CHOR. The loves, when they come too impetuously, have given neither good report nor virtue among men, but if Venus come with moderation, no other Goddess is so benign. Never, O my mistress, mayest thou send forth against me from thy golden bow thy inevitable shaft, having steeped it in desire. But may temperance preserve me, the noblest gift of heaven; never may dreaded Venus, having smitten my mind for another's bed, heap upon me jealous passions and unabated quarrels, but approving the peaceful union, may she quick of perception sit in judgment on the bed of women. O my country, and my house, never may I be an outcast of my city, having a life scarce to be endured through poverty, the most lamentable of all woes. By death, by death, may I before that be subdued, having lived to accomplish that day; but no greater misfortune is there than to be deprived of one's paternal country. We have seen it, nor have we to speak from others' accounts; for thee, neither city nor friend hath pitied, though suffering the most dreadful anguish. Thankless may he perish who desires not to assist his friends, having unlocked the pure treasures of his mind; never shall he be friend to me. ÆGEUS, MEDEA, CHORUS. ÆG. Medea, hail! for no one hath known a more honorable salutation to address to friends than this. MED. Hail thou also, son of the wise Pandion, Ægeus, coming from what quarter dost thou tread the plain of this land? ÆG. Having left the ancient oracle of Phœbus. MED. But wherefore wert thou sent to the prophetic centre of the earth? ÆG. Inquiring of the God how offspring may arise to me? MED. By the Gods, tell me, dost thou live this life hitherto childless? ÆG. Childless I am, by the disposal of some deity. MED. Hast thou a wife, or knowest thou not the marriage-bed! ÆG. I am not destitute of the connubial bed. MED. What then did Apollo tell thee respecting thy offspring? ÆG. Words deeper than a man can form opinion of. MED. Is it allowable for me to know the oracle of the God? ÆG. Certainly, inasmuch as it needs also a deep-skilled mind. MED. What then did he say? Speak, if I may hear. ÆG. That I was not to loose the projecting foot of the vessel-- MED. Before thou didst what, or came to what land? ÆG. Before I revisit my paternal hearth. MED. Then as desiring what dost thou direct thy voyage to this land? ÆG. There is one Pittheus, king of the country of Trazene. MED. The most pious son, as report says, of Pelops. ÆG. To him I wish to communicate the oracle of the God. MED. For he is a wise man, and versed in such matters. ÆG. And to me at least the dearest of all my friends in war. MED. Mayest thou prosper, and obtain what thou desirest. ÆG. But why is thine eye and thy color thus faded? MED. Ægeus, my husband is the worst of all men. ÆG. What sayest thou? tell me all thy troubles. MED. Jason wrongs me, having never suffered wrong from me. ÆG. Having done what? tell me more clearly.