The Eumenides (The Furies)

Does the Eumenides depict the establishment of trial by jury? Or is it an account of the origins of patriarchy?

The Eumenides portrays the trial of Orestes and is the third play in Aeychelus' famous Oresteia trilogy. According to critic Wainmu Njoya, conventional interpretations of the Eumenides emphasize the shift from blood vendetta (family members bearing responsibility for avenging crimes against their kin) to the court system of trial by jury. She states that the playwright Aeschylus lived during Athens's golden age, and he hoped to add legitimacy to the courts by attributing their origins to the end of the mythic age of heroes.

Feminist critics see the play differently. The first two plays in the trilogy, Agamemnon and The Libation show more Bearers, dramatize the system of a blood vendetta. Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon on his return from the Trojan War to avenge his sacrificial killing of their 16-year-old daughter. Likewise, tradition requires their son Orestes to avenge his father's death. However, loyalty to one's mother is also a traditional value. The god Apollo forces Orestes to choose. He kills his mother, and the Furies, the goddesses who punish breaches in domestic discord, pursue him to the temple of Athena, where The Eumides begins. It is the first drama of a trial in western history.

The goddess Athena decides that blood vendettas are not the way to arbitrate disputes and appoints the first mythical jury of Athenian men.
Since Orestes has murdered his mother to avenge his father, the trial focuses on which parent and invariably which gender is more important.
Apollo argues in defense of Orestes's actions and, in the process, spews some of the most sexist rhetoric I have I have ever come across. However, he can only convince half the jury, and Athena breaks the tie, siding with Apollo. She then disarms the Furies by forcing them to take minor roles, diminishing female powers, and the male hierarchy led by her father Zeus becomes institutionalized in Athens.

I didn't know quite what to make of the play. I was both fascinated and appalled. A new trilogy adaptation is coming from London to an off-broadway experimental theater in New York. I plan to see it and wonder how they handle the issues that make this classic so volatile. show less

There is considerably more to say about this final part of Aeschyles' Oresteia trilogy (first half of the 5th century BCE) than about the previous parts. To begin with, it was practically the spiritual testament of Aeschyles, who died a few years after the performance in 458 BCE. The play not only brings the carousel of revenge within the Atreus family (see the previous parts) to a halt, but it also contains a clear message to the Athens, and by extension Hellas, of his time.

Synopsis: Orestes, who in the previous play had killed his mother Clytemnestra and her lover, is hunted by the goddesses of vengeance, the terrible Erinyes. He ends up (not coincidentally) in the vicinity of Athens, where he hopes to be purified by the goddess show more Athena. She pushes for a formal trial, with Athenian nobles as the jury. We get a rebuttal, and through an unorthodox intervention, Orestes is acquitted. This is followed by an extensive passage in which the goddess Athena succeeds in ‘taming’ the Erinyes and transforming them into ‘benevolent’ protective gods of the city of Athens.

To begin with, a number of formal aspects. Throughout Aeschyles’ oeuvre, an evolution towards greater dynamism within the plays was noticeable, with more characters and sharper dialogue; compared to Sophocles and Euripides, this is still a fairly static and verbose piece, but there’s a marked evolution. Aeschyles’ evocation of the Erinyes is, moreover, downright chilling; I still cannot believe that J.K. Rowling denies that her Dementors were inspired by them.

In addition to the goddesses of vengeance, who belong to the older ‘tribes’ of the Greek pantheon, Aeschyles also gives the god Apollo and especially the goddess Athena a very prominent role. Moreover, he explicitly alludes to the struggle between old and new (Olympian) gods, which is ultimately settled in favor of the latter.

This aligns with a reading of this play that has been emphasized by numerous eminent thinkers: in the Eumenides (incidentally, that term is not used anywhere in the play; the title was given later), Aeschyles is said to have evoked the victory of civilization over the state of nature. This is, of course, primarily a reference to the transformation of the (primitive) goddesses of vengeance into protective goddesses. But the reference applies especially to the crucial passage in which the goddess Athena formally installs the Areopagus Court (for the trial of Orestes): “thus I appoint this Court of Justice, which, untouched by greed, honored, stern, will watch over the sleep of all as a watchpost of this land.” (v 704-706). Aeschyles viewed the establishment of that court as the quintessential step in which the transition is made from blood revenge to justice based on established principles, on the basis of which the carousel of revenge could be brought to a halt and reconciliation was possible (expressly confirmed once again by the transition from goddesses of vengeance to protective goddesses).

That immediately makes this final part of the trilogy one of the most remarkable historical documents of Antiquity. Although there is certainly something to criticize regarding the exact manner in which the trial against Orestes unfolds in this piece. More on that in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8518992317.

Disclaimer: I'm reading and reviewing all classic ancient Greek plays, more or less in chronological order. But I'm not giving a rating. How could I, given their age? I'll make an exception only when a play is exceptional and still strikes an emotional and/or intellectual chord. show less

The final installment of the trilogy has Orestes fleeing from the Furies who seek judgement against him for spilling the blood of his own kin. Orestes flees a great distance with them constantly upon him, his primary defense that Apollo bade him to seek justice for the murder of Agammemnon. The Furies finally catch Orestes at a temple of Athena, where he grasps her statue in search of aid. Athena then appears and brings the matter to question, allowing testimony from Apollo, Orestes, and the Ghost of Clytemenstra. The judges decide in favor of Orestes, for which the Furies threaten wrath upon Athens. Athena instead offers them a temple there where the Athenian people will pay them proper respect. We have here another great tragedy - show more perhaps the best at demonstrating the attitudes of the Greek culture toward religion and justice, as well as the relationship between the major deities. The poetry itself is truly gruesome in some places ("Deep draughts of jellied blood will I sip and sup, Though bitter be the wine. And then when I've sucked thy lifeblood dry, I'll drag thee down below.") I kept a copy of this whole play. It's wonderful. show less

درباره‌ی آیسخولوس تو دو نمایشنامه‌ی قبلی سه گانه‌ی اورستیا صحبت کردم. این نمایشنامه که عبدالله کوثری به اسم «الاهگان انتقام» ترجمه‌ش کرده، فکر کنم قدیمی‌ترین نسخه‌ی موجود یه درام دادگاهیه... اگه قدیمی‌تر از این داشته باشیم من تا حالا باهاش برخورد نداشتم. اما چیزی که من رو گیج کرد اینه که این نمایشنامه با پایان خوش و شیرینش آیا تو دسته‌ی تراژدی قرار می‌گیره؟

Although I own this Kindle edition, I actually read a different translation which I can't find here on GoodReads by George Thomson. The Thomson translation was the best of the three Aeschylus plays I have read, and was contained in the anthology Greek Plays in Modern Translation (modern to the editor in 1947 when this book was published).

I found this final play of the Orestiea to be an interesting commentary on the need for old ways to surrender to new ones - this was timely in Aeschylus' day and is still valid. Strangely enough, I recently finished a sci fi novella with this same theme. Truly one of universal application!

Although I own this Kindle edition, I actually read a different translation which I can't find here on GoodReads by George Thomson. The Thomson translation was the best of the three Aeschylus plays I have read, and was contained in the anthology [b:Greek Plays in Modern Translation|977367|Greek Plays in Modern Translation|Dudley Fitts|/assets/nocover/60x80.png|962263] (modern to the editor in 1947 when this book was published).

I found this final play of the Orestiea to be an interesting commentary on the need for old ways to surrender to new ones - this was timely in Aeschylus' day and is still valid. Strangely enough, I recently finished a sci fi novella with this same theme. Truly one of universal application!

favourite of the trilogy. foundation myth for athenian homicide court