THE MEDEA
Jason
As for me, it seems I must be no bad speaker.
But, like a man who has a good grip of the tiller,
Reef up his sail, and so run away from under
This mouthjng tempest, woman, of your bitter tongue. 525
Since you insist on building up your kindness to me,
My view is that Cypris was alone responsible
Of men and gods for the preserving of my life.
You are clever enough—but really I need not enter •
Into the story of how it was love's inescapable 530
Power that compelled you to keep my person safe.
On this I will not go into too much detail. <• "
In so far as you helped me, you did well enough.
But on this question of saving me, I can prove
You have certainly got from me more than you gave. 535
Firstly, instead of living among barbarians,
You inhabit a Greek land and understand our ways,
How to live bjrlaw instead of the sweet will of force.
And all the Greeks considered you a clever woman.
You were honored for it; while, if you were living at 540
The ends of the earth, nobody would have heard of you.
For my part, rather than stores of gold in my house
Or power to sing even sweeter songs than Orpheus,
Fd choose the fate that made me a distinguished man.
There is my reply to your story of my labors. 545
Remember it was you who started the argument.
Next for your attack on my wedding with the princess:
Here I will prove that, first, it was a clever move,
Secondly, a wise one, and, finally, that I made it
In your best interests and the children's. Please keep
calm. 55°
When I arrived here from the land of lolcus,
Involved, as I was, in every kind of difficulty,
What luckier chance could I have come across than this,
An exile to marry the daughter of the king?
It was not—the point that seems to upset you—that I 555
Grew tired of your bed and felt the need of a new bride; «
Nor with any wish to outdo your number of children.