Editing Erinyes (section)

===Aeschylus===
Featured in ancient Greek literature, from poems to plays, the Erinyes form the Chorus and play a major role in the conclusion of [[Aeschylus]]'s dramatic trilogy the ''[[Oresteia]]''. In the first play, ''[[Oresteia#Agamemnon|Agamemnon]]'', King [[Agamemnon]] returns home from the [[Trojan War]], where he is slain by his wife, [[Clytemnestra]], who wants vengeance for her daughter [[Iphigenia]], whom Agamemnon had sacrificed to obtain favorable winds to sail to Troy. In the second play, ''[[Oresteia#The Libation Bearers|The Libation Bearers]]'', their son [[Orestes]] has reached manhood and has been commanded by [[Apollo]]'s oracle to avenge his father's murder at his mother's hand. Returning home and revealing himself to his sister [[Electra]], Orestes pretends to be a messenger bringing the news of his own death to Clytemnestra. He then slays his mother and her lover [[Aegisthus]]. Although Orestes' actions were what Apollo had commanded him to do, Orestes has still committed matricide, a grave sacrilege.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Trousdell|first1=Richard|title=Tragedy and Transformation: The Oresteia of Aeschylus|journal=Jung Journal|volume=2|issue=3|pages=5–38|jstor=10.1525/jung.2008.2.3.5|doi=10.1525/jung.2008.2.3.5|year=2008|s2cid=170372385}}</ref> Because of this, he is pursued and tormented by the terrible Erinyes, who demand yet further blood vengeance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Henrichs|first1=Albert|title=Anonymity and Polarity: Unknown Gods and Nameless Altars at the Areopagos|journal=Illinois Classical Studies|volume=19|pages=27–58|jstor=23065418|year=1994}}</ref>

[[File:Deux furies.png|thumb|left|upright|Two Furies, from a nineteenth-century book reproducing an image from an ancient vase.]]

In ''[[Oresteia#The Eumenides|The Eumenides]]'', Orestes is told by Apollo at [[Delphi]] that he should go to [[Athens]] to seek the aid of the goddess [[Athena]]. In Athens, Athena arranges for Orestes to be tried by a jury of Athenian citizens, with her presiding. The Erinyes appear as Orestes' accusers, while Apollo speaks in his defense. The trial becomes a debate about the necessity of blood vengeance, the honor that is due to a mother compared to that due to a father, and the respect that must be paid to ancient deities such as the Erinyes compared to the newer generation of Apollo and Athena. The jury vote is evenly split. Athena participates in the vote and chooses for acquittal. Athena declares Orestes acquitted because of the rules she established for the trial.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hester|first1=D. A.|title=The Casting Vote|journal=The American Journal of Philology|volume=102|issue=3|pages=265–274|jstor=294130|year=1981|doi=10.2307/294130}}</ref> Despite the verdict, the Erinyes threaten to torment all inhabitants of Athens and to poison the surrounding countryside. Athena, however, offers the ancient goddesses a new role, as protectors of justice, rather than vengeance, and of the city. She persuades them to break the cycle of blood for blood (except in the case of war, which is fought for glory, not vengeance). While promising that the goddesses will receive due honor from the Athenians and Athena, she also reminds them that she possesses the key to the storehouse where [[Zeus]] keeps the thunderbolts that defeated the other older deities. This mixture of bribes and veiled threats satisfies the Erinyes, who are then led by Athena in a procession to their new abode. In the play, the "Furies" are thereafter addressed as "Semnai" (Venerable Ones), as they will now be honored by the citizens of Athens and ensure the city's prosperity.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite journal|last1=Mace|first1=Sarah|title=Why the Oresteia's Sleeping Dead Won't Lie, Part II: "Choephoroi" and "Eumenides"|journal=The Classical Journal|volume=100|issue=1|pages=39–60|jstor=4133005|year=2004}}</ref>