Notes for Episode 2

1. This line (468) is often bracketed because it is repeated at line 1324 by Jason. Again I am of mixed minds because Jason quotes Medea on at least one other occasion (446) and the line seems appropriate here as well as in the later passage,

2. This is a way of saying "and I thank you for it."

3. Medea interrupts, perhaps because of the outrageous suggestion that the betrayer is the benefactor or she may balk at his appropriation of the children as his.

4. Children belonged to the man. In case of a divorce it was usual (almost universal) for the children to go with the father. The exile of Jason’s children, then, is strange and suggests that it is not only Medea whom Creon wants out of the way, but the children as well, because they are a reminder to him and his daughter that Jason is a married man. Jason does not need any more children by Medea. After he failed to regain his kingdom at the demise of Pelias, his only hope for royal status is through sons by the princess. Since Greek marriage was for the purpose of the birth of legitimate sons, by saying to Medea "What need have you for children?" Jason is denying her any value at all. The question, posed by some scholars, of the legitimacy of Medea’s children is, in my opinion, a red herring. First, neither Jason nor Medea is a citizen. Next, the laws of fifth-century Athens (according to which only children with citizen parents on both sides could be enrolled as citizens) cannot be imposed upon heroic age Corinth. Furthermore, many heroes are of mixed and illegitimate parentage, including Theseus (Athens’ national hero), who will be the product of Aegeus’ liaison with Pittheus’ daughter, on his way home to Athens, after he leaves Medea. And finally, Jason admits, "The [children] I have are enough and I am satisfied with them" (558).