The Erinnyes in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / The Erinnyes

47 passages from 9 ancient authors that tell of The Erinnyes, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. The Erinyes were three female goddesses, seeking vengeance against anyone who had sworn a false oath or had done an evil act. Their Roman equivalents ... For the story in one place, read our article on The Erinnyes.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Theogony 175–209Cronus castrates Uranus; the birth of Aphrodite (175-209)Uranus comes to lie with Gaia, and Cronus, waiting in ambush, cuts off his father's genitals with the sickle. From the drops of blood come the Erinyes, the Giants and the ash-tree nymphs, and from the foam round the severed flesh Aphrodite rises and is carried to Cythera and Cyprus, with Eros and Desire as her companions. Uranus calls his sons Titans, because they strained and acted presumptuously.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.1.1–7Uranus, the Titans and the birth of ZeusSky (Uranus) and Earth have the Hundred-handers, the Cyclopes and the Titans, and Sky casts the Cyclopes into Tartarus. At Earth's urging the Titans attack their father, and Cronus mutilates him with an adamantine sickle, so that the Furies are born from the blood. Cronus takes the sovereignty, binds his brothers again, marries Rhea and swallows his children at birth, until Rhea hides the infant Zeus in a cave in Crete among the Curetes and nymphs and gives Cronus a stone to swallow.

Aeschylus (19)

Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 720–791Third stasimon: the curse on the house of LaiusThe Chorus sing of the old crime of Laius and of the curse of Oedipus, which has led his sons to divide their inheritance with the sword. They fear the Erinys, the spirit of the curse, and sing that the house may fall and that the city may be saved only at the cost of its kings.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 875–1010Exodos: the lament for the two brothersThe Chorus and the sisters Antigone and Ismene sing a long lament over the two brothers. They speak of the curse of Oedipus that has been fulfilled, of the wounds the brothers gave and took, and of the grief that they bring on their house, and Antigone and Ismene ask where the brothers shall be buried.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 299–396First stasimon: the Furies' binding songThe Furies tell Orestes that neither Apollo nor Athena can save him, and dance and sing a song that binds their victim. They say that they are the children of Night and that their office was assigned to them from the beginning. They tell how they drive out those whose hands are bloody and who have killed a kinsman, and they say that mortals who feel proud will be brought low.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 490–565Second stasimon: the Furies on law, fear and justiceThe Furies sing that the acquittal of Orestes would overturn the established laws and encourage children to kill their parents, since no one would any longer fear punishment. They say that fear is useful to a city, that justice is kept where men have the sense to fear, and that they will punish those who transgress it.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 916–987Kommos: the Furies accept Athens and bless itThe Furies accept a home in Athens, and Athena tells the city's guardians how the Furies will keep the land free from harm. The Chorus pray for fruitful trees and flocks, for marriage for maidens, and for the protection of the young from untimely death, and for the city to be spared civil strife and the shedding of kindred blood.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1178–1255Fourth episode (cont.): Cassandra's visions of the house of AtreusCassandra says that she will no longer speak in riddles, and tells how the Furies haunt the house for the old crime of Atreus, the banquet in which Thyestes was served the flesh of his own sons. She tells how Apollo loved her and cursed her never to be believed, and says that a lion lies in wait for her master, betrayed by the woman who is like a hound that licks his hand. The Chorus recognise the story of Thyestes, and Cassandra says that they will see Agamemnon dead.
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 246–305Orestes' prayer to Zeus and the oracle of ApolloOrestes calls on Zeus to pity the orphaned brood of the eagle, and the Chorus tell the children to speak low, because they are watched. Orestes tells that the oracle of Loxias ordered him to avenge his father's murder and threatened him with terrible sufferings, among them leprosy and the madness sent by the Furies, if he did not. He adds that grief for his father and his poverty also drive him, and that he will not see the Argives ruled by two women.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 397–489Athena arrives and hears both sidesAthena arrives from the Scamander and is astonished at the strange group. The Furies tell her who they are and what their function is, and she says that only half of the case has been heard. Orestes tells her who he is, and says that he killed his mother by Apollo's command. Athena says that the case is too great for any single mortal, and decides to appoint judges from the citizens to try it.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 622–680The arguments of Apollo and the FuriesThe Furies ask how Zeus' oracle can make the murder of a mother right. Apollo answers that the death of a king, honoured by the sceptre, is not the same as the death of an ordinary person, and that a mother is the nurse and not the parent of the child. He points to Athena, who was born from her father without a mother. The Furies point out that Zeus himself bound his father, and Apollo says that fetters can be undone; Athena then asks the jurors to vote.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 870–915Athena persuades the FuriesThe Furies repeat their lament, and Athena says that she will never tire of telling them of the good things she offers them, and that they will have a home in her land. The Furies ask what place they will have and what blessings to invoke, and Athena tells them to wish for a victory without evil, and for the blessings of earth, sea and sky.
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 1021–1076Exodos (2): Orestes sees the FuriesOrestes says that he is not sure how it will end, and declares that he will go to the shrine of Loxias and the bright fire said to be imperishable, as a suppliant. He suddenly sees women like Gorgons, dressed in black and with snakes in their hair, whom only he can see, and runs out in madness. The Chorus ask where the storm of the house will end.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–93Prologue: the Priestess at Delphi and Apollo's promiseThe Priestess of Apollo at Delphi prays to the gods who held the oracle before Apollo and then goes in to the shrine. She comes out terrified, having seen a man at the altar with bloody hands and sword, surrounded by sleeping women with snakes in their hair. Apollo tells Orestes that he will not abandon him, tells him that the Furies are asleep, and sends him to the city of Athena with Hermes as his escort.

7 more passages of Aeschylus that name The Erinnyes

Sophocles (7)

Sophocles, Ajax 815–865Ajax's farewell speech on the shoreAlone on the shore, Ajax inspects the sword, Hector's gift, which he has fixed in the ground. He prays to Zeus that Teucer may be the first to find him, to Hermes for a quick death and to the Erinyes to destroy the Greek army, and he says farewell to the light, to Salamis, to Athens and to the plains of Troy. He ends by saying that the rest he will tell to the shades.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 731–820Fourth episode: Hyllus accuses his motherHyllus returns and tells his mother that he wishes she were dead or someone else's mother, and that she has killed his father. He tells how Heracles put on the robe at the sacrifice at Cape Cenaeum, how the poison burned him and he threw Lichas against a rock in the sea, and how he has been carried home on a ship. Hyllus prays that Justice and the Erinys will punish her, and Deianeira goes into the house without a word.
Sophocles, Electra 86–153Parodos: Electra's lament and the ChorusElectra, alone in front of the palace, cries out to the light and the air that she mourns her father every night and every day, and calls on the gods below and the Erinyes to send her brother. The Chorus of Mycenaean women ask why she wastes away in grief for Agamemnon, and tell her that weeping will not bring him back from Hades. She answers that it would be foolish to forget a murdered parent, and compares herself to the nightingale mourning Itys and to Niobe weeping in her rocky tomb.
Sophocles, Electra 1060–1097Second stasimon: the birds and Electra's loyaltyThe Chorus say that even birds care for those who gave them life, and call on a voice from the underworld to tell the sons of Atreus of the strife in their house. They sing that Electra stands alone, mourning her father like the nightingale and ready to die if she can overcome the double Erinys of the house. They praise her devotion to her father and pray that she may one day rise above her enemies.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1–83Prologue: Oedipus and Antigone arrive at the sacred groveThe blind Oedipus asks Antigone where they have come, and she describes the towers of a city far off and a grove thick with laurel, olive and vine, where nightingales sing. She seats him on a rough stone, and a stranger comes and tells him to leave, for the ground is sacred to the dread goddesses, the Eumenides. The stranger tells them that the place is called Colonus and that Theseus is king of Athens, and says that he will tell the people of the district, who will decide whether they may stay.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 461–494First episode (cont.): the rite for the EumenidesThe Chorus pity Oedipus, and he asks them to be his patrons. They tell him that to atone to the goddesses he must make an offering of water, honey and wool from a flowing spring, facing the dawn, pour it in three streams, lay branches of olive, and pray to them silently as Eumenides.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 84–117Prologue (cont.): Oedipus' prayer to the EumenidesOedipus prays to the Eumenides, saying that Apollo foretold that at the end of his wanderings he would find a resting-place at the seat of the dread goddesses, a blessing for those who received him and a ruin for those who drove him out. He takes his arrival here as the sign from them that Apollo promised, and asks the goddesses and Athens to pity him. Antigone sees aged men approaching, and Oedipus asks her to hide him in the grove.

Euripides (8)

Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 939–988Second episode: Orestes tells of the trial at Athens and Apollo's oracleOrestes tells of the beginning of his troubles: that he killed his mother at Apollo's command, was pursued by the Furies, and was tried at Athens by the gods, and that some of them accepted the verdict while the others still pursued him. He says that the oracle told him to bring the image of Artemis from the land of the Taurians to Athens, and the Chorus says that a terrible anger from the gods has boiled up against the race of Tantalus.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 236–294First episode: a herdsman announces two captured GreeksA Herdsman comes from the shore with news that two young men, fleeing the dark Symplegades in a ship, have come to the land as an offering to Artemis, and asks the priestess to prepare for the rites. Iphigenia asks how they were taken, and the Herdsman tells how the herdsmen were washing their cattle in the sea, and saw two strangers in a hollow cave, and one of them cried out in a fit of madness, seeing Furies.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 900–938Second episode: Pylades urges caution; Orestes tells of Electra and the FuriesThe Chorus Leader says that the event surpasses a fable, and Pylades urges that they leave off wailing and turn to the matter of safety. Iphigenia asks about Electra, and learns that she is married to Pylades. Orestes says that he is an exile driven by the Furies, and that he has come to this land at the command of Apollo's oracle.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 1422–1499Exodos: Athena stops Thoas and sets out the future of the cultThoas calls on all citizens to rush to the coast and seize the Greek ship, and says that he will punish the Chorus later. Athena appears and tells him to cease the pursuit, since Orestes has come at Apollo's command and Poseidon will let him sail safely. She tells Orestes to found a temple at Halae in Attica, and that Iphigenia will be priestess at Brauron, and Thoas yields, saying that whoever hears the words of the gods and does not obey is not thinking rightly.
Euripides, Orestes 1–70Prologue: Electra tells of the house of Atreus and Orestes' illnessElectra tells of the curse on the house from Tantalus and Atreus down to Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She says that Orestes killed his mother at Apollo's command and now lies sick and tormented by the Furies. She says that Argos will decide today whether they are to be stoned, and that her one hope is Menelaus, who has just landed with Helen.
Euripides, Orestes 211–267First episode: Orestes wakes and hears that Menelaus has comeOrestes wakes, praises sleep, and cannot remember what has happened, and Electra lifts him and tends him. She tells him that Menelaus has arrived with Helen and that his ships are moored at Nauplia. Orestes says that Helen will bring only mischief, and then he is seized by madness again.
Euripides, Orestes 268–315First episode: Orestes' fit passes; he blames Apollo and Electra vows to stayOrestes calls for his bow to drive off the Furies, then recovers. He blames Apollo for urging him to the deed, tells Electra to rest and thanks her for her care. She says that she will live and die with him.
Euripides, Orestes 380–447Second episode: Orestes tells Menelaus of his plightOrestes tells Menelaus who he is and asks him for protection, and Menelaus is shocked by his wasted look. Orestes says that he is tormented by his conscience and by the Furies, and that Apollo commanded the deed. He tells how the city shuns him and will vote today whether he is stoned.

Ovid (2)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.396–562The Minyades become bats; Athamas and InoThe daughters of Minyas, who have scorned Dionysus (Bacchus), find their looms turning to vines and ivy, and they are changed into bats. Hera (Juno), angry at the honour done to Semele's sister Ino, goes down to the Underworld and sends the Fury Tisiphone to the house of Athamas, who goes mad and kills his son Learchus. Ino leaps from a cliff with her other son Melicertes, and Aphrodite (Venus) asks Poseidon (Neptune) to make them sea-gods, and Ino's Theban companions are changed into rocks and birds.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1–85Orpheus and EurydiceHymen, called to the wedding of Orpheus and Eurydice, comes with a smoking torch and an ill omen, and Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus goes down to the underworld and sings before Hades (Pluto) and Persephone (Proserpina), and the shades, even the Furies, weep, and Tantalus, Ixion and Sisyphus forget their torments. He is allowed to lead Eurydice back on condition that he does not look back, but as they near the light he turns to see her, and she slips away. Orpheus then shuns women and gives his love to the young men of Thrace.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.25.1–13Helice, Cerynea, Bura and Aegae: suppliants, the Eumenides and the dice oracle of HerculesPausanias uses the fate of Helice to argue that suppliants are sacred, citing a Dodona oracle to the Athenians and the Spartan earthquake after the killing of suppliants at Taenarum, and dates the destruction of Helice. He then describes Cerynea with its sanctuary of the Eumenides, and Bura, destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt, with its temples. Near the sea is the dice and tablet oracle of Hercules Buraicus. He goes on to the river Crathis, ruined Aegae, and the sanctuary of Earth called the Gaeus, where the priestess is tested with bull's blood.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.34.1–6Maniae and Acé: Orestes' madness and cure near MegalopolisPausanias describes the sanctuary of the Maniae, goddesses of madness identified with the Eumenides, on the road from Megalopolis to Messene, where Orestes is said to have gone mad. Nearby are the mound called Finger's Tomb, where Orestes bit off a finger, the place Acé, where he was healed, and a place where he cut his hair. He explains the sacrifices to the black and white goddesses and gives the Peloponnesian version in which the accuser at the Areopagus was Perilaus. The section ends with the rivers Gatheatas and Carnion and the boundary with Messenia at the Hermaeum.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.28.1–11Athens: Acropolis offerings, the Areopagus and the courts of justicePausanias lists offerings on the Acropolis, including Phidias’ bronze Athena from the Marathon spoils and the Lemnian Athena, then the Pelasgian wall and a cave sanctuary of Apollo. Below it he describes the Areopagus, the sanctuary of the Venerable Ones (the Furies) and the tomb of Oedipus. He ends with the Athenian law courts, from the Parabystum and the Heliaea to the Palladium, Delphinium, Prytaneum and Phreattys, with the stories of Demophon, Theseus, the Ox-slayer’s axe and Teucer.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.11.1–8Sicyon to Titane: sanctuaries around the city and Asclepius at TitaneOutside Sicyon Pausanias describes the temple of Athena built by Epopeus, the sanctuaries of Hera, Demeter and Carnean Apollo, the grove Pyraea with Protecting Demeter, and the grove of the Eumenides. He then climbs to Titane, where Titan is said to have lived, and describes the sanctuary of Asclepius founded by Alexanor, with its veiled images of Asclepius and Health, the cults of Alexanor and Euamerion, and the offerings and colonnade.

Nonnus of Panopolis (4)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 7.150–254Book 7: Semele washes in the AsoposSemele goes out to sacrifice at the altar of Zeus and is drenched with the blood of the victims. She bathes her robes in the river Asopos while Erinys looks on and laughs. Zeus sees her and takes the shape of an eagle to come nearer, and a naiad of the river wonders aloud whether she is Selene or a goddess.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 10.0–138Book 10: Athamas' madness; Ino leaps into the seaAthamas, driven mad, flogs a she-goat for his wife, hunts his son Learchos as a stag and kills him, and boils Melicertes in a cauldron. Ino snatches the child and runs to the sea, calling on Zeus and Hermes. She leaps in and is received by Poseidon as Leucothea, and Semele mocks her from heaven.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.0–69Book 31: Hera appeals to Persephone against DionysosHera, jealous at the Indian defeat and the sight of Perseus' trophies, goes down to Persephone in Hades. She tells her that Dionysos will displace Zagreus and Demeter's honour and that Zeus has wronged them both, and asks her to arm the Furies against him.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 44.253–318Book 44: The Furies and Dionysos drive the Theban women to the mountainPersephone sends a Fury who sprinkles water of Styx and Cocytos over Agaue's rooms and buries the knife of Procne under a fir tree on Cithaeron, smearing it with Gorgon's blood. Dionysos, wearing a bull's head, enters the palace and drives the women mad. He calls to Autonoe with a false tale that her son Actaeon lives and is the lover of Artemis, urging her to run to the mountains.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 67–71Hymns 67-71: Aesculapius, Health, the Furies, MelinoeAesculapius is invoked as the healer and physician of mankind, and Health as the much-desired, life-bearing queen. Two hymns call on the Furies, the first as vociferous Bacchanalian powers and the second as the Eumenides, dread beings who watch over the counsels and deeds of men. Melinoe, the saffron-veiled child of Pluto's queen, is invoked as a ghostly power who appears to mortals in spectral forms.