The Erinyes (Erinys, Eumenides) are goddesses of vengeance in Ancient Greece. They're later called the Furies. They're described dressed in black, eyes dripping with hatred. Sometimes snakes writhe in their hair.
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The Erinyes come from the pantheon of the Arcadians, a pastoral people of inland Greece. Already resident when the Mycenaean Greeks move in c. 1600 BCE, they're herders and agricultural settles taking advantage of the fertile valleys of the interior.
The Arcadian cosmology includes Poseidon, Demeter, Persephone and others of the later Greek Pantheon. Among them are the Erinyes.
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According to legend the Titan Cronus (Saturn) castrates his father, Uranus, and throws his genitals into the sea. From drops of blood falling to earth are born the Erinyes.
At the same time, the fertile earth gives birth to the Giants and the Meliae, nymphs of the ash tree. Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, love and lust, is born from crests of sea foam.
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The Erinyes live in Erebus, the personification of darkness. Always dressed in black, they might have wings, or snakes in their hair. According to Greek traveler Pausanias, snakes in their hair is an invention by the famed Greek tragedian Aeschylus (525 - 455 BCE).
Blood is a symbol of the Erinyes. They're especially attracted to traumatic events like murders and family disputes. They protect parents and oldest siblings. This is because they were born from the violence of divine family powers.
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Pausanias goes on to describe a sacred sanctuary in Athens devoted to the Erinyes, and the carved or fresco images found there. Among other gods they depict the Erinyes.
" ... on the images, neither of these nor of any of the under-world deities is there anything terrible. There are images of Pluto, Hermes, and Earth, by which sacrifice those who have received an acquittal on the Hill of Ares; sacrifices are also offered on other occasions by both citizens and aliens."
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The art above is a mid-19th century genre style showing idealized bodies in portrayal of myth as allegory. Pursued by Erinyes Orestes goes insane after killing his mother.
He runs for sanctuary at the Temple of Apollo. Although Apollo incited the murder he is powerless to help and Athena finally steps in. The Erinyes then assume roles of the wise counsellors, Eumenides.
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No matter how they're presented, these primal goddesses bring wracking sorrow and misfortune. Agents of vengeance, they can be invoked by mortals who have been wronged.
Like a terrible plague, they harass a victim day and night. Misfortune mounts. The mind cannot rest. Sleep does not come as the Erinyes rouse hideous nightmares. They drive a person stark raving mad.
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Their targets are the insolent, the disrespectful, stingy, greedy or cruel. They attack those who don't respect their elders, or who break sworn oaths, legal or moral codes. They turn their wrath upon those of the administration who won't hear pleas from supplicants. Criminals, especially murderers, are also targets.
The Erinyes relate to the Greek Poenai, the spirits of punishment and attendants of punishment to goddess Nemesis, deity of divine retribution. Nemesis wreaks vengeance on those mortals guilty of hubris or arrogance before the gods.
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The Poenai (plural) can also be singular (Poena). She can be one goddess or a group. Her / their Roman counterpart may be Utio, whose name means 'vengeance'. From their name come the words subpoena and pain.
The Erinyes can attack during the day but being creatures of the underworld they're more active in darkness and at night. They can manifest as darkness itself.
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The poet Statius says she / they are:
" ... suffused with venom, her skin distends and swells with corruption; a fiery vapor issues from her evil mouth, bringing upon mankind thirst unquenchable and sickness and famine and universal death. From her shoulders falls a stark and grisly robe, whose dark fastenings meet upon her breast: Atropos and Proserpine herself fashion her this garb anew. Then both her hands are shaken in wrath, the one gleaming with a funeral torch, the other lashing the air with a live water-snake."
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They can manifest as young or old. Erinyes are also collectively called "The Venerable Ones" or "The Kindly Ones". They have names which are not spoken for fear of attracting their attention.
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