Spoiler

the scene off-stage, with Medea murdering her young sons is heartbreaking. It’s made harder because she had to put her plan in action after their lives are in danger as she got even with Jason for hurting her. It’s a very, very tragic moment .

I reread the translation by Robin Robertson published by Vintage, this was after reading a translation that was written roughly 100 years earlier by [b: Medea of Euripides (translator, Theodore Alois Buckley)|64097309|The Medea of Euripides|Theodore Alois Buckley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677855791l/64097309._SX50_.jpg|2936587]

Just like when I read this in 2019, I noticed a contrast between the action that unfolds and the sympathy the play draws towards Medea. Back in 2019 I could not make sense of this contradiction but reading these translations back-to-back makes it clear that it’s Jason who is the guilty one for breaking his promise.

This is a hard one to get my head around, breaking a solemn promise today works differently to these stories, so it’s taken a lot of other reading for me to make sense of this.

In both translations the poetry is gorgeously rendered, Robin Robertson’s contemporary style in places is not an easy read as he paints a clear picture that shows what drove Medea’s anger. Theodore Alois Buckley’s style is a touch old worldly with a lot of thee and thy but tells the story just as well, Theodore Alois Buckley’s translation is also available in the public domain on Gutenberg.

Both translations were good to read to see Medea through the eyes of Euripides and his contemporaries.