52-461: Eumenides may refer to: Erinyes , or Eumenides, Greek deities of vengeance The Eumenides , the third part of Aeschylus' Greek tragedy, the Oresteia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Eumenides . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
104-459: A few similarities. Others argue that the two traditions share a common origin and can even be considered a single entity, termed " Orphico-Pythagoreanism ." The belief that Pythagoreanism was a subset or direct descendant of Orphic religion existed by late antiquity, when Neoplatonist philosophers took the Orphic origin of Pythagorean teachings at face value. Proclus wrote: In the fifteenth century,
156-490: A host ten times, bound to the wheel of rebirth . Following the punishment, the dismembered limbs of Zagreus were cautiously collected by Apollo who buried them in his sacred land Delphi . In Orphic theogonies, the Orphic Egg is a cosmic egg from which hatched the primordial hermaphroditic deity Phanes/Protogonus (variously equated also with Zeus , Pan , Metis , Eros , Erikepaios and Bromius ), who in turn created
208-453: A messenger bringing the news of his own death to Clytemnestra. He then slays his mother and her lover Aegisthus . Although Orestes' actions were what Apollo had commanded him to do, Orestes has still committed matricide, a grave sacrilege. Because of this, he is pursued and tormented by the terrible Erinyes, who demand yet further blood vengeance. In The Eumenides , Orestes is told by Apollo at Delphi that he should go to Athens to seek
260-461: A mythological figure. Despite this, even these authors of the 5th and 4th centuries BC noted a strong similarity between the two doctrines. In fact, some claimed that rather than being an initiate of Orphism, Pythagoras was actually the original author of the first Orphic texts. Specifically, Ion of Chios claimed that Pythagoras authored poetry which he attributed to the mythical Orpheus, and Epigenes, in his On Works Attributed to Orpheus , attributed
312-463: A new role, as protectors of justice, rather than vengeance, and of the city. She persuades them to break the cycle of blood for blood (except in the case of war, which is fought for glory, not vengeance). While promising that the goddesses will receive due honor from the Athenians and Athena, she also reminds them that she possesses the key to the storehouse where Zeus keeps the thunderbolts that defeated
364-498: A number of beliefs about the afterlife similar to those in the "Orphic" mythology about Dionysus ' death and resurrection. Bone tablets found in Olbia (5th century BC) carry short and enigmatic inscriptions like: "Life. Death. Life. Truth. Dio(nysus). Orphics." The function of these bone tablets is unknown. Gold-leaf tablets found in graves from Thurii , Hipponium , Thessaly and Crete (4th century BC and after) give instructions to
416-797: A savage veil, severe and strong, Terrific virgins, who forever dwell endu'd with various forms, in deepest hell; Aerial, and unseen by human kind, and swiftly coursing, rapid as the mind. In vain the Sun with wing'd refulgence bright, in vain the Moon, far darting milder light, Wisdom and Virtue may attempt in vain; and pleasing, Art, our transport to obtain Unless with these you readily conspire, and far avert your all-destructive ire. The boundless tribes of mortals you descry, and justly rule with Right's [Dike's] impartial eye. Come, snaky-hair'd, Fates [Moirai] many-form'd, divine, suppress your rage, and to our rites incline. Hymn 69, to
468-612: A shorter length composed in the Roman Imperial age. The Orphic Argonautica ( Ancient Greek : Ὀρφέως Ἀργοναυτικά ) is a Greek epic poem dating from the 4th century CE of unknown authorship. It is narrated in the first person in the name of Orpheus and tells the story of Jason and the Argonauts . The narrative is basically similar to that in other versions of the story, such as the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius , on which it
520-557: A theogony concerning the birth of the gods, produced in the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras , written in the second half of the fifth century BC. Fragments of the poem are quoted making it "the most important new piece of evidence about Greek philosophy and religion to come to light since the Renaissance". The papyrus dates to around 340 BC, during the reign of Philip II of Macedon , making it Europe's oldest surviving manuscript. The Orphic theogonies are works which present accounts of
572-518: Is named after the legendary poet-hero Orpheus , who was said to have originated the Mysteries of Dionysus . However, Orpheus was more closely associated with Apollo than to Dionysus in the earliest sources and iconography. According to some versions of his mythos, he was the son of Apollo, and during his last days, he shunned the worship of other gods and devoted himself to Apollo alone. Poetry containing distinctly Orphic beliefs has been traced back to
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#1732844990077624-556: Is not certain. Orphic views and practices have parallels to elements of Pythagoreanism , and various traditions hold that the Pythagoreans or Pythagoras himself authored early Orphic works; alternately, later philosophers believed that Pythagoras was an initiate of Orphism. The extent to which one movement may have influenced the other remains controversial. Some scholars maintain that Orphism and Pythagoreanism began as separate traditions which later became confused and conflated due to
676-559: Is of uncertain etymology; connections with the verb ὀρίνειν orinein , "to raise, stir, excite", and the noun ἔρις eris , "strife" have been suggested; Robert Beekes suggests that the word probably has a Pre-Greek origin . The word Erinys in the singular and as a theonym is first attested in Mycenaean Greek , written in Linear B , in the following forms: 𐀁𐀪𐀝 , e-ri-nu , and 𐀁𐀪𐀝𐀸 , e-ri-nu-we . These words are found on
728-657: Is probably based. The main differences are the emphasis on the role of Orpheus and a more mythological, less realistic technique of narration. In the Argonautica Orphica , unlike in Apollonius Rhodius, it is claimed that the Argo was the first ship ever built. The Derveni papyrus, found in Derveni , Macedonia (Greece) , in 1962, contains a philosophical treatise that is an allegorical commentary on an Orphic poem in hexameters,
780-447: Is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus , who descended into the Greek underworld and returned. This type of journey is called a katabasis and is the basis of several hero worships and journeys. Orphics revered Dionysus (who once descended into
832-759: The Aeneid . Dante Alighieri followed Virgil in depicting the same three-character triptych of Erinyes; in Canto IX of the Inferno , they confront the poets at the gates of the city of Dis . Whilst the Erinyes were usually described as three maiden goddesses, the Erinys Telphousia was usually a byname for the wrathful goddess Demeter , who was worshipped under the title of Erinys in the Arkadian town of Thelpousa . The word Erinyes
884-634: The Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες, pl. of Εὐμενίς; literally "the gracious ones", but also translated as "Kindly Ones"). This is because it was considered unwise to mention them by name (for fear of attracting their attention); the ironic name is similar to how Hades , god of the dead is styled Pluton, or Pluto, "the Rich One". Using euphemisms for the names of deities serves many religious purposes. Orphic literature Orphism (more rarely Orphicism ; Ancient Greek : Ὀρφικά , romanized : Orphiká )
936-545: The Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες) and Semnae (Σεμναί, “the dread ones”) and commonly known in English as the Furies , are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology . A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath". Walter Burkert suggests that they are "an embodiment of
988-556: The KN Fp 1, KN V 52, and KN Fh 390 tablets. The Erinyes live in Erebus and are more ancient than any of the Olympian deities. Their task is to hear complaints brought by mortals against the insolence of the young to the aged, of children to parents, of hosts to guests , and of householders or city councils to suppliants—and to punish such crimes by hounding culprits relentlessly. The appearance of
1040-554: The Sibyl . Of this vast literature, only two works survived whole: the Orphic Hymns , a set of 87 poems, possibly composed at some point in the second or third century, and the epic Orphic Argonautica , composed somewhere between the fourth and sixth centuries. Earlier Orphic literature, which may date back as far as the sixth century BC, survives only in papyrus fragments or in quotations. The Orphic Hymns are 87 hexametric poems of
1092-478: The 6th century BC or at least 5th century BC, and graffiti of the 5th century BC apparently refers to "Orphics". The Derveni papyrus allows Orphic mythology to be dated to the end of the 5th century BC, and it is probably even older. Orphic views and practices are attested as by Herodotus , Euripides , and Plato . Plato refers to "Orpheus-initiators" ( Ὀρφεοτελεσταί ), and associated rites, although how far "Orphic" literature in general related to these rites
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#17328449900771144-411: The Erinyes compared to the newer generation of Apollo and Athena. The jury vote is evenly split. Athena participates in the vote and chooses for acquittal. Athena declares Orestes acquitted because of the rules she established for the trial. Despite the verdict, the Erinyes threaten to torment all inhabitants of Athens and to poison the surrounding countryside. Athena, however, offers the ancient goddesses
1196-573: The Erinyes differs between sources, though they are frequently described as wearing black. In Aesychlus' Eumenides, the Priestess of Pythian Apollo compares their monstrosity to that of the gorgon and harpies , but adds that they are wingless, with hatred dripping from their eyes. Euripides , on the other hand, gives them wings, as does Virgil. They are often evisaged as having snakes in their hair. The Erinyes are commonly associated with night and darkness. With varying accounts claiming that they are
1248-793: The Erinyes form the Chorus and play a major role in the conclusion of Aeschylus 's dramatic trilogy the Oresteia . In the first play, Agamemnon , King Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan War , where he is slain by his wife, Clytemnestra , who wants vengeance for her daughter Iphigenia , whom Agamemnon had sacrificed to obtain favorable winds to sail to Troy. In the second play, The Libation Bearers , their son Orestes has reached manhood and has been commanded by Apollo 's oracle to avenge his father's murder at his mother's hand. Returning home and revealing himself to his sister Electra , Orestes pretends to be
1300-660: The Erinyes. Hymn 68 refers to them as the Erinyes, while hymn 69 refers to them as the Eumenides. Hymn 68, to the Erinyes: Vociferous Bacchanalian Furies [Erinyes], hear! Ye, I invoke, dread pow'rs, whom all revere; Nightly, profound, in secret who retire, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megara dire: Deep in a cavern merg'd, involv'd in night, near where Styx flows impervious to the sight; Ever attendant on mysterious rites, furious and fierce, whom Fate's dread law delights; Revenge and sorrows dire to you belong, hid in
1352-671: The Eumenides: Hear me, illustrious Furies [Eumenides], mighty nam'd, terrific pow'rs, for prudent counsel fam'd; Holy and pure, from Jove terrestrial [Zeus Khthonios](Hades) born and Proserpine [Phersephone], whom lovely locks adorn: Whose piercing sight, with vision unconfin'd, surveys the deeds of all the impious kind: On Fate attendant, punishing the race (with wrath severe) of deeds unjust and base. Dark-colour'd queens, whose glittering eyes, are bright with dreadful, radiant, life-destroying, light: Eternal rulers, terrible and strong, to whom revenge, and tortures dire belong; Fatal and horrid to
1404-484: The Neoplatonic Greek scholar Constantine Lascaris (who found the poem Argonautica Orphica ) considered a Pythagorean Orpheus. Bertrand Russell (1947) noted: Study of early Orphic and Pythagorean sources, however, is more ambiguous concerning their relationship, and authors writing closer to Pythagoras' own lifetime never mentioned his supposed initiation into Orphism, and in general regarded Orpheus himself as
1456-743: The Titans, and a divine spark or soul ( Ancient Greek : ψυχή , romanized : psukhḗ ), inherited from Dionysus. In order to achieve salvation from the Titanic, material existence, one had to be initiated into the Dionysian mysteries and undergo teletē , a ritual purification and reliving of the suffering and death of the god. Orphics believed that they would, after death, spend eternity alongside Orpheus and other heroes. The uninitiated ( Ancient Greek : ἀμύητος , romanized : amúētos ), they believed, would be reincarnated indefinitely. Orphism
1508-563: The Titans, who shred him to pieces and consume him. Athena saves the heart and tells Zeus of the crime, who in turn hurls a thunderbolt on the Titans . The resulting soot, from which sinful mankind is born, contains the bodies of the Titans and Zagreus. The soul of man (the Dionysus part) is therefore divine, but the body (the Titan part) holds the soul in bondage. Thus, it was declared that the soul returns to
1560-459: The Underworld and returned) and Persephone (who annually descended into the Underworld for a season and then returned). Orphism has been described as a reform of the earlier Dionysian religion , involving a re-interpretation or re-reading of the myth of Dionysus and a re-ordering of Hesiod 's Theogony , based in part on pre-Socratic philosophy . The suffering and death of the god Dionysus at
1612-590: The act of self-cursing contained in the oath". They correspond to the Dirae in Roman mythology . The Roman writer Maurus Servius Honoratus wrote (ca. AD 400) that they are called "Eumenides" in hell, "Furiae" on Earth, and "Dirae" in heaven. Erinyes are akin to some other Greek deities, called Poenai . According to Hesiod 's Theogony , when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus , and threw his genitalia into
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1664-408: The aid of the goddess Athena . In Athens, Athena arranges for Orestes to be tried by a jury of Athenian citizens, with her presiding. The Erinyes appear as Orestes' accusers, while Apollo speaks in his defense. The trial becomes a debate about the necessity of blood vengeance, the honor that is due to a mother compared to that due to a father, and the respect that must be paid to ancient deities such as
1716-673: The authorship of several influential Orphic poems to notable early Pythagoreans, including Cercops. According to Cicero , Aristotle also claimed that Orpheus never existed, and that the Pythagoreans ascribed some Orphic poems to Cercon (see Cercops ). Belief in metempsychosis was common to both currents, although it also seems to contain differences. Where the Orphics taught about a cycle of grievous embodiments that could be escaped through their rites, Pythagoras seemed to teach about an eternal, neutral metempsychosis against which personal actions would be irrelevant. The Neoplatonists regarded
1768-402: The clouds; suffused with venom, her skin distends and swells with corruption; a fiery vapour 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,
1820-442: The daughters of Eurynome (a name for Earth) and Cronus, or of Earth and Phorcys (i.e. the sea). In Orphic literature , they are the daughters of Hades and Persephone . Their number is usually left indeterminate. Virgil , probably working from an Alexandrian source, recognized three: Alecto or Alekto ("endless anger"), Megaera ("jealous rage"), and Tisiphone or Tilphousia ("vengeful destruction"), all of whom appear in
1872-480: The daughters of Nyx , the goddess of night, they're also associated with darkness in the works of Aeschylus and Euripides in both their physical appearance and the time of day that they manifest. Description of Tisiphone in Statius ' Thebaid : So prayed he, and the cruel goddess turned her grim visage to hearken. By chance she sat beside dismal Cocytus , and had loosed the snakes from her head and suffered them to lap
1924-409: The dead . Although these thin tablets are often highly fragmentary, collectively they present a shared scenario of the passage into the afterlife. When the deceased arrives in the underworld, he is expected to confront obstacles. He must take care not to drink of Lethe ("Forgetfulness"), but of the pool of Mnemosyne ("Memory"). He is provided with formulaic expressions with which to present himself to
1976-502: The guardians of the afterlife. As said in the Petelia tablet : I am a son of Earth and starry sky. I am parched with thirst and am dying; but quickly grant me cold water from the Lake of Memory to drink. Other gold leaves offer instructions for addressing the rulers of the underworld: Now you have died and now you have come into being, O thrice happy one, on this same day. Tell Persephone that
2028-440: The hands of the Titans has been considered the central myth of Orphism. According to this myth, the infant Dionysus is killed, torn apart, and consumed by the Titans. In retribution, Zeus strikes the Titans with a thunderbolt, turning them to ash. From these ashes, humanity is born. In Orphic belief, this myth describes humanity as having a dual nature: body ( Ancient Greek : σῶμα , romanized : sôma ), inherited from
2080-461: The human sight, with snaky tresses wand'ring in the night; Either approach, and in these rites rejoice, for ye, I call, with holy, suppliant voice. Myth fragments dealing with the Erinyes are found among the earliest extant records of ancient Greek culture. The Erinyes are featured prominently in the myth of Orestes , which recurs frequently throughout many works of ancient Greek literature . Featured in ancient Greek literature, from poems to plays,
2132-461: 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. The Orphic Hymns , a collection of 87 religious poems as translated by Thomas Taylor, contains two stanzas regarding
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2184-606: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eumenides&oldid=932819263 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Erinyes The Erinyes ( / ɪ ˈ r ɪ n i . iː z / ih- RI -nee-eez ; sing. Erinys / ɪ ˈ r ɪ n ɪ s , ɪ ˈ r aɪ n ɪ s / ih- RIN -iss, ih- RY -niss ; Ancient Greek : Ἐρινύες , pl. of Ἐρινύς ), also known as
2236-640: The one gleaming with a funeral torch, the other lashing the air with a live water-snake. Pausanias describes a sanctuary in Athens dedicated to the Erinyes under the name Semnai: Hard by [the Areopagos the murder court of Athens] is a sanctuary of the goddesses which the Athenians call the August, but Hesiod in the Theogony calls them Erinyes (Furies). It was Aeschylus who first represented them with snakes in their hair. But on
2288-468: The origin of the gods, much like the Theogony of Hesiod . These theogonies are symbolically similar to Near Eastern models. The main story has it that Zagreus , Dionysus' previous incarnation, is the son of Zeus and Persephone . Zeus names the child as his successor, which angers his wife Hera . She instigates the Titans to murder the child. Zagreus is then tricked with a mirror and children's toys by
2340-563: The other gods. The egg is often depicted with the serpent-like creature, Ananke , wound about it. Phanes is the golden winged primordial being who was hatched from the shining cosmic egg that was the source of the universe. Called Protogonos (First-Born) and Eros (Love) an ancient Orphic hymn addresses him thus: Ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light. There are two Orphic stories of
2392-402: The other older deities. This mixture of bribes and veiled threats satisfies the Erinyes, who are then led by Athena in a procession to their new abode. In the play, the "Furies" are thereafter addressed as "Semnai" (Venerable Ones), as they will now be honored by the citizens of Athens and ensure the city's prosperity. In Euripides ' Orestes the Erinyes are for the first time "equated" with
2444-491: The primordial succession: But there are other differences, notably in the treatment of Dionysos: In later centuries, these versions underwent a development where Apollo's act of burying became responsible for the reincarnation of Dionysus, thus giving Apollo the title Dionysiodotes (bestower of Dionysus). Apollo plays an important part in the dismemberment myth because he represents the reverting of Encosmic Soul back towards unification. Surviving written fragments show
2496-400: The rebirth of Dionysus : in one it is the heart of Dionysus that is implanted into the thigh of Zeus ; in the other Zeus has impregnated the mortal woman Semele , resulting in Dionysus's literal rebirth. Many of these details differ from accounts in the classical authors. Damascius says that Apollo "gathers him (Dionysus) together and brings him back up". The main difference seems to be in
2548-617: The sea, the Erinyes (along with the Giants and the Meliae ) emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the Earth ( Gaia ), while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam. Pseudo-Apollodorus also reports this lineage. According to variant accounts they are the daughters of Nyx ("Night"), while in Virgil's Aeneid , they are daughters of Pluto ( Hades ) and Nox ( Nyx ). In some accounts, they were
2600-491: The sulphurous waters. Straightway, faster than fire of Jove or falling stars she leapt up from the gloomy bank: the crowd of phantoms gives way before her, fearing to meet their queen; then, journeying through the shadows and the fields dark with trooping ghosts, she hastens to the gate of Taenarus , whose threshold none may cross and again return. Day felt her presence, Night interposed her pitchy cloud and startled his shining steeds; far off towering Atlas shuddered and shifted
2652-467: The theology of Orpheus, carried forward through Pythagoreanism, as the core of the original Greek religious tradition. Proclus , an influential neoplatonic philosopher, one of the last major classical philosophers of late antiquity, says (trans. Thomas Taylor, 1816) A number of Greek religious poems in hexameters were attributed to Orpheus, as they were to similar miracle-working figures, like Bakis , Musaeus , Abaris , Aristeas , Epimenides , and
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#17328449900772704-453: The weight of heaven upon his trembling shoulders. Forthwith rising aloft from Malea ’s vale she hies her on the well-known way to Thebes: for on no errand is she swifter to go and to return, not kindred Tartarus itself pleases her so well. A hundred horned snakes erect shaded her face, the thronging terror of her awful head; deep within her sunken eyes there glows a light of iron hue, as when Atracian spells make travailing Phoebe redden through
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