Epeisodion 3
Aegeus
To him I fain would impart the oracle of the god.
685
Medea
The man is shrewd and versed in such-like lore.
Aegeus
Aye, and to me the dearest of all my warrior friends.
Medea
Good luck to thee! success to all thy wishes!
Aegeus
But why that downcast eye, that wasted cheek?
Medea
O Aegeus, my husband has proved a monster of iniquity.
690
Aegeus
What meanest thou? explain to me clearly the cause of thy despondency.
Medea
Jason is wronging me though I have given him no cause.
Aegeus
What hath he done? tell me more clearly.
Medea
He is taking another wife to succeed me as mistress of his house.
Aegeus
Can he have brought himself to such a dastard deed?
695
Medea
Be assured thereof; I, whom he loved of yore, am in dishonour now.
Aegeus
Hath he found a new love? or does he loathe thy bed?
Medea
Much in love is he! A traitor to his friend is he become.
Aegeus
Enough! if he is a villain as thou sayest.
Medea
The alliance he is so much enamoured of is with a princess.
700
Aegeus
Who gives his daughter to him? go on, I pray.
Medea
Creon, who is lord of this land of Corinth.
Aegeus
Lady, I can well pardon thy grief.
Medea
I am undone, and more than that, am banished from the land.
