3.1026
The Argonautica 3.1026 · Listen now3.1026Listen now
Lines 1026–1029. Medea begins her instructions with the hour of the night rite.
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φράζεο1
phrázeo
Listenconsider
νῦν2
nŷn
now
ὥς3
hṓs
how
κέν4
kén
—
ἐγὼ5
egṑ
I
μητίσομʼ6
mētísom’
will devisewill contrive
ἀρωγήν7
arōgḗn
helpaid
τοι8
toi
for you
. εὖτʼ9
eût’
When
ἂν10
àn
—
δὴ11
dḕ
—
πατὴρ12
patḕr
father
ἐμὸς13
emòs
my
, μετιόντι14
metiónti
when you come for themgoing after
, ἐγγυαλίξῃ15
engyalíxēi
puts into your handsputs in the hand
ὀλοοὺς16
olooùs
the deadlydestructive
ὀδόντας17
odóntas
teeth
ἐξ18
ex
from
ὄφιος19
óphios
the serpent'sof the snake
γενύων20
genýōn
jaws
σπείρασθαι21
speírasthai
to sow
, δὴ22
dḕ
—
τότε23
tóte
then
φυλάξας24
phyláxas
watching forhaving watched
μέσσην25
méssēn
mid-middle
νύκτα26
nýkta
night
, διαμμοιρηδὰ27
diammoirēdà
that splits it in twodividing in twain
Listen now to how I will devise help for you. When my father, as you come for them, puts into your hands the deadly teeth from the serpent's jaws to sow, then, watching for midnight, the hour that halves the night…
Listen now to how I will devise help for you. When my father, as you come for them, puts into your hands the deadly teeth from the serpent's jaws to sow, then, watching for midnight, the hour that halves the night…
Interpretation
"Listen now to how I will devise help for you. When my father, as you come for them, puts into your hands the deadly teeth from the serpent's jaws for you to sow, then, watching for the hour that splits the night in two…
Medea's instructions begin with the hour. διαμμοιρηδά occurs only here; Mooney renders the phrase "waiting for the hour which divides the night in twain," that is, midnight, and compares Homer's διεμοιρᾶτο, "divided into portions" (Odyssey 14.434). LSJ gives "dividing in twain" and cites this line alone.
The ordeal is the one Aeetes set Jason earlier in Book 3: yoke the fire-breathing bulls, plough the field, and sow the serpent's teeth, from which armed men will spring.
3.1030
The Argonautica 3.1030 · The pit and the ewe3.1030The pit and the ewe
Lines 1030–1034. The night rite, step by step: bathe, dig a pit, sacrifice a ewe.
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bathe in the stream of the tireless river, and alone, apart from the others, in dark robes, dig a round pit; in it slaughter a ewe, and lay it raw and whole on a pyre you have heaped well right over the pit.