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The meaning of this was disputed among ancient critics: some thought it meant ‘by the hair, by the roots’, others connected it with νεανικῶς or κουρικῶς, “like a young man, i.e. vigorously”. Here, while the word plainly alludes to the fact that Medea is tearing out her own hair as part of her personal grief, the use of κούρη (20) may be an indirect allusion to the other interpretation. This constant reference to contemporary scholarly discussion, even at a moment of high drama, is a pervasive feature of A.’s writing. There also early evidence from Geometric art: the Dipylon krater (c. 750–35 B.C., Accession number: 14.130.14, Metropolitan Museum, New York) shows women (left side of illustration) tearing out their hair in grief. βρυχήσατ(ο): also marks the strength of Medea’s emotion. It is used to liken Ajax to a bull at Soph. Aj. 322 ὑπεστέναζε ταῦρος ὣς βρυχώμενος, ‘he was groaning like a bellowing bull’, and in the Iliad mostly of the death-cry of wounded men (13.392–3 κεῖτο τανυσθεὶς / βεβρυχώς, ‘he lay stretched out, bellowing like a bull’). However, Deianeira, the wronged wife of Heracles, about to commit suicide and in the same frame of mind as Medea is described thus at Soph. Tr. 904 βρυχᾶτο μὲν βωμοῖσι προσπίπτουσ’, ‘falling near the altar, she bellowed aloud’. Sophocles’ audience must have been shocked to hear the word used of a woman and possibly A. has this moment in mind..