EURIPIDES
Cease now, you muses of the ancient singers,
To tell the tale of my unfaithfulness;
For not on us did Phoebus, lord of music,
Bestow the lyre's divine 425
Power, for otherwise I should have sung an answer
To the other sex. Long time
Has much to tell of us, and much of them. 430
You sailed away from your father's home,
With a heart on fire you passed
The double rocks of the sea.
And now in a foreign country 435
You have lost your rest in a widowed bed,
And are driven forth, a refugee
In dishonor from the land.
Good faith has gone, and no more remains
In great Greece a sense of shame. 440
It has flown away to the sky.
No father's house for a haven
Is at hand for you now, and another queen
Of your bed has dispossessed you and
Is mistress of your home. 445
(Enter ]asony with attendants.)
Jason
This is not the first occasion that I have noticed
How hopeless it is to deal with a stubborn temper^ ~
For, with reasonable submission jo jqui..i^ler-$ will,
You might have lived in this land and kept your home.
As it is you are going to be exiled for your loosejspeaking. 450
Not that I mind myself. You are free £6" continue
Telling everyone that Jason is a worthless man.
But as to your talk about the king, consider
Yourself most lucky that exile is your punishment.
I, for my part, have always tried to calm down 451
The anger of the king, and wished you to remain,
86