Eumenides Biography

Eumenides (EumenideV, implied. Jeai) – are the merciful, benevolent goddess – one of the names of female deities, the best known under the name Erin, from the Romans Furies, which means angry, furious, the goddess of avenger, also known as the majestic (Potniai), venerable (Semnai) . In Hesiod, E. – daughter of the earth, fertilized drops of blood of the oldest deity Uranus, castrated his son, crown. This is – an explanatory myth of later origin, in conjunction with pedigree EA to the world's first violence against a parent.

In Aeschylus, E. – daughter of night; Sophocles calls them children of darkness and earth. In the myths to which they refer, E. – god of the earth, which are closely connected with the traditional rules and foundations of human coexistence. They vigilantly monitor, so that from the beginning of the established relationships between older and younger, parents and children, rich and poor, prosperous and unfortunate, and so were not narushaemy to benefit one side at the expense of another.

There Erinyes father, mother, parents, and children, beggars, ie anyone who was offended, and whose resentment cries out for vengeance. The victim cries and curses heed the goddess and punish the offender without respite or mercy, not only on earth but in hell, after death, while a measure of vengeance turns. Already in the Iliad, the goddess-avenger live in hell. "Wandering in the darkness, where their nests crimes" brutal, "" savage, "" disastrous "they are called in Homer.

One of the EA is the name of shrew. In the drawings on the vases EA repeatedly portrayed as the overwhelming scourge of deities in the underworld. Exterior goddesses, ferocious, bloodthirsty and ruthless, inspired the victims of terror and revulsion. The old, gray, with a vicious bloodthirsty gaze with snakes in her hair, EA or barking like a dog, or roar like angry bulls, snakes entwine their body, crawling on her shoulders, or in the hands of goddesses hiss and open mouth are drawn to the sacrifice, and sometimes E. depicted with a whip in his hand, with a torch, illuminating the path in pursuit of the guilty. Pythia in terror running from the sanctuary of Apollo at the sight E., nestled altar.

Apollo chased them from his temple where the guilty are executed, where Groans exhausted criminals. Not with one death and punish the goddess: the moment the crime, they haunt the perpetrator, causing him great suffering, both physical and mental, even beyond the grave. Blood of murdered mother has not yet dried on the hands of killers – and Orestes has endured agonies of conscience, and the looming "ferocious dog mother" plunged him into unspeakable horror. E. – god "fast", "many-armed", "multilegged," "with brass feet," etc. According to Heraclitus, E. vigilantly monitored so that in the foreign nature still remained within its borders. E. punish perjury and any violation of human action (III. IX. 454, 569; XIX, 86, 259, 418. Aude. XV, 235; XVII, 475; XX, 66 – 78). Hence, the comparison is with the goddesses of destiny. "A man with clean hands should not be afraid of our anger, his life flows peacefully. We, the ubiquitous and powerful goddess, mindful of wickedness, frightening villain and his prayers are not available. Honor the altar of truth and not to transgress its profane foot, lured by greed, because for offense will be followed by punishment and retribution. Honor thy parents, welcomes the wanderer under Thy protection. The righteous will not be unhappy. " The tragedy of the Eumenides, where learned the words, finds himself the trilogy by Aeschylus Orestes, an abundant source of your information about EA Goddess crave the blood of the matricide Orestes, they chased him from Argos to Delphi from Delphi to Athens, and only the intervention of "young" deities, Apollo and especially Athens, compassionate, distinguishing a call to action, humbles rage "old" gods and saves Orestes, to revenge his father's death on the guidance of Apollo. First propitiation goddesses punishing crime without attention to his explanation, the tragedian relates to the inception of ancient councils, the favorite citizens. In following the tragedian Aeschylus, Sophocles, the same goddess graciously accept in its grove near Athens, another martyr, Oedipus, atoned for an involuntary fault disasters and mental suffering (Oedipus at Colonus). In the name of merciful E. honored at Sicyon and elsewhere Peloponnese. As mitigation manners, merciless avenger-goddesses themselves are possible, in consideration of his state of mind of the perpetrator and to the terms of the offense, release from punishment for flagrant appearance of the crime. In Euripides (Orestes) E. – torment of conscience disturbed offender.The myths about IE difficult to find a reason for the attention of these images to dawn (M. Müller), or the clouds (Kun Mangardt, Roscher), the original basis of mythological ideas about EA – Household and psychological. In addition to general works on mythology, see, O. Muller, "Aeschilos Eumeniden" (Br. 1833); Sehomaun, "Aesch. Eum." (1845); Nagelsbach, "De religion. Orestiam Aeschyli continentibus" (Erl., 1848); Rosenberg, "Die Erinyen" (BA, 1874); Hild, "Elude sur les demons dans la litterat. Et la religion des Grecs (PG, 1881, p. 143 CD.).