To be completely honest, I was struggling to find something to write about this week. Hunting for a decent topic, I finally asked myself what I found most interesting in this weeks reading: the Eumenides. The answer to that: the furies. I found the furies to be such curious creatures, and, trying to picture some image of them in my head, I kept thinking of them as demons. Most of them don't seem to have their own original thoughts or opinions; they simply do what they are told and their emotions are stirred by the emotions of others. On page 3266 of The Oresteia Apollo describes them as "Born for destruction only, the dark pit, they range the bowels of Earth, the world of death, loathed by men and the gods who hold Olympus" (Aeschylus). They also communicate with the ghost of Clytaemnestra.
Any thoughts on that? Do the furies remind you of anything else?
Commented on Hailey Morgan's post and Kaitlyn Terry's.
Going into the Eumenides, I knew that the Furies were a gang of women who’s job was to carry the souls of heroes to the next life. At least, that’s who they were in Norse mythology. The Greeks most definitely had a different view of these creatures, making them much more hollow and emotionless. Once I realized that the Greek Furies did not really share too many qualities with their Norse counterparts, I started to think of them as Harpies? I really don’t know why this was the image I used. I guess it somehow fit?
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