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Medea 252-300
Medea 252-300
CREON. nōn ésse mē quī scéptra violentús geram
nec quí superbō míseriās calcém pede,
testátus equidem vídeor haud clāré parum
generum éxulem legéndō et afflictum ét gravī 255
terróre pavidum, quíppe quem poenae éxpetit
lētóque Acastus régna Thessalica óbtinēns.
senió trementem débilī atque aevó gravem
patrém peremptum quéritur et caesí senis
discíssa membra, cúm dolō captaé tuō 260
piaé sorōrēs ímpium audērént nefās.
potést Iāson, sí tuam causam ámovēs,
suám tuerī: núllus innocuúm cruor
contámināvit, áfuit ferró manus
procúlque vestrō púrus ā coetú stetit. 265
tū, tú malōrum máchinātrix fácinōrum,
femínae cuī nēquítia ad audenda ómnia,
rōbúr virīle est, núlla fāmae mémoria,
ēgrédere, purgā régna, lētalés simul
tēcum aúfer herbās, líberā cīvés metū, 270
aliá sedēns tellúre sollicitá deōs.
MEDEA. prōfúgere cōgis? rédde fugientí ratem
vel rédde comitem — fúgere cur sōlám iubēs?
nōn sóla vēnī. bélla sī metuís patī,
utrúmque regnō pélle, cur sontés duōs 275
distínguis? illī Pélia, nōn nōbís iacet;
fugám, rapīnās ádice, dēsertúm patrem
lacerúmque frātrem, quícquid etiam núnc novās
docét marītus cóniugēs, non ést meum:
totiéns nocēns sum fácta, sed numquám mihi. 280
CREON. iam exísse decuit, quíd seris fandó morās?
MEDEA. suppléx recēdēns íllud extrēmúm precor,
nē cúlpa nātōs mátris īnsontés trahat.
CREON. vāde: hōs páternō ut génitor excipiám sinū.
MEDEA. per ego aúspicātōs régiī thalamí torōs, 285
per spés futūrās pérque regnōrúm statūs,
Fortúna variā dúbia quōs agitát vice,
precór, brevem largíre fugientí moram,
dum extréma nātīs máter infigō óscula,
fortásse moriēns. 290
CREON. fraúdibus tempús petis.
MEDEA. quae fraús timērī témpore exiguó potest?
CREON. nullum ád nocendum témpus angustum ést malīs.
MEDEA. parúmne miserae témporis lacrimís negās?
CREON. etsí repugnat précibus infixús timor,
ūnús parandō dábitur exilió diēs. 295
MEDEA. nimis ést, recīdās áliquid ex istó licet:
et ípsa properō.
CREON. cápite suppliciúm luēs,
clārúm priusquam Phoébus attollát diem
nisi cédis Isthmō. sácra mē thalamí vocant,
vocát precārī féstus Hymenaeō diēs. 300
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Notes
Meter is iambic trimeters.
The acute accent shows the incidence of a primary ictus (or ‘beat’), of which there are three to a line.
252 mē nōn esse quī — infinitive in indirect statement, after testātus in 254: “… that I am not the sort …” nōn esse quī … geram: the subjunctive characterizes — ‘not to be the sort as would …’253 miseria, -ae, f.: misfortune,misery, wretchedness; abstract for concretecalcō, calcāre: to kick, stomp on; the subjunctive again characterizes254 testor, testārī, testātus sum: to bear witness, demonstrate, evince, showtestātus videor = “I appear to have demonstrated”haud clārē parum — a double negative, literally ‘hardly with insufficient clarity’, i.e., quite clearly255 generum exulem legendō: “by choosing as my son-in-law an exile”; legendō is a gerund256 quippe quem: “indeed, one whom …”, suggesting causeexpetō, expetere, expetīvī, expetitum: to seek out, i.e., persecute; poenae and lētō are datives258 senium, -ī, n.: old ageaevum, -ī, n.: age, literally ‘eternity’259 queritur: “he complains”, governing the indirect statement; from queror, querī, queritus sum, “to complain”peremptum (understand esse, in indirect statement);from perimō, perimere, perēmī, peremptum, “remove, annihilate, destroy”caesī, from caedō; senis is genitive of senexdiscindō, discindere, discidī, discissum: to tear apart, cut into pieces261 pius, -a, -um: pious, dutiful, loving, devoted262 āmoveō, āmovēre, āmōvī, āmōtum: to remove263 tueor, tuērī, tuitus sum: to watch out for, protect, preserve, defendinnocuum, understand illum, from innocuus, -a, -um: harmlesscontāminō, contāmināre, contāmināvī, contāminātum: to stain, defile26 coitus, -ūs, m.: a gathering, coming together, assembly;the plural vestrō refers to Medea and the goddesses who help her266 māchinātrix, -tricis, f.: deviser, inventress, contriver267 cuī is dative of the possessor – tū cuī est = “you who have …”nēquitia, -ae, f.: wickedness, worthlessness; fēminae is genitive of the subject with nēquitiaad audenda omnia (gerundive phrase): literally “for daring all things”268 virīle, equivalent to a genitive, virī; note the rhetorical contrast btw. a woman’s wickedness and a man’s strength269 ēgredere is a singular imperative, from ēgedior, ēgredī, ēgressus sum: to depart, go awaypurgō, purgāre, purgāvī, purgātum: to cleanse, purifylētālis, -e: lethal, deadly271 aliā tellūre is ablative expressing locationsollicitā is imperative; ‘rouse them’ in the sense of ‘call upon’ them272 ratis, -is, f.: a raft; vessel, boat; with fugientī understand mihi274 patī, infinitive of patior, patī, passus sum, “to suffer”bella – wars with Acastus, the Thessalian king, for harboring the fugitive Jason, the alleged assassin of Pelias275 utrumque – i.e., both of us sōns, sontis (adj.): criminal, guilty276 Pelia is nominative; iacet has the pregnant sense of ‘lies dead’; the dative expresses interest: “for his benefit”277 adice from adicio, adicere, adiēcī, adiectum, ‘to throw on’, here has the sense of ‘add’.The list enumerates the crimes from which Jason has allegedly benefited.rapīnās refers to the theft of the golden fleece.278 lacer, lacera, -um: mutilated, lacerated, mangled279 coniugēs, a variant of coniungēs, plural of coniunx, “partner, wife”; the plural suggests that Creusa will not be his last280 facta sum nocēns = “have been made guilty”281 decuit, perfect of decet; exisse = “to have gone out”, understand tēseris is from serō, “sow”; she is sowing the ‘evil seed’ of delay. quid here = “to what end, wherefore, why”.fandō (gerund) = “by speaking”282 precor, precārī, precātus sum: “to pray, request”; illud points forward to the clause nē … trahat284 paternus, -a, -um: paternal, fatherlygenitor, “begetter, sire”, i.e., their natural father285 ego with precor in 288per (repeated three times) with its objects — torōs, spēs, statūs — states theterms of the asseveration or oath: “by …, by …, by …”.torus is the marriage couch; auspicatōs implies that the wedding has the favor of the gods.thalamus, -ī, m.: chamber, esp. the wedding chamberauspicātus, -a, -um: consecrated by auguries286 spēs futūrās refer to the hopes of the newly weds287 variā vice: literally “with inconstant change” 288 largior, largīrī, largītus sum: to bestow, grant; largīre is imperative singular; with fugientī understand mihi290 moriēns: “dying”; fraudibus is dative292 ad nocendum (gerund): “for doing harm”; malīs is dative293 miserae is dative294 infixus, literally ‘implanted’, i.e., deep-rootedrepugnō, repugnāre, repugnāvī, repugnātum: fight against, resist (+ dat.)295 parandō exiliō (gerundive phrase): “for preparing exile”296 licet recīdās — the subjunctive with licet is concessive; translate licet as “although”recīdō, recīdere, recīdī, recīsum: to cut back, cut down, truncate, diminish297 luō, luere, luī: to loose; pay off; supplicium luere = “pay the penalty”298 attollō, attollere: to raise up, lift299 Isthmus, -ī, m.: the Isthmus, where Corinth is located300 For thalamus, see 285 above301 festus, -a, -um: festal, celebratory.The infinitive precārī (see 282 above) states purpose (a Greek grammatical construction adapted for Latin verse)With vocat understand mē: “summons me to pray …”.Hymenaeus, -ī, m.: Hymenaeus, god of marriages — here in the dative case
Medea, Louvre Sculpture Gardens
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