| Erinyes | |
| Other Names: | |
| Dirae Furies Eunimides The Vengeful Ones |
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| Images: | |
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| Three
terrible winged deities of Greek mythology that were the
daughters of Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth). They are
described as having serpentine hair, the heads of dogs,
the wings of bats, and blood dripping from their eyes.
They were born from the blood of their castrated father
after he was slain by his son, Cronus, as it fell upon
earth, their mother. They have inflicted cruel
retribution among those with sins that had gone
unpunished, especially upon those that had murdered their
own kin. They were also often sent by the gods to torture
those that had fallen out of favor. Their form of
punishment was often to inflict the victim with madness.
There were typically three Erinyes: Alecto (unceasing in anger), Megaera (jealous one), and Tisiphone (avenger of murder). Apollo, the god of prophecy, had once told Orestes, the Theban prince, the identity of the killer of his father, King Agamemnon, and learning that it was his mother, Clymnestra, Orestes killed her. The Erinyes pursued and commenced torturing him, heedless of his motives, but he appealed to the goddess Athena for help. She convinced the Erinyes to take mercy on him, and so they did. From this myth, they have been dubbed with the name "Eunimides," meaning the kind ones, though it is considered unlucky to call them by this. In Roman mythology, the Erinyes are referred to as the Dirae or the Furies. |