Quotations about:
    women’s rights

MEDEA: Of all creatures that live and understand,
we women suffer most.
In the first place we must, for a vast sum,
buy a husband; what’s worse,
with him our bodies get a master.
And here’s what’s most at stake:
Did we get a man who’s good or bad?

ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: πάντων δ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἔμψυχα καὶ γνώμην ἔχει
γυναῖκές ἐσμεν ἀθλιώτατον φυτόν:
ἃς πρῶτα μὲν δεῖ χρημάτων ὑπερβολῇ
πόσιν πρίασθαι, δεσπότην τε σώματος
[λαβεῖν: κακοῦ γὰρ τοῦτ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἄλγιον κακόν].
κἀν τῷδ᾽ ἀγὼν μέγιστος, ἢ κακὸν λαβεῖν
ἢ χρηστόν.

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist

Medea [Μήδεια], l. 230ff (431 BC) [tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]
    (Source)

Speaking to the women of Corinth (the Chorus).

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

But sure among all those
Who have with breath and reason been endued.
We women are the most unhappy race,
First with abundant gold are we constrain'd
To buy a husband, and in him receive
A haughty master. Still doth there remain
One mischief than this mischief yet more grievous.
The hazard whether we. procure a mate
Worthless or virtuous.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Thus is it, of all beings, that have life
And sense, we women are most wretched; first
With all our dearest treasures we must buy
A husband, and in him receive a lord:
And hardship this: a greater hardship yet
Awaits us; here's the question, if this lord
Prove gentle, or a tyrant.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

Aye, of all living and of reasoning things
Are woman the most miserable race:
Who first needs buy a husband at great price,
To take him then for owner of our lives:
For this ill is more keen than common ills.
And of essays most perilous is this,
Whether one good or evil do we take.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

Of all things that have life and sense we women are the most hapless creatures; first must we buy a husband at an exorbitant price, and o'er ourselves a tyrant set which is an evil worse than the first; and herein lies the most important issue, whether our choice be good or bad.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

But of all things as many as have life and intellect, we women are the most wretched race. Who indeed first must purchase a husband with excess of money, and receive him a lord of our persons; for this is a still greater ill than the former. And in this is the greatest risk, whether we receive a bad one or a good one.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Surely, of creatures that have life and wit,
We women are of all things wretchedest,
Who, first, must needs, as buys the highest bidder,
Thus buy a husband, and our body's master
So win—for deeper depth of ill is this.
Nay, risk is dire herein, -- or shall we gain
An evil lord or good?
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

Oh,
Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow,
A herb most bruised is woman. We must pay
Our store of gold, hoarded for that one day,
To buy us some man's love; and lo, they bring
A master of our flesh! There comes the sting
Of the whole shame. And then the jeopardy,
For good or ill, what shall that master be.
[tr. Murray (1906)]

We women are the most unfortunate creatures.
Firstly, with an excess of wealth it is required
For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies
A master; for not to take one is even worse.
And now the question is serious whether we take
A good or bad one.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women
Are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum,
We have bought a husband, we must then accept him as
Possessor of our body. This is to aggravate
Wrong with worse wrong. Then the great question: will the man
We get be bad or good?
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

Of all creatures that live and have understanding
We women are the wretchedest breed alive;
First, we must use excessive amounts of cash
To buy our husbands, and what we get are masters
Of our bodies. This is the worst pain of all.
In fact, this is no small struggle, whether he’ll be
A good or bad one.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

Of all creatures that have breath and sensation, we women are the most unfortunate. First at an exorbitant price we must buy a husband and master of our bodies. [This misfortune is more painful than misfortune.] And the outcome of our life's striving hangs on this, whether we take a bad or a good husband.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]

Of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the most miserable of specimens! In the first place, at great expense we must buy a husband, taking a master to play tyrant with our bodies (this is an injustice that crowns the other one). And here lies the crucial issue for us, whether we get a good man or a bad.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

Of all the living things, of all those things that have a soul and a sense, we, yes we, the women, are the most pathetic!
Imagine!
We need to spend a fortune to buy us a man who -- what will he do? He will become the master of our bodies! And, it’s obvious, that this dangerous thing we do, becomes even more dangerous when we don’t find the right husband. Is he a good husband? Or is he a bad one? By the time you find that out it’s already too late.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

Of all creatures that have life and reason
we women are the sorriest lot:
first we must at a great expenditure of money
buy a husband and even take on a master
over our body: this evil is more galling than the first.
Here is the most challenging contest, whether we will get a bad man
or a good one.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]

Of all things with life and understanding,
we women are the most unfortunate.
First, we need a husband, someone we get
for an excessive price. He then becomes
the ruler of our bodies. And this misfortune
adds still more troubles to the grief we have.
Then comes the crucial struggle: this husband
we have selected, is he good or bad?
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

Of every creature that’s alive and capable of thought
We women are most wretched.
First we must buy a husband with a massive dowry,
then subject our bodies to his mastery --
and that's the worse of the two evils.
In this the stakes are very high -- whether we get
a bad man or a good one.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]

Of all things that have psūkhē and intelligence, we women are the most wretched creatures: first we must buy a husband at too high a price, and then acquire a master of our bodies—an evil thing [kakon] yet more evil [kakon].But in this lies the most important ordeal [agōn], whether our choice is good or bad [kakon].
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

Of all things that have life and sense, we women are most wretched. For we are compelled to buy with gold a husband who is also -- worst of all -- the master of our person. And on his character, good or bad, our whole fate rests.
[Source]