The Argonautica

for my children's sake? Argus comes from him as a messenger,

urging me to try whether aid can be won from your hands;

I left him meanwhile at home when I came to you in this place.

Thus she spoke; and Medea's heart flew upward within her for gladness,

her lovely skin flushed crimson at once, and a mist overwhelmed her,

as she grew warm; and Medea replied in words such as these:

Chalciope, whatever brings delight and joy to all,

so shall I act. May no dawn ever shine before my eyes,

nor may you see me living much longer from this moment,

if I should place one thing above your life or your children,

your sons, who truly have grown and become my own brothers,

dear kinsmen by marriage and equals in age. Even I myself

I call myself both sister and daughter to you,

you raised me equally beside your sons through all of my infancy,

as I have always heard our mother say, time and again.

Go now, conceal my favor silently, so our parents

will never know while I fulfill my pledged promise. At dawn

I shall carry the charms that tame bulls to Hecate's temple.

So Chalciope went from the chamber again, and told her children

the help Medea had offered; but once more the maiden was taken

by shame and by hateful fear when she found herself lonely,

for plotting such secret things for a man, defying her father.

Night afterward drew darkness across the earth; on the open sea

sailors aboard their ships watched the Bear and Orion's stars;