Medea. Add to them the Colchian troops
And King Æëtes, Scythian hosts and Greeks,
Medea conquers them!
Jason. I greatly fear
A scepter's power. 530
Medea. Do not covet it.
Jason. We must cut short our converse, lest it breed
Suspicion.
Medea. Now from high Olympus send
Thy thunder, Jupiter; stretch forth thy hand,
Prepare thy lightning, from the riven clouds
Make the world tremble, nor with careful hand 535
Spare him or me; whichever of us dies
Dies guilty; thy avenging thunderbolt
Cannot mistake the victim.
Jason. Try to speak
More sanely; calm thyself. If aught can aid
Thy flight from Creon's house, thou needst but ask. 540
Medea. My soul is strong enough, and wont to scorn
The wealth of kings; this boon alone I crave,
To take my children with me when I go;
Into their bosoms I would shed my tears,
New sons are thine. 545
Jason. Would I might grant thy prayer;
Paternal love forbids me, Creon's self
Could not compel me to it. They alone
Lighten the sorrow of a grief-parched soul.
For them I live, I sooner would resign
Breath, members, light. 550
Medea [aside]. 'Tis well! He loves his sons,
This, then, the place where he may feel a wound!
[To Jason.] Before I go, thou wilt, at least, permit
That I should give my sons a last farewell,
A last embrace? But one thing more I ask:
If in my grief I've poured forth threatening words, 555
Retain them not in mind; let memory hold
Only my softer speech, my words of wrath
Obliterate.
Jason. I have erased them all
From my remembrance. I would counsel thee
Be calm, act gently; calmness quiets pain. 560