“Zeus, thou pretendest, holds a father’s life
Precious exceedingly; and yet Himself
Cast his own Father Cronos into chains!
Why, is not this confounding contraries?”
~ ‘Eumenides’ by Aeschylus (G. M. Cookson translation. p87. line 643)
The play begins at Delphi, the temple of Apollo, where a prophetess is praying as she enters the shrine. She invokes the gods and establishes that Apollo has received the gift of prophecy from his father, Zeus, and his grandmother, Phoebe. She comes out immediately after entering, horrified by the sight of sleeping Furies around Orestes, who has come to take refuge. The temple doors open, and Apollo is seen standing over Orestes, assuring him of his protection. He asks Orestes to go to Athens and clasp Athena’s statue, and he will find judges to defend his cause. The ghost of Clytemnestra appears, chastising the Furies for sleeping while Orestes, her murderer, seeks refuge. The Furies wake up and argue why Orestes has to be punished and why they are not happy with Apollo’s interference. Apollo defends Orestes by saying that a husband’s murder disrupts societal order while a wife’s does not, while the Furies maintain that killing a blood relative is the worst of crimes.
The scene then shifts to Athens. At the trial, Apollo argues that while matricide is a crime, in this instance, it is justified because it was driven by Zeus’s will. Apollo further argues that the father is the true begetter and the mother is merely a nurse to the seed planted by the father. Athena steps in and talks about the need for balance and justice. The votes are cast, and the results are tied. Athena then casts a vote in favor of Orestes, saying she was born to Zeus without a mother. The Furies are upset and angry.