The messenger, the children, the chariot

A messenger runs in from the palace and tells Medea to flee. She asks what has happened and he gives one of the famous messenger speeches in Greek tragedy. The bride accepted the gifts and went to her room to put them on. She arranged the crown in her hair, walked admiring the fall of the robe. Then her cheek went pale. White foam came at her lips. The crown began to melt into her hair, and the robe to burn her alive. She fled, a fiery pillar, and fell. Her father embraced her and was caught in the folds. He could not pull free. He died with her. Medea hears it with calm pleasure and sends the messenger away.

Medea goes inside. The Chorus, alone, call on the Sun and the Earth to stop her at the last moment. They are praying when the boys' voices begin to come through the barred door. What is happening. Brother, I think she means to kill us. Help, before we die. She has a sword. The women run at the door and cannot open it. The cries stop. Jason arrives at the gate, out of breath, trying to save the children. The Leader tells him quietly that they are dead.

The doors do not open. Above the house, Medea appears on a chariot drawn by winged dragons, sent by the Sun her grandfather. The bodies of the boys lie in it. She and Jason argue across the height between them. He calls her every name he has. She returns each one without moving. He begs at least for the bodies — to bury them, to kiss them once. She refuses him even that. She will bury them herself in a precinct of Hera. She names his future: he will die alone, struck on the head by a rotted timber from the Argo. The chariot lifts. Jason throws himself on the ground.