria monstras? Pontici fauces freti
per quas reuexi nobilem regum manum 455
adulterum secuta per Symplegadas?
patruamne Iolcon, Thessala an Tempe petam?

what seas do you point out? the jaws of the Pontic strait
through which I conveyed back the noble band of kings 455
having followed the adulterer through the Symplegades?
am I to seek your paternal uncle’s Iolcus, or Thessalian Tempe?

quascumque aperui tibi uias, clausi mihi++
quo me remittis? exuli exilium imperas
nec das. eatur.

Whatever ways I opened for you, I shut for myself++
whither do you send me back? You impose exile on an exile
and do not grant it. So be it—let me go.

regius iussit gener: 460
nihil recuso. dira supplicia ingere:
merui. cruentis paelicem poenis premat
regalis ira, uinculis oneret manus
clausamque saxo noctis aeternae obruat:
minora meritis patiar++ingratum caput, 465

the royal son-in-law has ordered: 460
I refuse nothing. Heap on dire punishments:
I have deserved them. Let royal wrath press the mistress with bloody punishments,
let it load my hands with chains
and, shut in with stone, overwhelm me with eternal night:
let me suffer things less than my deserts++ ungrateful head, 465

reuoluat animus igneos tauri halitus
interque saeuos gentis indomitae metus
armifero in aruo flammeum Aeetae pecus,
hostisque subiti tela, cum iussu meo
terrigena miles mutua caede occidit;                              470
adice expetita spolia Phrixei arietis
somnoque iussum lumina ignoto dare
insomne monstrum, traditum fratrem neci
et scelere in uno non semel factum scelus,
ausasque natas fraude deceptas mea                              475
secare membra non reuicturi senis:
[aliena quaerens regna, deserui mea]
per spes tuorum liberum et certum larem,
per uicta monstra, per manus, pro te quibus
numquam peperci, perque praeteritos metus,                              480

let my mind revolve the fiery breaths of the bull,
and, amid the savage terrors of an indomitable tribe,
the flaming herd of Aeetes in the arms-bearing field,
and the weapons of the sudden foe, when at my command
the earth-born soldiery fell by mutual slaughter;                              470
add the sought-for spoils of Phrixus’s ram,
and the sleepless monster ordered to give its eyes to unknown
sleep, my brother handed over to death,
and, in a single crime, a crime committed not once,
and the daughters who dared, deceived by my fraud,                              475
to cut the limbs of an old man never to be revived:
[seeking another’s kingdoms, I deserted my own]
by the hopes of your children and a sure hearth,
by conquered monsters, by these hands—for you—for which
I never spared, and by the fears now past,                              480

per caelum et undas, coniugi testes mei,
miserere, redde supplici felix uicem.
ex opibus illis, quas procul raptas Scythae
usque a perustis Indiae populis agunt,
quas quia referta uix domus gazas capit, 485
ornamus auro nemora, nil exul tuli
nisi fratris artus: hos quoque impendi tibi;
tibi patria cessit, tibi pater frater pudor++
hac dote nupsi. redde fugienti sua.

through heaven and the waves, witnesses of my marriage,
pity me, give to the suppliant a happy recompense.
from those opulences which the Scythians haul, snatched from afar, even from the scorched peoples of India,
which, since the house crammed with treasures scarcely contains them, we adorn the groves with gold, 485
as an exile I brought nothing
except my brother’s limbs: these too I expended for you;
to you my fatherland yielded, to you my father, brother, modesty—
with this dowry I wedded. Restore to the fugitive her own.

Iason Perimere cum te uellet infestus Creo, 490
lacrimis meis euictus exilium dedit.
Medea Poenam putabam: munus, ut uideo, est fuga.
Iason Dum licet abire, profuge teque hinc eripe:
grauis ira regum est semper.

Jason When hostile Creon wanted to destroy you, 490
overcome by my tears he granted exile.
Medea I was thinking it a penalty; as I see, flight is a gift.
Jason While it is permitted to depart, flee and snatch yourself from here:
the wrath of kings is always grave.

Medea Hoc suades mihi,
praestas Creusae: paelicem inuisam amoues. 495

Medea This you advise to me,
you do a service to Creusa: you remove the hated concubine. 495

Iason Medea amores obicit? Medea Et caedem et dolos.
Iason Obicere crimen quod potes tandem mihi?

Jason Does Medea throw love affairs in my face? Medea And slaughter and deceits.
Jason Can you at last object some crime you can against me?

Medea Quodcumque feci. Iason Restat hoc unum insuper,
tuis ut etiam sceleribus fiam nocens.
Medea Tua illa, tua sunt illa: cui prodest scelus, 500
is fecit++omnes coniugem infamem arguant,
solus tuere, solus insontem uoca:
tibi innocens sit quisquis est pro te nocens.

Medea Whatever I have done. Jason This one thing remains besides,
that by your crimes I too may become guilty. Medea Those are yours, yours they are: the one whom the crime profits, 500
he did it++let everyone arraign the wife as infamous,
you alone defend her, you alone call her innocent:
for you, let be innocent whoever is guilty on your behalf.

Iason Ingrata uita est cuius acceptae pudet.
Medea Retinenda non est cuius acceptae pudet. 505
Iason Quin potius ira concitum pectus doma,
placare natis. Medea Abdico eiuro abnuo++
meis Creusa liberis fratres dabit?

Jason Ungrateful is the life that is ashamed of what has been accepted.
Medea A life that is ashamed of what has been accepted is not to be retained. 505
Jason Why not rather tame your breast stirred by anger,
be appeased for your sons. Medea I abdicate, I abjure, I abnegate++—
will Creusa give brothers to my children?

Iason Regina natis exulum, afflictis potens.
Medea Ne ueniat umquam tam malus miseris dies, 510

Jason A queen for the children of exiles, potent for the afflicted.
Medea May so evil a day never come to the miserable, 510

qui prole foeda misceat prolem inclitam,
Phoebi nepotes Sisyphi nepotibus.
Iason Quid, misera, meque teque in exitium trahis?
abscede, quaeso.

who would mingle with foul progeny the illustrious progeny,
the descendants of Phoebus with the descendants of Sisyphus.
Iason why, wretch, do you drag both me and yourself into ruin?
withdraw, I beg.

Medea Supplicem audiuit Creo.
Iason Quid facere possim, loquere. Medea Pro me uel scelus. 515
Iason Hinc rex et illinc++Medea Est et his maior metus
Medea.

Medea Creon has heard the supplicant.
Jason Say what I can do. Medea For me, even a crime. 515
Jason On this side the king and on that side++Medea There is even a greater fear than these
Medea.

nos ~confligere. certemus sine,
sit pretium Iason. Iason Cedo defessus malis.

let us ~join battle. allow us to contend,
let Jason be the prize. Jason I yield, exhausted by misfortunes.

et ipsa casus saepe iam expertos time.
Medea Fortuna semper omnis infra me stetit. 520
Iason Acastus instat. Medea Propior est hostis Creo:
utrumque profuge.

and you yourself fear catastrophes already often experienced.
Medea Fortune has always in all things stood beneath me. 520
Jason Acastus presses. Medea The foe Creon is nearer:
flee both.

non ut in socerum manus
armes nec ut te caede cognata inquines
Medea cogit: innocens mecum fuge.
Iason Et quis resistet, gemina si bella ingruant, 525

not that you arm your hands against your father-in-law
nor that you defile yourself with kindred slaughter
does Medea compel: innocent, flee with me.
Iason And who will resist, if twin wars bear down, 525

Creo atque Acastus arma si iungant sua?
Medea His adice Colchos, adice et Aeeten ducem,
Scythas Pelasgis iunge: demersos dabo.
Iason Alta extimesco sceptra.

Creon and Acastus, if they join their arms?
Medea To these add the Colchians, add Aeetes too as leader,
join the Scythians to the Pelasgians: I will give them drowned.
Iason I dread lofty scepters.

Medea Ne cupias uide.
Iason Suspecta ne sint, longa colloquia amputa. 530
Medea Nunc summe toto Iuppiter caelo tona,
intende dextram, uindices flammas para
omnemque ruptis nubibus mundum quate.
nec deligenti tela librentur manu
uel me uel istum: quisquis e nobis cadet 535
nocens peribit, non potest in nos tuum
errare fulmen.

Medea See that you do not desire.
Jason Let them not be suspect, cut off the long colloquies. 530
Medea Now, highest Jupiter, thunder through the whole heaven,
stretch out your right hand, prepare avenging flames,
and shake the whole world, the clouds torn asunder.
nor let the missiles be aimed by a careful hand
at either me or that man: whoever of us falls 535
the guilty one will perish; your bolt cannot go astray among us.

Iason Sana meditari incipe
et placida fare. si quod ex soceri domo
potest fugam leuare solamen, pete.
Medea Contemnere animus regias, ut scis, opes 540

Jason Begin to meditate on sane things
and speak placidly. If any solace from my father-in-law’s house
can alleviate our exile, seek it.
Medea My mind is to contemn regal wealth, as you know, 540

potest soletque; liberos tantum fugae
habere comites liceat, in quorum sinu
lacrimas profundam. te noui gnati manent.
Iason Parere precibus cupere me fateor tuis;
pietas uetat: namque istud ut possim pati, 545
non ipse memet cogat et rex et socer.

it can and is wont; only let it be permitted in flight
to have the children as companions, in whose bosom
I may pour out tears. your newborn sons await you.
Iason I confess that I desire to obey your entreaties;
piety forbids: for this—that I could endure it— 545
not even if he himself, both king and father-in-law, should force me.

haec causa uitae est, hoc perusti pectoris
curis leuamen. spiritu citius queam
carere, membris, luce. Medea Sic natos amat?

this is the cause of life, this the alleviation of the cares of my scorched breast.
I could more quickly be without breath, without my limbs, without light. Medea Does he so love his sons?

bene est, tenetur, uulneri patuit locus.++ 550
Suprema certe liceat abeuntem loqui
mandata, liceat ultimum amplexum dare:
gratum est. et illud uoce iam extrema peto,
ne, si qua noster dubius effudit dolor,
maneant in animo uerba: melioris tibi 555

It is well, he is held, a place has stood open for the wound.++ 550
At least let it be permitted to speak final mandates to one departing,
let it be permitted to give a final embrace: it is welcome. And this too I ask
with a voice now at its last, that, if our wavering pain has poured out any
words, let the words not remain in your mind: of a better [self] to you 555

memoria nostri sedeat; haec irae data
oblitterentur. Iason Omnia ex animo expuli
precorque et ipse, feruidam ut mentem regas
placideque tractes: miserias lenit quies.
Medea Discessit.

let the memory of me sit; let these things given by anger
be obliterated. Jason I have driven everything out from my mind,
and I too pray, that you may rule your seething mind
and handle it calmly: quiet soothes miseries.
Medea He has departed.

itane est? uadis oblitus mei 560
et tot meorum facinorum? excidimus tibi?

Is it so? You go, oblivious of me and of so many of my crimes? 560
have I slipped from your mind?

numquam excidemus. hoc age, omnis aduoca
uires et artes. fructus est scelerum tibi
nullum scelus putare.

We shall never fall away. Do this: summon all your forces and arts;
the fruit of your crimes for you is
to reckon nothing a crime.

uix fraudi est locus:
timemur. hac aggredere, qua nemo potest 565
quicquam timere. perge, nunc aude, incipe
quidquid potest Medea, quidquid non potest.

scarcely is there room for fraud:
we are feared. Attack by this route, where no one can 565
fear anything. Proceed, now dare, begin
whatever Medea can do, whatever she cannot do.

Tu, fida nutrix, socia maeroris mei
uariique casus, misera consilia adiuua.
est palla nobis, munus aetheriae domus 570

You, faithful nurse, companion of my grief and of my various fortunes,
help my wretched counsels.
there is a robe for me, a gift of the aetherial house 570

decusque regni, pignus Aeetae datum
a Sole generis, est et auro textili
monile fulgens quodque gemmarum nitor
distinguit aurum, quo solent cingi comae.
haec nostra nati dona nubenti ferant, 575
sed ante diris inlita ac tincta artibus.
uocetur Hecate.

and the ornament of the realm, a pledge given to Aeetes of his lineage by the Sun;
and there is a gleaming necklace with woven gold,
and a diadem whose brilliance of gems distinguishes the gold,
with which the tresses are wont to be girt.
let these, our gifts, be borne to my son’s bride, 575
but first smeared and stained with dire arts.
let Hecate be summoned.

sacra letifica appara:
statuantur arae, flamma iam tectis sonet.
     Chorvs Nulla uis flammae tumidiue uenti
tanta, nec teli metuenda torti,                              580
quanta cum coniunx uiduata taedis
     ardet et odit;
non ubi hibernos nebulosus imbres
Auster aduexit properatque torrens
Hister et iunctos uetat esse pontes                              585

prepare the joy-bringing rites:
let altars be set up; let flame now resound through the house.
     Chorus No force of flame or of swollen wind
so great, nor of the twisted missile to be feared,                              580
as when a wife, bereft of the wedding torches,
     burns and hates;
not when the misty South Wind has brought winter rains
and the torrential Danube hurries on
and forbids the bridges to remain joined.                              585

     ac uagus errat;
non ubi impellit Rhodanus profundum,
aut ubi in riuos niuibus solutis
sole iam forti medioque uere
     tabuit Haemus.                              590
caecus est ignis stimulatus ira
nec regi curat patiturue frenos
aut timet mortem: cupit ire in ipsos
     obuius enses.
     Parcite, o diui, ueniam precamur,                              595
uiuat ut tutus mare qui subegit.
sed furit uinci dominus profundi
     regna secunda.

     and, vagrant, wanders;
not where the Rhone drives the deep,
or where, with snows loosened
by the sun now strong and spring at mid-course,
     Haemus has melted.                              590
blind is the fire when goaded by wrath,
nor does it care to be ruled or endure the reins,
nor fear death: it longs to go to meet the very
     swords.
     Spare us, O gods, we pray for pardon,                              595
that he who subdued the sea may live in safety.
but the lord of the deep rages at being conquered,
     at the second realms.

ausus aeternos agitare currus
immemor metae iuuenis paternae 600

having dared to drive the eternal chariots
the youth unmindful of his father’s turning-post 600

quos polo sparsit furiosus ignes
     ipse recepit.
constitit nulli uia nota magno:
uade qua tutum populo priori,
rumpe nec sacro uiolente sancta                              605
     foedera mundi.
     Quisquis audacis tetigit carinae
nobiles remos nemorisque sacri
Pelion densa spoliauit umbra,
quisquis intrauit scopulos uagantes                              610
et tot emensus pelagi labores
barbara funem religauit ora
raptor externi rediturus auri,
exitu diro temerata ponti
     iura piauit.                               615

the fires which the frenzied one scattered over the sky
     he himself received.
for no great man has a well-known way stood firm:
go where it is safe for the earlier people,
do not, O violent one, violate the sacred                              605
     pacts of the world.
     Whoever of the audacious keel
touched the noble oars and stripped Pelion
of the dense shade of the sacred grove,
whoever entered the wandering crags                              610
and, having measured out so many labors of the sea,
tied his cable to a barbarian shore,
a robber to return with foreign gold,
with a dire end he expiated the profaned laws of the sea,
     and made amends for the rights of the deep.                              615

Exigit poenas mare prouocatum:
Tiphys, in primis domitor profundi,
liquit indocto regimen magistro;
litore externo, procul a paternis
occidens regnis tumuloque uili                              620
tectus ignotas iacet inter umbras.
Aulis amissi memor inde regis
portibus lentis retinet carinas
     stare querentes.
Ille uocali genitus Camena,                              625
cuius ad chordas modulante plectro
restitit torrens, siluere uenti,
cui suo cantu uolucris relicto
adfuit tota comitante silua,
Thracios sparsus iacuit per agros,                              630

The sea, provoked, exacts penalties:
Tiphys, foremost tamer of the deep,
left the helm to an unlearned master;
on a foreign shore, far from his paternal
dying, from realms, and by a mean tumulus                              620
covered, he lies among unknown shades.
Aulis, mindful thence of the king lost,
in sluggard harbors holds back the keels
     complaining to stand.
That one begotten of the vocal Camena,                              625
at whose strings, with the plectrum modulating,
the torrent stood still, the winds fell silent,
to whose own song the bird, leaving its own pursuit,
came, with the whole forest accompanying,
lay scattered through the Thracian fields.                              630

at caput tristi fluitauit Hebro:
contigit notam Styga Tartarumque,
     non rediturus.
Strauit Alcides Aquilone natos,
patre Neptuno genitum necauit                              635
sumere innumeras solitum figuras:
ipse post terrae pelagique pacem,
post feri Ditis patefacta regna
uiuus ardenti recubans in Oeta
praebuit saeuis sua membra flammis                              640
tabe consumptus gemini cruoris,
     munere nuptae.
Strauit Ancaeum uiolentus ictu
saetiger; fratrem, Meleagre, matris
impius mactas morerisque dextra                              645

but the head floated on the gloomy Hebrus:
it reached the well-known Styx and Tartarus,
     never to return.
Alcides laid low the sons of the North Wind,
and killed one begotten by father Neptune,                              635
accustomed to assume numberless figures:
he himself, after the pacification of land and sea,
after the realms of fierce Dis were laid open,
alive, reclining on burning Oeta,
offered his limbs to the savage flames,                              640
consumed by the taint of twin gore,
     by the gift of his bride.
The bristle-bearer laid low Ancaeus with a violent blow;
Meleager, impious, you slaughter your mother’s brother,
and you die by her right hand.                              645

matris iratae: meruere cuncti++
morte quod crimen tener expiauit
Herculi magno puer inrepertus,
raptus, heu, tutas puer inter undas?
ite nunc, fortes, perarate pontum                              650
     fonte timendo.
Idmonem, quamuis bene fata nosset,
condidit serpens Libycis harenis;
omnibus uerax, sibi falsus uni
concidit Mopsus caruitque Thebis.                              655
ille si uere cecinit futura,
exul errabit Thetidis maritus;
fulmine et ponto moriens Oilei                              661

of an angry mother: all deserved the crime which the tender boy expiated by death, the boy of great Hercules unfound, snatched, alas, amid waves deemed safe; go now, brave ones, furrow the sea                              650
     at a fountain to be feared. Though Idmon knew the fates well, a serpent buried him in the Libyan sands; truthful for all, false to himself alone, Mopsus fell and was bereft of Thebes.                              655
if he truly sang the things-to-come, the husband of Thetis will wander an exile; by lightning and by the sea dying, the son of Oileus.                              661

* * * patrioque pendet                              660a
     crimine poenas.                              660b
Igne fallaci nociturus Argis                              658
Nauplius praeceps cadet in profundum;
coniugis fatum redimens Pheraei                              662
uxor impendes animam marito.
ipse qui praedam spoliumque iussit
aureum prima reuehi carina                              665

* * * and for his father’s crime he pays                              660a
     the penalties.                              660b
By deceptive fire, about to do harm to Argos,                              658
Nauplius will fall headlong into the deep;
redeeming the fate of her Pheraean husband,                              662
wife, you will expend your life for your husband.
he himself who ordered the booty and the spoil
golden to be brought back by the first keel                              665

[ustus accenso Pelias aeno]
arsit angustas uagus inter undas.
Iam satis, diui, mare uindicastis:
parcite iusso.
Nutrix Pauet animus, horret: magna pernicies adest. 670
immane quantum augescit et semet dolor
accendit ipse uimque praeteritam integrat.

[Pelias burned in the kindled cauldron]
he burned, wandering among the narrow waves.
Now enough, gods, you have avenged the sea:
spare the one commanded.
Nurse My spirit quails, it shudders: great ruin is at hand. 670
how immense the pain augments and sets itself aflame,
and reintegrates the bygone violence.

uidi furentem saepe et aggressam deos,
caelum trahentem: maius his, maius parat
Medea monstrum. namque ut attonito gradu 675
euasit et penetrale funestum attigit,
totas opes effundit et quidquid diu
etiam ipsa timuit promit atque omnem explicat
turbam malorum, arcana secreta abdita,
et triste laeua comparans sacrum manu 680

I have seen her raging often and assailing the gods,
dragging the sky: greater than these, a greater monster Medea prepares.
for when, with a thunderstruck step, she escaped and reached the funereal inner shrine, 675
she pours out all her resources, and whatever for a long time
even she herself feared she brings forth, and she unfolds the whole crowd
of evils, arcane, secret, hidden things,
and, preparing the gloomy sacred rite with her left hand, 680

pestes uocat quascumque feruentis creat
harena Libyae quasque perpetua niue
Taurus coercet frigore Arctoo rigens,
et omne monstrum. tracta magicis cantibus
squamifera latebris turba desertis adest. 685
hic saeua serpens corpus immensum trahit
trifidamque linguam exertat et quaerit quibus
mortifera ueniat: carmine audito stupet
tumidumque nodis corpus aggestis plicat
cogitque in orbes. 'Parua sunt' inquit 'mala 690
et uile telum est, ima quod tellus creat:
caelo petam uenena.

she calls the plagues whatever the boiling sand of Libya creates and those which the Taurus, stiff with Arctic cold, restrains with perpetual snow, and every monster. Drawn by magic canticles the scaly throng from their deserted lairs is present. 685
here a savage serpent drags its immense body and thrusts out its three-forked tongue and seeks those upon whom it may come death-bringing: the song having been heard it is stupefied and folds its swollen body with heaped-up knots and compels it into coils. ‘Small are the evils,’ she says, ‘and a vile missile is that which the lowest earth creates: from the sky I shall seek poisons.’ 690
from the sky I shall seek poisons.

iam iam tempus est
aliquid mouere fraude uulgari altius.
huc ille uasti more torrentis patens
descendat anguis, cuius immensos duae, 695

now, now it is time
to move something higher than vulgar fraud.
hither let that serpent, outspread in the manner of a vast torrent,
descend, whose immense ... two, 695

maior minorque, sentiunt nodos ferae
(maior Pelasgis apta, Sidoniis minor),
pressasque tandem soluat Ophiuchus manus
uirusque fundat; adsit ad cantus meos
lacessere ausus gemina Python numina,                              700
et Hydra et omnis redeat Herculea manu
succisa serpens caede se reparans sua.
tu quoque relictis peruigil Colchis ades,
sopite primum cantibus, serpens, meis.'
     Postquam euocauit omne serpentum genus,                              705
congerit in unum frugis infaustae mala:
quaecumque generat inuius saxis Eryx,
quae fert opertis hieme perpetua iugis
sparsus cruore Caucasus Promethei,
et quis sagittas diuites Arabes linunt                              711

greater and lesser, the wild beasts feel the knots
(the greater suited to the Pelasgians, the lesser to the Sidonians),
and let Ophiuchus at last loosen his pressed hands
and pour out the venom; let Python be present at my chants,
he who dared to provoke the twin numina;                                                      700
and let the Hydra, and every serpent cut down by the Herculean hand,
renewing itself by its own slaughter, return.
you also, ever-watchful Colchian, come, with your watch left behind,
first be lulled by my songs, serpent, of mine.'
     After he summoned forth every kind of serpent-kind,                                                      705
he heaps into one the evils of the ill-omened fruit:
whatever pathless Eryx among the rocks produces,
and what the Caucasus, sprinkled with the blood of Prometheus,
bears on ridges veiled in perpetual winter,
and with which the wealthy Arabs smear their arrows.                                                      711

pharetraque pugnax Medus aut Parthi leues,                              710
aut quos sub axe frigido sucos legunt                              712
lucis Suebae nobiles Hyrcaniis;
quodcumque tellus uere nidifico creat
aut rigida cum iam bruma decussit decus                              715

and the quiver-bearing, pugnacious Mede or the nimble Parthians,                              710
or those juices which beneath the frigid axle the groves of Suevia, renowned to the Hyrcanians, gather;                              712
whatever the earth creates in nest-building spring,
or when rigid winter has now shaken down the adornment.                              715

nemorum et niuali cuncta constrinxit gelu,
quodcumque gramen flore mortifero uiret,
dirusue tortis sucus in radicibus
causas nocendi gignit, attrectat manu.
Haemonius illas contulit pestes Athos,                              720
has Pindus ingens, illa Pangaei iugis
teneram cruenta falce deposuit comam;
has aluit altum gurgitem Tigris premens,
Danuuius illas, has per arentis plagas
tepidis Hydaspes gemmifer currens aquis,                              725
nomenque terris qui dedit Baetis suis
Hesperia pulsans maria languenti uado.
haec passa ferrum est, dum parat Phoebus diem,
illius alta nocte succisus frutex;
at huius ungue secta cantato seges.                              730

and has bound all things of the groves with snowy frost,
whatever grass is green with a death-bringing flower,
or a dire juice in twisted roots
begets causes of harming, he handles with his hand.
Haemonian Athos has brought together those plagues,                              720
these vast Pindus, those on the ridges of Pangaeus
he laid down the tender tresses with a blood-stained sickle;
these the Tigris, bearing down a deep whirlpool, nourished,
those the Danube, these through arid tracts
the gem-bearing Hydaspes, running with tepid waters,                              725
and the Baetis, who gave name to its own lands,
striking the Hesperian seas with its sluggish shoal.
this one endured the iron, while Phoebus prepares the day,
of that one the shrub was cut down in deep night;
but of this one the crop was cut by nail with a spell sung.                              730

Mortifera carpit gramina ac serpentium
saniem exprimit miscetque et obscenas aues
maestique cor bubonis et raucae strigis
exsecta uiuae uiscera. haec scelerum artifex
discreta ponit: his rapax uis ignium, 735
his gelida pigri frigoris glacies inest.
addit uenenis uerba non illis minus
metuenda.++Sonuit ecce uesano gradu
canitque.

Mortiferous grasses she plucks, and she squeezes out the sanies of serpents,
and she mixes them, and the obscene birds,
and the mournful heart of the bubo and the hoarse strix’s
entrails excised from a living one. This craftswoman of crimes
sets these apart: in these the ravening force of fires, 735
in these resides the chilly ice of sluggard cold.
She adds to the poisons words no less
to be feared.++Lo, she resounded with a vesanic step
and she chants.

mundus uocibus primis tremit.
Medea Comprecor uulgus silentum uosque ferales deos 740
et Chaos caecum atque opacam Ditis umbrosi domum,
Tartari ripis ligatos squalidae Mortis specus.
supplicis, animae, remissis currite ad thalamos nouos:
rota resistat membra torquens, tangat Ixion humum,
Tantalus securus undas hauriat Pirenidas, 745

the world trembles at the first voices.
Medea I implore the throng of the silent and you funereal gods 740
and blind Chaos and the dark house of shadowy Dis,
the caverns of squalid Death bound to the banks of Tartarus.
O souls of the suppliant, released, run to the new bridal-chambers:
let the wheel, twisting limbs, come to a halt; let Ixion touch the ground,
let Tantalus, secure, quaff the Pirenian waters, 745

[grauior uni poena sedeat coniugis socero mei]
lubricus per saxa retro Sisyphum soluat lapis.
uos quoque, urnis quas foratis inritus ludit labor,
Danaides, coite: uestras hic dies quaerit manus.++
nunc meis uocata sacris, noctium sidus, ueni                              750
pessimos induta uultus, fronte non una minax.
     Tibi more gentis uinculo soluens comam
secreta nudo nemora lustraui pede
et euocaui nubibus siccis aquas
egique ad imum maria, et Oceanus graues                              755
interius undas aestibus uictis dedit,
pariterque mundus lege confusa aetheris
et solem et astra uidit et uetitum mare
tetigistis, ursae.

[let a graver penalty sit upon one alone, my husband’s father-in-law]
let the slippery stone loosen Sisyphus backward over the rocks.
you too, Danaids, whose futile labor plays with holed urns, assemble: this day seeks your hands.++
now, called by my rites, star of the nights, come                              750
clad in the worst faces, threatening with more than one brow.
     For you, by the custom of my people, loosening my hair from its binding,
I have traversed secret groves with bare foot,
and I have called forth waters from dry clouds,
and I have driven the seas to the bottom, and Ocean, the tides overcome,                              755
has granted heavy waves inward;
and alike the world, with the law of the ether confounded,
has seen both the sun and the stars, and you touched the forbidden sea,
O Bears.

temporum flexi uices:
aestiua tellus horruit cantu meo, 760

I have bent the vicissitudes of time:
the aestival earth shuddered at my chant, 760

coacta messem uidit hibernam Ceres;
uiolenta Phasis uertit in fontem uada
et Hister, in tot ora diuisus, truces
compressit undas omnibus ripis piger;
sonuere fluctus, tumuit insanum mare                              765
tacente uento; nemoris antiqui domus
amisit umbras uocis imperio meae.++
die relicto Phoebus in medio stetit,
Hyadesque nostris cantibus motae labant:
adesse sacris tempus est, Phoebe, tuis.                              770
Tibi haec cruenta serta texuntur manu,
     nouena quae serpens ligat,
tibi haec Typhoeus membra quae discors tulit,
     qui regna concussit Iouis.
uectoris istic perfidi sanguis inest,                              775

forced Ceres saw a winter harvest;
the violent Phasis turned its shallows into their fountainhead,
and the Hister, divided into so many mouths, sluggish,
pressed in its fierce waves within all banks;
the billows resounded, the insane sea swelled                              765
with the wind silent; the home of the ancient grove
lost its shades at the command of my voice.++
with day left behind, Phoebus stood in the middle,
and the Hyades, moved by my songs, waver;
it is time for your sacred rites to be present, Phoebe.                              770
For you these bloody garlands are woven by hand,
     which a nine-fold serpent binds,
for you these limbs which the discordant Typhoeus bore,
     who shook the realms of Jove.
here is the blood of the treacherous bearer.                              775

     quem Nessus expirans dedit.
Oetaeus isto cinere defecit rogus,
     qui uirus Herculeum bibit.
piae sororis, impiae matris, facem
     ultricis Althaeae uides.                              780
reliquit istas inuio plumas specu
     Harpyia, dum Zeten fugit.

     which Nessus, expiring, gave.
The Oetaean pyre died down with this ash,
     which drank the Herculean venom.
the torch of the pious sister, the impious mother,
     of avenging Althaea you see.                              780
she left those plumes in a pathless cave
     the Harpy, while she flees Zetes.

his adice pinnas sauciae Stymphalidos
     Lernaea passae spicula.++
sonuistis, arae, tripodas agnosco meos                              785
     fauente commotos dea.
     Video Triuiae currus agiles,
non quos pleno lucida uultu
     pernox agitat,
sed quos facie lurida maesta,                              790

to these add the feathers of a wounded Stymphalid
     that have undergone the Lernaean darts.++
you have resounded, altars; I recognize my tripods                              785
     set in motion with the goddess favoring.
     I see Trivia’s nimble chariots,
not those which, with bright face at the full,
     she drives through the whole night,
but those which, with a lurid countenance, mournful,                              790

cum Thessalicis uexata minis
caelum freno propiore legit.
sic face tristem pallida lucem
     funde per auras,
horrore nouo terre populos
inque auxilium, Dictynna, tuum                              795
pretiosa sonent aera Corinthi.
Tibi sanguineo caespite sacrum
     sollemne damus,
tibi de medio rapta sepulcro
fax nocturnos sustulit ignes,                              800
tibi mota caput flexa uoces
     ceruice dedi,
tibi funereo de more iacens
passos cingit uitta capillos,
tibi iactatur tristis Stygia
     ramus ab unda,                               805

when, harassed by Thessalian menaces,
she skims the sky with a closer bridle.
thus with your torch, pale one, pour a grim light
     through the airs,
terrify peoples with new horror,
and, into your aid, Dictynna, let the precious bronzes of Corinth resound.                              795
to you upon a blood-stained turf we render
     a solemn sacred rite,
for you a torch, snatched from the midst of a tomb,
has lifted nocturnal fires,                              800
to you, my head having been moved, with neck bent
     I have given utterances,
for you, lying according to funereal custom,
a fillet girds my loosened hair,
for you the gloomy branch is brandished
     from the Stygian wave,                               805

tibi nudato pectore maenas
sacro feriam bracchia cultro.
manet noster sanguis ad aras:
assuesce, manus, stringere ferrum
carosque pati posse cruores++ 810
sacrum laticem percussa dedi.
Quodsi nimium saepe uocari
quereris uotis, ignosce, precor:
causa uocandi, Persei, tuos
saepius arcus 815
una atque eadem est semper, Iason.

for you, a Maenad with breast laid bare,
with a sacred knife I shall strike my arms.
our blood remains at the altars:
grow accustomed, hand, to draw the iron
and to be able to endure dear blood-shed++ 810
stricken, I have given the sacred liquid.
And if you complain of being called too often
by vows-prayers, forgive, I pray:
the cause of calling, Perseïs, your
bows more often is 815
one and the same always: Jason.

Tu nunc uestes tinge Creusae,
quas cum primum sumpserit, imas
urat serpens flamma medullas.
Ignis fuluo clusus in auro 820

You now tinge Creusa’s garments,
which, when first she puts them on, let a serpent-flame
burn her inmost marrows.
Fire enclosed in fulvous gold 820

latet obscurus, quem mihi caeli
qui furta luit uiscere feto
dedit et docuit condere uires
arte, Prometheus; dedit et tenui
sulphure tectos Mulciber ignes,                              825
et uiuacis fulgura flammae
de cognato Phaethonte tuli.
habeo mediae dona Chimaerae,
habeo flammas usto tauri
     gutture raptas,                              830
quas permixto felle Medusae
tacitum iussi seruare malum.
     Adde uenenis stimulos, Hecate,
donisque meis semina flammae
     condita serua:
fallant uisus tactusque ferant,                              835

Hidden, obscure, lies that which to me of the heavens
by him who paid for his thefts with his fecund liver
was given and he taught to conceal its forces
by art, Prometheus; and Mulciber gave fires cloaked
with subtle sulphur,                              825
and the fulgurations of a vivacious flame
I took from my kinsman Phaethon.
I have the gifts of the midmost Chimera,
I have flames snatched from the scorched bull’s
     throat,                              830
which, with Medusa’s gall mixed in,
I have ordered to keep a silent evil.
     Add spurs to the venoms, Hecate,
and with my gifts the seeds of flame
     laid up, keep:
let them deceive the sight, and let the touch deliver it,                              835

meet in pectus uenasque calor,
stillent artus ossaque fument
uincatque suas flagrante coma
     noua nupta faces.
     Vota tenentur: ter latratus                              840
audax Hecate dedit et sacros
edidit ignes face luctifera.
     Peracta uis est omnis: huc gnatos uoca,
pretiosa per quos dona nubenti feram.

let heat creep into the breast and veins,
let the limbs drip and the bones smoke
and let the new bride with blazing hair conquer her own
     torches.
     The vows are fulfilled: a threefold bark                              840
bold Hecate has given, and the sacred
fires she brought forth with her grief-bearing torch.
     The whole force is completed: call the sons here,
through whom I may carry precious gifts to the bride.

     Ite, ite, nati, matris infaustae genus,                              845
placate uobis munere et multa prece
dominam ac nouercam. uadite et celeres domum
referte gressus, ultimo amplexu ut fruar.
     Chorvs Quonam cruenta maenas
praeceps amore saeuo                              850

     Go, go, sons, offspring of an ill-omened mother,                              845
placate for yourselves with a gift and with many a prayer
your mistress and stepmother. Go, and swiftly turn your steps
homeward, that I may enjoy a final embrace.
     Chorus Whither, blood-stained Maenad,
headlong with savage love                              850

rapitur? quod impotenti
facinus parat furore?
uultus citatus ira
riget et caput feroci
quatiens superba motu 855
regi minatur ultro.

Is she swept away? What crime does she prepare in impotent frenzy?
Her visage, incited by anger,
is rigid, and her head,
shaking with a proud, ferocious motion 855
she threatens the king unprovoked.

quis credat exulem?
Flagrant genae rubentes,
pallor fugat ruborem.
nullum uagante forma 860
seruat diu colorem.

who would believe her an exile?
Her reddening cheeks blaze,
pallor drives the blush away.
no color does her wandering form 860
keep for long.

huc fert pedes et illuc,
ut tigris orba natis
cursu furente lustrat
Gangeticum nemus. 865

here he bears his feet and there,
as a tigress bereft of her cubs
with a frenzied course ranges
the Gangetic grove. 865

Frenare nescit iras
Medea, non amores;
nunc ira amorque causam
iunxere: quid sequetur?
quando efferet Pelasgis                              870
nefanda Colchis aruis
gressum metuque soluet
regnum simulque reges?
Nunc, Phoebe, mitte currus
nullo morante loro,                              875
nox condat alma lucem,
mergat diem timendum
     dux noctis Hesperus.

She does not know how to bridle her rages
Medea, nor her loves;
now wrath and love have joined the cause:
what will follow? when will the Colchian bring forth
unspeakable things upon Pelasgian fields                              870
her step, and by fear dissolve
the realm and the kings together?
Now, Phoebus, send your chariots
with no rein delaying,                              875
let kindly night hide the light,
let the leader of night, Hesperus, plunge
     the fearful day.

Nvntivs Periere cuncta, concidit regni status;
nata atque genitor cinere permixto iacent. 880

Messenger All things have perished, the status of the kingdom has collapsed;
the daughter and the father lie in mingled ash. 880

Chorus Qua fraude capti? Nuntius Qua solent reges capi:
donis. Chorus In illis esse quis potuit dolus?

Chorus By what fraud were they captured? Messenger By what kings are accustomed to be captured:
by gifts. Chorus What deceit could there have been in those?

Nuntius Et ipse miror uixque iam facto malo
potuisse fieri credo. Chorus Quis cladis modus?
Nuntius Auidus per omnem regiae partem furit 885
immissus ignis: iam domus tota occidit,
urbi timetur.

Messenger Even I marvel, and scarcely, now that the evil is done, do I believe it could have come to pass.
Chorus What is the extent of the disaster?
Messenger A ravenous fire rages through every part of the palace 885
a fire let loose: now the whole house has perished,
there is fear for the city.

Chorus Vnda flammas opprimat.
Nuntius Et hoc in ista clade mirandum accidit:
alit unda flammas, quoque prohibetur magis,
magis ardet ignis; ipsa praesidia occupat. 890
Nutrix Effer citatum sede Pelopea gradum,
Medea, praeceps quaslibet terras pete.

Chorus Let water suppress the flames.
Messenger And even this, in that disaster, has happened as a marvel:
water nourishes the flames; and the more it is hindered,
the more the fire burns; it seizes the very defenses. 890
Nurse Carry out your hastened step from the Pelopian seat,
Medea, headlong seek whatever lands you will.

Medea Egone ut recedam? si profugissem prius,
ad hoc redirem. nuptias specto nouas.

Medea I, that I should recede? If I had fled before,
I would return for this. I watch the new nuptials.

quid, anime, cessas? sequere felicem impetum. 895

why, my soul, do you delay? follow the felicitous impetus. 895

pars ultionis ista, qua gaudes, quota est?
amas adhuc, furiose, si satis est tibi
caelebs Iason. quaere poenarum genus
haut usitatum iamque sic temet para:
fas omne cedat, abeat expulsus pudor; 900
uindicta leuis est quam ferunt purae manus.

This portion of vengeance, at which you rejoice, what portion is it?
you still love, mad one, if celibate Jason is enough for you.
seek a kind of punishments not customary, and now thus prepare yourself:
let every sacred right give way, let shame depart, driven out; 900
vengeance is light which pure hands bear.

incumbe in iras teque languentem excita
penitusque ueteres pectore ex imo impetus
uiolentus hauri. quidquid admissum est adhuc,
pietas uocetur. hoc age!

Lean into your angers and rouse your languishing self,
and from deep within, from the very bottom of your breast, the old impulses;
violently draw them in. Whatever has been committed thus far,
let it be called piety. Do this!

en faxo sciant 905
quam leuia fuerint quamque uulgaris notae
quae commodaui scelera. prolusit dolor
per ista noster: quid manus poterant rudes
audere magnum, quid puellaris furor?
Medea nunc sum; creuit ingenium malis: 910

Lo, I’ll make sure they know 905
how light they were and of how vulgar a stamp
the crimes I lent. Our pain through those things preluded:
what great thing could rude hands dare,
what girlish fury?
Now I am Medea; my genius has grown by evils: 910

iuuat, iuuat rapuisse fraternum caput,
artus iuuat secuisse et arcano patrem
spoliasse sacro, iuuat in exitium senis
armasse natas. quaere materiam, dolor:
ad omne facinus non rudem dextram afferes. 915
Quo te igitur, ira, mittis, aut quae perfido
intendis hosti tela?

it pleases, it pleases to have snatched a brother’s head,
it pleases to have cut the limbs and to have despoiled my father
of the arcane sacred rite, it pleases to have armed the daughters
for the old man’s destruction. Seek matter, O grief:
to every crime you will bring a hand not untrained. 915
Where then, O anger, do you send yourself, or what weapons
do you aim at the perfidious enemy?

nescioquid ferox
decreuit animus intus et nondum sibi
audet fateri. stulta properaui nimis:
ex paelice utinam liberos hostis meus 920
aliquos haberet++quidquid ex illo tuum est,
Creusa peperit. placuit hoc poenae genus,
meritoque placuit: ultimum magno scelus
animo parandum est: liberi quondam mei,
uos pro paternis sceleribus poenas date. 925

I-know-not-what fierce thing
the mind has decreed within, and does not yet
dare to confess to itself. Foolish, I have hastened too much:
would that from a concubine my enemy 920
might have some++ whatever of yours is from him,
Creusa bore. This kind of penalty pleased, and deservedly it pleased:
a final crime must be prepared with a great spirit:
children, once mine, you, for your father’s crimes,
pay the penalties. 925

Cor pepulit horror, membra torpescunt gelu
pectusque tremuit. ira discessit loco
materque tota coniuge expulsa redit.
egone ut meorum liberum ac prolis meae
fundam cruorem?

Horror struck my heart, my limbs grow torpid with chill
and my breast trembled. Anger withdrew from its place,
and the mother, entire, returns, the spouse driven out.
am I, that I should pour forth the blood of my children and of my offspring?

melius, a, demens furor! 930
incognitum istud facinus ac dirum nefas
a me quoque absit; quod scelus miseri luent?
scelus est Iason genitor et maius scelus
Medea mater++occidant, non sunt mei;
pereant, mei sunt. crimine et culpa carent, 935
sunt innocentes, fateor: et frater fuit.

better, ah, mad fury! 930
unknown let that deed and dire impiety be, far from me as well; what crime will the wretches pay for?
a crime is Jason as begetter, and a greater crime
Medea as mother—let them die; they are not mine;
let them perish; they are mine. they lack crime and fault, 935
they are innocent, I confess: and so was my brother.

quid, anime, titubas? ora quid lacrimae rigant
uariamque nunc huc ira, nunc illuc amor
diducit? anceps aestus incertam rapit;
ut saeua rapidi bella cum uenti gerunt, 940

why, my spirit, do you totter? why do tears wet my face?
and why does the changeful—now here anger, now there love—pull me apart?
a twofold surge carries me off, uncertain;
as swift winds wage savage wars, 940

utrimque fluctus maria discordes agunt
dubiumque feruet pelagus, haut aliter meum
cor fluctuatur: ira pietatem fugat
iramque pietas++cede pietati, dolor.
Huc, cara proles, unicum afflictae domus 945
solamen, huc uos ferte et infusos mihi
coniungite artus. habeat incolumes pater,
dum et mater habeat++urguet exilium ac fuga:
iam iam meo rapientur auulsi e sinu,
flentes, gementes++osculis pereant patris, 950
periere matris.

on both sides the discordant seas drive the billows
and the doubtful deep seethes; not otherwise my heart fluctuates:
anger puts piety to flight, and piety anger++yield to piety, grief.
hither, dear progeny, the sole solace of an afflicted house 945
solace, hither bear yourselves, and, poured into me,
join your limbs. let father have you unharmed,
so long as mother too may have [you]++exile and flight press:
now, now, torn away, you will be snatched from my bosom,
weeping, groaning++let them perish by the kisses of their father, 950
they have perished by the mother’s.

rursus increscit dolor
et feruet odium, repetit inuitam manum
antiqua Erinys++ira, qua ducis, sequor.
utinam superbae turba Tantalidos meo
exisset utero bisque septenos parens 955

again the grief increases
and hatred seethes, the ancient Erinys++wrath seeks again the unwilling hand;
where you lead, I follow. would that the proud throng of the Tantalid
had come forth from my womb, a parent of twice seven 955

natos tulissem! sterilis in poenas fui++
fratri patrique quod sat est, peperi duos.
Quonam ista tendit turba Furiarum impotens?

would that i had borne sons! i was barren to my punishment++
for brother and father, what is enough, i bore two.
whither does that unbridled throng of furies tend?

quem quaerit aut quo flammeos ictus parat,
aut cui cruentas agmen infernum faces 960
intentat? ingens anguis excusso sonat
tortus flagello. quem trabe infesta petit
Megaera?

whom does she seek, or against whom does she prepare flaming blows,
or at whom does the infernal host brandish bloody torches 960
does she threaten? a huge serpent resounds when the scourge is shaken
twisted like a lash. whom with a hostile spear-shaft does
Megaera?

cuius umbra dispersis uenit
incerta membris? frater est, poenas petit:
dabimus, sed omnes. fige luminibus faces, 965
lania, perure, pectus en Furiis patet.

whose shade comes with limbs scattered, uncertain?
it is my brother; he seeks penalties:
we will pay them, every one. fix torches in my eyes, 965
lacerate, sear—lo, my breast lies open to the Furies.

Discedere a me, frater, ultrices deas
manesque ad imos ire securas iube:
mihi me relinque et utere hac, frater, manu
quae strinxit ensem++uictima manes tuos 970

Bid the avenging goddesses to depart from me, brother,
and order them to go down untroubled to the deepest shades:
leave me to myself, and use this hand, brother,
which drew the sword—let it be a victim to your shades. 970

placamus ista. Quid repens affert sonus?
parantur arma meque in exitium petunt.

Let us placate them. What sudden sound is that bringing?
arms are being prepared, and they seek me for destruction.

excelsa nostrae tecta conscendam domus
caede incohata. perge tu mecum comes.
tuum quoque ipsa corpus hinc mecum aueham. 975
nunc hoc age, anime: non in occulto tibi est
perdenda uirtus; approba populo manum.

i shall climb the lofty roofs of our house
with slaughter inchoate. go on with me, companion.
i myself will also carry off your body from here with me. 975
now do this, spirit: your valor is not to be squandered in secret;
approve your hand to the people.

Iason Quicumque regum cladibus fidus doles,
concurre, ut ipsam sceleris auctorem horridi
capiamus. huc, huc, fortis armiferi cohors, 980
conferte tela, uertite ex imo domum.
Medea Iam iam recepi sceptra germanum patrem,
spoliumque Colchi pecudis auratae tenent;
rediere regna, rapta uirginitas redit.

Jason Whoever, faithful, you grieve at the calamities of kings,
rally, that we may seize the very author of the horrid crime.
here, here, brave cohort of arms-bearers, 980
bring your weapons together, upturn the house from its very base.
Medea Now, now I have taken back the scepters, my brother, my father,
and the Colchians hold the spoil of the golden sheep;
the kingdoms have returned, my ravished virginity returns.

o placida tandem numina, o festum diem, 985

o placid at last divinities, o festal day, 985

o nuptialem! uade, perfectum est scelus++
uindicta nondum: perage, dum faciunt manus.
quid nunc moraris, anime?

O nuptial day! go; the crime is perfected++
vengeance not yet: carry it through, while my hands can do it.
why now do you delay, my spirit?

quid dubitas? potens
iam cecidit ira? paenitet facti, pudet.

why do you hesitate? powerful
has your wrath now fallen? do you repent of the deed, are you ashamed.

quid, misera, feci? misera? paeniteat licet, 990
feci.

what, wretched woman, have I done? wretched? let it be repented, 990
I did it.

uoluptas magna me inuitam subit,
et ecce crescit. derat hoc unum mihi,
spectator iste. nil adhuc facti reor:
quidquid sine isto fecimus sceleris perit.

a great pleasure steals upon me, unwilling,
and behold it grows. This one thing was lacking to me,
that spectator. I reckon nothing has yet been done:
whatever crime we have committed without that spectator perishes.

Iason En ipsa tecti parte praecipiti imminet. 995
huc rapiat ignes aliquis, ut flammis cadat
suis perusta. Medea Congere extremum tuis
natis, Iason, funus ac tumulum strue:
coniunx socerque iusta iam functis habent
a me sepulti; gnatus hic fatum tulit, 1000

Jason Behold, on the very overhanging part of the roof she looms. 995
Let someone snatch fires hither, that she may fall, burned by her own flames.
Medea Heap up the final funeral for your sons, Jason, and build a tomb:
your wife and your father-in-law, buried by me, already have the due rites performed;
this son has borne his fate, 1000

hic te uidente dabitur exitio pari.
Iason Per numen omne perque communes fugas
torosque, quos non nostra uiolauit fides,
iam parce nato. si quod est crimen, meum est:
me dedo morti; noxium macta caput. 1005
Medea Hac qua recusas, qua doles, ferrum exigam.

here, with you as witness, it shall be given to equal doom.
Jason By every divinity and by our common flights
and the marriage-beds, which our faith did not violate,
now spare the son. If there is any crime, it is mine:
I surrender myself to death; slaughter the guilty head. 1005
Medea By this way which you refuse, which pains you, I will drive the steel.

i nunc, superbe, uirginum thalamos pete,
relinque matres. Iason Vnus est poenae satis.
Medea Si posset una caede satiari manus,
nullam petisset.

go now, proud one, seek the bridal chambers of virgins,
leave mothers. Jason One is penalty enough.
Medea If the hand could be sated with a single slaughter,
it would have sought none.

ut duos perimam, tamen 1010
nimium est dolori numerus angustus meo.
in matre si quod pignus etiamnunc latet,
scrutabor ense uiscera et ferro extraham.
Iason Iam perage coeptum facinus, haut ultra precor,
moramque saltem supplicis dona meis. 1015

Though I should slay two, nevertheless 1010
the number is too narrow for my grief.
if any pledge still lies hidden in the mother,
I will search the viscera with the sword and with iron draw it out.
Iason Now complete the crime begun; I pray no further,
and at least grant a delay to my suppliant prayers. 1015

Medea Perfruere lento scelere, ne propera, dolor:
meus dies est; tempore accepto utimur.
Iason Infesta, memet perime. Medea Misereri iubes.++
bene est, peractum est.

Medea Enjoy fully the slow crime; do not hasten, my pain:
it is my day; we use the time granted.
Jason Hostile one, kill me myself. Medea You bid me to pity.++
Good; it is done.

plura non habui, dolor,
quae tibi litarem. lumina huc tumida alleua, 1020
ingrate Iason. coniugem agnoscis tuam?

I had no more, Pain, which I might sacrifice to you. lift up your swollen eyes here, 1020
ingrate Jason. Do you recognize your wife?

sic fugere soleo. patuit in caelum uia:
squamosa gemini colla serpentes iugo
summissa praebent. recipe iam gnatos, parens;
ego inter auras aliti curru uehar. 1025
Iason Per alta uade spatia sublime aetheris,
testare nullos esse, qua ueheris, deos.

Thus I am wont to flee. The way has lain open into heaven:
the serpents offer their twin scaly necks, lowered to the yoke.
Take back now the sons, parent;
I shall be borne among the breezes in a winged chariot. 1025
Jason Go through the high spaces of the sublime ether,
attest that there are no gods where you are carried.