Euripides' Medea Int. and Trans. by Marianne McDonald Copyright ...

NURSE
I’ll do it, but I don’t know
If I’ll succeed.
I’ll try,
No matter what it takes.
If any servant tries to speak with her,
She glares at them
Like a lioness protecting her cubs.
You would be right to say
The men of old were foolish, not wise, 190
Because they added pleasant sounds to our lives
In the songs they sung at parties, banquets,
And festive dinners,
But found no way
To heal the sorrows of men though music
And songs sung to the lyre’s sweet chords.
Great grief can be fatal to men.
It destroys homes.
Songs should heal as well as amuse. 200
Why sing at a merry feast?
The rich banquet is joy enough.
NURSE exits.
CHORUS
I have heard her cry, moaning through her tears,
Screaming her wrongs and cursing
That vile husband who betrayed her bed.
She calls on Themis, Zeus’s daughter,
Who watches over the sanctity of oaths,
To witness her husband’s betrayal.
Because of those oaths, Medea sailed to Greece 210
Over the dark salty depths of the Black Sea,
A strait seldom traversed.
Enter MEDEA with NURSE. She is suppressing her rage to win over the women of
Corinth.
MEDEA
Women of Corinth!
Here I am, and I beg you not to blame me.
Many people I know put on airs,
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