FIRST EPISODE (Medea, attended by servants, comes out of the house.) Medea Women of Corinth, I have come outside to you Lest you should be indignant with me; for I know That many people are overproud, some when alone, And others when in company. And those who live Quietly, as I do, get a bad reputation. For a just judgment is not evident in the eyes When a man at first sight hates another, before Learning his character, being in no way injured; And a foreigner especially must adapt himself. I'd not approve of even a fellow-countryman Who by pride and want of manners offends his neighbors. But on me this thing has fallen so unexpectedly, It has broken my heart. I am finished. I let go All my life's joy. My friends, I only want to die. It was everything to me to think well of one man, And he, my own husband, has turned out wholly vile. Of all things which are living and can form a judgment We women are the most unfortunate creatures. Firstly, with an excess of wealth it is required For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies A master; for not to take one is even worse. And now the question is serious whether we take A good or bad one; for there is no easy escape For a woman, nor can she say no to her marriage. She arrives among new modes of behavior and manners, And needs prophetic power, unless she has learned at home, How best to manage him who shares the bed with her. And if we work out all this well and carefully, And the husband lives with us and lightly bears his yoke, Then life is enviable. If not, I'd rather die. A man, when he's tired of the company in his home, Goes out of the house and puts an end to his boredom And turns to a friend or companion of his own age. But we are forced to keep our eyes on one alone. What they say of us is that we have a peaceful time Living at home, while they do the fighting in war. How wrong they are! I would very much rather stand Three times in the front of battle than bear one child. Yet what applies to me does not apply to you. You have a country. Your family home is here. You enjoy life and the company of your friends. But I am deserted, a refugee, thought nothing of By my husband - something he won in a foreign land. I have no mother or brother, nor any relation With whom I can take refuge in this sea of woe. This much then is the service I would beg from you: If I can find the means or devise any scheme To pay my husband back for what he has done to me - Him and his father-in-law and the girl who married him - Just to keep silent. For in other ways a woman Is full of fear, defenseless, dreads the sight of cold Steel; but, when once she is wronged in the matter of love, No other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood. Chorus This I will promise. You are in the right, Medea, In paying your husband back. I am not surprised at you For being sad. But look! I see our King Creon Approaching. He will tell us of some new plan. (Enter, from the right, Creon, with attendants.) Creon You, with that angry look, so set against your husband, Medea, I order you to leave my territories An exile, and take along with you your two children, And not to waste time doing it. It is my decree, And I will see it done. I will not return home Until you are cast from the boundaries of my land. Medea Oh, this is the end for me. I am utterly lost. Now I am in the full force of the storm of hate And have no harbor from ruin to reach easily. Yet still, in spite of it all, I'll ask the question: What is your reason, Creon, for banishing me? Creon I am afraid of you - why should I dissemble it? - Afraid that you may injure my daughter mortally. Many things accumulate to support my feeling. You are a clever woman, versed in evil arts, And are angry at having lost your husband's love. I hear that you are threatening, so they tell me, To do something against my daughter and Jason And me, too. I shall take my precautions first. I tell you, I prefer to earn your hatred now Than to be soft-hearted and afterward regret it. Medea This is not the first time, Creon. Often previously Through being considered clever I have suffered much. A person of sense ought never to have his children Brought up to be more clever than the average. For, apart from cleverness bringing them no profit, It will make them objects of envy and ill-will. If you put new ideas before the eyes of fools They'll think you foolish and worthless into the bargain; And if you are thought superior to those who have Some reputation for learning, you will become hated. I have some knowledge myself of how this happens; For being clever, I find that some will envy me, Others object to me. Yet all my cleverness Is not so much. Well, then, are you frightened, Creon, That I should harm you? There is no need. It is not My way to transgress the authority of a king. How have you injured me? You gave your daughter away To the man you wanted. Oh, certainly I hate My husband, but you, I think, have acted wisely; Nor do I grudge it you that your affairs go well. May the marriage be a lucky one! Only let me Live in this land. For even though I have been wronged, I will not raise my voice, but submit to my betters. Creon What you say sounds gentle enough. Still in my heart I greatly dread that you are plotting some evil, And therefore I trust you even less than before. A sharp-tempered woman, or, for that matter, a man, Is easier to deal with than the clever type Who holds her tongue. No. You must go. No need for more Speeches. The thing is fixed. By no manner of means Shall you, an enemy of mine, stay in my country. Medea I beg you. By your knees, by your new-wedded girl. Creon Your words are wasted. You will never persuade me. Medea Will you drive me out, and give no heed to my prayers? Creon I will, for I love my family more than you. Medea O my country! How bitterly now I remember you! Creon I love my country too - next after my children. Medea Oh what an evil to men is passionate love! Creon That would depend on the luck that goes along with it. Medea O God, do not forget who is the cause of this! Creon Go. It is no use. Spare me the pain of forcing you. Medea I'm spared no pain. I lack no pain to be spared me. Creon Then you'll be removed by force by one of my men. Medea No, Creon, not that! But do listen, I beg you. Creon Woman, you seem to want to create a disturbance. Medea I will go into exile. This is not what I beg for. Creon Why then this violence and clinging to my hand? Medea Allow me to remain here just for this one day, So I may consider where to live in my exile, And look for support for my children, since their father Chooses to make no kind of provision for them. Have pity on them! You have children of your own. It is natural for you to look kindly on them. For myself I do not mind if I go into exile. It is the children being in trouble that I mind. Creon There is nothing tyrannical about my nature, And by showing mercy I have often been the loser. Even now I know that I am making a mistake. All the same you shall have your will. But this I tell you, That if the light of heaven tomorrow shall see you, You and your children in the confines of my land, You die. This word I have spoken is firmly fixed. But now, if you must stay, stay for this day alone. For in it you can do none of the things I fear. (Exit Creon with his attendants.) Chorus Oh, unfortunate one! Oh, cruel! Where will you turn? Who will help you? What house or what land to preserve you From ill can you find? Medea, a god has thrown suffering Upon you in waves of despair. Medea Things have gone badly in every way. No doubt of that But not these things this far, and don't imagine so. There are still trials to come for the new-wedded pair, And for their relations pain that will mean something. Do you think that I would ever have fawned on that man Unless I had some end to gain or profit in it? I would not even have spoken or touched him with my hands. But he has got to such a pitch of foolishness That, though he could have made nothing of all my plans By exiling me, he has given me this one day To stay here, and in this I will make dead bodies Of three of my enemies - father, the girl, and my husband. I have many ways of death which I might suit to them, And do not know, friends, which one to take in hand; Whether to set fire underneath their bridal mansion, Or sharpen a sword and thrust it to the heart, Stealing into the palace where the bed is made. There is just one obstacle to this. If I am caught Breaking into the house and scheming against it, I shall die, and give my enemies cause for laughter. It is best to go by the straight road, the one in which I am most skilled, and make away with them by poison. So be it then. And now suppose them dead. What town will receive me? What friend will offer me a refuge in his land, Or the guaranty of his house and save my own life? There is none. So I must wait a little time yet, And if some sure defense should then appear for me, In craft and silence I will set about this murder. But if my fate should drive me on without help, Even though death is certain, I will take the sword Myself and kill, and steadfastly advance to crime. It shall not be - I swear it by her, my mistress, Whom most I honor and have chosen as partner, Hecate, who dwells in the recesses of my hearth - That any man shall be glad to have injured me. Bitter I will make their marriage for them and mournful, Bitter the alliance and the driving me out of the land. Ah, come, Medea, in your plotting and scheming Leave nothing untried of all those things which you know. Go forward to the dreadful act. The test has come For resolution. You see how you are treated. Never Shall you be mocked by Jason's Corinthian wedding, Whose father was noble, whose grandfather Helius. You have the skill. What is more, you were born a woman, And women, though most helpless in doing good deeds, Are of every evil the cleverest of contrivers.