Medea And Other Plays Quotes
"There is no justice in the eyes of men; a man who has done them no harm may be hated on sight before they have formed a true assessment of his nature."
"Medea’s speech to the chorus of Corinthian women is a prime example of the dramatist’s willingness to see, and give a voice to, the women’s case."
"For divorce brings disgrace on a woman and in the interval she cannot refuse her husband."
"Women are timid creatures for the most part, cowards when it comes to fighting and at the sight of steel; but wrong a woman in love and nothing on earth has a heart more murderous."
"But wrong a woman in love and nothing on earth has a heart more murderous."
"For moderation in the first place sounds more attractive on the tongue and in practice is by far the best for a man."
"I would rather face the enemy three times over than bear a child once."
"This is what keeps a marriage intact more than anything, when a husband can count on complete support from his wife."
"For whatever purpose Zeus sets in motion, he accomplishes with your aid."
"And now everything has turned to hatred and where love was once deepest a cancer spreads."
"Any man of good sense should never have his children taught to be unusually clever. For, apart from being good for nothing, into the bargain they invite the envy and hostility of their fellow citizens."
"Those with a reputation for fine intelligence will regard you with hatred, if the city judges you are their superior."
"Because I have special knowledge, some view me with resentment, others again with distaste."
"My present situation is by no means terrible – don't think that! They still have trials to face, these newly-weds, and, as for the one who made the match, his troubles will not be slight."
"A woman is a soft creature, made for weeping."
"Terrible is the anger and almost beyond cure, when strife severs those whom love once joined."
"My pain is cancelled now that any mockery of yours is silenced."
"You may have seen nobility so crushed by circumstance. The sons of so great a father do not merit such misfortune."
"Never have I seen nobility so crushed by circumstance."
"It is right to show respect to the gods’ suppliants, wrong that they should be forced by violence to abandon their shrines."
"For the gods should be wiser than men." - Hippolytus
"In any case, now that you are in such dangerous waters, how do you propose to swim clear?" - Nurse
"I curse you all! Never will I have my fill of hating women, even though they say I never cease to speak of them." - Hippolytus
"Why did you allow women to live in the light of the sun and plague mankind with their counterfeit looks?" - Theseus
"My pride when I hear you speak matches the sorrow I feel at what you must suffer." - Iolaus
"For the Cyprian breeds evil more often in clever women; the helpless ones are saved from promiscuous urges by their lack of brains." - Hippolytus
"Gods should be wiser than men." - Servant
"I curse you all! Never will I have my fill of hating women." - Hippolytus
"What ill-fortune could strike now after what has happened? It is destroyed, it is no more – oh, the pity of it!" - Chorus-Leader
"We are women, after all, and will find a way." - Nurse
"Or did I hope to be master in your house by marrying the woman who would inherit it? That would have been foolish of me, no, plain idiotic."
"My own ambition would be to come first in the Greek Games but second in the state, enjoying good fortune at all times with the noble as my friends."
"I swear by Zeus, guardian of oaths, and by the ground beneath our feet that I never laid hands upon your wife."
"May I perish with none to remember me, none to preserve my honour or even my name, may my lifeless flesh be rejected by sea and land if my nature is vile."
"What terror drove this lady to take her life I do not know; I am forbidden to say anything further."
"You have said enough to clear yourself of guilt, adding oaths by the gods, not a pledge to be taken lightly."
"That easy temper is what I find incredible in you, Father."
"You shall wander in exile from your native land and endure a life of pain on foreign soil."
"Oh, no! What will you do? Drive me into exile without letting Time testify in my trial?"
"This letter needs no prophet’s insight to condemn you on certain grounds."
"The gods’ care for us, when it comes to my mind, truly relieves my sorrow."
"May the powers above in answer to my prayers grant me this fate – a life of good fortune with a heart untouched by grief."
"For my mind is now a troubled pool, my expectations reversed by what I see."
"No longer will you take the reins behind your matched Enetic team and fill the track beside the lake with the steady pounding of their hooves."
"It is some inherited evil, stained with blood and issuing from forefathers of old, that has crossed the boundaries and will not wait but comes upon me – and why?"
"Farewell to you, Father, a long farewell."
"O famous boundaries of Aphaea and of Pallas, what a noble heart you have lost and will never see again!"
"On all citizens together this grief has fallen, foreseen by none. In unbroken lamentation many tears will be shed."