How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue. We used Paul Roche's translation.
Quote #1
Nurse: Ah, she [Medea] has merited this city's good opinion,
exile though she came (1)
Medea was accepted into Corinthian society when she first showed up. She was treated like any Greek woman. Now that her husband has dumped her, however, she's treated as a foreigner. The Greeks are very suspicious of her because she's a foreigner.
Quote #2
Nurse: her [Medea's] home she sacrificed
to journey here
with a man – oh – who disdains her now. (1)
Medea betrayed her father to help Jason capture the Golden Fleece. Doing so was a great sacrifice. She doomed herself to forever being a foreigner at a time in history when being foreign could be a very dangerous thing.
Quote #3
Nurse: Yes, now [Medea] knows at a terrible first hand what it is to miss one's native land. (1)
Though Medea has lived in Corinth for a while, she is still seen as an outsider. The fact that she has a Greek husband and has given him sons does little to stem the prejudice against her. Could this distrust on the part of the Greeks contribute to her rage?