“Horrors to tell, horrors for my eyes to see,” she exclaims, “have sent me back from the house of Apollo, so that I have no strength and I cannot walk upright.” After a very brief interval, she returns terror-stricken. In front of Apollo’s temple at Delphi, the Pythia (Apollo’s Prophetess) customarily prays to the gods and goddesses of the sanctuary before entering the building. Fortunately, Athena mollifies them by offering them a new role – the one of the Eumenides, the kindly protectors of Athens’ prosperity. The Erinnyes, unsurprisingly, are not happy with the decision and threaten to destroy Athens in Orestes’ stead.

The tallies are indeed equal at the end, and Orestes is allowed to leave for Argos. Even before the result is known, Athena announces that she votes for acquittal so Orestes would be free even in the case of a draw. Wise as ever, Athena comes up with a nice solution: she institutes a jury-court of twelve honorable Athenians who are afterward tasked with voting in favor of one of the sides. After hearing out both sides, however, she realizes that the problem is too complex to be solved even by a god: Orestes killed Clytemnestra not only to avenge the murder of his father but also because he had been instigated to do so by none other than Apollo on the other hand, it is the task of the Erinnyes to take revenge in the names of the ones who are unable to avenge themselves. Orestes, claiming that his hands are clean, calls Athena for help, and the goddess returns from Troy to look into the matter. Roused by the Ghost of Clytemnestra, the Erinnyes find him there as well. After the ancient goddesses of parricidal vengeance, the Erinnyes, surround him, Apollo orders Orestes to seek protection in the temple of Athena in Athens. It begins in front of the temple of Delphi where, advised by Apollo, Orestes flees at the end of the previous play ( Libation Bearers) in an attempt to purify himself of the blood of his mother Clytemnestra. First performed in 458 BC, Eumenides is the last play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy.

Aeschylus the eumenides