{"id":4766,"date":"2026-04-21T09:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/erinyes\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:29:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:29:02","slug":"erinyes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/erinyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Erinyes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"4766\" class=\"elementor elementor-4766 elementor-842\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Erinyes, Spirit of the Greek Tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Erinyes are a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which an effect upon the world is ascribed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> of the Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p><strong>The avengers, the pursuers of blood-guilt in the Greek world.<\/strong><\/p><h2 id=\"dif-erinyen\">The Erinyes as pursuers of a mother&#8217;s blood<\/h2><p>The Erinyes (Lat. <em>Furiae<\/em>, Ger. \u201eRacheg\u00f6ttinnen\u201c, goddesses of vengeance) are personified in Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of a culture's transmitted tales of the gods.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span> as three sisters, <strong>Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone<\/strong>. They arise from the blood that dripped onto Gaia when the castrated Uranus fell (Hesiod, Theogony 183).<\/p><p>Their sphere of action is chiefly the pursuit of <strong>crimes against a mother&#8217;s blood<\/strong>, matricide, the murder of kin, and broken oaths sworn to parents.<\/p><p>Their paradigmatic scene is the <strong>pursuit of Orestes<\/strong> after the murder of Clytemnestra (Aeschylus, Eumenides). On Athena&#8217;s initiative the court of the Areopagus convenes, acquits Orestes, and integrates the Erinyes as the <strong>Eumenides<\/strong> (\u201ethe Kindly Ones\u201c) into the civic cult of Athens.<\/p><p><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">Iconography<\/span>: black garments, snake hair, whip-like scourges, torches. In Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> they merged with the Furiae or Dirae and had their own <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A structure that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> precinct on the Caelian Hill.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Spirit: an incorporeal or semi-corporeal entity, the deceased, nature beings, household spirits or guardians of thresholds. Active in everyday life, often bound to places or families.\">Spirit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/greece\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"The religion and mythology of ancient Greece from the Mycenaean period to late antiquity.\">Greece<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/vengeful-spirits\/\" class=\"iwg-tradition-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Spirits that exact retribution, pursuers of broken oaths, murder or blood-guilt.\">Avenging spirit<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_griechenland_erinyen-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4767\" alt=\"Erinyes - spirits from the Greek tradition, historical and illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_griechenland_erinyen-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_griechenland_erinyen-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_griechenland_erinyen-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/geister_griechenland_erinyen.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Erinyes<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11758e7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"11758e7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Erinyes are among the most archaic figures of Greek demonology. Three sisters, Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone, born from the blood of the castrated Uranus, they pursue blood-guilt, perjury and offences against family <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The lived religious attitude and practice of a person.\" tabindex=\"0\">piety<\/span>. Where they strike, they drive the offender into madness until he is judged or <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to a fixed religious sequence of actions.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritually<\/span> purified.<\/p><p>Their most prominent literary portrayal is found in Aeschylus&#8217; Oresteia, where they pursue Orestes after the matricide all the way to Athens. There, through a divine verdict and cultic redefinition, they become the Eumenides, the \u201eKindly Ones\u201c, one of the most classic transformations in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of a culture's transmitted tales of the gods.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>.<\/p><div><p><strong>The Erinyes in Aeschylus&#8217; Oresteia<\/strong><\/p><p>Aeschylus&#8217; tragedy <em>The Eumenides<\/em> (458 BC) shows the Erinyes in their best-known dramatic form: as terrible female figures with snakes for hair, burning eyes and moist blood on their cheeks.<\/p><p>They pursue Orestes, who has killed his mother Clytemnestra, relentlessly across lands and seas. Aeschylus portrays them not as mere instruments of criminal law but as archaic deities with their own dignity and logic.<\/p><p>In the play they are finally appeased by Athena&#8217;s arbitration and integrated into the civic order of Athens; they become the <em>Eumenides<\/em>, the Kindly Ones. This transformation marks the shift from raw, unordered blood vengeance to institutionalised justice. The Erinyes represent the older, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the earth or the underworld; in ancient religion the gods and spirits of the depths (Hades, the Erinyes, Demeter chthonia).\" tabindex=\"0\">chthonic<\/span> legal order, which is replaced by rational and democratic structures.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Brief profile: the Erinyes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> avenging demonesses, guardians of the order of blood<br>Origin: the blood of the castrated Uranus (Hesiod)<br>Names: Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone<br>Texts: Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Euripides, Virgil<br>Period: from the Archaic period to <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span><br>Warding off \/ reconciliation: rites of purification, Aeschylus&#8217; transformation into the Eumenides, cult in Athens<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Historical context<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the texts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The earliest traces appear in Homer (Iliad, Odyssey) as avengers of perjury and blood-guilt. Hesiod provides the genealogy. Aeschylus&#8217; Oresteia (458 BC) draws the classic figure. Euripides and Roman authors (Virgil, Seneca) carry the image forward.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of distribution<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Greek cultural sphere. As the Eumenides they have an important <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> in Athens at the Areopagus and another at Sicyon. Roman reception adopts them as the Dirae and Furiae into the Latin repertoire.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">State of the sources<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The principal literary source is the Oresteia. Alongside it stand vase painting (Erinyes with snake hair and torches), inscriptions from the Eumenides <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>, and rhetorical and philosophical references in Plato and later writers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and variants<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Greek:<\/strong> <em>\u1f18\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u03cd\u03b5\u03c2<\/em> (Erinyes).<br>Euphemistically: <em>\u0395\u1f50\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03af\u03b4\u03b5\u03c2<\/em> (Eumenides, \u201ethe Kindly Ones\u201c), <em>\u03a3\u03b5\u03bc\u03bd\u03b1\u03af<\/em> (Semnai, \u201ethe Venerable Ones\u201c).<br>Individual names: Alecto (the never-resting), Megaera (the envious), Tisiphone (the avenger of murder).<\/p><p>The euphemism is characteristic: their power is so great that one does not wish to call them by their direct name. Their transformation into the Eumenides in Aeschylus&#8217; drama is at the same time the founding of a cult, for they are not destroyed but <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to a fixed religious sequence of actions.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritually<\/span> integrated into the order of the polis.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Description<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Appearance<\/strong><\/p><p>Winged women with snake hair, torches and whips; dark garments, blood-dripping eyes. In <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The era of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BCE to 600 CE.\" tabindex=\"0\">classical<\/span> vase painting they are shown frontally, repellent yet with formal dignity. Not pretty creatures of the night like Empusa, the Erinyes are openly terrifying.<\/p><p><strong>Behaviour<\/strong><\/p><p>They pursue the offender systematically, often over years. They drive him into madness, deprive him of sleep, and lead him into isolation. Their power does not end with death: they also pursue souls into the underworld until satisfaction is achieved.<\/p><p><strong>Sphere of action<\/strong><\/p><p>Blood-guilt (especially within the family), perjury, offences against parental authority, the law of hospitality, and supplication for protection. Their field is the unforgivable moral transgression.<\/p><p><strong>Mythological origin<\/strong><\/p><p>From the blood of the castrated Uranus (Hesiod, Theogony), making them older than the Olympian gods. They represent a pre-Olympian, chthonic order of justice that sets limits even for the gods.<\/p><div><p><strong>The Erinyes and Furies in ancient tradition<\/strong><\/p><p>Hesiod&#8217;s <em>Theogony<\/em> first mentions the Erinyes only in passing as daughters of Night or, in other versions, as the fruit of the blood of the fallen Uranus.<\/p><p>Homer names them in the <em>Iliad<\/em> 9.571 as invisible punishers who follow hard upon the heels of a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A verbal formula intended to bring harm upon a person or thing.\" tabindex=\"0\">curse<\/span> and perjury. The Romans adopted them as the <em>Dirae<\/em> (the Dreadful Ones) and stressed even more their connection to madness and bodily decay.<\/p><p>In the <em>Aeneid<\/em>, Virgil charges the Furies with mystical darkness: they guard the gates of the underworld and embody the very logic of vengeance in the cosmos.<\/p><p>In Hellenistic mystery cults and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of things through special actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magical<\/span> papyri they are <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invoked<\/span> as a force to strengthen <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Verbal formula by which harm is to be inflicted on a person or thing.\" tabindex=\"0\">curses<\/span> or to help avenge a broken oath. Their use in magical texts presupposes that the one cursing is in the right, otherwise the Erinyes turn against the curser himself.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: the Erinyes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important aspects of the Erinyes at a glance. You will find the detailed treatment of name, description, warding off and parallels in chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Cultural context<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>From the blood of the castrated Uranus. Pre-Olympian, older than the Olympians, they stand for an archaic order of justice.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Whom the Erinyes target<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Those guilty of blood-guilt (especially within the family), perjury, offences against the law of hospitality, and disregard for parental authority.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Appearance<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Winged, snake hair, torches, whips, dark garment, bloody eyes. In the classical pictorial programme shown frontally, dignified yet terrifying.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Activity<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Madness, sleeplessness, isolation, pursuit into the underworld. They bring not death but an unbearable continued existence until atonement.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Protection<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Not warding off but reconciliation: rites of purification (katharmos), public trial (the Areopagus), and containment as the Eumenides <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>. The polis binds their power through <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> rather than by combating it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Related beings<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Dirae\/Furies (Rome), Gallu (Mesopotamia), Tzitzimime, Grim Reaper motifs; functionally also the Valkyries as executors on the battlefield.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Demonology in everyday life<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rites of reconciliation<\/strong><\/p><p>A <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A fixed, recurring religious act.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> of purification after the shedding of blood (<em>katharmos<\/em>), usually through a pig <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express thanks, request, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifice<\/span> and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> acts at a river or the sea. Whoever has been purified may enter the polis again.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">Cult<\/span> and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A verbal ritual intended to summon or bind a power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p>In Athens at the Areopagus (the Hill of Ares) there was a Eumenides <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> that venerated the transformed Erinyes. Their power was cultically bound and at the same time acknowledged. In binding spells they are invoked as impersonal avengers.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and protective symbols<\/strong><\/p><p>No <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaic<\/span> everyday amulets. Whoever wants to avoid the Erinyes must avoid blood-guilt. Their power cannot be limited by objects, only through ritual action and a court verdict.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Erinyes, parallels in other cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rome:<\/strong> the Dirae and Furiae are the direct Roman counterparts, prominent in Virgil&#8217;s Aeneid and Seneca&#8217;s tragedies. The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring element of content in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> remains structurally identical.<\/p><p><strong>Mesopotamia:<\/strong> the Gallu of the underworld likewise enforce the cosmic order, though as messengers of death rather than as avengers of a moral transgression.<\/p><p><strong>Modern reception:<\/strong> Freud&#8217;s superego takes up the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring element of content in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> of the pursuing inner voice. Literature and film return again and again to the Erinyes as a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A vivid image standing for an abstract idea.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of inescapable guilt.<\/p><div><p>The Erinyes as a cosmic force of vengeance and as mediators of atonement<\/p><p>The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to AD 600.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> understanding of the Erinyes was less personalised than functional: they embody not arbitrary cruelty but the unavoidable consequence of injustice and blood-guilt. They are, as it were, the bookkeepers of cosmic guilt, whom the universe itself follows.<\/p><p>Especially in Athenian law after Aeschylus they become symbols of restorative justice: no misdeed remains unatoned, yet no offender is without the possibility of rescue if he seeks and finds atonement.<\/p><p>This distinguished the Greek notion of the avenging <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> from the pure retributive wrath of other cultures. The Erinyes demand reparation, not eternal damnation. In mystery cults such as Eleusis they played a role in the rite of purification: they were witnesses of oaths and taboos against murder, whose violation entailed ritual defilement.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf03202d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpf03202d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf59c0c8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpf59c0c8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Erinyes in the Oresteia of Aeschylus<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp9db56f4 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp9db56f4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe38e471 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpe38e471\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most impressive and most consequential portrayal of the Erinyes in ancient literature is the <em>Oresteia<\/em> of Aeschylus, a trilogy performed in Athens in 458 BC. In it the Erinyes are not merely powers that are mentioned but appear in person on stage as a chorus, above all in the third play, the <em>Eumenides<\/em>.<\/p><p>The plot leads from Clytemnestra&#8217;s murder of her husband Agamemnon, through the vengeance of their son Orestes, who kills his mother, to the consequences of this act of blood.<\/p><p>Because Orestes has slain his own mother, that is, because the blood of kin has been shed, the Erinyes pursue him. They are the avengers of a mother&#8217;s blood; they pursue Orestes from Argos to Delphi and on to Athens; they drive him into madness and leave him no rest.<\/p><p>Aeschylus depicts them as terrifying figures. Within the play it is reported that the mere sight of them threw the priestess of Delphi to the ground.<\/p><p>They sleep, they snort, they scent blood like hounds. Their claim is old, older than the younger Olympian gods, and they insist that their right, the right of blood vengeance, must not be touched.<\/p><p>The heart of the trilogy is the conflict between this old right and a new order. Apollo and Athena stand on the side of Orestes, the Erinyes on the side of unconditional atonement. The <em>Oresteia<\/em> is thus the central <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to AD 600.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> testimony to how the Erinyes were understood as the embodiment of a pre-state, automatic retribution.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp6f04794 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp6f04794\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp09010be elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp09010be\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">From curse to blessing: the transformation into the Eumenides<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp089b896 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp089b896\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpc197b86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpc197b86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The decisive event at the end of the <em>Oresteia<\/em> is the transformation of the Erinyes into the Eumenides, the Kindly Ones. It is of great significance for the history of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religion<\/span>, because it shows how a culture does not abolish a threatening power but binds it into its own order.<\/p><p>In the <em>Eumenides<\/em> the case of Orestes is tried before a court on the Areopagus in Athens, which the goddess Athena establishes.<\/p><p>Citizens of Athens vote as jurors, the votes are tied, and Athena casts the deciding vote for the acquittal of Orestes. With this, for the first time, an ordered court has taken the place of endless blood vengeance.<\/p><p>The Erinyes are at first embittered by this verdict. They see their ancient office devalued and threaten to punish the land with infertility and plague. Athena negotiates with them.<\/p><p>She offers them a fixed place of cult in Athens, lasting honour from the citizens, and a new, beneficial task: they are to watch over fertility, the happiness of marriage and the flourishing of the city, and still to punish the wrongdoer, but now within the order of the state.<\/p><p>The Erinyes accept the offer and at the end of the trilogy proceed in a solemn <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A solemn religious procession.\" tabindex=\"0\">procession<\/span> to their <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span>. From the pursuing <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirits<\/span> of vengeance the Eumenides have arisen, who indeed received a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> in Athens and elsewhere.<\/p><p>The tragedy thus interprets a real <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> and at the same time supplies a meaning: the old power of retribution is preserved but made to serve the polis. The double name of these beings, Erinyes and Eumenides, holds these two sides together permanently.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp91c4cbf e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp91c4cbf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp631815e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp631815e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Origin, number and names of the Erinyes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpb1f28f8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpb1f28f8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2460745 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp2460745\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>On the descent of the Erinyes the ancient sources give several differing accounts. The most influential version is found in Hesiod&#8217;s <em>Theogony<\/em>.<\/p><p>There the Erinyes arise from the blood of Uranus: when Cronus unmans his father Uranus and the drops fall onto the earth, Gaia, the earth gives birth to the Erinyes, together with the Giants and the nymphs.<\/p><p>This origin binds the Erinyes from the very beginning to a crime against kin, to the son&#8217;s revolt against the father.<\/p><p>Other traditions name Night, Nyx, as their mother, which places the Erinyes near the other dark powers, or they trace them back to the goddesses of the underworld. This variety is typical of Greek genealogies and shows that the Erinyes could be assigned to different strands of interpretation.<\/p><p>The number of the Erinyes was also not originally fixed. In the oldest texts, for instance in Homer and in Aeschylus, they appear as an indefinite plurality, as a host.<\/p><p>Only the later tradition, above all the Hellenistic and Roman, set their number at three and gave them names: Alecto, the unceasing one, Tisiphone, the avenger of murder, and Megaera, the envious or resentful one. In this threefold, named form they then appear in Roman poets such as Virgil.<\/p><p>There was also a widespread reluctance to call the Erinyes directly by name. People referred to them with veiling, appeasing names, namely as the Eumenides, the Kindly Ones, or as the Semnai Theai, the Venerable Goddesses, under which name they received a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> at the Areopagus in Athens.<\/p><p>This linguistic caution is itself a testimony to the fear that these beings inspired.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further links<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6538df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6538df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Recommended internal links:<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/greece\/\">Greece<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/keres\/\">Keres<\/a> (close relatives)<\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/dirae\/\">Dirae<\/a> (Roman parallel, detail page to follow)<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/gallu\/\">Gallu<\/a> (Mesopotamian parallel)<\/li><li>Rites of purification and the Areopagus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The entirety of religious acts of veneration directed at a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<footer class=\"iwg-literatur\"><p>A selection of central works on the Erinyes and on the Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The scholarly study of God and of the belief of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> of vengeance:<\/p><ul><li><span data-nosnippet>Zeitlin, Froma I.: <em>Playing the Other. Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature<\/em>. Chicago 1996.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Parker, Robert: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/greekreligion0000burk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miasma. Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion<\/a><\/em>. Oxford 1983.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Sommerstein, Alan: <em>Aeschylus: Eumenides<\/em>. Cambridge 1989 (commentary).<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Lloyd-Jones, Hugh: <em>The Justice of Zeus<\/em>. Berkeley 1971.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div data-nosnippet=\"true\" class=\"iwg-litliste\"><p><strong>Standard literature (Greece):<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><span data-nosnippet><strong>Bremmer, Jan N.<\/strong>: <em>Greek Religion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999.<\/em><\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet><strong>Bonnefoy, Yves<\/strong>: <em>Greek and Egyptian Mythologies. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1992.<\/em><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/footer>\n<p class=\"iwg-bib-more\"><span data-nosnippet>Further standard works in the <a href=\"\/en\/literature\/\">literature index<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-erinyen-sec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgca-erinyen-sec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-ca-erinyen\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-erinyen-te iwg-ca-textwrap elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgca-erinyen-te\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p class=\"iwg-ca-bridge\">The protective practice described here is a religious-studies classification of historical traditions. iWell Guard ties in with this cultural-historical line of wearable protective objects and represents a contemporary form of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&#038;utm_medium=text-link&#038;utm_campaign=schadwesen-tradition\">More about the iWell Guard \u2192<\/a><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Erinyes, Spirit of the Greek Tradition The Erinyes are a spirit of the Greek tradition. The avengers, the pursuers of blood-guilt in the Greek world. The Erinyes as pursuers of a mother&#8217;s blood The Erinyes (Lat. Furiae, Ger. \u201eRacheg\u00f6ttinnen\u201c, goddesses of vengeance) are personified in Greek mythology as three sisters, Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone. They [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4767,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Erinyes goddesses of vengeance","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Erinyes: Spirit of the Greek Tradition","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The Erinyes, the avengers of Greek mythology. Pursuers of blood-guilt, their link to Aeschylus' Oresteia and their transformation into the Eumenides.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,88,93],"class_list":["post-4766","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultures","category-greece","category-spirits"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Erinyes: Spirit of the Greek Tradition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Erinyes, the avengers of Greek mythology. 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