Hello Readers.

For those of you who are following along with our reading schedule, we will be starting the play 'Medea' by Euripides on May 1st. This is one of the shortest texts we will be reading this year, taking us a total of two weeks. For week 1 we will be reading from the start to line 750. In week 2 we will read from line 750 to the end of the play.

Please be aware that this play has some upsetting themes and graphic scenes within it. It deals with domestic abuse. The ending in particular has been know to be distressing to a lot of people, so I am going to provide a trigger warning for it and a spoiler below. As mentioned, the play examines the theme of domestic abuse and this is something which the end of the play deals with. If this concerns you and you are not against being spoiled, please see below.

Ending (TW CA) The play ends with the death of two children, at the hands of their mother.

I haven't read the play yet but I have seen reviews mention that some versions have slightly alternative plot points/endings but in general, the above is the established ending.

In terms of modern, widely available (purchasable) translations, we have a few options. All the versions listed below are widely available and can be purchased in ebook or physical format. Please note there are two different translations available from Penguin.

Translation List:

• Davie - Prose - 'Medea and Other Plays: Medea/ Alcestis/The Children of Heracles/ Hippolytus' - This translation is very accessible and has been used in several university courses. Published by Penguin
• Raynor - Verse - 'Medea: A New Translation' - this translation came out in 2015, so it is very modern. There is an emphasis on the theatre performance and production in this edition, which is broken up into modern scenes (unlike the original text). Published by Cambridge University Press
• Taplin - Verse - Readable but challenging in places. Published in 2015
• Vellacott - Verse - 'Medea and other plays' This is also published by Penguin and is a relatively older translation.
• Robertson - Verse - 'Medea'. Published by Vintage Classics in 2009, this translation has been noted for the beautiful flow to the words and verse.
• Morwood - Prose - 'Medea and Other Plays (Oxford World Classics)' This version provides a lot of context and accessible to new readers of the Greek myths.

Finding any proper discussion comparing these translations was difficult and as such I had to go on mainly reviews for each individual translation. All of them seem to be reasonably accessible to casual readers, from what I could tell.

Additionally, there is a free translation available from Project Gutenberg. This is an older verse translation by Gilbert Murray and seems to be well received.