Back to their source the holy rivers turn their tide. Order and

the universe are being reversed. 'Tis men whose counsels are
treacherous, whose oath by heaven is no longer sure. Rumour shall

bring a change o'er my life, bringing it into good repute. Honour's
dawn is breaking for woman's sex; no more shall the foul tongue of

slander fix upon us.
antistrophe 1

The songs of the poets of old shall cease to make our
faithlessness their theme. Phoebus, lord of minstrelsy, hath not

implanted in our mind the gift of heavenly song, else had I sung an
answering strain to the race of males, for time's long chapter affords

many a theme on their sex as well as ours.
strophe 2

With mind distraught didst thou thy father's house desert on thy
voyage betwixt ocean's twin rocks, and on a foreign strand thou

dwellest thy bed left husbandless, poor lady, and thou an exile from
the land, dishonoured, persecuted.

antistrophe 2
Gone is the grace that oaths once had. Through all the breadth

of Hellas honour is found no more; to heaven hath it sped away. For
thee no father's house is open, woe is thee! to be a haven from the

troublous storm, while o'er thy home is set another queen, the bride
that is preferred to thee.

(As the CHORUS finishes its song, JASON enters,
alone. MEDEA comes out of the house.)

JASON
It is not now I first remark, but oft ere this, how unruly a

pest is a harsh temper. For instance, thou, hadst thou but patiently
endured the will of thy superiors, mightest have remained here in this

land and house, but now for thy idle words wilt thou be banished.
Thy words are naught to me. Cease not to call Jason basest of men; but

for those words thou hast spoken against our rulers, count it all gain
that exile is thy only punishment. I ever tried to check the outbursts

of the angry monarch, and would have had thee stay, but thou wouldst
not forego thy silly rage, always reviling our rulers, and so thou

wilt be banished. Yet even after all this I weary not of my
goodwill, but am come with thus much forethought, lady, that thou

mayst not be destitute nor want for aught, when, with thy sons, thou
art cast out. Many an evil doth exile bring in its train with it;

for even though thou hatest me, never will I harbour hard thoughts
of thee.

MEDEA
Thou craven villain (for that is the only name my tongue can

find for thee, a foul reproach on thy unmanliness), comest thou to me,
thou, most hated foe of gods, of me, and of all mankind? 'Tis no proof

of courage or hardihood to confront thy friends after injuring them,
but that worst of all human diseases-loss of shame. Yet hast thou done

well to come; for I shall ease my soul by reviling thee, and thou wilt
be vexed at my recital. I will begin at the very beginning. I saved

thy life, as every Hellene knows who sailed with thee aboard the
good ship Argo, when thou wert sent to tame and yoke fire-breathing

bulls, and to sow the deadly tilth. Yea, and I slew the dragon which
guarded the golden fleece, keeping sleepless watch o'er it with many a

wreathed coil, and I raised for thee a beacon of deliverance. Father
and home of my free will I left and came with the to Iolcos, 'neath

Pelion's hills, for my love was stronger than my prudence. Next I
caused the death of Pelias by a doom most grievous, even by his own

children's hand, beguiling them of all their fear. All this have I
done for thee, thou traitor! and thou hast cast me over, taking to

thyself another wife, though children have been born to us. Hadst thou
been childless still, I could have pardoned thy desire for this new

union. Gone is now the trust I put in oaths. I cannot even
understand whether thou thinkest that the gods of old no longer

rule, or that fresh decrees are now in vogue amongst mankind, for
thy conscience must tell thee thou hast not kept faith with me. Ah!

poor right hand, which thou didst often grasp. These knees thou
didst embrace! All in vain, I suffered a traitor to touch me! How

short of my hopes I am fallen! But come, I will deal with the as
though thou wert my friend. Yet what kindness can I expect from one so

base as thee? But yet I will do it, for my questioning will show
thee yet more base. Whither can I turn me now? to my father's house,

to my own country, which I for thee deserted to come hither? to the
hapless daughters of Pelias? A glad welcome, I trow, would they give

me in their home, whose father's death I compassed! My case stands
even thus: I am become the bitter foe to those of mine own home, and

those whom I need ne'er have wronged I have made mine enemies to
pleasure thee. Wherefore to reward me for this thou hast made me

doubly blest in the eyes of many wife in Hellas; and in thee I own a
peerless, trusty lord. O woe is me, if indeed I am to be cast forth an

exile from the land, without one friend; one lone woman with her babes
forlorn! Yea, a fine reproach to thee in thy bridal hour, that thy

children and the wife who saved thy life are beggars and vagabonds!
O Zeus! why hast thou granted unto man clear signs to know the sham in

gold, while on man's brow no brand is stamped whereby to gauge the
villain's heart?

LEADER OF THE CHORUS
There is a something terrible and past all cure, when quarrels

arise 'twixt those who are near and dear.
JASON

Needs must I now, it seems, turn orator, and, like a good helmsman
on a ship with close-reefed sails, weather that wearisome tongue of

thine. Now, I believe, since thou wilt exaggerate thy favours, that to
Cypri, alone of gods or men I owe the safety of my voyage. Thou hast a

subtle wit enough; yet were it a hateful thing for me to say that
the Love-god constrained thee by his resistless shaft to save my life.

However, I will not reckon this too nicely; 'twas kindly done,
however thou didst serve me. Yet for my safety hast thou received more

than ever thou gavest, as I will show. First, thou dwellest in Hellas,
instead of thy barbarian land, and hast learnt what justice means

and how to live by law, not by the dictates of brute force; and all
the Hellenes recognize thy cleverness, and thou hast gained a name;

whereas, if thou hadst dwelt upon the confines of the earth, no tongue
had mentioned thee. Give me no gold within my halls, nor skill to sing

a fairer strain than ever Orpheus sang, unless there-with my fame be
spread abroad! So much I say to thee about my own toils, for 'twas

thou didst challenge me to this retort. As for the taunts thou
urgest against my marriage with the princess, I will prove to thee,

first, that I am prudentherein, next chastened in my love, and last
powerful friend to thee and to thy sons; only hold thy peace. Since

I have here withdrawn from Iolcos with many a hopeless trouble at my
back, what happier device could I, an exile, frame than marriage

with the daughter of the king? 'Tis not because I loathe thee for my
wife-the thought that rankles in thy heart; 'tis not because I am

smitten with desire for a new bride, nor yet that I am eager to vie
with others in begetting many children, for those we have are quite

enough, and I do not complain. Nay, 'tis that we-and this is most
important-may dwell in comfort, instead of suffering want (for well

I know that every whilom friend avoids the poor), and that I might
rear my sons as doth befit my house; further, that I might be the

father of brothers for the children thou hast borne, and raise these
to the same high rank, uniting the family in one,-to my lasting bliss.

Thou, indeed, hast no need of more children, but me it profits to help
my present family by that which is to be. Have I miscarried here?

Not even thou wouldest say so unless a rival's charms rankled in thy
bosom. No, but you women have such strange ideas, that you think all

is well so long as your married life runs smooth; but if some
mischance occur to ruffle your love, all that was good and lovely erst

you reckon as your foes. Yea, men should have begotten children from
some other source, no female race existing; thus would no evil ever

have fallen on mankind.
LEADER