The Argonautica

But Jason afterward calmed all their grief and anguish,

heartening them, and told the servants to shoulder his war-gear;

silent, with downcast eyes, the servants lifted the weapons.

When first his mother flung her arms around her child,

so she clung, weeping more deeply, just like a young maiden

all alone, folds loving arms round her grey-headed nurse

and weeps; no other guardian now remains to shield her,

ruled by a stepmother, she drags out a burdensome life,

her stepmother has newly assailed her with taunts beyond number;

lamenting, she feels her heart bound by inward anguish,

nor can she pour out grief to the full measure she yearns for;

so deeply Alcimede wept, holding her son in her arms,

and spoke these words to Jason, deep in grief and yearning:

Would that on that day, when I, wretched, heard proclaimed

that evil command laid down by Pelias the king,

I had straightway let my spirit depart and forgotten my sorrows,

so you yourself with beloved hands might have buried me,

my child; for that was the only wish still remaining

from you; all other rewards for raising you I long have enjoyed.

But now, once highly admired among Achaean women,

I will be left like a slave-woman alone in empty halls,

pining for you, ill-starred; because of you I once possessed

great splendor and honor. For you alone, my son,

first and last, I loosed the girdle worn in childbirth.