3.751
The Argonautica 3.751 · Medea cannot sleep3.751Medea cannot sleep
Lines 751–755. Everyone in Colchis sleeps except Medea, who lies awake thinking of Jason.
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ἀλλὰ1
allà
But
γλυκερὸς2
glykeròs
sweet
ὕπνος3
hýpnos
sleep
οὐ4
ou
did not
λάβεν5
láben
takeseized
Μήδειαν6
Mḗdeian
Medea
μάλʼ7
mál’
at allvery
ἐπὶ8
epì
—upon
. γὰρ9
gàr
For
πόθῳ10
póthōi
in her longing
Αἰσονίδαο11
Aisonídao
for Aeson's sonof Aeson's son
πολλὰ12
pollà
many
μελεδήματʼ13
meledḗmat’
caresanxieties
ἔγειρεν14
égeiren
kept her awakewas waking
, δειδυῖαν15
deidyîan
as she fearedfearing
κρατερὸν16
krateròn
the mightystrong
μένος17
ménos
strengthfury
ταύρων18
taúrōn
of the bulls
οἷσιν19
hoîsin
by whichby whom
ἔμελλεν20
émellen
he was towas about to
φθίσθαι21
phthísthai
dieperish
ἀεικελίῃ22
aeikelíēi
a shamefulunseemly
μοίρῃ23
moírēi
deathfate
κατὰ24
katà
in
νειὸν25
neiòn
the fieldfallow land
Ἄρηος26
Árēos
of Ares
. δέ27
dé
And
οἱ28
hoi
her
κραδίη29
kradíē
heart
ἔθυιεν30
éthyien
was poundingseethed
πυκνὰ31
pyknà
fastthickly
ἔντοσθεν32
éntosthen
inside
στηθέων33
stēthéōn
her breastchest
, But sweet sleep did not take Medea at all. For in her longing for Aeson's son many cares kept her awake, as she feared the mighty strength of the bulls by which he was to die a shameful death in the field of Ares. And her heart was pounding fast inside her breast,
But sweet sleep did not take Medea at all. For in her longing for Aeson's son many cares kept her awake, as she feared the mighty strength of the bulls by which he was to die a shameful death in the field of Ares. And her heart was pounding fast inside her breast,
Interpretation
But sweet sleep did not come to Medea at all. In her longing for Jason, son of Aeson, her worries kept her awake: she feared the mighty strength of the bulls that would kill him, a shameful death in the field of Ares. And her heart pounded fast inside her breast,
The line that turns from the sleeping world to Medea comes from the Odyssey, where sweet sleep does not take Telemachus and cares for his father keep him awake (15.7–8), as Mooney notes. Virgil turns it into Dido's "At non infelix animi Phoenissa" (Aeneid 4.529).
Tomorrow Jason must yoke Aeetes' fire-breathing bulls and plow the field of Ares. Medea knows what the bulls can do, and Mooney points out that her word for "fearing," δειδυῖαν, is a new form Apollonius coined.
3.756
The Argonautica 3.756 · Like sunlight on water3.756Like sunlight on water
Lines 756–760. Apollonius compares her racing heart to sunlight thrown back from water.
· · ·
like a gleam of sunlight that dances in a house, rising from water just poured into a cauldron or perhaps a pail; it darts here and there and quivers with the swift eddy; so too the girl's heart quivered in her breast.