Eumenides eBook

Eumenides is the final play of the Oresteia by Aeschylus. It illustrates how the sequence of events in the trilogy end up in the development of social order or a proper judicial system in Athenian society. In this play, Orestes is hunted down and tormented by the Furies, a trio of goddesses known to be the instruments of justice, who are also euphemistically referred to as the "Gracious Ones" (Eumenides). They relentlessly pursue Orestes for the killing of his mother. Athena sets up a trial for Orestes in Athens on the Areopagus to decide whether he should be sentenced or not for the death of Clytemnestra.