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The Dark Side of Justice // Jessef Leslie

  When we hear the word justice we think of righteousness, piety, and triumph. The feeling it brings is one of the good guy winning and the bad guy being put in his place. The issue in these definitions and connotations is they leave out vengeance. Vengeance is a part of justice just like odd numbers are a part math and it isn't to be left out. In The Eumenides by Aeschylus, vengeance is personified as three female deities called Furies " Apollo: 'Gorgons I'd call them; but then with Gorgons you'd see the grim, inhuman... These have no wings, I looked. But black they are, and so repulsive. Their heavy, rasping breath makes me cringe. And their eyes ooze a discharge, sickening, and what they wear - … sacrilege!'" (Aeschylus, (Robert Fagles, 232). They are described as nasty almost human like creatures seen as evil. They chase Orestes, Agamemnon's son, for murdering his mother. The Furies represent his mother's, Clytemnestra, rage and revenge as her spirit leads the 3 deities on.

  " '- And there you will see them all. Every mortal who outraged god or guest or loving parent: each receives the pain his pains exact.'" (243) Here we see Hades and the underworld being seen as a place of equality and justice. It isn't a place of love and glory but the opposite; this realm is where the evil doers receive punishments for their crimes. This may help explain the line of revenge that took place in royal bloodlines as family member after family member continues to avenge someone. Aeschylus alludes to this idea that justice can't exist without vengeance and punishment being its counter part. He does it through Athena and the leader of the Furies " Leader: 'And if I do, what honor waits for me?' Athena: 'No house can thrive without you.'" (270). From The Eumenides we see revenge as a living materialized being that hunts, stalks, feasts, and kills. These Furies are always running around and are older than these "new gods" that bring about justice. Reminding us that the cycle of hatred is dark, scary creature that even the gods can have no control of.


commented on Lilly Casswell's and Caroline Tucker's post.

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