Lions, Tigers, and Furies, Oh My!

            Lions, Tigers, and Furies, Oh my! The Furies play a very important role in the play, Eumenides. The Furies play a huge role in the life of Orestes and his family. The Furies are seen throughout the play. They have one role and they take it very serious and do not like to be told differently. The Furies also take a huge transformation at the end of the book and is completely remade into something beautiful. The Furies transform for the better and change into something beautiful and something that they think will never happen.  

            The Furies have a very important role in the play, Eumenides. The Furies are not described as very good looking people. They even scare Pyhtia in the beginning of the play. “Terrors -/ terrors to tell, terrors all can see! -/ they send me reeling back from Apollo’ house.” (33-35). They are described as, “These have no wings,/ I looked. But black they are, and so repulsive./ Their heavy, rasping breathing makes me cringe./ And their eyes ooze a discharge, sickening,/ and what they wear – to flaunt that at the gods,/ the idols, sacrilege!” (54-59). They are hard to look at and Pythia goes as far as calling them gorgons (51). The Furies take the role of justice. They go kill people that did wrong and kill someone (the furies really hate people that kill people that killed their own blood). In this case, the Furies are out to get Orestes for killing his mother. “This, this is our right,/ spun for us by the Fates,/ and none can shake our hold.”(334-337). The Furies take a lot of Pride in their job because that is the thing they were made to do. The Furies take great pride in getting justice for the people that were wronged. In Eumenides, they get offended that Athena is trying to be a judge over them and say that they were free from judgement from the gods. “So now, striving to wrench our mandate from the gods,/ we make ourselves exempt from their control,/ we brook no trial – no god can be our judge” (359-361). They do not think that Athena or another deathless god have the power to judge over them. This is what the Furies were like before the transformation that changes them so much.

            The Furies change completely in the end of the book and is given a new identity and a new role in the world. At the end of the play, Athena is trying to take the Furie’s powers away and the Furies will not accept it. “All’s lost, our ancient powers torn away by their cunning,/ ruthless hands, the gods so hard to wrestle down/ obliterate us all.”(854-846). They do not like how the new gods are taking away their power, but once Athena gives them a good offer that they can not refuse they finally give in. Athena says that “No house can thrive without you” (903). The Furies are all about having power so when they were told that they could have that much power, they couldn’t resist to change. They can immediately start to feel the change in their heart “Your magic is working… I can feel the hate,/ the fury slip away.” (908-909). “Give joy in return for joy,/ one common will for love,/ and hate with one strong heart:/ such union heals a thousand ills of man.” (663-666). They start to work for the better of the people and have joy in their heart instead of hate. The Furies were given a new identity and a new role in the world.

            The Furies play a huge role in the play and the family of Orestes. In the beginning of the play, the Furies acted as justice for the people. They are mean and have hate in their hearts for everything, especially for matrices. Their only role that they can do is to take vengeance on those that murdered people. After Athena ruled that the Furies could not kill Orestes, Athena gave them a new power. Then their hearts were changed for the good and the hate that they had in their hearts were gone. This transformation was great and brought out the good of the Furies.