Fabula 25. Medea — “Medea”: Glauce and the poisoned crown, and the killing of the children. Latin from the standard text, with a new English translation below each paragraph. View:
1
Aeetae Medea et Idyiae filia cum ex Iasone iam filios Mermerum et Pheretem procreasset summaque concordia uiuerent, obiciebatur ei hominem tam fortem ac formosum ac nobilem uxorem aduenam atque ueneficam habere.
Medea, daughter of Aeetes and Idyia, had already borne Jason sons, Mermerus and Pheres, and they were living in the greatest harmony, when Jason was reproached that a man so brave, handsome and noble had a foreign wife, and a poisoner.
2
huic Creon Menoeci filius rex Corinthius filiam suam minorem Glaucen dedit uxorem. Medea cum uidit se erga Iasonem bene merentem tanta contumelia esse affectam, coronam ex uenenis fecit auream eamque muneri filios suos iussit nouercae dare.
To him Creon, son of Menoeceus, king of Corinth, gave his younger daughter Glauce as wife. When Medea saw that, although she deserved well of Jason, she had been treated with such insult, she made a golden crown out of poisons and ordered her sons to give it as a gift to their stepmother.
3
Creusa munere accepto cum Iasone et Creonte confraglauit. Medea ubi regiam ardere uidit, natos suos ex Iasone Mermerum et Pheretem interfecit et profugit a Corintho.
When Creusa had received the gift, she was burned up together with Jason and Creon. When Medea saw the palace burning, she killed her sons by Jason, Mermerus and Pheres, and fled from Corinth.
Notes
- Convention: the Latin gives the editor’s supplied letters in full, without brackets; the notes record them as < > for a supplement, [ ] for a deletion, and † for a corrupt word.
- Para 1: Idy<i>ae, M<e>r<m>erum, and <Ph>eret<e>m are supplied in the text (para 3 likewise). The dative ei is Jason: it is thrown in Jason’s teeth that he has such a wife. Veneficam covers both “sorceress” and “poisoner”; “poisoner” is chosen here, since the poisoned crown follows in para 2.
- Para 2: the crown is a gold crown prepared, or steeped, with poisons — coronam ex uenenis fecit auream is literal but physically odd as it stands.
- Para 2–3: the king’s daughter is called Glauce in para 2 and Creusa in para 3 — the name varies between sources, and Hyginus gives both; kept as told, not harmonised.
- Para 3: confraglauit is a corrupt or variant spelling of conflagrauit; conflagrare is “to be burned up, consumed by fire”, not “burst into flames”. Cum Iasone stands unbracketed in the text as supplied, so it is kept — but the usual tradition has Jason survive, so the words may be an intrusion or a slip; flagged here, not settled.
Next fabula: Medea Exul (Fabula 26). Corrections are welcome via the contact form; please say which paragraph you mean.