Stories from the Greek Tragedians | Page 9

then?
What city will receive me? what friend shall give me protection? I
know not. I will tarry awhile, and if some help appear, I will work my
end with guile; but if not, I will take my sword and slay them that I hate,
though I die. For by Hecaté, whom I reverence most of all the Gods, no
man shall vex my heart and prosper. Therefore, Medea, fear not; use all
thy counsel and craft. Shall the race of Sisyphus, shall Jason, laugh thee
to scorn that art of the race of the Sun?"
When she had ended these words, there came Jason telling her that she
did not well to be thus angry, and that she had brought upon herself this
trouble of banishment by idle words against the rulers of the land; but
that nevertheless he would have a care for her, and see that she wanted

nothing needful. But when Medea heard him so speak, she burst out
upon him in great fury, calling to mind how she had saved him once
again from the bulls that breathed fire from their nostrils and from the
great dragon that guarded the fleece of gold, and how she had done the
old man Pelias to death for his sake; "and now," she said, "whither shall
I go? who will receive me? for I have made enemies of my kinsfolk on
account of thee, and now thou forsakest me. O Zeus! why can we
discern false money from the true, but as for men, when we would
know which is the good and which the bad, there is no mark by which
we may know them?"
But to this Jason answered that if she had saved him in time past, she
had done it of necessity, being compelled by love; and that he had
made her a full recompense, taking her from a barbarous land to the
land of Greece, where men lived by law and not by the will of the
stronger and causing her to be highly reputed of for wisdom among the
people of the land. "And as to this marriage," he said, "for which thou
blamest me, I have made it in prudence and in care for thee and for thy
children. For being an exile in this city, what could I do better than
marry the daughter of the King? Nor is my heart turned from thee or
from thy children. Only I have made provision against poverty, and that
I might rear my sons in such fashion as befitted their birth. And now if
thou needest aught in thy banishment, speak; for I would give thee
provision without grudging, and also commend thee to such friends as I
have."
"Keep thy gifts and thy friends," she said, "to thyself. There is no profit
in that which cometh from such hands as thine."
So Jason went his way; and when he was departed there came Ægeus,
King of Athens, who had been on a journey to inquire of the god at
Delphi, for he was childless, and would fain have a son born to him.
But he understood not what the god had answered, and was now on his
way to King Pittheus of Troezen, a man learned in such matters, that he
might interpret the thing to him. And when he saw that Medea had been
weeping, he would know what ailed her. Then she told him how her
husband was false to her, marrying a new wife, even the daughter of the
king of the land, and how she was on the point to be banished, and her
children with her. And when she saw that these things displeased King
Ægeus, she said--

"Now, my lord, I beseech thee to have pity on me, nor suffer me to
wander homeless and friendless, but receive me into thy house. So may
the Gods grant thee thy desire that thou mayest have a son to reign after
thee. And indeed I have such knowledge in these matters that I can help
thee myself."
Then said King Ægeus, "I am willing to do thee this service both for
right's sake and because of the hope of children which thou promisest
to me. Only I may not take thee with me from this land. But if thou
comest to me thou shalt be safe, nor will I give thee up to any man."
Then said Medea, "It is well, and I trust thee. And yet, for I am weak
and my enemies are strong, I would fain bind thee by an oath."
To this the King answered, "Lady, thou art prudent, and I refuse not the
oath; for being so bound, I shall have wherewith to answer thine
enemies, if they seek thee from me. By what