ÿþ h2 {color: red; text-align: center} img.photo { float: left; margin-right: 20px;} Furies, Goddesses of Vengence RWAAG Home, Furies--> The Furies, Goddesses of Vengance Advertisement: Buying links: Art Supplies and Original Art -- Audio Books -- eBooks(books in digital form) -- Traditional Books -- Business to Business -- Collectibles -- College and Education -- Computer HW(Hardware) -- Computer SW(Software) -- Construction and Built-in Decoration of Homes -- Consumer Electronics -- Cosmetics and Fragrances -- Costumes and Party Goods -- Events -- Furniture and Removable Decoration of Homes -- Games -- Flowers and Garden -- Gifts -- Groceries, Gourmet Food, and Wine -- Hair Care -- Handbags and Luggage -- Health Food -- Hotels and Travel -- Jewelry -- Kitchen and Dining -- Malls and Virtual Malls -- Men's -- Movies/DVD's -- Music -- Outdoors -- Parts and Accessories(Auto) -- Photo -- Posters, Prints and Painting Reproductions -- Shoes -- Teens -- Toys -- Women's Advertisement end The Furies, Goddesses of Vengence The Furies are three terrible ancient Greek goddesses with wings and serpentine hair who pursue and punish people who have done evil and not been punished. In Greek they are called '•Á¹½ÅÂ, •Á¹½ÅµÂ'. The Eumenides is a euphemism for them. The word 'Eumenides' means 'kindly, well disposed and is from Indo European 'eu-2', 'lacking' and 'men-1', 'To think'. The word 'Erinys' does not seem to have an Indo-European derivation. Eumenides may be a Mycenaean name for Minoan goddesses. The Furies were just the opposite of rebellious women. They fought for law and order and punished criminals. They hounded many criminals to their death. Sometimes they are referred to as the Nameless goddesses. The Erinyes, or Furies, were horrible according to Orestes. He said they were all black with long hair like snakes and eyes dripping of blood. Since the Furies are women the religious ceremonies for them must be performed by women. Pausanius (1.28.1) says that the Athenians had a temple to the goddesses which they called August or Venerable but Hesiod calls the Erinyes or Furies. He says it was Aeschylus who first represented them with snakes in their hair. He also refers to them as underworld deities. Pausanias says (8.34.1) "XXXIV. As you go from Megalopolis to Messene, after advancing about seven stades, there stands on the left of the highway a sanctuary of goddesses. They call the goddesses themselves, as well as the district around the sanctuary, Maniae (Madnesses). In my view this is a surname of the Eumenides; in fact they say that it was here that madness overtook Orestes as punishment for shedding his mother's blood. [2] Not far from the sanctuary is a mound of earth, of no great size, surmounted by a finger made of stone; the name, indeed, of the mound is the Tomb of the Finger. Here, it is said, Orestes on losing his wits bit off one finger of one of his hands. Adjoining this place is another, called Ace (Remedies) because in it Orestes was cured of his malady. Here too there is a sanctuary for the Eumenides. [3] The story is that, when these goddesses were about to put Orestes out of his mind, they appeared to him black; but when he had bitten off his finger they seemed to him again to be white and he recovered his senses at the sight. So he offered a sin-offering to the black goddesses to avert their wrath, while to the white deities he sacrificed a thank-offering. It is customary to sacrifice to the Graces also along with the Eumenides." Hesiod says: "(ll. 802-804) Avoid fifth days: they are unkindly and terrible. On a fifth day, they say, the Erinyes assisted at the birth of Horcus (Oath) whom Eris (Strife) bare to trouble the forsworn." Hesiod says: "(ll. 176-206) And Heaven came, bringing on night and longing for love, and he lay about Earth spreading himself full upon her (7). Then the son from his ambush stretched forth his left hand and in his right took the great long sickle with jagged teeth, and swiftly lopped off his own father's members and cast them away to fall behind him. And not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armor, holding long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae (8) all over the boundless earth." Homer says: (Odyssey, Book XX) "It should be even as when the storm winds bare away the daughters of Pandareus. Their father and their mother the gods had slain, and the maidens were left orphans in the halls, and fair Aphrodite cherished them with curds and sweet honey and delicious wine. And Here gave them beauty and wisdom beyond the lot of women, and holy Artemis dowered them with stature, and Athene taught them skill in all famous handiwork. Now while fair Aphrodite was wending to high Olympus, to pray that a glad marriage might be accomplished for the maidens,--and to Zeus she went whose joy is in the thunder, for he knows all things well, what the fates give and deny to mortal men--in the meanwhile the spirits of the storm snatched away these maidens, and gave them to be handmaids to the hateful Erinyes." Homer says: (Iliad, Book IX) "But my father soon came to know, and cursed me bitterly, calling the dread Erinyes to witness." Homer says: (Iliad, Book XV) "Sensible people are open to argument, and you know that the Erinyes always range themselves on the side of the older person." Homer says: (Iliad, Book XIX) "I call also Earth and Sun and the Erinyes who dwell below and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely,..." Homer says (Iliad Book XIX) "that Achilles' horse responds to his taunt "When he had thus said the Erinyes stayed his speech,..." Pictures of Furies: Adolphe William Bouguereau (French 1825-1905) Franz von Stuck (German, 1863-1928) Furies Orestes and furies Boris Vallejo Orestes judged by Athena Furies and Orestes The Furies Apollo purifies Orestes with blood of a pig at Omphalos of Delphi while Clytemnestra seeks to awaken sleeping furies The Oresteia Two of the Furies. Costumes by Ricola Wille Gustave Klimt Resources: Aeschylus, Eumenides, trans. Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D., Ed. Furies, in the Perseus Encyclopedia. To ask a question about this topic note the topic (Furies) and Click here Questions and Answers Question: names of furies? Answer: Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto Question: mother of the furies ? Answer: The myths have assigned several possible mothers to the Furies including Gaea, Euonyme, Nyx, and Persephone. Question: what is the story all about Answer: The ancient Greeks went beyond divine retribution in Hell and included punishment of souls while they were still alive. Question: Is the death of Agamennon an act of the Furies? Answer: No. Agamemnon was not pursued by the guilt and torture that the Furies used. The deaths that the Furies caused were self-inflicted. Question: how many Answer: 3 Question: Who is the Pholosifer of the Greek play, The Furies? Answer: The Furies ("Eumenidae") by Aeschylus. Question: What did the furies wear? Answer: Any of the goddesses can wear anything or nothing depending upon their task and mood. There is no stigma against a goddess going nude even in a situation that a human would be humiliated. In the case of a goddess nudity symbolizes purity. For this reason goddesses are often portrayed nude. But the ancient Greeks usually portrayed them in the garments of their civilization, the peplos or chiton. But most of the myths portray them during Mycenaean times. During that time there are more likely to have appeared in Minoan garb. This would have included a fancy flounced skirt, girdle, and vest that revealed the breasts. Question: were the furies good? Answer: The furies were just. It is an oversimplification to call them good, but justice is thought to be good for society. Question: What story do the Furies come from and where can I buy it? Answer: The Orestia contains a lot about the Furies. Question: what is justice in the trilogy Answer: You should specify which Trilogy but the Greek concept of justice is so general that it will apply to all the trilogies. Within Divine law there is Natural law and Moral law. Natural laws involve natural events with natural consequences. Examples include heavy things fall toward the center of the earth; fire will burn you; and water will put out a fire. There is nothing to enforce here because the consequence always follows the event. There are other laws that are less certain: grease your wheels or they will fail; do not beat your wife; to avoid sickness dress warmly. Perhaps the gods decide whether to punish if you break on of these laws. Then there are other laws with uncertain consequences: bury the dead; be kind to strangers; Say a prayer to Demeter before you plant your grain. If the gods don't enforce these laws, who will? Natural laws have natural consequences while Moral laws are enforced by divine judgment. The Greeks felt that once a divine moral law is identified its enforcement is pleasing to the divinities to enforce it. Human law involves the identification of laws pleasing to the divinities as well as a system of enforcement. Justice for a divinity is fairly easy. A divinity is all-knowing and infallible. It is simply a matter of comparing acts with laws and logically determining consequences. Justice for humans is much more difficult. Deities cannot communicate with humans directly or the humans would become all-knowing like the gods. Rather deities must speak in an encrypted way that must be decoded, often by special priests. This rule applies not only to laws, but also to prophesy. Humans must struggle to know the law, know the facts of an event, and to know what consequences to enable to redress a wrong. Question: who is the Furies father Answer: Possibly Uranus, Cronus, or Hades depending on which myth was consulted. Question: What are The Furies' symbols? Answer: Blood and snakes (blood-shot eyes and snakes in the hair) Question: What is the erynies or furies (tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto) family background....physical description of the family....symbol or representation and summary of related myth...my other questions are the strengths ang weaknesses of the furies or erynies, human characteristics, interesting facts. is tisiphone (Furies) a guy or not? Answer: As with other monsters the Furies are female although their nature is not clear. They are described as disgusting, loathsome creatures, dripping with blood and crawling around on all fours to scent their prey. They also drink blood. Their purpose seems to be to punish those who swear falsely or to punish those who violate family rights. This punishment takes the form of a pursuit rather than any act. They are said to be the daughters of Nyx. The furies are goddesses and so they should not be said to have strengths and weaknesses. Each has a realm. About this see: http://www.fjkluth.com/power.html Advertisement: Buying links: Art Supplies and Original Art -- Audio Books -- eBooks(books in digital form) -- Traditional Books -- Business to Business -- Collectibles -- College and Education -- Computer HW(Hardware) -- Computer SW(Software) -- Construction and Built-in Decoration of Homes -- Consumer Electronics -- Cosmetics and Fragrances -- Costumes and Party Goods -- Events -- Furniture and Removable Decoration of Homes -- Games -- Flowers and Garden -- Gifts -- Groceries, Gourmet Food, and Wine -- Hair Care -- Handbags and Luggage -- Health Food -- Hotels and Travel -- Jewelry -- Kitchen and Dining -- Malls and Virtual Malls -- Men's -- Movies/DVD's -- Music -- Outdoors -- Parts and Accessories(Auto) -- Photo -- Posters, Prints and Painting Reproductions -- Shoes -- Teens -- Toys -- Women's RWAAG Home, Furies--> updz20090921