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The Eumenides
After murdering
his mother, Clytaemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, Orestes flees Argos
and goes to Delphi. There, he seeks protection at the Temple of Apollo
because the avenging Furies are tormenting him, infuriated that
Clytaemnestra has been slain. Orestes doesn't think that he deserves any
punishment for his actions, since he was merely avenging the death of
his father Agamemnon, whom Clytaemnestra slew in the bathtub after the
Trojan War. In Delphi, Apollo puts the Furies to sleep and instructs
Orestes to journey now to Athens, where Athena will offer him greater
assistance. He even sends Hermes along to assure that Orestes arrives
there safely. After Orestes' departure, Clytaemnestra's ghost appears,
demanding revenge for what Orestes has done to her. Frantic, the
monstrous creatures awaken and dash away to
Athens, joined by Apollo, who still insists that
the Furies must leave this man alone.
Athena, the Greek
goddess of wisdom, goes to her temple high up on the Acropolis hill in Athens where Orestes has
begged for her to help him. She listens to Orestes' appeal for help but
also admits that the Furies have a strong case as well, accusing Orestes
of murdering his own mother, a blood relative. Athena declares that she
will establish a courtroom there on the Acropolis to decide if Orestes
shall be convicted or not, judged by twelve Athenian male citizens whom
she shall choose from among the general populace. She adds that Orestes'
trial shall serve as a model for handling other accused criminals in the
future as well. Upon returning with the jurors, she first asks the
Furies to repeat their accusations against Orestes, that he murdered a
blood relative, and he should be punished for this atrocity. Athena then
allows Orestes the opportunity to defend himself, and he insists again
that it was his duty to avenge his father's death, whom Clytaemnestra
had murdered.
Apollo then
testifies on behalf of Orestes, stating that mothers are not true blood
relatives of their children. He compares the mother to a fertile field
that a man plants his seed into so that the child can grow, using Athena
as an example to prove this point. She was born out of Zeus' head
without the assistance of any other woman at all. Apollo insists that,
since mothers are not blood relatives of their children, Clytaemnestra
is not a blood relative of Orestes and therefore he is freed of any
punishment. Having concluded these arguments, Athena prompts the jury to
vote to convict or acquit Orestes. When the vote is evenly divided
between them, this goddess breaks the tie by favoring Orestes, freeing
him from any punishment. Overjoyed, Orestes vows that people in
Argos
shall forever be allies with the people in Athena's favorite city, Athens.
The Furies are
enraged that they have lost, threatening to bring sickness to Athens, but Athena calms them down by offering
to share the job of ruling the city. The Furies accept this offer and
become protectors of Athens,
now called the Eumenides or the "Benevolent Ones." They descend from the
Acropolis to golden thrones underground that Athena has prepared for
them. This tale of sadness ends with a new promise of hope for Athens. Athena and the powerful Eumenides now
protect the city with their divine powers, a virtuous court is
established on the Acropolis to punish lawbreakers rather than people
taking the law into their own hands, and Orestes vows that the citizens
in his city, Argos, shall always aid Athens in any way that it can.
Plot summary by Anna Bakakou
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