CLASSICAL TRAGEDY GREEK AND ROMAN: 8 Plays in Authoritative Modern Translations “Accompanied by Critical Essays « Edited by Robert W. Corrigan THEATRE BOOK PUBLISHERS.490 Seneca ‘Apart from his letters, Sengca wrote essays — on Providence, fon Anges, on Favors, ete. And there are his plays —nine tragedies, ‘mall ‘Sensca's importance in European literatare varies with time. “The eatly Chastians were attracted by his spirituality, the Middle ‘Ages by his philosophy. Above all, he was the mediator between ‘Greek tragedy and the Elizabethan theatre. But the transmission was not merely mechanical. Every time the ghost walks in Haz Tet for Macbeth, or Jultze Caesar, or The White Devil, ox the Spanish Tragedy) the contolling aesthetic comes not from Soph eles but from Seneca, Medea speaks the prologue to Seneca’s play about her, and sets a fone of mystery and supernatural haz rd. Compate ie with the witches inthe frst act of Macbeth. The Greeks kept violent action offstage and used messengers. Seneca brought violence on stage and showed death, Shakespeare only mentions him as a playwright once [Seneca cannot be too heavy, for Plavtus too light,” Hamlet, 2) but he flatters him sincerely by imitation « hundred times. Through the Newton translations of 1561, Seneca was accessible to the founding fathers of modern rama while the Greeks were not. Perhaps ie was an accident of history, but Seneca was the writer it happened to, berlt of the axioms of religion, he propagated the sanction of human emacion. ‘Sencea's alarmingly modem aesthetic took drama out of the tem pleand putt into the thea ‘Seneca can sound 80 modern. He was bald, skinny and ast: matic, and admitted it. He made such a study of eoedh-griting in the face of fortune that his jaw seems locked in a permanent ‘wince dhink he must have been brave, noe hecause he seems so Fearless bot because he seeme so frightened, Exposed t0 a society quite as overwhelming ss ours, ehreatened by al the wounds men Suffer inthe tompost of the world or the voleano of their souls, ‘went on and on. He tied to save something and — perhaps even braver tried to tell other people about it. All his beautiful words — those lovely short sharp sentences — are now dismissed to post graduate research, but even two thousand yeas is not long, enough fora soul like that to die Seneca MEDEA ‘Translated by Frederick AhlCharacters Medea, daughter of king Aeotes of Coles, elected wife of Jason Nurse servant, compatriot, and confidante of ‘Medea (Covon, King of Corinth who granted Jason and Medea asplam, and who is about to marty bis daughter to Jason Jason, husband of Medea and nephew of Pella, tng of Thesealy recently kiled with Medea's help; leader ofthe naval expedition on the ‘Argo which captured the Golden Fesce. Moscenger ‘Medea's Two Soas fnonspeaking) (Chorus, Corinthian people Vorious Attendants (nonspeaking) ACT ONE [The curtain rises 10 reveal MEDEA, alone in the courtyard of her ‘house in Corinth, praying before a shrine of the gods. In the background music can be heard: singing, ia celebration of IASON's wedding to Crensa] Medea ‘Gods who couple men and women, hear met {Lucin, listen, bright guardian of birt, smidwiving children ftom the womb. Pallas ‘you taught Tiphys how to guide Arg, the frst ship, co mastora straight course, ‘making itself at home upon the seas, now straits themselves, Heat me ‘Neptune, vicious ‘enough to master Ocean's heaving threats, Tray to you. ‘And you, Titanic sod, marking and making day with blazing eye flight You too, perceptive Hecate, governor of heaven, hell, and earth, Ifumninating rituals that are, and shouldbe, seeret, 1 appeal to you. 1 call those gods upon whose names Jason swore his oaths, names Medea might smoce rightly spell n prayer Hollow oneness ‘of eternal night, realms face away from life above, ghosts in chains, dipping Toathsome murder Ominous master ‘of those realms of horror, hear my prayer,494 Sensoa ry hideous prayer You too, Proserpina, ominous mistress, carried off Like me but not abandoned, treacherous left Powers of feuding vengeance, snakes writhing repulsively wpon a single head, come to me nov. Grasp the black fires of death In ghastly hands dipping blood, and stand ‘menacing, 2s when I married hia. Kill his new partner, kill bis new father, snap all the royal family's living shoots. Tor the groom, may something worse remain, I ywant him to live: to wander through cities as yet unknown his confidence, his livelihood destroyed, refugee, frightened and with nowhere to call home, Tooked on, if he's locked upon sal, ‘with hated; a notorious would-be gues, ‘stoking shelter in someone else's house pray he'll wish we were together sil nov request the worst prayer of them all ‘thatthe children show the qualities oftheir father and their mother combined, ‘My final vengeance is already born: and Thave given it birth Butt'm sowing seeds of verbiage, complaints that have ro harvest. ill tear wedding torches ft of theie hands Il tear the very light ‘ut ofthe sky. Sol, he Sun hire sowed my family’s seed, yet watches now {mpassively, and lets himself be watched, firmly keeping to his usual, solitary course though open space and the pure fire of heaven. He docs not return to his own rosy but, unmake Medea this day. Shining father, give me control, let me drive the coupled power of fie ‘Then Corinth’s Isthmus, double boundaries of land dividing seas, delaying ships, ‘ould be consumed with Hames, the seas joined One thing remains Tlong to bear the torch basing before chem tothe bridal suite, tomake the sactifcal prayers butcher the beasts on consecrated alta-stoncs TE; my soul, you have some force of ie, if eaves of your fabled enceay still linger on, seek out an opening 0 you ean penalize them, reehessly slicing ehrough their guts a if vhrough wax. ‘You must banish from yourself all ears 4 woman has, Take ‘on Your native mind, Your Cossack mind that hates all eregners ‘Whatever criminal acts the Crimes, Rioal River, and Black Sea have seen the Isthmus soon wil ee. Evil actions of brutality unknown — enough {tosend shivers through heaven and earth alike ‘That's what the mind within me urges me ‘obring upon them: slashing butchery roving death approaching lb by limb. 1am wasting time. 1 did allthis in virgin innoeence, Some fuller pain should rise within me now I've given bitch, People expect it. Medea, bare your rage for fighting and prepare yourself to all, work toa frenzy, When tales of you life are told, men will, Thope pair your divarce with your wedding in wellsmatched rivalry ‘When you leave him, your tail will be the same as once it was when you pursued him here.Delays damp fie, So break them off This home ‘was quickened and born In evime, Quickly and criminally must! leave it nov. [he CHORUS enters, chanting for IASON and Creusa's wedding, ‘and moving toward MEDEA's hous Choris "This i @ wedding of kings sod, kings of sky above will come, responding to and so we hope orbounded sea, the people's payers, neck carried high, the Thunderers, ‘A whiteskinned, radiant ball should honar the powerful gods, body, female and virgin, pleases the goddess who brings snowy white, Tie to light. Love, busying War's hands Moodstained and rough, siving the nations truce from death and strife {You store inside your hora fertile riches. ‘Your prize for gentleness: saevfie tender, ‘At logal weddings you, | Hymen, scatter shadows of night with fire: a good omen, Step lurching this way, mem with wing, ‘rowning your temples with wreaths of roses. Light of temporal twinning, evening sta always too late for lovers, twilight hour: {greedily mothers and brides year for you, ‘and the moment you prick the sky with brightness. Her virgin luster conquers, when compared to Athenian beides, of Spartans limber and lithe, rmountaln-exercised ike boys inawalkless stronghold. Loveicr she than girls bathed in crystal Alpheus, ‘washed in waters of Aonia If Aeson’s sons, Jason, let udges’ eyes assess his looks, gods would _ concede first place Bacchus in tgor chariot, lightning born, and grest prophetic Phocbus. brother of i Madea 497 Deaven's taut huntress.vigin would give way Pollux, with castgating fists concedes Castor as well, his match, except with gloves, Gods of heaven, I pray this woman conquer, Tet this man rie far pray you: let surpass other wives, above other men, ‘When she stands among women a the dance her face alone outshines all others there So stars fade and die before che sun, 0 flocking Pleiades coyly hide ‘when Moon’s arched horns, with mirrored brightness, complete a whole and suntike circle So whiteness drenched in Punie crimson blushes re s0 shepied,rsily glistening in the nev days lige, soes the gleaming crest of sunrise surging up. Bridegroom, raped from a Tartar’ bd, alraid, yoked toa wife unbridled, tansolaced by unwailing daly contact, reap virgin frst, ehe daughter ofthe wind. This is your fre time too first time with fll parental consent. Come las. Your songs can be alittle lewel: Bounce your lyrics anyway you wane. Rare’s the chance fr fice speech against kings Bacchus’ child, whiteobed Hymen who caries the thyrsus! ‘Time to inflame the piny tore's myriad fibers! ‘Whip up that solemn fire with fingers no matter how listles Letts apeae ont os jest in style bald and ela, Leave the erowd fre for face, ‘We consign to silence and darkness any woman who runs from home, wedding velled for analien husband [exit cHonus, laughing and mocking maoeA)act ‘Medea ‘My tslight before might; my urge to Kil The wedding hymn pounds at my eas, and sill find i¢ hard to grasp that this evil, isreally happening, How did Jaton find the power todo itt Fist he took ‘my father andthe country that we raled away feom me. Now he casts aside ‘he seeds of my existence — ruthlessly Teft in solitude on foreign soil to wither, Ihave earned better than this He's seen me mastcring the energy of fire and water, yet he despises me. CCan he suppose my power to infiet vil has been totally burned oat? {Ym sick at hear; can't see what to do My mind is ravaged by insanity, Ym tor to pieces, scattered everywhere ‘What source can I ap for vengeance nov He doesn’t have a brother I rect, but he does have a wif. So into her ry knife wil go. Yet cis is not enough for what Pve suffered. There must be some erime that ities, Greck or savage, donot know, something your hands have never tried before. ‘You must devise it, your ast erime must spar {you ont must come back to you, it mast, The Golden Fleece, symbol of royal power call how it was tom avray, recall the tiny boy who followed his sister, sheared from himself limb by limb, butchered asan act of war against father, his body seattered upon open sea Medea 499 ‘Recall the limbs of Pelias himself an old man anda father, boiled in bronze. So often when I've been the cause of death, the blood that’s spurted has been kindred blood, Yet [have never killed in anger, Love makes me destroy. ‘But Jason had no power, and surely did not plot this by himself, hae too was foreign under Corinth’s laws. He owed it you to stool himsel for death not steal away. ‘Don’ sy that, please, ob pleas, raging voice of my pain. Jason must live, bemine, just as he was, i he has strength, | even if not, Tstll want him to live, find to remember me.I don’t want him tohour he gift of life I gave him ance. CCreon’s to blame. He uses royal power, his only potency, to cast of tes that bind together marziage partnerships, toseparate a mother from hee sons. “He tears up pledges that should be intact. e's solely his responsibility, and he alone should pay du penalty. Go ater him! {will bury is home in ash and cinders, Malea will see this citadel in black against the flames, Malea, whose aching promontory holds fase ships of war with long delays, Nune Silence, I beg you. Hide your grievances. Mate them to fury held seithin yoursel, ‘Endure without « sound wounds that cut dep, ‘and bide your time. Maintain a level head; then you will have the power to epay. ‘Your anger hurs when itis camouflaged,ifyou proclaim your hatred it will lose the space it needs for vengeance, andthe time. Medea ‘Your pain has litle bite if ic etains the power to reason and conceal itself (Great sufferings do not lurk in disguise, Iisa pleasure to retaliate Narse ‘Stop it, my child. Aggressiveness is mad when even sullness of body and tongue scarcely protects you Medea Pluck wp courage; then Luck fears you. But she erushes all cowards Nurse Test her when there's place for manliness Medea Place can't deny itself to manliness. Nase ‘There is no hope to light your pathway there, Medea fone is strong enough never to hope, there is no reason to ahendon hope arse The Colchians have gone. Your partners oaths ae valueless. You once had everything, bot nothing now survives to stand by you. Medea ‘Medea still stands, In me you see the energy of earth and water, ft, steel, the gods, and heaven's vengeance, Nune Beware the king, ‘Medes My father too was king Nurse ‘Don't armies frighten yout Medea 1 do not care s€ they sprout up lke harvests from the earth, Nune ‘You'l die, Medes [wish I would Nurse Run! Medes thaverun enough, and 'm ashamed, Nurse Medea Medes Yes, 1 hall become Medea Nurse But you are 2 mother Medes And you see the kind of man who made me one, Nurse Yet still you hesitate torun away? Medes Ob, Iwill eave. But frst: revenge, une ‘Then vengeance wil follow yo. Medea Tl finda good excuse to slow ie down. Nurse Hold your wicked tongue! You've lest your mind! Less insolence now, les talk of teaching lessons. Honor allows us toadjast towhatasitation demandsMedea Fortune has power to ferret out my goods Dut mot my spire ‘Somebody's pounding the palace door hear it opening (Creon i here, in person, swaggeting ‘with blue-blooded Hellene arrogance. lenter cuton, with ATTENDANTS. As he comes Ther ground in contr stage | Ceeon [Stopping with displeasure and fear when he observes that MUDEA has not yet left] ‘Medea! That lethal chil of Actes, ‘King of Colchist Has she not yet removed hhrself from my domains! Millike, her mind ‘works on inexorably, grinds and refines. Her treachery leaves its math 90 does her hand. Will she leave anyone alive or safe fom fear of butchery! Swift action, to-wipe out the disease her presence brings: this Twas planning. But my son-in-law conquered my better judgment with his prayers ‘She was allowed to live. Now she may go in safety. Let her free my land from feat Imeoea approaches cREON slowry and steady with eyes fixed] ‘Beastlke, aggresive, threatening, she stalks towards me to converse now face to face, Keep her away! Don't let her touch me, men, dont lee her near me. Tell her not to speak ‘word, Sooner or later she must learn {to olerate imperial commands [cnson's MEN retreat before MEDBAs advance, leaving CREON 10 ‘confront har bimsel. Goawayt Yes, ran away, take flight, take your hideous viiousness evay, 0 don’t have to Took on it again! Medea ‘What erime, what act of immorality, MEDEA holds Medea 508 brings sentence of exile as punishment? creon “That's for an innocent woman to sak. Nedea if you're the judge, then hear my cause and case ‘you're the king, just tell me your commands. creon ‘You will obey the king's commands, however just or unjust cir balance may be Medea Tustify power’ balance, ori falls creon Complain in Colchis. Got Medea ¥'m going back. But let the man who brought me take me there. creon "Your appeal’s too late. Sentence is passed. Medea "The man who passes sentence without hearing the defense: his ruling may be just — agreed. But he has not himself been jus, cream Did you give Pelias a hearing when {you put him to death? Still here's your court, State your peculiar ease. Regal us now. Medea ‘When lived rgally in my oven right, earned how hard ies toreducet ‘one’s energy of mind from anger once anger is aroused, I also learned that those who so ambitiously reach out for power’ regalia think that to pursue unswerving the policies that took their fancy a the outset is the heart ofall true government. “True, Lam nowa ptiable sight, annihilated by total disaster. asked merey, Twas thrown oue. Sole and friendless, Tas deserted. Waves of misfortune have washed me down. Yet, on my father’s side, I rasillustrious. Like lightning, I pleamed. For derive th brightness of ry oxigin from my grandfather, Sol, the Sun itself. Those fields gently winding ‘Rion stiffens to harvest, all the Black Sea looks upon towards the eas, ‘this, with the glitter of regal power, ‘my father rules, There the bitter sea {is sweetened by fresh wate, chere women sre only kept inside the natural bounds made by the Thermadon. They need no men, ‘And when they band together fora fight, they need no armor to protect themaclves ‘and rout thelr enemice out of thei lan, Nobly bom, I promisingly flowered, {gleamed in the regalia of power Princes then begged to marry me, now Tmmust beg them. Fo fickle Luce has wrenched all this away. She swooped down, tore me from iy throne, and dropped me into banishment. ‘Trastin your royal power, when fickle Chance tosses great riches to and fo! Yet kings do havea huge and marvelous resource winleh time cannot destroy: the power to help the suffering the power to protect, ‘ot punish, those who beg mere. ‘The sole resource and treasure I salvaged from days ‘of power in Colchis was precisely this. saved the glory of your race of Greeks “The wondrous flowering beauty, sprung of gods Madea 0S ‘without me would have been by now erased. Orpheus softens granite with magic of tong and makes the forests wall. He lives, thanks to me. Castor and Polls are my gift, a double offering S0 too the twin sons, sed ofthe North Wind, then Lynceus, whose penetrating sight secs lands that lie beyond the Black Sea's shores. Taaved the lives of ll the Argos crew Their king of kings I aow omit. For him you owe me nothing. set no price on him, The others I brought back fr al of you, this one alone I brought back for mysel ‘Come an, pile high against me inthe scale every moral outrage Thave dane, Twill confess to each, But the sale crime surely eam be charged with is just this: that Iestored the Argo, A good gil’ pleasure shouldbe inher virginity fnd inher father’s love, But let us see ‘what happens to The Past if Tam good ‘Your pure Hellenic land wil ga to rin, Why? AL its leader, don’t you see, will det ‘And firs to fall willbe your son-in-law, seated by the flames from a raging bal’s mouth Fortune may crush my casein any way she likes. Yer having saved so many scores fof kings eauses me no regret. think fr glory. I my immoraliey has brought me a reward, you ate the one swith power to lay me down the terms for it Titakes your fancy, then condemn the aecused. But give me back ehe thing Tam accused of taking. admit, (Croc, to guile for Yereate danger. ‘You well Knew what was when fist asked506 Seneca for mercy at your knees, begged you to give your hand asa guarantee of your good faith. Now Trequest some corner of «room, ‘within your land, some squalid lai 1 hide in misery. However, if you'd rather ive me out of town, give me some place thats remote, yee under your contol. creon ‘No. Lam not a man who brutally and heavy-handedly wields royal power. ‘When I see misery, 1am not proud, {do not grind it undemeath my bee! Teall a witness to this claim the fact ‘married my child toa refuges, banished man, beaten man, aman ‘quaking with abject terror. Acastus, ing of Thessaly, now wants him seized and sent back for punishment and death. ‘This is hia complaint. His own father, he says, was killed —a man advanced in years, almost senile, weak and prone to spasms. He was butchered and his limbs were diced ‘casts admit it was bis sisters ‘who dared to carry out this ghastly act of family murder. But he also claims they dd as an ac of family love, deluded by your trickery. can be made for Jason if we keep ‘you clear of it. He took no part in this No drop of blood touched him, His hands were clean, For they eame nowhere near the instrament of butchery. He kept his distance then, unstained by an intercourse with them ‘ory, But you, the eviminal mastermind, combine a woman’s boundless, brazen schemes ‘with a man’s stamina. And your good name ‘Modsa S07 isso long lost i les beyond the power of memory to recall et out. Drain this kingdom of it lth, and, as you go, takeall your poisons and your lethal herbs. Liberate my citizens from feat. Set up your house in someone else's land and sunder there the peace of heaven above Medea ‘You force me to get ovt. Then give me back ry boat so can leave, and give me back. sy fellow traveler, Mast my exile be soliary? Why? My journey here was nota solo venture. You're best off, FH you fear war, to drive ot both of us. Why dav the line between two criminals? elias died fr Jason's benefit, not mine. Jason is why T went from home and stole the flecce, For him Tet father, ‘murdered my brother, mutilated him, You can't blame me for what he taught and stil teaches his new wives todo. I've harmed the many Thave harmed not foe mysell but because Thave been made to harm. creon ‘You should have gone by now. You have waited too long to sow delaying verbiage. Medea ‘A linal pla for merey as Igo my sons have done no harm. Don't lot the sins their mother has committed deag them down, eon ‘Sogo ll xaise them with a fathe as: Thad begotten them mysel. Medea ‘Good omens forthe oyal wedding day love,‘and for its consummation, That is what you want. For you ave hopes tobe fulfilled, ¥you want your royal powers e hold fim {nsplte of shifting Fortune's fckleness which harasses them, Hire is my ples: be generous. just grant me a shart delay in the enforcement of my banishment 01 may bea mother to my sons, pay them the last, perhaps the dying dues of love. crcon You mean you want time fora plot. ‘Medea ‘How can you fear a plot? Time is too short. creon ‘The evil hardly require time to harm. Medea ‘A litle time for tears, Can you deny this much to me in all my suffering? xeon Fear grafted deep inside me fights against you and your request, but nonetheless, ‘a delay is granted 90 you can prepare for banishment — bt just one day. Medes “That is too much. Cut it back you wish. Fm in ahury 0, creon! You willbe killed. No pleas for mercy will be heard unless you are gone from the Isthmus well before the Sun brings back the light of day. But now, the wedding sariices summon me. | must participate. This day is marked for Hymen and it summons me to prayer. UB cn20N towards his palace and the wedding. MEDEA watches Medea 509 him go, then retires into her house. The cHonus, moving on (Quietly, watching her as she withdraws into the building, be ine to meditate somberly.| chorus Tar too audacious was the man who frst broke through narrow waters promising end faithless, ‘Though his aft was fail, he rusted life and breath to shifting breeze’ spssipas ie cut ‘ut fom his homeland Not knowing where his voyaging would take him, he dated o trast a slender shell of kindling, ‘much too thin line laid down between the passages of living and thote of dyin, Noone yet knew stars ‘or used the constellations painted upon the Sky's eternal brightness, Shipping could noe yet survive by just avoiding yades’ rainstorms, Then the stormy She-goat, and Northern Wain, which Bostes slowly follows like a herdsman, were nameless, as were north wind and west wind Yee Tiphys dared spread canvas on the vastand write new laws for winds to mock and follow how torun full sail, hhow to catch the erosswinds — haul in the forard sheet hhow to make the yards safe — drop them down to midmase hhow to lash them topmast when impatient sailors pray for winds torise, ‘when red streamers fluter on the tops, (ar fathers saw an age of purest brilliance ‘when treachery was far temoved from mankind. Men lazily kept ta their own shores, aged well in the poor field thelr fathers tilled before them, Sul hey were rich, though kaowing only chat wealth yielded by soil which they themselves were born on, Rightly the laws of nature fenced the world of But Argo tore down fences, made the world one She bade the seas be lashed by sweeping oarstroke. Seas: a dimension ‘once, and moro, a houndary fofhuman fear, now ‘well within fears lms ‘Yor Argos pines from Thessaly paid dearly for acts of trespass, steered through long-drawn terror. ‘Two mountains great dams sealing off the water's surge from the dep se, rose from below, groaned loud tsheaven’s thunder, drenching the peaks and clouds and then, infirm grip, trapping the ocean. Bold Tiphys blanched; he loosed the hawsers he eld, silenced was Orpheus, {opi grew his arpstrings. ‘Argo Tost voice too. ‘Then there was Seyi, virginal Sicilian, ‘matiness’ hounds en- circling her womb she ‘pened their great mouths allatonce, What sailor's limbs did not suifen, ‘oval in terror at this one ev ‘mass of jaws all howling? ‘Then came destructive sounds of singing softening Italy's seas, yet ‘on his ire Olymplan Orpheus from Thrave re sponded and resounded Usually a Siren’s song holds ships in her spell, But now his music provailed, and almost foreed her focome in his wake.‘What did chi voyage saint A fleece of gold and 2 fruit of evil ‘worse than the harsh sa bine itwon Medea, merchandise fit for this, the world’s frst vee By now the sca has given up the strug, pts up with our lawe: ‘we don't look for Argos, {famous and seamed by skilled hands of Minerva, ‘oars manned by monarchs CCoracles and skis rove at will an deep sea, Boundaries have all moved, cities now build walle In Lands Just discovered, Nothing is let where conceit was, the world is (open to travel Indians quench thelr thirst in cold Araxes Persians now drink from Elbe and Rhine routinely. “There will come an age, a distant Chinese year when ‘Ocean will lone ies power to limit knowledge, and the gigantic arth will open Tethys, sea goddess, will disclose whole new world, ‘no more wil Teeland be our far horizon Madea S13 acrm ister wena hurriedly from her house, followed by her Nuns] Norse ‘My child, you leave the house so hurd Where are you going? Stay where you ae! Put down your anger and contra your violent urge ogo on the attack [weDea motions her to keep her distance and moves on down: ‘lage, seething with anger Nurse [Inward] Like a woman, ‘who has taken god into hersel ‘upon the whitecapped mountain pinnacle and the paired peaks of Nysa, she cannot {am the madness, dashing to and fro, fa wild ease in her movements, and wearing searing trademarks of insanity ‘upon her face. The sharpness of her glance, ‘lazing startles the very soul in he, shouts her serets aloud, moistens and shines baer eves with welling ears, mirroring every test of feeling ‘Now she i standing sil — threatening and heaving, howling, groaning, ‘Where will che crushing force of er intent strike! When will moderate its threats? Like the sea her madness swells. When will its moaning breaker crash upon itself ‘What she tars over inher mind will be no aedinary deed; she will surpass her median oferime; she wall conquer hetslt. The moment [saw them, 1 knew the ancient hallmarks of her angry 1286 Some enormity looms over us, some beatial act of inhumanity Tread upon her face the savage wishS14 Seneca tohave revenge. hope to god I'm wrong. ‘Medea. [Inwardly] Poor woman, if you ask what bounds to set upon your hatred, imitate the cruel limits that you placed upon your love. ‘Am Ito tolerate this royal event, ‘endure the blaze of wedding torches, yet ‘ot respond with vengeance! Shall let this day go by without my usual fr, this day so intricately politicked and engincered by both contsactng sides? ‘While earth mediates the sky's balance, ‘while gleaming ualversal order rolls in radiant waves of predetermined change, ‘while grains of sand are numberless, and Day follows the Sun and Stars the Night, and while the Great Bear never dip into the sea, ‘my passion for exacting punishment wwillmever cease but ever grow greater, ‘No monster of the land, no bitch Seylia, ‘no maelstrom of Charybsis sucking in the seas of faly and Sicily, no volcanic Aetna which crushes the gasping forces ofthe earth boils with anger as destructive as my own. Rivers in flood the ocean churned by storms, the Black Sea whipped to fury by the winds, the violence of fire fanned by blast from bellow have no power to stop the rush, Did Jason fear Creon and the wars threatened by the king of Thessaly? “True love has power enough to fear no one. But, ranting him the benefit of doubt: suppose that he was overwhelmed, gave in land gave his hand, I certainly was sell ‘within his power (o come to hs partner if ony fora final word or two. Medea 515 (Our Honheart was too frightened even for this, As son in-law, he certainly did have the chance to ease the time limits harehly imposed upon my banishment. We have ewo children, Tam glven one day. ¥¥m no complaining that the time is shot. ean extend it farther. For this day will band its face office upon the world ‘0 man will never lose its memory I shall attack the gods, and Ishall shake the very clements Nae ‘Your woes, madame, make thought run ria, $0, contra yourself, calm your mind Medea My solitary chance: cof calm comes when I ses the elements shattered with meas fall. want the world to die with me. When you pass on, there's joy in taking everything with you Nurse I you maintain this course, how many forms ‘of retribution you most fat. No one is powerful enough to make attacks upon the powerful and stil survive, lesat NURSE; MEDEA withdraws backstage as she sees JASON enter Fate is always hard, Luck hopelessly rough and ~ whether she devours us whole frets us go— impartially evi The remedics god finds are much too often ‘worse chan the dangers that thoy save us from. Tt had wanted to make good the pledge I gave my partner —and she's earned, t00— ‘my life would have been forfett in exchange. ‘And, did not wane o de, poor man,_my pledge to her had ta be forfeited, I-was not fear that tlumphed over pledge, but an uneasy sense of what was dae iy family. Once their parents were dead, ur children clearly would have followed us on tothe grave sacred Justice lives above us inthe skies, Teall on i to give approval and bear out my words ‘my children forced their father to give In Although she has the heart ofa wild beast, and finds it hard to work in partnership, Under eonstrain, she will herself, Lehink, prefer to act on her children’s behalf than to maintain her standing as my wife My mind’ resolved to go appeal to her, angry as she may be. LWoticing men.) And she is here. She's seen me and she's leaped out of the house, burning with anger Hate and every pain that she has ever suffered are inscribe, willful and vengeful, now upon her fae. Medea ‘Wee on therun Jason, we're on the ran Not that maving home is new. Rather, the reason we are moving home i new rm used ta being on the ran solely for you Ym on my way. 1am leaving. ‘You are compelling me to run away fom what is now your homestead In the sua, ‘You send me back, ‘Where tot Should I head for Phasis and Colchis, for my father’s realm the soil watered with my brothers blood Medea 517 ‘Do you tell me to hea for somewhere eset ‘Where? What monstrous seas do you point out? ‘The Black Sea's jaws! Through them I brought back home. fistful of kings, when Text back between the Clashing Rocks a | pursued roving lover. Tolcus, perhaps: a ietle place — or, ifn Thessaly, should 1 head on to Tempe? Everywhere I've opened up a road foe you, Tve closed one for myself ‘You send me back! Where tof You order an exile into exile, and don’t provide her anywhere to go. Well let chat pass, A king's new son-in-law has ordered it It cherefore must be right Tnflict upon me any penalty, sm as fe may be. FU not resist ‘My services must match hat lam paid ‘Your king can penalize his new son's whore with all the blood and anger that he likes. He may put her down and lock her hands in chains, then he may seal her in with socks, and crush her in a never-ending night ‘What I shall experience will be far less than all the payments I have earned, ‘Thankless mind without a body: think. ‘Wind your thoughts back to your encounter with the scorching breath of the lame-breathing bull, the tozor tripping you among people never tamed. Think of Acetes herd, their ie in a field whose harvest was steel-clad fighting men. Think ofa foe ‘Which sprouted without warning from the earth, TThade them slaughter one another. They sank back to death without a human wardS18 Seneca ‘Throw on the fleee, plundered from Phrixus' mm, and the nightmarish, vigilant monster. ordered him to shut his shining eyes in sloop he'd never known. Think of my brother: {put him to death one child ent down, ut with how many cuts ‘My schemes took in ‘an old man's daughters, With deluded hopes that he would be reborn, they carved his joints, You have hopes for your children fra place tocall your home. Remember horror seen and overcome, these hands which showed no pity ‘when employed for you. Remember too the sea and sky that witnessed our mating, and pity me, Return the debt you owe me: sive me life. In seeking power foe others, Threw my own away. ‘My Scythians brought plunder from distant lands as far aay as India with her ured and harced tribes ‘Our house could hardly hold ies great eeaeures, 4 was so fll So we made living trees bow with lads of gold. From allthis wealth T brought only my brother's limbs, and these spent for you. I gave up brother, father, fatherland, and my virginity, ‘This was my downy shen 1 marred you Twant ie back now that you run me out. Jason ‘Creon wanted you dead; he hated you ‘My tears crushed him. Twon exile instead Medes see it now. Exile ig reward, 1d thought it was a form of punishment son ‘un while there's chance. Go, teat yourself away “There's always harshncs in rule's wrath odes “You take Creuss part ih his advice She ates yout mises, S070 Move Be Out Iason "Medea jugs morals and amousst Medes Tremeditated morder.. treason to. tason Cite one specie charge apnst me now. Medea ‘Whatever evime rd aso This s 00 much Tobe hed guilty of your ees as well Medea “They are you crimes, they're yours! You gained by them soyou committed tm. dont carci the whole wot olde your partner to account: ther ole counsel for defense, sole voice falling her innocent Habe’ gly foryour sake for you she's innocent ee you my fe Bat when one ashamed co standin someone els's debt, shard to take that git with paude Medea “Ashamed! Don't cake the gl then, give it back! Jason Why dont you master your emotions, land for the children's se, eam Yourself down? Medea renounce therm, [deny they'e mine, Towent them away, Why should let(Creusa supply brothers to my sons? Jason ‘As queen, she has the power needed to help the suffering children of us refugees, Medea "That will bean evil day for them, poor creatures, mingling shining families ‘with base and tow, So may it never come, ‘May sons of Phocbus never mix with sons of Sisyphus, Jason Poot woman, do you want to drag the two of us t banishment? Please go away Medea (Croan heard my appeal Jason ‘Tell me. What could I dot Medea Forme! Pethaps Jason ‘But how, with kings on either side? ‘Medea “There's also something you should fear much more: Medea. So'st me against the rest, Jet us fight I ot, le Jason be the prize Jason Tim tired of evil. I withdraw, You too should be afraid, by now you've had enough experience of life's pital, Medea "Never has Luck with all ts tists and turns challenged as yet my primacy in power Jason Acastus does 80 now. Mecea And Creo is a loser enemy, So runaway iromboth: oie oot ting you {oplay atl waco take up ans dint your in lavec lody your hands EY alanghering your slativer You need Mis oobody Sos run wey wth te L And who will stand against them if they pose ‘threat ol war upon boots What Medes “Tow in the Colca and eee. ‘AS Sytlan to Gree Paik them al sason Tea gent power Medes Mind yu don't for ‘We've talked too long. Let’s cut this short right now. Teople wl strc ge suspicious Medea ‘Almighty Jai er, thunder across the skies, such out your arm, ready your fies ‘of vengeance, burst the veil of clouds, and shake this tidy worl to its foundations. As you take aim, don’t worry which you hic either of us fais, the gly die ‘Your thundesbole cannot go ron, Jason Geta grip ‘on sanity, on calm and rational speech I there Is something rom my inlaws’ house, to solace loneliness ease banishment for you, just ask Medea You know my willis strong502 Seneca Madea 523 and that my aole response to all ehe wealth Jason fof kings is pure contempt. I simply want untie iy children to be free to come with me ‘the thread of hatred and banish it ‘while Tam on the ran. So, when engulfed vuttely from my mind. tn tears, In deep despair, Fl have soothing ym Now I myself Kisses, AS for you — have a request: that you please get control Aye, new children, a steady flow, remain to haunt your steps. Jason admit I wish I could obey, and grant what you apparenly desi Hut lam thete father, and mast and guide the passionate seething of your mind into still waters. Calm soothes misery. [exit iASON. MEDEA watches him in disbelief. The NURSE enters quietly and comes to her side. MEDEA at fits jnores her; she cums and holds az inner dialogue with herself, alternating feluse, Even my father in-lave, the king, between her “fist” and “second persons) ‘ould not coerce me to comply with this, Medea It's more than {could stand, My childeon are "He's gone. Is chat tt You just stroll away, the eason Tliveon, the thing that makes, cexase me, exase everything Tve done? ‘me able to endure the pain ofall Have just died inside your memory? ‘my ravaged felings and emotions. ‘Am eu out? No, I shall never be would more quickly sacrifice my soul, cent out my body, life tse ‘Come on then, summon all your strength, Medea [Aside and all your skills. The Blessing ofa life Js this how much lived esiminally is that you don’t think hh loves his sonst ‘That's good. Then he is caught. ‘Apparently his armor hasa chink. (To 1as0N] ‘Ym sure you will allow me to tell them, as .goaway, a few last chings like to have them do, and to give them. a final, warm embrace, Even this much ‘would give me pleasure. Now my last request, sy parting word ‘of anything as crime. hay have the latitude to pring a trap because they're al afraid of me. You must atack along a path no one can think could be ‘path from which to fear atack. Be bold! Undertake whatever lies within Thor that in my p ‘Medea’s power, whatever lies hoyond, unsure which way o ura, I Blurted (To nurse] Some eruel wards Dan’ ft them haunt your mind You' stayed staunch by me through my ups and downs of Twant to leave you with a more profound feelings and of fortunes, my desr nurs, ‘memerial of me in my better days. Sohelp me now with my pathetic plans Let every word uttered in anger be Town a robe, a present from the Skies, erased to ite last Letter. the bright possession of my house and realm,504 Seneca a firy mark of love the Sun once gave ‘to Acctes, his child. Las have. necklace lashing bright with woven gold ‘And there's «crown whee radiance of gems ‘alls even the bright flame of god itself, ‘comets the wearer's hair to sunike govt. Twant my sons to carry these as gifts to the velled bride, Bue my infernal skills ‘must frst contaminate them. Let us pray toHecate, Prepare the formulae for death. Erect altars, then kindle fires, Let flames seream up within the palace walls. [nota and the NuRsE retire into the palace. The CHORUS emerges ‘and chants] Chorus No force of flame, no gust of swelling windstorm, 1o torqued javelin threatens greater danger than a wife deprived of her husband's affection: seething and ating [Not when the south wind brings the rains of winter not when the Danube Floods in raging toreents, forbidding bridges tocouple its waters, wandering unbridled. [Not when the Rhone's flow Aves into the salt se not when, dissolving sr sla enn fe in strong spring sunlight Medea 525 melts inthe Haemus Fire has no eyes; and bellowed up with anger wants no eantrals, nor tolerates containment, never fears death, but ‘yearns to rush and meet with Swordpoints advancing Spare him, 0 gods, we bog you to forgive him, Ihe who has tamed the seas, Let him live safely. Bur the lord of ocean, second just to heaven, fecthes now he is chit, Phacthon, who dared drive Suns eternal horses, forgot the pathveay marked out by his father until the flames he'd Srewn about the heavens ‘brought rain on him. Noone has lost mach following the known rad, Goby the path proved sife to those before us Nature is holy, ‘donot breach her sacred ‘order with vilene ‘Exch man who roamed in that dating ship, the Argo, and to make oars, robbed Pelion of ts umber, stripping the shade of ite forbidden forests,596 Seneca each man who passed through ‘sea's reat defting mountains, thea measured out the ‘vean with his bold strokes and reached his goal, haweers ticd on foreign eaastine, hot to steal foreign ‘gold and then return home, ‘ach eared cold justice from the ocean's hardships — Tiphys was frst the Tieaker ofthe Ocean ‘waived his control of the ship ta raw holmsman, Far from his homeland, on a foreign seashore, his sar of life set ‘Buried like a pauper, forlorn he les with shhosts dank and uncremated. Aulis, from then on, recalling him, her los king, holds vessels. They seand in ehe windless harbor motionless, grieving. Cxpheus, born of laalian Muse of singing, plucking his strings in Skillful modlation, ‘once charmed to standstill, ‘vers in their rushing silenced the winds each songbird ceased her tailing, ame tohis sie, with the very trees they'd sung i, Scattered, dismembered his poor body rotted fon Thracian farmland, Dut his head kept svimming down the grim Hebrus tothe Styx and Hell’ pit po return this time, Hercules eut doven the twin sons of North wind, slew the sea’ child whose shape was ever shifting exposed to light death's cruel realm of darkness, thos bringing peace on land and upon water. Ten still alive, he lay on blazing Geta, and gave his limbs to the vicious fire's cremation alas resort to ‘scape his hidcous torment ‘ofthe ewin poisons of watersnake and centaur, sift of his dear bride “The bristling boar cut ‘Ancacus down with its blow, ‘you, Meleager, {mpiously slaughter your mother's bother, then, when she's angiy, you die at her hands, ‘Allo chem deserved death like that of Hylas, ‘reat Hercules young frien, Stender boy who pal the price for tospas, {ragged to his death insprings that nymphs were guarding. Co, plow the salt seas safely, all you brave men, But fear fesh fountain, dmon, whe knew what was to be beforehand, dies ofa snakebite in Libyan Sahara, | Mops, unering In prophecies fr others, | failed in his own case — precious loss for his Thebes, Yet if he truly sang about the fotur, Thetis’ husband sinmlesely will wander, a efugee and ‘Nauplius will plunge in waters that drown him, ater he's tried to ‘weeek the Argive convoy. Ajax, the son of| ileus, when sailing, will pay, struck by lightning the sin of his father, ‘Admetus' wife will buy back with her own death her husband’ ie, and Pelias who ordered the Golden Fleece brought back in this, che fase boat, vas seared with skill in side a heated eauldron asteward wandering Enough, gods, the sea is avenged now so spare Jason, forhehad no choice lextecnionus) acriv inter NURSE ‘arse ‘My soul quivers in teon a hideous act ‘of savagery impends, Some monstrous thought hha taken root and grows, her anguish fuels, itself and gathers ts spent violence. Fre often seen her rage, claw down the sky, attack is deities; yet mow Medea Teaties for us some huger spectacle, Inager than these. Asif ightning-struc, recling, she came out, then plunged into hier inner sanctum where she compounds death, ‘opening every vial and cabinet, ‘taking ingredients that even she had always feared. She set out her evil potions in chaotic rows: arcane ‘Secrets of her own experiments Raising ber lefe hand in prayer before baer dary sared fire, she cals upon Teehal energy Saharan sand unleashes and creates with seething heat, land energy the northern mountains hold ‘motionless, frozen in Arctic ioe — everything that stuns the eye comes forth. Lael by the enchantment of her voice, scaly creatures in chaotic mass Snake from theie nests a savage serpent worms its monstzous body, pises, flickering its pitchfork tongue, and wonders who to kill ‘As it hears her song, i stiffens, ewines its swollen length, forced into heaps of coils, ‘But Medea says: "The evils earthcreates below, within ies deepest shafts ‘make shafts too paltry for my use. sock poisons from the skies fortis ime toconjure something lftier, beyond. ‘mere common magic tricks and sleigh of hand, [want the Dragon from the sky, whose coils are so immense that heaven's ¢wo stellar Bears {eel its effect. Phoenicians guide thet ships by the Lesser of these Bears the Greeks sail by the Greater. “Then, let Hercules relax his grip upon the snake he holds 50 that ls veal venom spurs “Then let the Python respond to my song, a snake ‘who dared attack Diana and her tin, 1 want the Hydra back. Its every ead, cutoff by Hercules, must he restored. For ie enews its life by being ext Guardian dragon of Colehis, you come 10, Tulled to your First slep by these songs of mine.” Everything snakelike now evoked, she then prepares her frts of evil, heaping them Into a ple all that the wilderness near Eryx grows, produce of Caucasus, those rdges smothered in endless winter, splattered with Prometheus’ blood, The fighting Mede, the flighty Parthian, the wealthy Ara she employs toxins into which they dip ther arrowheads, ‘Sho uses luices Suebian ladies aceke amid the dankness oftheir Black forests ‘under an lee cold shy. er hand harvests ‘whatever earth ereats in nesting sping ‘or when brtele frost halds tees’ beauty, forcing ie inside itself with cold: grasses virulent with deadly flowers, IRarmfuljuces squeszed from twisted roots, ‘Mount Athos brought her those particular herbs ‘These eame from massive Pindus. That she cut ‘on a hgh ridge of Pangzeus, wehen i ost its tender, hairlke crown it lef aces of blood upon the sickle blade. Now these row by the Tigris at low-water time, those by the Danube, these by Hydaspes ‘whose warm streams bear rubies through arid plains, these by Baeis — hence the name Factica — which langoidly lashes ‘the western ocean at its estuary. ‘These fle the stel while Phocbus readied day. That shoot? Cut down at dead of night. And thist Snipped by her conseerated fingernail She harvests deadly grasses, milks che snakes! ‘venom, mixes in birds chat bode death: heart of the mournful homed owl, and the guts raucous sereech-ow eat out while the bird was still alive My mistress of lack arts keeps some ingretients separate. In them thet is the caring violence office In others, the icy bill of erarping cold. Then to her venoms she adds words equal in teror. Hear the sounds made by her mad steps and songs at whose fist utterance the ordered universe shudders, Look! Medea Madea 531 Silent hordes and gods of death, Leal upon you all in prayer: Chaos — unseeing and unseen abyss — dark home of ghostly Dis,582 Seneca covers decomposing Death, dagzonet by Tara seep tormented souls take rept, un and ee this novel wedding ‘te ln wrenching eh se limb.renching wheal must stop apd Ixon must couch ‘he round, anal mut lake hist at Corinth fearing no ety one excepto: Sisyphun, reba ons new ins — teres is torment ie the ping sone hm acts che crag. You Danaids whose lexking ums mock your attempts to fill them vp, come, be fuliled together. This day needs your husband: killing hands, Hecate, star of night, call you to my ritual, Come now, you have three faces you ean threaten vengeance with, put on your worst or you my hair falls down, unribboned, fee, ass traditional among my race. ‘With hate feet 1 have crossed the hidden grove, enacting lasting rites, drawn water forth from dy veils of cloud and forced the sea down toits depths, Thave outdone the tides, ‘Ocean has sucked his massive waters deep into himself Laws of astrology break down: che universe see un and stars together, andthe Great and Lester Hears dip in forbidden moisture ofthe sa. have Bene dhe lave that govern time: my spells make spring flowers bloom in summer heat "Moree the godess of the grain to watch turf tuned to fruit and erops in winter's cod, Back to its springs raging Rion tums the Danube ides all ts many mouths, squcezes its surging flood within its hanks. ‘Waves rar, the mad sea swells although the winds Medea 533 are muted, Roofike shade provided by ‘sacred, ancient wood is gone: sunlight, at my command, has been brought back agai, Bright Phoebus halts at his zenith. Down sip the rainy Hades, moved by my spell, "Time now, dark Phoebe, for your sacred rites, For you: these wreaths I wove with bloodstained hand with fine snakes intertwined Yor you these limbs from rebel Typhoeus who shook Jupiter's eontro, “This, treacherous Nessus’ dying blood, He swore safe passage ‘These, ashes from Octa’s dying fire, which drank Hereules! poisoned manhood, Here, Althaea’s brand of vengeance: holy sister but unholy smother ‘These plumes the Harpy left in pathless lair when fleeing ‘North winds son, ‘Add feathers of Stymphallan bind, shot down by Hydra poisoned arrows. ‘Altre, you ery aloud: I see my cauldrons stirred by god's con {see the witching moon moving in swife are yet not driving with her ful face shining, fight Tong, Like torchliht, lurid ina graveyard, the glows at when magicians spells torment hex. Reins taut, she holds course, hugging the horizon, ‘Moon, now your fire has hues of deathly pallor, ‘po waves of grim light on the winds to frighten mankind, Give people something new to awe them. Corinthians can pound upon thei precious bronzes to ward off spells (On grass red with bloodstains, {offer to you beasts ritually butchered For you a fire-torch matched from a exemation bums inthe night; for you Tarch and toss backsy head Tsing, loose my hair, then bind it ‘with sacred headband, a they doatfanerls For you I grip this bough shiveled with desth’s dew. For you Tbare my breast, slice into my arms with holy knife, shed my sanity and blood ‘Lee blood on handsome altars; let hands alter habits steel themselves, urn caring to carnage, Iapea slashes her arms with a sacrificial knife, and lets her blood drip om the altar) Istrke. The stream flows. have given it. ‘Do you complain, Hecate, child of Pers ‘that in my prayers Tsummon you too often? ‘However often Tsummon you the cause is ever one andthe same: his name is Jason, [she takes out the robes which are to be her present to Creuta and sprinkles them with poisonous lguid | ‘Tincture the robes I present to Creuss Flame, snake, and sear your way into her bones the very instane that she puts them on, [she packs the robes in a box made of gold] ‘Locked inthis yellow womb of gold lurks fire. She'll never fear ies presence. Prometheus, ‘who conceafed stolen celestial flames, {ave ittome, He taught me to conceal Its power with art le pald the penalty thelife that grew in him, Valean gave me fire hidden in powdery sulphur, Phacthon, like me, kindled from fr, supplied bolts of living flame, And Ihave gits from medial parts of dragon Chimaera, Slames ripped from seared throat of fire-breathing bull, mixed with Medusa’ gal, These {control they work my evil wil in total elence. Hecate atlfen my poison's potency, and keep its seminal fire deep buried in sy gilts, They must deceive the eye and trick the touch. The heat must surge Into her breast, ‘ome into vein, her limbs must melt, hier bones must amoke, the new bride's hair must burn ‘outshining the torches of her wedding night -My prayer is granted. Hecate boldly bays approval, proclaims it with leaming torch of blessed fire. My energy has done what it must do. Suromon my sonst bear these picts gts tothe velled bride ter waDta’s SON, who take chefs “Goygosny son rood ofa cursed mother, a ppc Your stepmother, stress of your fats, Yeh this edfering and many a payer Teo Bot ry hemes can have the lesa farewell ks from iexeunt MaDtA and er SONS enter CHORUS hors ‘Already she is odd Savage lve avishes sanity, sends her resing Bt dows he tage have power toshape cl to ation! Vengeance barn her fe, guickened, then set with anger Froutly essing her bead testi, this ere eile, snake teats ons king iis beyond believing er checks fae red. Then cloaking fear out ed with whiteness — wild shit of shape and color. Sol when er children pss, 2 igre roam through Ganges”jungle: mad, obsessed with tual, fle searching Medea does no now how 0 Now love and anger couple in common cause. What followst Will this heathen Colehian never take her madness from Grock lands, dissolving, as she sails, fears grip on realms and reigning monarchs? Phoebus, run your course now with no reins to hold you. Let kind night bury sunlight, and evening sta that brings night “drown daytime deep in Ocean actv [Eater wessencen, approaching MEDENs house. Messenger Death is everywhere, Whaterer stood within this royal house has fallen now father and daughter dead her ases mixed. chorus How were they tapped? Messenger The way all kings are tapped by aie ae chores Wihat treachery coud have been there? Messenger Tam amazed, hardly believe myself the el that i done could have been done Choris ib there no limit co catastrophe? Messenger irerages greedily chrough every part Medea 537 ‘of the king's residence I's now destroyed, ‘completely, The elt’ go next we fear Chorus ‘Use water on the flames to put them out Messenger "That's what isso unnerving in tis blaze: ‘water fac the flames. Uncanail, the fre barns fierce when we damp ie down, Ieoverwhelms our one line of defence, Iwevea and the sunse enter during this interchange, just Before the MESSENGERS lst words. EXI MHSSENCER atthe end ofthis last speech) Nune ‘Quick, leave this land where kings kill sons. Hurry, Medea, to any land you want ‘Medes T withdraw? Even fd ran away befor, this Id retum tose: marriage ina new style ‘And yet you do withdrave, ry soul. Why? Your attack has just paid off Follow te up! You take delight in such ‘tiny fraction of your vengeance It’s enough for you, demented mind, that fason not remarry, then you stil love him. Try to find some novel way topenalize him, and prepare yourselt ‘Your sense of sin, of shame must be expelled sis what most get ou, withdraw, not you. IF the hand that punishes is clea fits vengeance is impugned. So put your back {nto your anger, wake up from your sep. Aggression, which has penetrated deep, Turks atthe bottom of your heat. Suction st out, be violent, lee everything you've dane tll now be called an act of love. ‘Move, and make them learn how trivialand like a petty crimina’s have been the pas erimes I devised. With them my pain just flexed i strength. What power have untrained arms tt dare great deeds? The bloodlust ofa gil! Now 'm indeed Medes, My genius ‘has grown with all these evils [have done, Ym pleased killed my brother, took his head, and sliced his limbs, Ym glad I tore away iy father's secret source of potency, ‘Ym glad I armed old Pelias’ daughters, had him killed ‘You fel the pln, sofind something to exorese it on, Your hand {strained for any deed that you must do ‘Anger, you must find away. Out foe has broken his agreement, So what shafts do you have poised to hurit My mind within Increasingly deeres atrocity ‘of some sort but as yer itlacks courage todescribeit to ise Fool! ve moved too soon. I should have waited till sy foc had fathered children an his whore But anything thav’s yours and eame from him (Creusa brought to birth. In fancy, then it pleases me to penalize him this ashe deserves. Itpleases me. My mind ‘ust be readied forthe ultimate crime, recognize this now. Children, once mine, you pay the penalty for father’s erimes, -My heart has missed a eat, my limbs are cod, ‘fee a shiver in my breast. Anger ‘nas gone, the wife im me has been expelled, the mother has returned, How ean I hed Medea 539 the blood of my children, my own lesh? ‘Anger and madness must not come to this! ‘This lea hideous and unnatural et. To not understand it. Far be it {com me! What crime would they be paying fr, ‘poor ladst That Jason is thei father — or worse, that 1, Medea, am their mother? They must de, they are not mine. They're mine, so they are doomed ‘But they are innocent. ‘They’ve done no erime, theyre guilty of no si, ‘That troubles me — and yet my brother, he was harmless too, ‘Mind, you vacilate so much. Why do tears dampen your face, ‘why does anger tear you one way now and love another! Pession’s free swell ‘cantols me but cannot deide which way to toss me. It is as if were the sa: Violent winds wage war, waves ull of grief that rends the heat attack from either de, the water scethe in indecision, That Js how my heart wavers. Anger routs love then love routs anger. Pain, yield to love. Flesh of my flesh, come here. For only you hhave sharod my Tonelines, my ruined home. ‘Bring yourselves here and drape your limbs round me; snuggle you litle couple. Your father fein have you safe and sound provided your rather can have you too. ‘But exile looms, and Ibe onthe run. They'll soon, t00 son, ‘eon from my embrace, weeping, groaning as they kiss me. To their mother they are forever gone and lst, 30 vhey must be ‘gone and lost co cele father as wellS40 Senseo My pain grows once again, my hatred boils, the old avenging fury reaches out for my unwilling yet solechal hand Anger, Iollow your lead. I wish my womb, like proud Niobe’s, had produced a riot ‘of children, ob, I wish 14 given life ‘to owice her seven sons. lam as good a8 childiess now it comes to penalizing him, Thore only two; but theyre enough toavenge my brother and lather. Ait of fries, overpowering, fs moving in. Where? Who are they hunting? Who will they scike with brandished, scaring lash? ‘This army from the pit of hell waves trches blazing with blood. At whomt A huge snake snaps Tout like a whip. Who is Megaera ‘pursuing with fichrand of doom? A ghost appears, 1 cant see whose all dismembered tis my brother, come to punish me. We'll pay the penalty, al of us will pay! Fix blazing torches where my eyes now shine, ‘then rip and sear my breast see now, my heart lies open forthe Pues to enter, Brother, go from me now and toll the dead andthe avenging goddesses they can {eut back beneath the earth without a cre. ‘Leave me to myself, Yl handle this See, brother, Ihave drawn my sword for you, (Drawing outa knife and pulling back one sON's head] ‘My hand's deed placates my brother dea. [baeD2A hills che Cuto but is then distracted by a sudden noise of ‘people approaching from offstage ‘sudden sound, What does it mean? Weapons! They're taking up arm to kill me “Then I'l climb Madea 542 ‘onto the very rooftop of my house ‘The slaughter’s jus half done, [her living cx.) ‘You, come with me, and keep me company. (toher dead can] I also take your body with me as 1Teave. ‘Mind, concentrate and face things like ama Don’t hide your deed. The people wll applaud baDen climbs up to the rooftop as IASON, accompanied by a ‘crowd of CORNTHIANS, enters and speak} Javon If you are loyal and feel sorrow and pain atthe calamity that srkes your kings, then join me quickly, and we will aest the perpetrator ofthis hideous exime. ‘This way, men-at-arms, and bring Your spears, ‘Tur this house over fom top to bottom. 'Now have you back again: my power, rly brother, and my father, Now Colchis thas regained its stolen fleece of gold. ‘My kingdom has come back to me agalny ‘now my rape, my motherhood, ae gone and my virginity returns. Atlas, powers of nature, you have been appeased. This is areal wedding-day of oy. ‘The crimeis now complete, 60 go. But no: Tam not yet avenged. Then nish ‘while your hands can act. Don’ fal me now, dear mind, don't delay, you have the power ‘Your anger has already dropped. You now regret what you have done, You are asharned, Pathetic woman, what have you done — what have I done? Pathetic? Sory Tam,S82 Seneca but thave done it. And against my will sense of pleasure subtly penetrates iy being, and it grows, constantly grows, te lacked only one thing tobe perfect. He should have seen it. SoThave achieved nothing as yet, For any criminal act fs just a waste without him here to see Jason ‘Look! There she stands, See, where the ref slopes down, threatening Bring torches, one of you, then let her fall, scored by her own ies. Medea ‘Gather wood to build your sons fie, build them a tomb, Jason, Your new father and wife have all the rites the dead should have. {ave to their interment. This one son has met his doom. Now you are here co watch, the other willbe given a matching death. Jason By every power of nature, by ordeals we sulfered through together on the run, by me sexual fidelity ta you, which [never betrayed, Teg you, spare our son. It there is any exime, its mine, lyield! The guilt on my head! So kill me, and make me your sacrifice! Medea Here, where you beg me not to shall dive the stl, here, where i gives you pain. So go, proud hero, hunt down virgins in thelr rooms, feave them when they are mothers. ‘One is enough to penalize me. Medea the slaughtering of only one could satisfy my hand, Madea 543 1 would have lied no one at all. And two ae trivial repayment for my pain, 1 even now, thers unknown to me, some fetus spawned by you inside my womb Til use this sword and tear tout with sec Jason You've started your great dee. So finish it ‘That was my final prayer for mercy. This {snow the favor that ask do not delay my punishment, Medea Enjoy your erime, ‘my aching heat enoy it tothe fll The day is mine, Turge you not to hurry. ‘We are using the time that we were given, ‘Damned woman, kill me, Medea Pity is your demand, T pity you, Is done Imma kills the other cru. Thad no more to offer, aching heat, in recompense. Jason, lift up your svollen eyes to me. ‘Ungrateful jason, do you now know your wife? ‘This is my sole, inevitable way of going into exile, A pathway into the hidden sky that my paternal ancestry reveals has opened up. Twin serpents offer me thelr scaly necks to bridge me tothe stars. Obey, der parent, take your children back, and shall ide in winged course upon the breath of winds Jason Wade through the deep expanses of boundless, shining sky. Wherever you may g0, ‘you wil be proof that gods do not exist.