lO Ernest Heinrich Klotsche 



' But thou, O heaven-begotten glory, 

 Restrain her, refrain her : the wretched, the gory 

 Erinys by demons dogged, we implore thee, 

 Snatch thou from yon home ! etc." 



An earnest and impassioned invocation of the Gods is made by 

 Jason on account of his children murdered by Medea : 



Med. 1405-07: ■ 



Zeu, rdS' aKoveLs (hs aireXavpoixe^ , 



old re ■Ko.cTxotJ.tv e/c ttjs fivaapas 



Kai ■irai5o(t>6pov Trjade Xeatj'rjs; k. t. X. 



"O Zeus, dost thou hear it, how spurned I am? — 

 What outrage I suffer of yonder abhorred 

 Child-murderess, yonder tigress-dam? etc." 



On Medea he pronounces an imprecation: 



Med. 1327-29 :" 



epyov rXacra dvffffe^ecTTaTov. 6\olo. 



" Thus hast thou wrought ... 

 Now ruin seize thee ! " 



Med. 1388-50: 



dXXd cr' ''Epivvs oXkcreLe r'eKviav (ftovla re ALkt]. 

 " Now the Fury-avenger of children smite thee. 

 And Justice that looketh on murder requite thee ! " 



A curse presupposes the supernatural as well as a prayer. A 

 curse is a wish expressed in words that evil may befall a certain 

 person. The wish may be expressed by a God or spirit, in which 

 case it is wish, will, and fact in one ; or it may be an appeal to 

 another supernatural person to execute it. Euripides makes 

 dramatic use of curses not only because they were survivals from 

 the past, but also because the supernatural element connected 

 with imprecations had evidently still a hold upon the popular 

 imagination. 



Wherever reference to oath is made in our play the religious 

 binding force of the oath is assumed and the perjurer considered 

 a cursed villain. Medea is amazed at the perjurer Jason: 



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