The Erinyes (/ɪˈrɪnɪˌjɪjz/; sing. Erinys /ɪˈrɪnɪs/, /ɪˈrɑjnɪs/; Greek: Ἐρινύες, pl. of Ἐρινύς, Erinys), commonly known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, are female chthonic divinities of vengeance and retribution in antiquated Greek religion and mythology. A conventional pledge within the Iliad conjures them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath". Walter Burkert proposes that they are "an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath". They are known as the Dirae in Roman mythology. The Roman essayist Maurus Servius Honoratus composed (ca. 600 Advertisement) that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on earth, and "Dirae" in heaven. Their name can be translated to English as "Avengers."
They are most well known for pursuing Orestes for the crime of matricide, even though he was avenging the death of his father Agamemnon. Orestes was later pardoned in the court of the gods. In Roman mythology, they are known as the Furies, or Dirae.
Their parentage is disputed. In some accounts their parents are Nyx and Erebus, while in others they are born from the blood of Ouranós when he was castrated by Cronus.
Agreeing to Hesiod's Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and tossed his genitalia into the ocean, the Erinyes (beside the Monsters and the Meliae) risen from the drops of blood which fell on the Soil (Gaia), whereas Aphrodite was born from the peaks of ocean foam. Concurring to variation accounts, they risen from an indeed more primordial level—from Nyx ("Night"), or from a union between air and mother Earth, whereas in Virgil's Aeneid, they are the daughters of Pluto (Hades) and Nox (Nyx). Their number is as a rule cleared out vague. Virgil, likely working from an Alexandrian source, recognized three: Alecto or Alekto ("perpetual outrage"), Megaera ("envious seethe"), and Tisiphone or Tilphousia ("wrathful annihilation"), all of whom show up within the Aeneid. Dante Alighieri taken after Virgil in delineating the same three-character triptych of Erinyes; in Canto IX of the Inferno they stand up to the artists at the entryways of the city of Dis.
In Greek mythology[]
The Erinyes reside in Erebus and are more antiquated than any of the Olympian divinities. Their assignment is to listen complaints brought by mortals against the disrespect of the youthful to the matured, of children to guardians, of has to visitors, and of householders or city chambers to suppliants—and to rebuff such violations by nagging offenders persistently. The Erinyes are hags and, depending upon creators, portrayed as having snakes for hair, dog's heads, coal dark bodies, bat's wings, and blood-shot eyes. In their hands they carry brass-studded scourges, and their casualties pass on in torment.
The Erinyes are commonly related with night and darkness. With changing accounts claiming that they are the offspring of Nyx, the goddess of night, they are too related with darkness within the works of Aeschylus and Euripides in both their physical appearance and the time of day that they are displayed at.
Description of Tishiphone in Statius Thebaid:
So prayed he, and the cruel goddess turned her grim visage to hearken. By chance she sat beside dismal Cocytus, and had loosed the snakes from her head and suffered them to lap the sulphurous waters. Straightway, faster than fire of Jove or falling stars she leapt up from the gloomy bank: the crowd of phantoms gives way before her, fearing to meet their queen; then, journeying through the shadows and the fields dark with trooping ghosts, she hastens to the gate of Taenarus, whose threshold none may cross and again return. Day felt her presence, Night interposed her pitchy cloud and startled his shining steeds; far off towering Atlas shuddered and shifted the weight of heaven upon his trembling shoulders. Forthwith rising aloft from Malea’s vale she hies her on the well-known way to Thebes: for on no errand is she swifter to go and to return, not kindred Tartarus itself pleases her so well. A hundred horned snakes erect shaded her face, the thronging terror of her awful head; deep within her sunken eyes there glows a light of iron hue, as when Atracian spells make travailing Phoebe redden through the clouds; suffused with venom, her skin distends and swells with corruption; a fiery vapour issues from her evil mouth, bringing upon mankind thirst unquenchable and sickness and famine and universal death. From her shoulders falls a stark and grisly robe, whose dark fastenings meet upon her breast: Atropos and Proserpine herself fashion her this garb anew. Then both her hands are shaken in wrath, the one gleaming with a funeral torch, the other lashing the air with a live water-snake.
In Ancient Greek literature[]
Aeschylus[]
Included in old Greek writing, from poems to plays, the Erinyes shape the Chorus and play a major part within the conclusion of Aeschylus's dramatic trilogy the Oresteia. Within the start of the play, Agamemnon, Lord Agamemnon returns domestic from the Trojan War, where he is killed by his spouse, Clytemnestra, who needs retribution for her girl Iphigenia, whom Agamemnon had yielded to obtain favorable winds to cruise to Troy. Within the second play, The Libation Bearers, their child Orestes has come to masculinity and has been commanded by Apollo's prophet to vindicate his father's death at his mother's hand. Returning home and uncovering himself to his sister Electra, Orestes imagines to be a messenger bringing the news of his claim passing to Clytemnestra. He at that point kills his mother and her significant other Aegisthus. In spite of the fact that Orestes' activities were what Apollo had commanded him to do, Orestes has still committed matricide, a grave blasphemy. Since of this, he is sought after and tormented by the awful Erinyes, who request however more blood retribution.
Within The Eumenides, Orestes is told by Apollo at Delphi that he ought to go to Athens to look for the help of the goddess Athena. In Athens, Athena organizes for Orestes to be attempted by a jury of Athenian citizens, with her managing. The Erinyes show up as Orestes' informers, whereas Apollo talks in his defense. The trial gets to be a wrangle about almost the need of blood vengeance, the honor that's due to a mother compared to that due to a father, and the regard that must be paid to antiquated gods such as the Erinyes compared to the more up to date era of Apollo and Athena. The jury vote is equitably part. Athena takes an interest within the vote and chooses for vindication. Athena announces Orestes cleared since of the rules she set up for the trial. In spite of the decision, the Erinyes debilitate to torment all tenants of Athens and to harm the encompassing farmland. Athena, in any case, offers the antiquated goddesses a unused part, as protectors of equity, instead of retaliation, and of the city. She convinces them to break the cycle of blood for blood (but within the case of war, which is battled for glory, not retribution). Whereas promising that the goddesses will get due honor from the Athenians and Athena, she moreover reminds them that she has the key to the place where Zeus keeps the thunderbolts that vanquished the other elder gods. This blend of bribes and hidden dangers fulfills the Erinyes, who are at that point driven by Athena in a parade to their modern dwelling place. Within the play, the "Furies" are from there on tended to as "Semnai" (Venerable Ones), as they will presently be honored by the citizens of Athens and guarantee the city's thriving.
Euripides[]
In Euripides' Orestes the Erinyes are for the primary time "compared" with the Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες, pl. of Εὐμενίς; truly "the benevolent ones", but moreover translated as "Kindly Ones"). This can be since it was considered rash to specify them by title (for fear of drawing in their consideration); the unexpected title is comparative to how Hades, god of the dead is styled Pluton, or Pluto, "the Wealthy One". Utilizing euphemisms for the names of divinities serves numerous devout purposes.
Sophocles[]
In Sophocles's play, Oedipus at Colonus, it is noteworthy that Oedipus comes to his last resting put within the woods committed to the Erinyes. It appears that he has paid his atonement for his blood wrongdoing, as well as come to coordinated the adjusting powers to his early over-reliance upon Apollo, the god of the person, the sun, and reason. He is inquired to create an advertising to the Erinyes and complies, having made his peace.
Notable Erinyes[]
The exact number of Erinyes is indefinite, but only three are named:
- Alecto : Her name means "Implacable One." She punishes moral crimes, such as those to anger and lust.
- Megera : Her name means "Jealous One." She punishes crimes relating to the breaking of oaths and infidelity, particularly marital infidelity.
- Tisiphone : Her name means "Avenging Murder." She punishes crimes relating to murder, particularly that of family members.
In Popular Culture[]
In Literature[]
- Alecto is featured in the information book Worlds Worst Monsters and Villains.
In Television[]
- In the Femme Fatales episode "Hell Hath No Furies", the Erinyes (Candela, Isabelle Cregar and Beverly Dietrich) were a three-woman hit squad led by a beautiful criminal kingpin named Lydia Gonzales (aka "El Jefe").
In Video Games[]
- In the game Hades, developed by Supergiant Games and released in December 6th, 2018, the three Erinyes: Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, are featured as characters.
- In the game Gods of Olympus, developed by Aegis Interactive, the three Erinyes: Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, are featured as purchasable gods in the Underworld.
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