Medea and Other Plays Quotes

“The fiercest anger of all, the most incurable,
Is that which rages in the place of dearest love.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Let no one think of me that I am humble or weak or passive; let them understand I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies, loyal to my friends. To such a life glory belongs.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Arm yourself, my heart: the thing that you must do is fearful, yet inevitable.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum, we have bought a husband, we must then accept him as possessor of our body.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“O Zeus, why is it you have given men clear ways of testing whether gold is counterfeit but, when it comes to men, the body carries no stamp of nature for distinguishing bad from good.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Ruthless is the temper of royalty; How much better to live among the equals.Let me decline in a safe old age. The very name of the "middle way".”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“To me, a wicked man who is also eloquent seems the most guilty of them all. He´ll cut your throat as bold as brass, because he knows he can dress up murder in handsome words.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“If women didn't exist, human life would be rid of all its miseries.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Give me your hand; I'll hold you....Then wipe off on me all your uncleanness, all; I do not shrink from it.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Agamemnon, if you help this man, you help an impious, perjured, and polluted traitor, and by upholding evil soil you own fair name.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“If your enemy is a man of honour (...), yield to him; you may touch his heart, Perhaps win generous terms. If he´s a rat - beware!”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women
Are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum,
We have bought a husband, we must then accept him as
Possessor of our body. This is to aggravate
Wrong with worse wrong. Then the great question: will the man
We get be bad or good? For women, divorce is not
Respectable; to repel the man, not possible.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Go home: your wife waits to be buried.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“I think that the plausible speaker Who is a villain deserves the greatest punishment. Confident in his tongue's power to adorn evil, He stops at nothing. Yet he is not really wise. As in your case. There is no need to put on the airs Of a clever speaker, for one word will lay you flat.”
― Rex Warner-Translator, Medea and Other Plays

“Perish, abhorred, the man who never brings himself to unbolt his heart in frankness to some honored friends!”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“What the spirit of man can aim at achieving is a dignity which remains when the gods have withdrawn or joined the side of evil, a serene despair which knows that the world contains no higher hope than the human spirit can find within itself.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Many matters the gods bring to surprising ends. The things we thought would happen do not happen; The unexpected God makes possible; And such is the conclusion of this story.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Bloodthirsty bitches”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Let innocence, the god´s loveliest gift, chose me for her own; Never may the dread Cyprian craze my heart to leave old love for new, sending to assault me angry disputes and feuds unending;”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“If any man thinks wealth or power of greater worth To him who has them, than a good friend- he is mad.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“The stamp of royal birth is an unmistakable Miracle; and when those who bear a noble name Are worthy of it, the mircable is greater still.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“How strange, that bad soil, if the gods send rain and sun, Bears a rich crop, while good soil, starved of what it needs, Is Barren; but man´s nature is ingrained - the bad Is never anything but bad, and the good man Is good: misfortune cannot warp his character, His goodness will endure.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays

“Any man of good sense should never have his children taught to be unusually clever.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays: Medea / Alcestis / The Children of Heracles / Hippolytus

“When a man becomes dissatisfied with married life, he goes outdoors and finds relief for his frustrations. But we are bound to love one partner and look no further. They say we live sheltered lives in the home, free from danger, while they wield 250       their spears in battle – what fools they are! I would rather face the enemy three times over than bear a child once.”
― Euripides, Medea and Other Plays: Medea / Alcestis / The Children of Heracles / Hippolytus