3.785
The Argonautica 3.785 · Away with shame3.785Away with shame
Lines 785–790. She decides to save him with the drug and then to die.
· · ·
ἐρρέτω1
errétō
Away withlet it go to ruin
αἰδώς2
aidṓs
shamemodesty
, ἐρρέτω3
errétō
away withlet it go to ruin
ἀγλαΐη4
aglaí̈ē
honorsplendor
! σαωθεὶς5
saōtheìs
Saved
ἐμῇ6
emêi
by my
ἰότητι7
iótēti
willdesign
, ὁ8
ho
—he
δʼ9
d’
and
νέοιτο10
néoito
let him gomay he go
ἔνθα11
éntha
there
ἀσκηθής12
askēthḗs
unharmed
, ἵνα13
hína
whereverwhere
οἱ14
hoi
his
θυμῷ15
thymôi
heart
φίλον16
phílon
pleasesdear
. αὐτὰρ17
autàr
But
ἐγὼν18
egṑn
I
αὐτῆμαρ19
autêmar
that same day
, ὅτʼ20
hót’
when
ἐξανύσειεν21
exanýseien
he has finishedaccomplish
ἄεθλον22
áethlon
his taskcontest
, τεθναίην23
tethnaíēn
would diemay I be dead
, ἢ24
ḕ
either
ἀναρτήσασα25
anartḗsasa
hanginghaving hung up
λαιμὸν26
laimòn
my throat
μελάθρῳ27
meláthrōi
from the roof-beam
, ἢ28
ḕ
or
καὶ29
kaì
—
πασσαμένη30
passaménē
swallowinghaving eaten
φάρμακα31
phármaka
drugs
ῥαιστήρια32
rhaistḗria
that destroyshattering
θυμοῦ33
thymoû
lifeof the spirit
. Away with shame, away with honor! Saved by my will, let him go there unharmed, wherever his heart pleases. But I, that same day, when he has finished his task, would die, either hanging by the neck from the roof-beam, or swallowing drugs that destroy life.
Away with shame, away with honor! Saved by my will, let him go there unharmed, wherever his heart pleases. But I, that same day, when he has finished his task, would die, either hanging by the neck from the roof-beam, or swallowing drugs that destroy life.
Interpretation
Away with shame, away with honor! Let him be saved by my will and go home unharmed, wherever his heart pleases. And I, the same day he finishes his task, would die, hanging by the neck from the roof-beam or swallowing drugs that destroy life.
The turn. ἐρρέτω, the word she had used against Jason, she now turns on her own shame and honor: "away with shame, away with honor!" Mooney puts it plainly: now the die is cast. She will save him and let him sail home.
And she will die the same day, by the rope or by drugs. Mooney notes that ῥαιστήρια, "destroying," is a word Apollonius is the first to use. The casket she opens in a moment holds both kinds of drug, the good and the destroying.
3.791
The Argonautica 3.791 · What the Colchian women will say3.791What the Colchian women will say
Lines 791–797. She sees that even her death would not save her good name.
· · ·
But even so, when I am dead, they will wink at me their mockery, afterward; and far and wide the whole city will cry out my death. And the Colchian women, carrying me on their lips here and there, will say shameful things of me: the girl who died caring so much for a foreign man, who disgraced her home and her own parents, giving way to mad passion. What shame will not be mine?