Facts in The Medea

Delphi was the location of Apollo’s temple and the famous oracle. The “encaverned stair” is likely a reference to the theater at Delphi that lay near the temple. The theater was built into the natural slope of the mountain and had six stair cases that divided the colossal stands built to hold 4,500 spectators.

By “god” the chorus refers to Zeus, the king and father of the gods and the god of the sky, rather than the Christian God. Notice how the translator’s monotheistic religious context permeates the language he uses when he translates this text. Similarly, what he names “Faith” is translated in other versions of this text to “Themis,” the goddess of divine order, fairness, or law. Murray uses the word “Faith” to describe “God’s” daughter because these two words fit together in the Christian faith, much like the gods Zeus and Themis would in an ancient Greek context.